I have used this forum to learn things about the 3rd gen DD. Mine is a 2011 Crew with the V6 engine and has 109,000 miles on it. I bought it new. I learned something new yesterday during a routine oil change at my dealer. My service advisor gave me bad news about a spring failure in the oil filter housing adapter when the technician removed the oil filter. Once it fails, it can not be fixed by itself. There is an entire adapter that is bolted to the engine and that is what the oil filter installs on. The spring is part of this unit and can andomly fail, as mine did during this oil change. I'm told this can happen in higher mileage vehicles with this engine...to me a poor engineering design. The fix, in order to drive my vehicle again, is to remove and replace the entire oil filter housing adapter assembly. Perhaps someone on this forum can explain this better and why such there is a complicated piece to attach the oil filter to. Now I know it exists and I have a new one installed after about a 3 hour repair. This new assembly is warranted for 24 months/24,000 miles.

Bottom line for me here is: initial repair estimate was $535 (yes, I choked). The service advisor went to bat for me and got the dealer to warrant 75% of that cost, so I wound up paying $140.64 that included the oil change I brought it in for in the first place. This was much more than I wanted to spend on a routine oil change.

Upon a search of this issue on the Internet, I have learned that this is a random and unpredictable failure regardless if you change your oil and filter or a technician changes your oil and filter. There are no symptoms to suggest that next time you remove the filter the spring mechanism will break.

I have not seen this issue mentioned on this forum before, so thought I'd throw it out there for others to see and learn from. Good luck with your future oil changes and may your spring not break!

 

$100 for a fix isn't bad. I'd walk away feeling ok about that.

 

Thanks for the information, i'm at 175,000 mile and have likely had 35 oil changes since new. My Durango doesn't use any oil between changes, however is it being filtered?

I need to find out,

 

My 11 DD Express has been the best vehicle i have ever owned, I'm 58 and have owned a lot of vehicles. Front brake original to 165,000 miles, no wheel bearings or any other bearings or seals have failed. The truck runs as good as the day i bought it new in June 2011. I don't want another vehicle, in fact i'm in sales and do a lot of traveling and i don't want to pile up another 50k on it so i may retire soon.

Short list of trouble i have had as no vehicle is perfect; alternator fail at 88k, reimbursed and replaced later by FCA, Brake booster fail, new Booster installed under recall, wiper motor and TIPM fail (this one ticked me off as the fuse didn't blow and cost $900), evaporator oil cooler fail.

I love this engine and believe it has all the right stuff to move and tow with. The AWD has been flawless and with Goodyear Wranglers (my 4th set of tires since new) are the best all around tire for quiet ride, longevity, wet and snow handling ( we get over 100" of snow per season here).

And the best of all the 30 gig hard drive that makes it a jukebox on wheels!