Loss of Oil Pressure

Hello all!

I have read a lot of post about lost oil pressure and blown up engines. This has got me rather sad cause I have only had my 98 Durango for about a year now.

For those of you who have expirenced this, what was the Approx. milage when the oil pressure first dropped, and when the engine finally gave out? What Engine was it? 4.7, 5.2, 5.9? What are your driving habits (Mrs. Daisy or Jeff Gordon?) What about maintenance? Regular or miss a few?

Im really worried because the previous owner didn't keep up with maintenance. I bought the truck at 60k miles and I removed the air filter to learn that it was the OEM filter... that's right 60k and 1 FILTER!!!! Plugs and wires next and the truck was like new. I change my own oil every 3000 miles. Right now it's sitting at 76k. Should I cut my losses and go buy a Chevy? Any feedback you can offer would be MUCH appreciated!

Thanks
Aaron Wagner

Hello Aaron, After reading this, you should be able to rest a little easier: I bought a 1998 Durango a few months ago. Soon after, the oil pressure dropped to ZERO!! What do I do!!?? I turned it off immediately and waited. I started it again and only had about 20lbs, so I drove back home and shut it down for the day. The next day, I started it up and still no oil pressure so I decided to change the oil to Mobil 1 synthetic 10W 30. After the oil change, I started it up and the pressure slowly made it's way to 80 lbs!! It has never lost oil pressure since. From all of the people that I have spoken with, I have concluded the following: If you use conventional oil in a Dodge 4.7, 5.2, or 5.9, you will have engine failure between 70,000 and 100,000 without exhausting maintainance. If you use synthetic motor oil, you will not have this problem at all. This stuff disolves all the sludge out of your motor so the pickup screen can not get clogged. As for gas milage, that's a tough one... I get 18mpg highway, but I use premium fuel (and synthetic oil). SWITCH TO SYNTHETIC!! And use a Mobil 1 oil filter, they are among the best!

xs29l,

You sound like a Mobil Oil salesman....


awagner777,

as much as I loved my durango, so much so I bought it after the lease term was up then 1 month later it died, IT IS A MONEY PIT, GAS GUZZELING PIECE OF SHIT WITH NO RESALE VALUE!!!!!!!

It has 53,000 miles on it...50k on the dead motor, and 3k on the new motor...the interior is MINT, as well as the exterior...however every dealership I've taken it to has told me the same thing....
"$3,500-$4,000 tops on a trade in, It just doesn't have the resale value because too many people know about all the trouble with them!"

I call xs29l "synthetic man" from now on...

he mumbles "mobil 1" in every post....

Geez, you'd think he'd be CEO of exxon, exxcept there ain't no oil in the crap, so he'd be loosing profit shares...!
use Castrol Syntec... at least it has a longer name?

LOL


AND to AARON:

Try putting an oil filter and some new oil in it, then flush the motor with a solution of 60% oil to 40% kerosene (yeah, it's flamable! watch out!), run it until it's warm (you should have oil pressure) then change the oil and filter again.

or, if your skeptical, you can go buy a can of motor flush.... (same crap and less of it) and still do the rest.

Whatever you do, don't ever put higher viscocity oil in it than it calls for.... or it'll certainly sludge. This goes for STP treatment too, along with BG and slick 50 (slick sh!tty...).

It's an old trick, but it's worked many times. If it works for you, change the oil (with just oil!) at 1K intervals for the first three months.

And don't buy a chevy or a Ford or nothin' but a Dodge, please... I never like to see anyone go over to the dark side....

Slantsixness

I cannot remember which thread it was here in this forum. Someone found out about the engines and its sludge problem. I think they mentioned the problem is mainly with the 4.7's and possibly the last generations of 5.2's. Something with the upper intake gasket slowly leaking antifreeze into the oil area and eventually gumming and sludging everything up. There may be a recall on that. Damn, wished I remember which thread they were talking about on this.

I have a 2000 R/T with a 5.9 and has been monitoring the oil level and oil pressure everyday after reading all these threads on losing oil pressure and then losing the engine. I only have 2k miles of extended warranty left on my D. So far, I have been running on Castrol Syntec 10w30 for the past 30k miles that I have owned this vehicle. Oil has remained clean so far. Don't see any green stuff which would be coming from my antifreeze if I had that upper gasket leaking problem.

I was going to post a nasty long letter here about rumors, false information and misleading info about all the Durangos and the motors in them.

But I decided to, instead, give you all a wake up call.

AARON Wagner and Batman Joe hate(d) their Durangos.
Nothing we say is going to improve or change their or any other similar poster's opinion of their Durango's.

Let's stop enabling these clowns. It's clear they had their minds made up before they posted these threads, just trying to provoke a reaction from us.

Why not go over to a GM forum and start a nasty rumor about that new ugly truck having a problem with that funky roof severing peoples heads, and put up a website showing one decapitating one of the children in the "holy sh!t" commercials.

Somebody will believe it....

don't let it be you.

That's hilarious!

Alright dude,
I love my durango, and to prove it, here's what i love about it:
1. First I love that it's a dodge. Im a dodge man, I always have been!
2. Power. the 5.2 will yank a house off it's foundation! Maybe not litterally, but it's plenty stout.
3. Style. Love the curves, the lines, and the over all style of the truck.
4. Ride height. With a set of BFG A/T's on it, it look a little like cat ready to pounce.
5. Interior. I love the layout of the interior. I love the extra seat in the very back (even though i have it laid down for my speaker box and amp) I love how comfortable the seats are, esp. on long trips. Love the console and the "junk" area by the 4wd shifter. Love the extra power outlet.
6. Air conditioner. In Texas, the A/C is VERY important, and that baby will freeze you out. In fact, the best compliment i ever got was when my boss was riding with me on a long trip, (he likes it COLD in the office) and he said "damm, think we could turn down the A/C?"

Now, that said, let me tell you the two problems i have with the Durango.
1. Chrysler is refusing to fix problems that are VERY common (ie. Ball joints and oil sludge).
2. I HATE that those problems are going to effect my Durango.

I knew about the gas milage when i bought the truck, i just didn't plan on 2.00+ per gallon gas. I knew about the ride quality. IT"S A TRUCK! I knew that.
I did not know about the problems that chrysler DOES know about, and that's what makes me mad.
Don't put words in my mouth man, you know nothing about me, you know nothing about my truck. For your information, I am about to get married, and I dont want to be stuck with a dead truck 6 months down the road when I'm married and can't afford to get something new.

AARON,
Don't sell the durango. Get the sludge out like I said, without the rebuild.
Why are you worried over the front end? First, it's cheap to fix, and you've gotta be like running ove 10 armadillos a day, or 10 speed bumps, all at 60+MPH, before you'll break anything.

I did not direct anything towards you specifically, but I too am a long time Mopar man, from a family of long time mopar people.
I don't think the durango is perfect (reliability) but it and all Diamler-Chrysler cars end up taking globally proportioned bad raps for a relatively small amount of problems.

I guess I was wrong to lump you together with Joe, so for that I'm sorry...

But My point is to be taken:
There's so much "Bad Press" out here about Durangos and other of my favored Mopars, that you mention "durango" or "Dodge" in a thread, and you've got 50 people or so ready to explain how horrible it is and how every defect in any car is related to your mopar.

You're here because you've read or heard all these "stories". You know, a lot of them are true, but what about the other 95% of durango owners who don't have any probems?

Don't worry about any 6 months. Worry about what your new wife is going to say when it's still sitting in the driveway 20 years from now, and you can't bear to give it up, cause it still runs.

Slantsixness

I don't think your wife will leave you because your Durango is dead, she'll leave you because you cry about it too much. Just be nice to it and everything will be okay.

Just for fun, I thought I'd let you all know that I still only pay $1.79.9 for gas in Virginia. Sorry if that ruined your day. Not like I can bank on that 20 cents for long, but I'm trying!

:)

That's awesome.

Slant> Im gonna hang on to the durango for now, and PRAY the gas prices go down. I love my truck, and I'm going to do everything i can to make sure it has a long and healthy life.

And, by the way, i want you to know that you suck... locally it's 1.92. i can drive 60 miles one way and get it at 1.85... but that doesn't make any damm sense, but i always top it off when im down that way.

Bleed> my wife will never leave me. She loves me even when i whine. she thinks it's "cute"

My biggest fear is that once we do get married that she'll end up driving my truck and i'll be stuck with her POS '94 T-bird. But you know, whatever keeps her happy...

Tell her that a t-bird is a cheep wine...:)

Let her have the Durango, only if you get a Viper.

Fair is fair!

Glad to hear you're keeping the Durango...

It'll be good to you....

Slantsixness

fair is indeed fair...
problem is that i've got viper taste on a neon budget! i paid 11,000 for my durango, and that was a bit much for me at that time. it's been a good truck tho. I love it!

I wish I could afford a Viper, too.

Nickel budget, millionaire dreams....

I only paid $4K for my durango, bought it before the insurance salvaged it out... got sideswiped but just the right doors and a little in the 1/4. frame was straight. Put on two doors and fixed the 1/4, got 109K on a 5.2 and no sign of trouble or sludge. My brother wants it, so I won't have it much longer. I want to find an R/T with a 5.9 and more options.

Good deal.

My brother bought the Durango last night.

I'm off to find a 5.9 R/t.... maybe a mem day sale will have something. Or my wife will use the $6,500 for bills....dang!
Yeah it sold cheap, but It was my brother, and he's bugged me about it since the day I got it from State Farm!
Seems, too that he figured out who i was in this forum too, because he called me soon after I posted about it. Guess I couldn't stay stealthy!

Slantsixness

At least you know where it went, and who has it. If you miss it, you can always buy it back. It shouldn't be too hard to find an R/T, they must be pretty common down there, but I've only ever seen two where I live, lol.

It's too cold up there for me, Bleed! Anything North of Virginia is too cold. I've got a buddy in Mass, and I swear when he calls, the phone is cold!

:)

I was in Virginia this past February, it was nice out! I got a case of Pepsi there and they had the state drawn on the top of the can, it was cool...

I've lived in VA most of my life. Real Estate is pricey, Vehicle taxes suck (yearly) But I love it here, despite it all...!
And gas has finally gone over the $1.80 mark. Cheapest here now seems to be $1.879.... damn!

Soda Bottlers in VA have etched or pirnted the state on the cans/bottles for years. Especially Pepsi. Which, I might add, seems to be a favorite brand for Mopar nuts, (as opposed to Coke).

No R/t over the weekend, either. Seems every one I test drove has "pecker tracks" on it. One had even been wrecked, although the salesman said "It was never wrecked, and was a 'local' trade-in" Imagine the look on his face when I pulled the thrifty rent-a-car reciept out from behind the glove box! I really liked that one, but after he lied, I found a curious misalignment in the top of the rear hatch, which looks to me as though it was hit hard from behind, and dislocated the roof, around the hinges. The bumper obviously had a new cover, since there wasn't a scratch on it, but the front and sides had a couple of "normal" dings and scratches. I liked the truck, I was almost going to bite on it, but the rear damage and the lies.... I just got mad and went home and quit looking. I don't really need it anyway...
Maybe I'll look agan at the "New" one.... naw it's ugly as sin, F^@king bubble-mobile, hemi or not!

I think I turned aarons thread into a whipping post...:)

It is common knowledge that some of the Durango engines (1998-99-00) are defective. Dodge has never admitted it because of the liability of replacing engines. It could be due to a bad intake plenum gasket . I lost an engine at 43K after running Mobil1 and 3-5K changes. Fortunately, I had my maintenance records and Geico replaced my engine. The new engine (independently rebuilt) is running great with no sludge no nada. (Naturally, the dealer had never seen this problem before.)

Dodge will not even admit that the problem exists. Toyota had a similar problem not too long ago.

If your engine in under warranty, KEEP ALL MAINTENANCE RECORDS! This includes receipts for oil and filters. The dealer will try to void the warranty because of "improper maintenance".

If your oil pressure drops for even an instant, get it to a dealer. Do not accept "bad oil pressure sender" as a reason. You could save yourself about 5K.

Also, never buy a car from a salesman with a gold tooth. :-)

I bought my 99 Durango (5.2) last fall with 2k miles on the last oil change according to the sticker that the previous owner had on the windshield. Shortly after, I was headed 70 miles away from home when the oil pressure light came on and then the gauge went to 0. NO oil pressure at all. Before I could pull over, it went back up to 40psi. Since I had pressure I thought I'd nurse it home. That happened twice again on the way home. I had the oil changed when I got home and haven't had a problem since. I can only guess that the oil was too thin or that there was something blocking the pump intake.