I am looking to buy a 2004 Durango with the Hemi motor. I have read about the windshield cowl seal failure and the intake gasket problem. I also read about the 04 Hemis having bad valve springs in the early production run. This Durango has 129K and is a one owner car. How many miles can the Hemi go as long as the cowl and intake gaskets are fixed. How late of a build date do I need to look for to get past the bad valve springs. Are there other major problems I need to be worried about? I do not want to buy this Durango to find out it's at the end of its service life. Thanks

 

Two days and no replies, so I am assuming that I've hit the major problems. The Durango was bought 5/6/2004 with 6 miles according to the carfax and it's a one owner. I am going to ask for any service records along with the build date and see what they can produce. If you have anything to add please feel free as I will be checking this thread till I buy the Durango in a couple days. Thanks

 

I got the information on the Durango. It's build date was 04/06/04 and an in-service date of 04/19/04. The build sheet has a line stating (4EA) Sold Vehicle. Anybody know if that means it was a special order. I was also told that there was no warranty work done to this Durango, the only thing showing was a couple recalls. Hoping to look at it tomorrow.

 

I would stay away for the 2004 Hemi Durango. I had a 2007 and the styling was nicer (revised front fenders) and less problems.

 

Never get the first year of a redesign or new model. Those are almost always the ones with the most bugs and issues. Second year they have a lot of them figured out before they leave the dealerships, but they are almost always going to have some issues, especially Chrysler lol.

 

Thanks for your input.

 

MAybe too late but I would not buy a Dodge with a Hemi. We bought our 2006 last June with 100,000 miles on it from a dealer. Spoke to prev owner who reported no problems. Carfax had every oil change from new. Myself and my brother/professional mechanic spent two trips to dealer looking it over.

3 weeks after buying I shut it off and come out 5 mins later to start it and it sounded like boulders in the engine. Never did start. Motor was shot and needed a new motor. It was either the timing chain that blew (looks like a bike chain in size), rod went or valve seats though they looked OK when I saw the engine out.

Found water filling up the pass side seatbelt winder upper, intermittently the fan will not blow out of any vents even tho the motor is working fine, the power rear gate now only powers up and not down. When trying to go down it will drop an inch or so then go back up. Nothing in the way and even with one strut off (no resistance) it does same thing.

 

Old thread, I know but I wanted to chime in. I have rebuilt these engines, I use these trucks for projects constantly. I know them inside and out, nearly every wire, every nut and bolt. Love 'em.
I have seen the gen 2's with 260K and up, but I've also seen them with a thrown rod at 75K. These things make good power, ride great, tougher than hell undercarriage and sure- they have their little quirks and if you know nothing about cars or engines, then yeah- stay away from them. If you can work on your own stuff, then these things are great.


If anyone has one with a clean undercarriage, PM me- I just might buy it from you even if it has a blown motor.

 

Thanks for the input. I did not buy the 04 Durango as it needed a lot of little things repaired for the price. I am still searching for a 4wd vehicle, but every manufacture has quirks in their product lines. That is what you get looking into the older higher mileage vehicles.

 

I do most all of my own work. I've rebuilt engines, transmissions, t-cases, diffs, installed 4-whl discs and power steering on my old ****** using junkyard parts. Wiring.....not too good at.

Little quirks are one thing, but, major engine design problems that cost a lot of money to fix, even if you do it yourself are not quirks. Also, who buys a truck thinking that if the engine blows apart with no warning and leaves me stranded I'll be fine with all of the costs and inconveniences associated with repairing it.

I wouldn't even buy a new Dodge of any model with any version of the Hemi. Before I started looking for a Durango I called a local shop I know the owner of and he said no problem with the Hemi's. I called two prominent Hemi engine builders and they said to stay away from the 2004 but after that no problem. I went out of my way to find a good truck with a complete maintenance history and still got burned.
The thing is, the build quality of the engine is so poor that even the experts can't tell you what year to get.

We sold our 2000 Town and Country with 3.8 engine that was strong with 212,000 miles to replace it with this Million-Dollar Durango as we've begun calling it. Nothing done to the 3.8 except valve cover gaskets. My 2005 Malibu with the 3.5 has 186,000 miles and has had new plugs and wires. That's it. Neither burns oil or smokes. Thanks Amsoil.