1999 Dodge Durango SLT Plus review from North America

PCM (computers) keep burning up due to poor design by Dodge. Not enough room in engine compartment to cool PCM, so if you look on www.carcomplaints.com you can see a guy who ran a down spout from your house -- cooling hose from beside the radiator with duct tape, that is right duct tape around the corner to the back side of the PCM (Power Control Module).

What is happening in the 5.9L Durango, at least mine; is there was not enough room in the hood area for the RAM engine, but they put it in anyway due to the vehicle being over weight. So, every 40K miles or so; the PCM fries, goes over the temp. of the chips inside the module and it even starts to melt the solder on the connections. I am on my 7th PCM, which I just keep paying around $60 to $150 per part to have the old ones fixed.

If you take off the negative terminal; wait 2 minutes; then pour cool water behind the PCM and cool the heat sink area. It will start back up and go on for a while. Always happens to me when it is over 90 degrees. I keep a spare also and can change them in 3 minutes, it is only three bolts on the passenger side of the vehicle.

The sure way to fix it to run a plastic hose (down spout) from the front of the vehicle with duct tape and ties and cut a hole so that the air is going through the hose and cooling the back of the PCM. I also put in a high cfm cooling fan for a computer server (Vantec 92mm 119cfm) in the front that runs while the car is sitting in traffic, so that way when the vehicle is not moving it still keeps the PCM cool.