2000 Durango - Dead / Won't Start

[Jadenyque]

I just bought a 2000 Dodge Durango with over 100,000 miles on it, but it has a new motor. It seems to run fine and everything works, but when left over night it appears to be dead and won't do anything, the key fob will not unlock the doors and the power door locks will not work if I use the key to open the drivers door. It doesn't do it everytime either, just like every other day or every two days. When it doesn't start, we just jump it and it starts fine. Runs all day, starting and stopping. We have driven it 1500 miles in the last 2 weeks on a trip. Just when we leave it overnight it acts like the battery is dead, nothing makes even a click, no gages register, lights don't work, just like it would be dead. We have tried everything we could think of to do manually to get it to work, all it takes is a jump for only a second. I haven't had it long enough to know if this is going to be occurring at regular intervals. I took it into the Dodge dealer and of course it wouldn't do it to them. They said they had no idea what could be causing the problem, as everything that it might be checked out, alt, starter, etc. & no codes. They said that they would have to just wait until it did it to them. Well, I can't just leave it in the shop for days, hoping it will happen. I originally thought that it was the battery, so I replaced it with a new one. Didn't fix the problem though. I am at my wits end....somebody please give me some ideas! I got it back from the dealer today and I'm gonna bet it will be dead in the morning!

[lisa1229]

I had the same problem with my '99 Durango. It turned out the cable connected to the negative battery terminal was faulty. We replaced the cable and now it's fine. It's possible it could also be the starter.

[steelerguy]

Originally Posted by lisa1229

I had the same problem with my '99 Durango. It turned out the cable connected to the negative battery terminal was faulty. We replaced the cable and now it's fine. It's possible it could also be the starter.

Could also just be the cable connection at the battery. I replaced my positive connection for the same problem. The ones that come with the truck are not near as effective as the replacement version from autozone.

[2nyce]

i replace the negative wire and so far soo good

[dubina]

Another possibility:

I checked the battery first. It took a charge and the car started. Eventually, when the problem continued, I had a guy at Napa check the battery with a hand-held test device. He told me the battery was good.

Eventually, though, when my options narrowed down to replacing cables or a bad starter, a guy at another Napa store invited me to take the battery out of the car and put it in a more robust test device. Initially, that device also showed the battery good, but low, requiring a 6 minute quick charge. I told them to give it the quick charge as I price starters. Then, at the end of the quick charge, the device indicated the battery was bad after all.

I replaced the battery and things straightned out.

Be careful about battery checks; they're not all created equal.

[steelerguy]

Originally Posted by dubina

Another possibility:

I checked the battery first. It took a charge and the car started. Eventually, when the problem continued, I had a guy at Napa check the battery with a hand-held test device. He told me the battery was good.

Eventually, though, when my options narrowed down to replacing cables or a bad starter, a guy at another Napa store invited me to take the battery out of the car and put it in a more robust test device. Initially, that device also showed the battery good, but low, requiring a 6 minute quick charge. I told them to give it the quick charge as I price starters. Then, at the end of the quick charge, the device indicated the battery was bad after all.

I replaced the battery and things straightned out.

Be careful about battery checks; they're not all created equal.

The tests they do at Autozone with the full-on tester unit they have to roll out to your car is the best one I've seen. It puts differing loads on the battery & will give you an accurate result.

I also love their Duralast Gold batteries with a 3 year full replacement warranty. You can't get a battery to go much more than 2 years in the Arizona heat. I've tried them all. I think the Duralast Gold is about $40 for the Durango & they replace it with your phone # in the system where I have found that NAPA makes you present the original receipt.

For brakes & critical parts I do go to NAPA, but batteries are not rocket science.