I've been having intermittent starting issues lately that sound like a TIPM going bad, so stopped by the dealer. The guy there said he had only heard of issues with the Grand Cherokee, not the Durango. He said there was nothing they could do if there weren't any codes, and there weren't. How does a dealer tell if the TIPM is bad? I have 32k miles and am hoping if there is an issue they can figure it out before the warranty runs out.

 

I had the same issue with my 2011 Durango. The dealership where I bought the vehicle never diagnosed it while it was acting up under warranty. I took it to a second dealership back in July that found the issue (outside of warranty, but since we had a history Chrysler paid for the part). This dealership told me that they can interrogate the TIPM using the same scan tool that they use to determine the latest and greatest firmware is loaded. In fact, they could see where the fault was recorded from when I took it to the first dealership. If your dealership cannot interrogate the TIPM, take it to a different Chrysler dealership ASAP!

You may also want to educate your dealership that the 2011-13 GC and the 2011-13 Durango are built on basically the same platform, and use the same TIPM.

 

You better get fixed asap!! Before your warranty runs out & get added to the rest of the 1600 people that are currently on the waiting list for the TIPM. Also they will probably tell you it's a software update but I will tell you the update did not resolve my problem. Mine started off with a delayed start & then it got to where I couldn't even get it to start at times. But beware cause it pretty much controls your whole vehicle when it was acting up it even locked my key fob in my vehicle. I was just thankful my kids weren't in the car when it happened. Get a second opinion ASAP!!

 

Thanks very much. The starting problem has been getting worse so I've been driving it more this week and testing out various scenarios. Here's what I've found:

It will generally not start at all with the button when it's cold outside. But it starts just fine with the key. I tried remote start once and it started right up but died immediately, but that was with the button out; I'll try again tomorrow with the button in. (Sorry, I need to research how it works more.) So it may not be the TIPM, but I'm taking it in for its regular service on Friday and will report these issues. I also made audio recordings of when it wouldn't start.

 

Sounds like the FOB isnt communicating with the car. There is a seperate module for that but it feeds info to the TIPM for security features. Keep us posted
STEVE

 

This is EXACTLY what we dealt with over the course of several months. My wife would report it didn't start in the morning, but I would manage to get it to start that afternoon with the key fob in the ignition. But it became more random and I think it was just dumb luck. It all depends on how the fuel pump relay is failing. It got progressively worse while we were waiting for our TIPM, and pretty much died completely the week our TIPM arrived. On the day it died, the instrument cluster went CRAZY and illuminated just about every warning light. We limped it to the dealership and left it in their parking lot. When our part arrived 4 days later, their tech had to swap the TIPM in the lot because he never could get it to start to pull it into the service bay.

 

As I am currently waiting on my TIPM now I have been contacted by the dealership about something they are doing. Instead of replacing the bad TIPM they are bypassing the faulty circuit that is causing the TIPM to go bad. Supposedly this is a permanent fix that came from Detroit. I am curious if anyone is familiar with this or has had done?? Don't want to pay $1200 to replace TIPM if not needed nor do I want to do if it's not a permanent fix! Feeling even more confused about this whole situation & my 2011 Dodge Durango.

 

Basically they are telling me that I don't even need the TIPM if this fix is done. Any thoughts would be appreciated.

 

What circuit are they bypassing? What feature are we going to lose?
STEVE

 

I am confused about this "fix" as well. As I understand it, the problem that most everyone is dealing with involves a relay that is integrated on the TIPM control board. It either fails shorted or open. Shorted and your battery dies overnight because the fuel pump stays on. Open it won't turn on the fuel pump, so it never starts. I don't see how they can bypass that function all together, but maybe it has more to do with the control to the relay and not the relay itself???

In either case, the new TIPM they installed in my Durango was a new part number. What the dealership could not tell me is whether the new part number was due to a change in the design (aka, FIX the problem!), or if it was just due to the fact that they had to go to a new supplier. Again, not fully understanding whether the problem is a quality issue or a design issue, I cannot say if a new part number means problem solved or problem delayed for another 30k miles.