1999 Dodge Durango SLT review from North America

Drivers seat came loose because the power seat track broke.

Rear wiper arm nut fell off.

Rear wheel speed sensor failed.

Exhaust valve spring failed, expensive.

Both front window motors failed.

Thermostat failed.

Oxygen sensor failed.

It was comforting to read several reviews here from people who had experienced the same mysterious problem I had. My 1999 Durango engine stalled in a fast food check out line July 21, 2007 and I had to push it to get out of the way of the people behind me. (You don't want to block the drive-through line at Jack-in-the-Box...you'll end up with a small riot on your hands.

All the guage needles were flat-lined and I was getting the "No Bus" message in the digital odometer read out. My wife suggested we were out of gas but I had just filled the tank the previous day. I pushed the vehicle into the parking lot, popped the hood, looked for anything obviously loose, broken or missing but nothing apparent. I called my Dodge dealership. They immiediately said I need a new crank sensor. I called AAA and requested a tow, they said it would be about an hour wait. About 30 minutes into my wait for the tow truck to arrive, I tried starting the vehicle and to my surprise it started!. I drove it home, did a search on the computer and came across this site with several people describing my problem exactly. I drove it to the dealership the next day, fearing it would die on me en route but luckily, I made it ok. I requested they just replace the PCM (main computer) and skip the sensor replacement becaue the sensor failures were probably just a symptom of the greater problem.

Of course, I was just 9 months out of warranty so I paid the full amount; about $800.00 for the replacement.

This is one of those unsolvable mysteries isn't it? Electrical or computer problems usually are difficult to trace to root cause. It's been a week without failure but that isn't really long enough to call it a success. I will try to remember to come back to this site a year from now and report my status.

I do intend to keep this vehicle for a few more years. It's a pretty solid feeling SUV when running, but some unusual mechanical odds and ends have failed and I feel they are items that should not have failed. This is a family vehicle (two adults and a dog) and does not see hard duty. It has been costly to repair but less costlty overall than buying a new vehicle.

Besides, it's my wife's SUV, she loves it, so, we keep it.

Should a PCM fail after 8 years? Yeah, it's probably ok after that amount of time. My home PC hard drive crashed after 4 years, probably not much different. The scary aspect here is; if it happened at traffic speed it could be very dangerous. Too bad Dodge couldn't do some sort of preventative maintenance / replacement, save us the heart stopping experiences.