Problems with 2000 Dodge Durango POWER TRAIN

Had to replace the transmission at 41,000 miles on our 2000 dodge durango. around 30,000 miles the suv's rpm's would fluctuate and stall at stops. it would do it spuratically, yet basically daily. the place where we had it serviced said they would have to duplicate the problem before they could fix it. since this didn't happen all of the time the service department could not duplicate it. on one occassion the suv stalled and we immediately drove it to the service department they did tell us there was a service bulletin issued about the computer needing reprogrammed because of high rpm's while idling. so they reprogrammed the computer. that lasted for a couple of days and we were calling the service department again. this time they said they could reprogram the computer again but would have to charge us $60.00 do it. feeling that we should not have to pay for this we did not have it done. it was shortly after that my husband was driving the durango and it quit working the transmission light came on and the engine light. the vehicle was towed to the service department and we were notified that the transmission was bad and they had tried to rebuild it but that did not work so they were putting a brand new transmission in the 2000 durango with 41,000 miles. luckily we had purchased an extended warrentee and only had to pay $50.00 to replace the transmission. we had contacted damlier chrysler and told them about the situation and i am very disappointed in their company they acted as if they did not care. we have had numerous other problems with this vehicle, drivers side shoulder seatbelt bolt just fell out, we had the rear a/c motor replaced, the a/c unit itself does not get cold which the service department still has not been able to fix it, the vehicle shifts into gear hard sometimes you have to floor it to get the vehicle to go into reverse, and there are other things. if we had done our research before purchasing this vehicle we would not have bought it.

The consumer was able to move the gear shift without pressing down on the brake pedal. the dealer informed the consumer the vehicle was designed that way. *jb

At approximately 55k (5/03) miles i had to spend $1662 for work on my dodge durango's differential. it has been my experience that these types of problems don't come up until way over 100k+ miles. then 11/03 it was mandatory that i replace all 4 ball joints. this also doesn't seem right since the car only had approximately 65k miles on it at that time. you would think when you take your auto to the dealer for all its scheduled maintenance and having spent $35k on it new, one wouldn't be having these sorts of expensive problems.

While driving the automatic transmission didn't shift properly due to a defective output sensor. the dealer has been notified. *nlm

Transmission and drive shaft failure at 52000 miles. *nlm

Transmission failed causing vehicle not to accelerate.*jb..*ak

Occasionally transmission will not engage when attempting to accelerate from a stop. transmission is in drive but acts as if in park or neutral. this has happened several times when attempting to pull away after stopping for a traffic light. *nlm

A moaning noise from my transmission while it is in reverse. *la

Transfer case has gone bad. dodge missed the diagnosis and sent us back driving until i was able to bring it back in a april (over a month later). we have currently about 75,000 miles on our 2000 durango. the transfer case went bad unexpectedly and untimely. our wheels could have locked up while we were driving causing serious injury to us and others. *jb

The battery was replaced by the dealer on three different occasions, the transmission was replaced last year, and there was a problem with the door lock system. *jb

Auto transmission does not engage when in drive , acts like in neutral or park. oil changes and transmission fluid has been serviced . dealer wants over $3000.00 for a rebuilt transmission. this is a safty issuse dodge needs to look into. *jb

Transmission has irregular shifts between gears. it seems to fluctuate between 1st and 2nd gear, or like it can't pick which gear it wants to be in. transmission clunks between drive and reverse. larson dodge in puyallup told me it was normal and that i should pay for a transmission fluid change even though it was still under factory warranty. said it needs synthetic tranny fluid. only 30k miles on it.*ak

After two weeks of purchasing our (2 years old @ that time)durango, as we were driving we heard a loud screaching noise, we found a piece that appearantly broke off, it had to do with the brakes we were told. later our transmission wasnt functioning properly, it needed new sensor. when steering it screaches (had problem right after purchasing) and its been getting worse, we took it to dealer and they flushed power steering fluid and we also had to have right ball joint replaced at the same time. when steering it still sounds bad. we had to replace the battery a year after purchasing one at the dealership and a month after that our transmission went out. dealer wanted to charge $3700.00. we took it somewhere else, hope to pick up today from shop will be paying $2570.00. *ak

Transmisison slips when changing from 1 to 2 and 2 to 3. dealer says i am a "good customer" and will "extend" warranty to cover this for a $250 deductible, or this would have cost me $2300. i appreciate the effort, but i believe chrysler has a problem with this family of transmissions. i have 36.5k miles, the 36 months portion was up in october. there are several persons at work who have experienced same type symptoms related to trans. this trans is also used on dakotas, durangos and at least the 1500 rams. the durango owners club website has also had several posts just for december related to transmisisons with vehicles starting in "98. how many more are out there that chrysler is not admitting to? dealer didn't open trans, just ordered the rebuild kit (last monday). as of this morning, 12-30-02, my truck was still not being worked on, have had parts since 12-26-02.

Within 3 years and 36,000 miles, i've experienced numerous mechanical defects w/ this durango: 2 crankshaft sensors, 1 camshaft sensor, failure of power door locks, erratic idle, replacement of rotors (28,000 miles) and most recently, the need for a new universal joint, rear axle. ts

While driving the engine light illuminated; also , the transmission light. consumer took vehicle to the dealer, and dealer reset memory, 60 miles later the transmission failed. please provide any further information. ts....*ak

Faulty transmission on the 3rd transmission in the first 75k. the first gear went out on all three within 20k miles of install. *la

Transmission went out of over drive while driving down the freeway, would not go back into over drive, "check engine" light came on 5 different times, dealer first told me i may not have replaced gas cap properly after filling with gas, dealer worked on durango each time under warranty, dealer finally changed transmission fluid and seals and re-booted or re-programmed computer and check engine light is finally off. i lost 3 days on an out of town trip (central oregon)waiting for a dealer to open on monday to check it, he told me to continue on trip, he could find nothing wrong. (to get me far from his dealership?) i lost about two weeks usage out of the durango and have lost any faith in the car being reliable as it has several problems. *jb

While driving at 40 mph vehicle suddenly came to a holt. vehicle would not go into reverse or drive. vehicle was towed to dealer. dealer stated it was rear alignment. please provide any further information.*ak

Very high rear-end failure rate for this vehicle which could lock up at any speed. nlm

Without prior warning vehicle shut down while traveling on highway. transmission blew out. dealership is aware of problem.*ak

Vehicle was in park and ignition turned off when vehicle suddenly rolled forward into a tree. please provide any further information.*ak

I doubled parked the truck in front of an old ford ltd., placed the truck in park and left it in idle. got out of the truck leaving the front door open, went to the rear left door to take out a car seat when suddenly the truck slipped into reverse pealing the two left doors with the ford and damaging the left front fender. the damages to the truck where over $4500.00. according to the dealer where daimler road side assistance took the truck (riverdale chrysler) they found no problems with the transmission and after having the truck for over 7 weeks i received a call stating that the check engine light was coming on. the accident happened on july 12th, 2002 and its now august 4th and i still have not gotten the truck back.*ak

Engine check light came on. took vehicle to dealer ,and they were trying to correct transmission problem. please provide any further information.*ak

Durango fails to up shift at redline from first gear to second, when gear selector is in drive. engine hits rev limiter repeatedly. took to suburban chrysler (saint paul), where i was told this is normal operation. i agree the engine should have a rev limiter if the transmission doesn't shift (my complaint). not only did suburban chrysler (saint paul) waste a whole day of having my durango, they used a half a tank a gas and put over a hundred miles on it just to tell me "there is no problem." every car i have ever owned had automatic transmission (and i have worked on a few myself), and have never failed to shift at redline (those cars had 100 times the mileage, that my durango has). when i picked up my durango not only was i pissed they used it all day and couldn't find anything wrong with it, they didn't even shut the hood all the way when they were done. i had to pull over on the freeway to close the hood properly (it was bouncing on the safety catch). i complained to chrysler who told me to visit another dealer. this is certainly 5 out of 10 star service.

Vehicle went into gear without pressing on brake. vehicle rolled and hit a deck. please provide any further information.*ak

Gear shifter shifts without using brake or any other saftey device. *ak

Consumer stated that vehicle will not shift into gears when starting up the vehicle. ts

Consumer's was sitting still at a intersection and heard a loud noise coming from underneath the vehicle, axle broke.*ak

Transmission needing complete overhaul at 55,000 miles

Transmission "grabbing" and "slipping" in all gears. most noticable on the highway. transmission goes from overdrive to one and sometimes two lower gears at highway speed. vehilcle will jump and sputter. vehicle was taken to dealer who did not get it repaired. it was also taken to my local mechanic, who says it's a lemon. (i have no faith in the dealer who sold me the garbage after they claimed to have not figured my fianancing correctly abd hit me with a $975 additional fee.) ellenville dodge. *ak

No summary listed for abov evehicle. *ak

When getting into third gear transmission would not shift, transmission will roar up, dealership replaced transmission twice. *ak consumer is stating that the mechanic told them, that dodge has had a history of problems with bad seals in their transmissions,consumer feels that dodge should pay for the second transmission replacement. *yd

Consumer states fender fell off drivers side, dealer installed two wheel well fasteners, consumer states that rail dust covers vehicle at rear, consumer states rattling, squeaking, crunching or moaning noise throughout vehicle over bumps, dealer replaced anti rattle clip, and both rear left springs, vehicle lunges forward with brake on at stops, dealer found throttle valve was scored and replaced valve body, transmission hesitates or will not engage when brakes are applied, dealer replaced all seals, clutches, and cleaned and inspected overdrive, shift linkage out of adjustment, on several occasions, engine pings on acceleration, dealer unable to duplicate, concerns with broken rear seat latches and seat not flipping forward, dealer performed clockspring safety recall 01v153000. *tt

I had a lot of chattering and grinding noises in both the front and rear differential. the dealer checked the problem and found out that the differential fluid needed to be changed due to the viscosity being weak and recommended that it be changed and additive be done. upon finding this out they also said that this fluid would have to be changed every 30,000 miles. my cost for this problem was $400.00. it was not specified in the owner's manual that this had to be done at all.*ak

While parked and idling a 3year old child was able to shift vehicle out of park into drive, and without applying brake pedal, vehicle went into a corn field before stopping; dealer was not notified at this time. feel free to provide any further information on this matter.*ak

Pulled into garage and car would not go into park, reverse, drive, etc. - digital gauge on the dash showed that the car was in gear 1. the car felt like it was in park although we had a difficult time turning the car off since gears would not work properly. even though the car was in park, it was able to be rocked back and forth as if it was in neutral.we had it towed away on a flatbed to the dealer since we were not able to drive it. we were told that a part snapped in the steering column. we've complained to dealer on two separate occasions (mileage 5963 and 14120) about the problems in the steering column portion of the vehicle - the service department couldn't duplicate the problem, and told us not to worry about it... it makes me wonder what would have happened if i was driving (with my two small children) when this part snapped??*ak

While idling in driveway vehicle jumped out of park into reverse. contacted dealer, and dealer stated that had never heard of problem before.*ak

Consumer's child was able to take vehicle out of park and put it into reverse while she was being buckled into a child safety seat. vehicle started rolling backwards. consumer was able to stop vehicle. please provide any additional information/attachments. *ak

While shift lever indicator was in park and engine was idling vehicle jumped into reverse and traveled approximately 50 feet. vehicle crashed into trees, causing property and vehicle damage. there were no injuries during this incident. dealership examined vehicle, and replaced driveshaft in an attempt to correct the problem. on 06-nov-2001, while vehicle was in park and idling, it jumped out of park into reverse and traveled approximately 20 feet. in an attempt to stop vehicle, a tire rolled over owners ankle. dealership was currently examining vehicle for second incident. please provide any additional information / documentation. *ak

The vehicle changed gears without the brakes being applied.*jb

While driving, the transmission control lever became disengaged from the transmission, because dealer did not initially fill the transmission fluid to its maximum operating capacity, also the linkages had come undone, problem has reoccurred 3 times.*et

Winding sound in steering when tuning wheel,horible sound while turning wheels and backing up,door locks are in locked position (can't open to get out of car and loud sound going off when door locks are supposed to self lock at 25 mph)bought car in 2001, after 6 mo took car to dearership to report problems while still under warranty and they said nothing was wrong. still have paperwork to show of the complaints.i have 3 small grandchildren i take care of and transport in the vehicle. hope you people do something about this before someone dies or you will really be out of pocket. i have less that 60,000 miles on suv so this can't be due to wear and tear. ( i marked oem yes if that pertains to original parts on suv). *ak

When driving on uneven road surface as i-94 fwy, vehicle expeirences loss of spur traction and brake-out. in three lane trafic, brak-out is a major failure and causes with un-expireanced driver bad exidence. please check with manufacture, since 5 other owners in my company experiance the same incedent allmost any day. *ak

Since day one this vehicle has been in and out of dealership, from transmisson problems, steering , noises. i stopped bringing in truck at 30,000 miles when my warranty expired, and know i just have live with it.*ak

No summary listed for above vehicle. *ak

Vehicle experienced loss of power after driving 50 miles or more. next day vehicle was driven to the dealer without any problem; dealer inspected vehicle and was unable to duplicate the problem. please provide any further details. *ak

Consumer states, vehicle's transmission slips out of gear and is unable to drive. dealer notified. please provide additional information. ts

No summary listed for above vehicle. *ak

Child crawled out of car seat and placed transmission into drive, car took off, able to chase it down and stop vehicle. at a bus stop where many kids were around and could have been hit if driver was not right next to vehicle. *ak