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1st Gen 1998 Dodge Durango Problems

The 5th and 7th plug wires were taken out today but the 5th wire broke, see pictures. However the 7th wire looked kinda nasty inside, again see pictures. We rednecked up a couple '67 318 plug wires to fit temporarily and cleared the misfire code to see if that does the trick, sure enough it seems to. I took it for a ride and no missing while under load and driving at least that I noticed and no check engine light. I think all I'm gonna do is get new wires and plugs and I should be all set....
 

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7mopar said:
Would not a bad crank sensor throw a code? I know it did as early as 93.
Click to expand...
Not always
And I've had the crank sensor out of my 01 (360, same setup as yours) and I had better access to it by taking out the plastic wheel well. I had to pull the transmission and it's common to smack the crank sensor upon reinstall and damaging it so I pulled it out to avoid that. Money is short, I can't afford collateral damage....glad to see you got a good brand, they were who Chrysler sources them from back in the day. Same thing you would get if you bought over the dealer parts counter
 
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They sometimes set a code but not always. When the one quit in my 97 1/2 ton it set a code 11. When the one on my 96 Dakota died I had no codes.
 
Wow. The Durango section has died off.
I still have 2 of them.
And will run them in the ground.
 
To many first gem Durango have gone to that grave yard in the sky. Most from under dash electric issues that created mass melt down. The rest suffered drive line issues that were costing more to fix than the value of the vehicle.
Still see one on rare occasions.
 
never seen many such electrical issues on them. And thats with wrenching for a living.... . Of the ones that werent wrecked, either the trans died or they lost oil pressure due to too small sump and/or pickup tubes getting clogged....
and "value"? yeah I guess if youre a hard "numbers" person and/or cant/won't do any work on your own vehicles yourself.... then there's people like me who rebuild (their own) transmission and put it back in plus a set of new tires on an 01 with over 313k miles, and are still driving daily....
I don't care what some "book" says it's "worth.... a vehicle is worth more to me that I know the history of, and still gets the job done for me every day.... if I ain't looking to sell I don't care what some book says.... and zero payments, a real "full frame", and NOT rusted to a point I can stick my fist thru and "not" touch the sides of a rust hole as I stick my fist thru, it stays. I know every nut and bolt that's been touched, since 2013 on that one.... my wife used to drive that one 22 miles a day.... and it was our "go everywhere" vehicle.... she now drives the '03 mostly and that one has been our "go everywhere" vehicle... Since I put the trans back in the 01, I've been driving it daily 70 miles a day... it still pulls my camper better than my 1/2 ton pickup with (another, ugh) 4.7 under its hood.... I cant feel it behind me with the 360 Durango (damn I hate "liters") where i can in my 1/2 ton.... It stays til its totalled out or til it rots into oblivion....

I bought a 2nd one a year and a half ago... this one an 03 with (then) 127k on it.... and still had to pay more than half-again for the 03 what the 01 cost me in 2013..... and passed on many listed for more than that.... there were a couple out there I saw listed for double again what I paid for the 03.... and "SXT, SLT, SLT PLUS" dont matter so much this long after the fact.... the 01 is "SLT PLUS" with 360, 46RE, full leather, overhead console, full gauges, and probably more vs the 03 SXT with its cheaper cloth seats, single speed T case, (ugh) 4.7 under the hood, no "VOLT" or "OIL PRESSURE" gauges, (never knew any Durangos came like that til I got this one) Though I HATE 4 door vehicles having 2 grandkids in car seats, I had no choice.... I just wish Dodge had made the Durango on the full size chassis not the Dakota chassis.... its tight in the back (actually "middle") row....
Unfortunately when we were looking every 360 powered one was rotted out badly as were some of the 4.7 ones.... as I really wanted another 360 (or 318) powered one..... back when I bought the 01, I passed on more than I can recount because they had the 4.7..... but we bought the 2nd one, to "buy time" to fix the trans in the '01 with work, Mom in the nursing home, and then Mom dying, I didn't have time to get it done, as readily as I had hoped.... and even the price of a "bench rebuild" has more than doubled since the last one I had that done to.... but this 4.7 must have been well maintained by PO's..... as its actually been good to us so far. Only a dead battery the day of Mom's funeral for problems so far.....
so yeah if you can fix them yourself it makes a difference.....
 
and last I looked I didnt think this forum was only for the 1st version of the Durango..... though I could care less about the newer ones.
 
Durango has never filled the truck bill here. Wasn't even sad to see the Dakota go. No bed it's worthless. The F250, 5.4 gets the same milage as the 3.9 Dakota.
Has an eight foot bed. I just wish the Ford could have been had with the 7.3 diesel.
 
I have a truck besides. Not crazy about the supposed 10:1, "300 hp" 4.7 in my current daily but its done the job so far. Though occasionally "barely". I have wished it was a hemi occasionally. Though id really rather have a 318 or 360.

I get what you say about 3.9 and it's lack of mpg. I've had a few. I've also had 318 Dakota's that were equal or better in that department. My 87 B250 with it's carbureted 318 even beat every 3.9 I've had in that department. So did my 81 w150 long bed, another carbureted 318, this one a factory thermoquad, a truck I definitely should have never sold. I also get what you say about ridiculously short bed on newer trucks. The only 3.9 powered trucktgat I've had that I miss is my 90 Dakota with it's long 8' bed.
All that mess said I have a pair of 80s trucks in progress.
One is another I owned once and was sorry I ever let go. It was an '83 D250 and it's mine again, and it had a 318 that surprised a lot of people when I had it the first time. Hell of a workhorse. That supposed "150hp" definitely out did what my '12 ex Fastenal truck could ever hope to be. After I put a stick replacement 360 2 barrel cam in, a set of magnum heads and a 4 bbl Edelbrock intake and carb it was even a better workhorse. It was surprisingly good on power before but it was even better after. That engine and trans is now in my son's fury wagon with no more than a power wash, new paint and a few gaskets. Well over 200k on that motor and trans, bottom end has never been touched since new.

It will live again but the only thing "1983" about it will be the frame, the Dana 60, and the dash with included VIN number. I have a 89-90 cab, 91 bed, most of the rest of the body panels will be '88, the motor will be an 00 360 magnum freshly rebuilt and topped off with a carburetor. Behind that will be a late 90s NV4500. 5 speed.

My other one is an 85 D150 that came to me as a /6 and will stay that way. I do have a different trans (I have 2 choices on hand and am trying to decide which way to go) besides it's original 727 (yes I know the difference) which works fantastic but needs to come out if only to fix some leaks.
It's either getting an A500 or na 833OD. Not sure which. And yes I have the means of putting a small block Bell housing to the back of a /6....
I've explained that here elsewhere.
I am not a fan of all the bells and whistles and overall "cheapness" in construction of newer vehicles. I don't need 17 black boxes....
And I prefer old school gearbox steering over rack n pinion especially electric power steered ones....
 
7mopar said:
To many first gem Durango have gone to that grave yard in the sky. Most from under dash electric issues that created mass melt down. The rest suffered drive line issues that were costing more to fix than the value of the vehicle.
Still see one on rare occasions.
Click to expand...
Too many 1st gens went to the crusher during that dang worthless cash for clunkers garbage. I kept the one I bought new in Oct of 99 (fully loaded 2000) for my wife at the time and the only problem with it was a leaking rear core plug. Most expensive repair I ever did on a car. Wife left me in 2017 with a like new looking 2000 black Durango only to turn it in a trashy looking one in less than a year then burned it up when the temp went up and check engine light came on and wouldn't stop until the engine seized up. It was the only vehicle that stood up to her crazy ass driving.
 
Cranky1 said:
Too many 1st gens went to the crusher during that dang worthless cash for clunkers garbage. I kept the one I bought new in Oct of 99 (fully loaded 2000) for my wife at the time and the only problem with it was a leaking rear core plug. Most expensive repair I ever did on a car. Wife left me in 2017 with a like new looking 2000 black Durango only to turn it in a trashy looking one in less than a year then burned it up when the temp went up and check engine light came on and wouldn't stop until the engine seized up. It was the only vehicle that stood up to her crazy ass driving.
Click to expand...
Life is a different world without crazy ass wives.
 
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