This vehicle is a very nice looking SUV, but has been nothing but a problem since I bought it in Nov. 1999.
To begin with the Durango has always used anti-freeze. Up to a half a gallon per month dealer said it was no problem.
At 38,000 miles it had oil pump failure. Dealer said it was due to excessive oil wear. Even thou I have always changed my own oil at least every 5,000 miles, I kept no receipts.
This was a $691 lesson learned.
Now, 5 months later I have bearing wear and the engine will not keep oil pressure. Dealer wants $5,100 for a new short block. Chrysler said it is due to the original sludge build up. Therefore will not help in anyway.
Customer service is very poor as I cannot talk to anyone past the service manager. They will not give me the District Mgrs. phone number and he will not call me back. The customer service line just calls the service manager.
I have bought my last Dodge product!
I hope you have better luck with your Durango than I had with mine.
As I search the internet it appears there is widespread problems with the 5.2 Magnum engine, but yet Chrysler will not admit to any design flaws. Where is the Attorney General?
I would bet that your coolant loss is occuring around the thermostat housing. It is very simple to detect. You just follow the upper radiator hose to where it connects to the engine block. You will probably see signs of where your coolant is going. Because this is on top of the engine it rarely drips to the ground, but rather evaporates and leaves a crusty residue. I hope this helps you and others as it is a fairly common problem.
As for your oil concerns, 5000 miles between oil changes is too long. I have a 99 durango with 60000+ miles and have never had the problem you described, However, I have seen many examples of the same thing on vehicles with inadequate maintenance.
Hard to believe a dealer would consider a low coolant problem not an issue. Though I do own a Dodge and a Pontiac and have found complete incompetence at certain dealerships with both. I don't like their philosophy of tell us what is wrong and we'll fix it. You guys are the experts! Tell us what is wrong and fix it, under warranty or not.
I guess I am one of the lucky ones. I'm at 76,000 miles and maintain most of the maintenance myself. I tow a full size camper and boat regularly and she is still truck-in. Though at 75,000 miles I did have to replace the output shaft speed sensor... seems to be pretty common.
Sorry to hear about the dealership problems, but I'm afraid it is everywhere. I don't see this improving any time soon. Ask to see ASE certifications from the mechanics working on your vehicle. If they don't have any, go somewhere else.
What can we do about this? Why do we as customers have to pay the price because these SUV, have all kind of problems I will be giving my local TV station my concerns to see what they can get from the Dodge Dealership.Because this is a wide spead problem. Regina
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