17th Feb 2004, 17:33

I bought a new 1998 Durango SLT with a 5.2L engine in December 1997. At 35K miles my rear end started whining, and eventually I lost power to the rear wheels. I had it replaced with the warranty (miraculous that it didn't happen at 36,001 miles, because I had a 36K mile warranty) but other than running it in to things (my fault) and some minor electrical issues, I have never had a major problem. It has 187K miles on it and it is all stock, no modifications at all. Just regular oil changes. Maybe I am just lucky.

17th Mar 2004, 20:20

You know that I have had a lot of the same problems. My Durango 1999 SLT has 98,000 miles and just recently has the oil pressure guage dropped to zero. They replaced the oil sensor and everything was OK for awhile. I also had a lot of problems with the power windows. Several of the motors in the windows had to be replaced. If this is a universal problem, then I wonder why nothing has been done by Dodge.

18th Jun 2004, 11:26

I own a 1999 Durango 2WD with the 5.2 engine. I have experienced similar oil problems as described here. I have also had all four window motors replaced and the drivers window motor I had to replace a second time myself. It has just over 100k miles. I started putting 40W oil in the engine because I live in a hot climate and the disappearing oil problem slowed down. I checked it two days ago after a few hundred miles and I was shocked that it was still full. This took over a year of using the higher weight oil. Now, the A/C is not cooling properly and everything seems to work correctly with proper freon levels etc. I too would join a class action suit for the Durangos. I have two more Mopar vehicles with no troubles. They are Jeeps.

Rtippett@gt.rr.com.

25th Aug 2004, 13:34

I have a 1999 Dodge Durango that has been loosing coolant since 19xxx miles, and they said it was the thermostat gasket. It still leaks. Now my speedometer do not register until 35mph, can anyone help me with this problem. I have also heard a knocking noise since about 40xxx. I have been happy with the truck other wise.

Gary

GL_68@Hotmail.com.

10th Sep 2004, 07:01

We bought a 1999 Dodge Durango less than 2 months ago, it had 54,000 miles on it when we bought it. Twice now it has just stopped running while I had it in park and running, and it would not start back up for 5 hours. The security light came on, so we thought it was the security system. Yesterday while driving down the road it just quit. It did however start back up after 20 minutes this time. We took it the local mechanic and found out the Intake center gasket is blown and burning oil rapidly, and the Body control module is faulty. We are looking at 2-3 weeks with the Durango down and well over $1,000 to fix. The mechanic told us the intake gasket thing is a big problem in the Durango's and this is why so many engines blow, ours is the 318, 5.2 engine. I Love the look and how this vehicle drives, but when you pay as much as I did you expect the truck to be reliable. Thank goodness I didn't sell my Toyota 4runner, I am now driving that again.

We are seriously thinking of selling the Durango and buying a newer Toyota. I thought we would be good Americans and buy American, I am rethinking that. I have always bought Nissan's and Toyota's.

13th Oct 2004, 07:02

We purchased a 1999 Dodge Durango a little over a year ago. We also have the dropping oil pressure, check gauges, and disapearing oil problem. Last week the trans coolant return line came off while sitting parked at work. Of course when I left work in the morning I didn't notice that when I drove out of work that I was leaving all my transmission fluid in the parking lot. It went about 2 miles before it didn't have enough fluid in the transmission to run anymore. We discovered the problem, reattached the line, put 8 quarts of transmission fluid back in it and drove it home. The transmission would slip a little when you initially took off, but was fine once you got it up to about 30-40 mph. Last night it started fine and when I got about 6 miles down the road it decided that the transmission didn't want to go anymore. So now my Durango is sitting on the side of the road waiting to get towed in and find out what is up this time. If you are like me you are in for too much, and owe to much not to try and fix them. Why isn't Dodge addressing these problems? Is it going to take one of us losing power and causing a major accident before they own up to the fact that these vehicles have some serious, expensive problems? Add me to any class action suit that you are able to get started because they need to be held liable for this. I would feel guilty trading this off or selling it to another unsuspecting customer.

Taylor7664@sbcglobal.net.

22nd Oct 2004, 18:48

I just bought a 1999 Dodge Durango 68k and now I'm scared about my oil. If a law suit comes up please let me know. Ryan@installsdirect.com.

26th Oct 2004, 07:24

My husband and I purchased a '99 Durango in June of 2002. I wish we had seen these comments before buying it. We bought it for the added space, appearance, and drive (as we did not want a mini-van). One of the window motors went out shortly after buying the vehicle. A second motor went out a couple of months ago. We have also had the oil pressure gage problem. We put about $1000 into getting everything fixed just a few months ago, and yesterday started with the gage problem again. We have also had with the ABS and brake warning lights staying on (brakes have been fixed). We have also had the previously mentioned problems with transmission fluid and air conditioning. Dodge really needs to address these issues, especially being that they know it is a recurrent problem.

Outside of these problems we have loved the Durango. We had the Durango for about 2 years before any of these problems came up. Does anyone know if the newer models (2002-2004) are still having these problems? acjmom@bellsouth.net.