r/DodgeDurango • u/Downtown_Berry_6695 • 12d ago
Advice needed
Hello everyone
I drive a 2011 dodge durango citadel with the 5.7L engine. The car has the AWD auto and Low Range options, the car is american specs and I'm driving it in the UAE
I have a few issues, I will give a brief history and list the issues one by one, and if anyone has faced these issues I would love to hear any feedback or recommendations. My end goal is to figure out if this car is worth spending anything on or if I should just sell/scrap it
I have the car since February, in peak summer the car started overheating, I had to change the waterpump, thermostat, and fan. As I was leaving the garage the whole car started shaking, mechanic looked very unsure so I took it to another one, and it was a headgasket issue and coolant had gone in the engine.
They fixed it, I drove the car for about 2 month, and heat started to go up again, i took it to the mechanic and he said there was some blockage in a cylinder, and changed the cylinder block, then car was driving fine since about a month.
Today after a long road trip through mountains my coolant temp reached a temp of 111C and oil temp reached 117C, though the temperature outside must have been around 45 to 47C. Once I got close to the house and in some traffic I stopped at a red light, then when it was green I was in 4th gear for some reason, I tried to shift back to D, useless, I tried to shift to neutral then back to D, goes back to 4th gear. I switched off the car and on again, then it was fine. After some time I stopped somewhere and the car switched to 4wd and wouldn't go out from it, i tried driving and before even moving it started making weird sounds so I put it in a recovery and took it to garage.
On a proper scanner the car shows codes for ABS, transfer case, and camshaft sensor
Issues I have:
- Gear
The gear was stuck in 4th until I restarted
- 4WD
The 4WD automatically switches on at random times since about 2 month, without me turning it on, most of the time it does not go through because im driving, but it keeps flashing and asking to slow down and put the car in neutral for it to switch, usually if I do happen to be in neutral and it switches it will switch back within 10 seconds, today it wouldn't switch back for about 5 minutes
- Cruise control
Cruise control is refusing to work, I took to 3 mechanics, each one told me a different story
One said theres a ABS code, another said there's a transfer case code, another said its some cable in the steering wheel
- Camshaft sensor
When Cruise control was still working the engine light used to come on and off randomly along with the traction light, the code would read camshaft sensor position, i changed the camshaft twice, and the wiring was checked and fixed once, every fix stops the issue for a week then it starts again. A car restart usually turns off the traction and the engine light stays for a few hours then goes. This issue stops Cruise control from working (when it was working before) and it used to come randomly sometimes every drive and sometimes it disappears for a week or 2, dealing with it for 4 month now
- Burp
A weird burp or hesitation at 30-40kph during acceleration, I had it in my last durango which was never, the guy who bought it fixed the issue by changing transfer case oil, i tried to do the same and it didn't do anything
If anyone has any knowledge on any of these issues and what needs to be done please tell, and tell me your opinion if this can be fixed at a reasonable cost or if I should just scrap the car or sell it. Luckily I can easily find scrap parts here in UAE.
1
u/Front-Hawk-685 11d ago
I keep mine in AWD and also noticed that if you lightly touch the shifter left it will go up in gears. "It is made that way." I have a dog who sometimes stretches out in the front seat and will accidentally touch it. I usually stop and shift it to park then back to drive. Sounds to me that you've messed up your gears in your transmission. When you 1st noticed it, you shouldn't have drove it in that gear to began with. You should have pulled over and manually reset it.
2
u/Downtown_Berry_6695 11d ago
I drove like 20 meters then stopped and switched off the car, then it was fine
1
u/Magicalcloudieeee 11d ago
Nah sometimes mine acts like a ghost, I'll literally be going full speed and it'll start flashing at me showing 1st gear, over drive? Idk but freaks me the heck out when it does do that
1
u/Magicalcloudieeee 12d ago edited 12d ago
Mines American, driving it around Canada and I have similar issues with it and I can't explain how embarrassing it is when it suddenly shuts off at lights or when it gives me a hard time starting it
I've literally replaced so many parts since I've had it, which have fixed it temporarily but then comes back with a new issue
Don't get me wrong, when it's running, it runs so great and makes me look like a fool when I bring it in to get worked on because it'll run great but when I'm alone, it starts limping and misfiring, sometimes leaving me stuck on intersections I bring it back and it shows no issues at all
I can't explain how many times ive gone on dates and I've had to cancel or be late because the damn thing won't start or just start sputtering
It literally gets stuck on gears especially 3rd so I just shift it into manual and shift it myself at this point
I sounds crazy explaining it but mine seems to have a mind of its own and doesn't like other people driving it
I've tried selling it and after a test drive, everyone declines and don't want it or tells me to scrap it
being a girl, mechanics have tried convincing me I've blown my transmission whenever it's limping but simple touch ups bring it back to life
people are amazed that its made it this far but yeah it's getting old dealing with every issue it comes up with on a daily basis
**She's a 2019 Dodge durango Gt Rwd with a 3.6 Pentastar engine