KnownCarProblems2004 Dodge Durango Problems and Recalls
Owners filed 1,115 complaints with NHTSA about the 2004 Dodge Durango, most often about the engine (52% of complaints, typically around 105,000 miles). It is the 2nd most complained-about Durango model year since 2000 and has 8 recalls.
⚠ Safety advisory2 recalls for this car came with a do-not-drive warning. See below and check your VIN at nhtsa.gov/recalls.
Most common 2004 Dodge Durango problems
Engine
575 complaints · 52%Half of these problems showed up before 105,000 miles. Parts named most often: engine, exhaust system, cooling system.
We recently purchased a used 2004 Dodge Durango limited. Equipped with the 5.7l hemi. We have owned the SUV for just under 90 days and on three separate occasions the engine has stalled when my wife was backing out of our driveway and shifting into drive. I spoke with a Dodge dealership on the phone a few days ago and…
2004 hemi Durango, driving down freeway and vehicle shuts off. Placed vehicle in neutral and recovered. Coasted to a stop in breakdown lane. Placed vehicle in park and re started vehicle. It took 2 attempts to re start it was almost like the engine had loaded up. It then re started fine after the 2nd attempt. This has…
Electrical
243 complaints · 22%Half of these problems showed up before 60,500 miles. Parts named most often: instrument cluster/panel, wiring, ignition, 12v/24v/48v battery.
04 Dodge Durango hot electrical smell under the dash. Heating and cooling control lights don't work and interior lights when don't work correctly, hatch door light stays on all the time, I had to pull the bulb out, drains battery. Cd player don't work properly. Recall campain id number 03v528000. When I contacted…
: the contact stated while driving 75 MPH on the highway, the engine stalled without warning followed by a loss of all vehicle power. Upon further inspection, the contact moved the battery cables of the battery, and the engine restarted. The manufacturer was alerted.
Air bags
143 complaints · 13%Half of these problems showed up before 129,500 miles. Parts named most often: frontal, side/window.
Driver side airbags did not deploy on impact of the car slamming into the telephone pole. It was not until after the driver had unbuckled herself that she smelled smoke and the airbags deployed. She slammed her body and head all over the drivers side of the vehicle and sustained a concusion and other medical injuries…
The contact owns a 2004 Dodge Durango. While driving at approximately 35 MPH approaching a curve, the contact lost control of the vehicle and crashed into a tree. The air bags did not deploy. The contact sustained injuries to the head, neck, back, and spine which required medical attention. A police report was filed.…
Transmission
99 complaints · 9%Half of these problems showed up before 101,000 miles. Parts named most often: automatic transmission, driveline, axle assembly, transfer case (4-wheel drive).
Dodge Durango 2004 lost all function pulling into parking lot. Lost engine, brakes, steering, electrical. Liken it to a power plug being pulled out and instantaneous loss of all control. Was able to restart without mishap. Took it to nearest Dodge dealership only to no avail. They couldn't find anything wrong. Took…
Auto drove properly previous day, started the engine at 6pm and it sounded like rocks in the engine. A puddle of oil was visible underneath the parked SUV. Car has been properly cared for, no warning lights on the dashboard ie: oil, engine light - just loud clanking and not drivable. Edmunds and other auto information…
Speed control
49 complaints · 4%Half of these problems showed up before 30,000 miles. Parts named most often: cruise control, accelerator pedal, cables.
While driving the throttle stuck, and the brakes failed. This caused the consumer to go into a ditch. Vehicle was towed. Dealership repaired the problem three times, but it recurred. Dealer did not repair problem they installed code reader and said nothing was wrong. They called chrysler and chrysler said that there…
Dt: the consumer stated while driving the vehicle at 40 MPH, the RPM and engine revved high. With the brake pedal depressed, the vehicle lunged forward and crashed into a fence. The vehicle was taken to the local dealership, where the problem could not be duplicated.
Body and structure
35 complaints · 3%Half of these problems showed up before 85,000 miles. Parts named most often: body.
Driving down the road at normal highway speeds, if the rear windows are rolled down the car begins to shake violently to the point where the doors feel as if they are going to be pulled off. The first time this happened was about 1 mth after I bought the car while driving down the road, it took me by surprise and I…
Approximately 10 months ago noted severe rust through beginning on both driver and passenger side rocker panels and rear quarter panels/wheel wells. Estimate at that time for full repair was over $4000 due to extent of rust. Rust affects rocker panels, driver compartment floor at door entry points and both driver and…
Steering
31 complaints · 3%Half of these problems showed up before 83,500 miles. Parts named most often: hydraulic power assist system, linkages, hydraulic power assist, rack and pinion.
The family & I were traveling back from nj to fl. We stopped for gas & restrooms. As we were pulling out to get back to head back onto the road the truck would not steer in the right direction. We got out & noticed the tire was no longer connected to the steering rod. Luckily there was a Dodge dealership right down…
The contact owns a 2004 Dodge Durango. While driving at various speeds, the steering wheel became difficult to maneuver and the driver side air bag warning light illuminated. The contact mentioned that the failure occurred after the vehicle was serviced under NHTSA campaign number: 15v313000 (air bags). The vehicle…
Lights
31 complaints · 3%Half of these problems showed up before 83,000 miles. Parts named most often: fog lights, brake lights, headlights, turn signal.
Driving down the road and all the lights on the vehicle went out during night driving. Got stopped by police because not having any lights. Had vehicle in repair shop for approximately 4 weeks and the problem still exists. Have replace the front control module for $450.00 and a new light switch for approximately…
Driving down the road and all the lights on the vehicle went out during night driving. Got stopped by police because not having any lights. Had vehicle in repair shop for approximately 4 weeks and the problem still exists. Have replace the front control module for $450.00 and a new light switch for approximately…
Complaints are owner reports to NHTSA, not verified defects. One complaint can name several components, so shares add up to more than 100%.
2004 Dodge Durango recalls
Equipment
Risk: If the fire extinguisher does not function properly, it can increase the risk of injury in the event of a fire.
Fix: Chrysler will notify owners instructing them to contact kidde for a replacement fire extinguisher, free of charge. The recall began february 14, 2018. Owners may contact chrysler customer service at 1-800-853-1403 or kidde customer service service toll-free at 1-855-262-3540, or online at www.kidde.com and click on "product safety recall" for more information. Chrysler's number for this recall is t82.
Full defect summary
Chrysler (fca US llc) is recalling various dodge, chrysler, and ram vehicles equipped with kidde plastic-handle or push button 'pindicator' fire extinguishers. A list of the affected trailer models is available at: https://static.NHTSA.gov/odi/rcl/2017/rmisc-17v824-0103.pdf. These extinguishers may become clogged, preventing the extinguisher from discharging as expected or requiring excessive force to activate the extinguisher. Additionally, in certain models, the nozzle may detach from the valve assembly with enough force that it could cause injury and also render the product inoperable. For a full list of the affected fire extinguisher models visit: https://static.NHTSA.gov/odi/rcl/2017/rmisc-17e062-5427.pdf
Air bags: inflator module
Risk: These vehicles are equipped with certain air bag inflators assembled as part of the passenger frontal air bag modules, and used as original equipment or replacement equipment. These inflators may rupture due to propellant degradation occurring after long-term exposure to absolute humidity and temperature cycling. An inflator rupture may result in metal fragments striking the vehicle occupants resulting in serious injury or death.
Fix: Owners are advised not to drive their vehicle until the recall repair is complete. Chrysler will notify the chrysler, dodge, jeep and ram owners. Mitsubishi owners will be notified by their company. Dealers will replace the passenger frontal air bag inflator, free of charge. The recall began on march 27, 2017. Owners may contact chrysler customer service at 1-800-853-1403. Chrysler's number for this recall is s43. Note: this recall supersedes recall 14v-7700.
Full defect summary
Chrysler (fca US llc) expanded the affected population to include 73,712 2005-2009 ram 2500 trucks produced at the st. Louis north assembly plant. With this change, chrysler is recalling certain model year 2004-2008 ram 1500, 2005-2009 ram 2500, 2006-2009 ram 3500, 2007-2010 ram 3500 cab chassis, 2008-2010 ram 4500 and 5500 cab chassis, 2004-2009 dodge durango, 2007-2009 chrysler aspen, 2007-2012 jeep wrangler, 2008-2012 dodge challenger, 2005-2008 dodge magnum, 2005-2012 chrysler 300, 2006-2012 dodge charger, 2005-2011 dodge dakota, and 2006-2009 mitsubishi raider vehicles originally sold, or ever registered, in al, ca, fl, ga, hi, la, ms, sc, tx, puerto rico, american samoa, guam, the northern mariana islands (saipan), and the u.s. Virgin islands, or "zone a." additionally, unless included in "zone a" above, chrysler is also recalling 2004-2008 ram 1500, 2005-2009 ram 2500, 2006-2009 r
Air bags: inflator module
Risk: In the event of a crash necessitating deployment of the driver's frontal air bag, the inflator could rupture with metal fragments striking the driver or other occupants resulting in serious injury or death.
Fix: Owners are advised not to drive their vehicle until the recall repair is complete. Chrysler will notify the affected chrysler and dodge owners and mitsubishi will notify the affected raider owners. Dealers will replace the driver's frontal air bag inflator, free of charge. The recall began for chrylser on june 8, 2015. The recall for mitsubishi started on june 24, 2015. Chrysler and dodge owners may contact chrysler customer service at 1-800-853-1403. Mitsubishi owners may call 1-888-648-7820. Chrysler's number for this recall is r25. Note: this recall supersedes recall 14v817 in its entirety.
Full defect summary
Chrysler (fca US llc) is recalling certain model year 2005-2009 dodge ram 2500, 2004-2008 dodge ram 1500 and durango, 2006-2009 dodge ram 3500, 2008-2010 dodge ram 4500 and 5500, 2007-2008 chrysler aspen, 2005-2010 chrysler 300, 300c, 300s, and srt8, 2006-2010 dodge charger, 2005-2008 magnum, 2005-2011 dodge dakota, and 2006-2009 mitsubishi raider vehicles. The affected vehicles are equipped with a dual-stage driver frontal air bag that may be susceptible to moisture intrusion which, over time, could cause the inflator to rupture.
Air bags
Risk: In the event of a crash necessitating deployment of the passengerâs frontal air bag, the inflator could rupture with metal fragments striking the vehicle occupants potentially resulting in serious injury or death.
Fix: Chrysler will notify owners, and dealers will replace the front passenger air bag inflator, free of charge. For vehicles that were sold, or are currently registered, in florida, puerto rico, hawaii, and the u.s. Virgin islands, owners were notified and the recall began on december 5, 2014. For all other vehicles, chrysler notified owners and the recall began on february 3, 2015. Owners may contact chrysler customer service at 1-800-853-1403. Chrysler's number for this recall is p40 expanded. Note: this recall has been superseded by recall 16v-352. This recall superseded the passenger air bag p
Full defect summary
Chrysler group llc (chrysler) is recalling certain model year 2004-2005 dodge ram 1500, 2500, and 3500, 2004-2005 dodge durango, 2005 dodge dakota, 2005 dodge magnum and 2005 chrysler 300, 300c and 300 srt8 vehicles originally sold, or ever registered, in geographic locations associated with high absolute humidity. Specifically, vehicles sold, or ever registered, in alabama, florida, georgia, hawaii, louisiana, mississippi, texas, puerto rico, u.s. Virgin islands, saipan, guam, and american samoa are addressed by this recall. Upon deployment of the passenger side frontal air bag, excessive internal pressure may cause the inflator to rupture.
Electrical: instrument cluster/panel
Risk: This could potentially cause an instrument panel fire.
Fix: Dealers will inspect the cluster for damage and replace it free of charge. The recall began on april 2, 2007. Owners may contact daimlerchrysler at 1-800-853-140.
Full defect summary
On some sport utility vehicles, under certain operating conditions, an integrated circuit in the instrument cluster that controls interior lighting may overheat.
Electrical: cables
Risk: This contact could abrade the cable and cause a short circuit, which may result in an underhood fire.
Fix: Dealers will inspect the battery cable and, if necessary, reposition it away from the control arm mounting bracket. The recall began december 14, 2004. Owners should contact daimlerchrysler at 1-800-853-1403.
Full defect summary
On certain sport utility vehicles built with a 5.7l, 4.7l, or 3.7l engine, the positive battery cable may contact the front suspension upper control arm mounting bracket.
Speed control: cables
Risk: This could cause the throttle to stick in the open position and result in a crash.
Fix: Dealers will replace the throttle control cable. Owner notification began on january 19, 2004. Owners should contact daimlerchrysler at 1-800-853-1403.
Full defect summary
On certain sport utility vehicles equipped with 3.7l and 4.7l engines, the throttle control cable may ingest water and freeze during extended cold temperature.
Electrical: interior/under dash
Risk: This could potentially result in an instrument panel fire.
Fix: Dealers will remove the capacitor from the circuit board. Owner notification began on december 17, 2003. Owners should contact daimlerchrysler at 1-800-992-1997.
Full defect summary
On certain sport utility vehicles, an instrument cluster circuit board capacitor may overheat.
Recall repairs are free at any franchised dealer. Enter your VIN at nhtsa.gov/recalls to see which recalls are still open on your car.
NHTSA defect investigations
Desiccated air bag inflator rupture
Summary
From 2000 through 2017, takata produced millions of air bag inflators using two types of phase-stabilized ammonium nitrate ("psan") propellant -- propellant 2004 and propellant 2004l. After prolonged exposure to high temperature cycles and humidity, inflators using propellant 2004 can degrade, causing the propellant to burn too quickly when ignited. The rapid burning can cause the inflator to rupture during deployment, potentially causing serious or even fatal injury to vehicle occupants. See 2016 blomquist report at www.NHTSA.gov/sites/NHTSA.gov/files/documents/expert_report-hrblomquist.pdf.consequently, all frontal inflators using propellant 2004 that do not contain a "desiccant" (a substa
Air bag inflator rupture
Summary
The office of defects investigation (odi) opened pe14-016 in june 2014 based on six inflator rupture incidents involving consumer owned vehicles produced by five vehicle manufacturers.all six vehicles were operated in florida or puerto rico at the time of the rupture and for the majority of their service life, and were equipped with inflators produced by takata, a tier-one supplier of automotive air bag systems.during the course of pe14-016, odi determined that five additional vehicle manufacturers used inflators of a similar design and vintage also supplied by takata. No evidence of field failures was found in vehicles produced by these five additional manufacturers.nonetheless, at odi's in
Air bag inflator rupture
Summary
The office of defects investigation (odi) opened pe14-016 in june 2014 based on six inflator rupture incidents involving consumer owned vehicles produced by five vehicle manufacturers.all six vehicles were operated in florida or puerto rico at the time of the rupture and for the majority of their service life, and were equipped with inflators produced by takata, a tier-one supplier of automotive air bag systems.during the course of pe14-016, odi determined that five additional vehicle manufacturers used inflators of a similar design and vintage also supplied by takata. No evidence of field failures was found in vehicles produced by these five additional manufacturers.nonetheless, at odi's in
Instrument panel fires
Summary
This investigation originated from complaints received by the agency reporting instrument panel (ip) fires on vehicles that were covered under a prior recall (recall 03v528) by daimler chrysler (dcc) to correct a cracked capacitor in the ip.dcc has now identified another condition that can cause overheating of an integrated circuit that controls interior lighting.this condition affects certain model year 2004-2006 dodge durango vehicles.dcc's march 6, 2007 letter to the agency states, under certain operating conditions, an integrated circuit located in the instrument cluster may overheat and result in an instrument panel fire.dcc will conduct a safety recall to inspect the cluster for damage
Instrument panel fires
Summary
This investigation originated from complaints received by the agency reporting instrument panel (ip) fires on vehicles that were recalled(recall 03v528) by daimlerchrysler (dcc) to correct a defect that caused ip fires.the recall corrected a defect caused by a certain capacitor on the ip printed circuit board (pcb) that could crack and overheat.the fire could occur without warning while the vehicle is parked or in use.the recall remedy was to remove the capacitor from the ip.ips used for vehicles produced after the recall (december 2003) did not contain the capacitor.odi has also received reports of fires in vehicles produced after the recall, which do not have the defective capacitor.dcc an
Steering wheel and steering shaft bolts
Summary
On march 9, 2006 odi upgraded preliminatry evaluation pe05-056 to engineerning analysis ea06-004 to investigate allegations of loose or missing steering shaft coupling bolts and steering column retaining bolts in model year (my) 2004 through 2006 dodge durango sport utility vehicles and my 2005 through 2006 dodge dakota pickup trucks.either condition could result in a loss of steering control.although odi identified some quality issues in the manufacturing processes for the dakota and durango vehicles, the data do not indicate that a safety defect trend is present in either population.the failure rates are low for each condition and trend analyses indicate that problems with the subject bolt
Engine stall
Summary
Analysis of the complaint, field report and warranty data shows that the majority of stalling incidents in the subject vehicles appear to be related to the engine calibration concerns that daimlerchrysler addressed with service bulletins releasing revised PCM software.analysis of the complaints and odi's survey of owners of vehicles that received engine management software updates under tsb #18-013-05 show that these stalling incidents have the following characteristics: - they occur at low speeds, often during parking lot ordriveway maneuvers; - they occur during decelerations, such as braking for a stop sign or traffic signal; and - the operator is almost always able to immediately restart
Steering wheel and shaft bolts
Summary
On october 26, 2005 odi opened pe05-056 to investigate allegations of loose or missing steering wheel or steering shaft coupling bolts in model year (my) 2004 and 2005 dodge durango sport utility vehicles and my 2005 dodge dakota pickup trucks manufactured by daimlerchrysler corporation (dcc).during pe05-056 odi identified 3 owner complaints to odi or dcc, 21 field reports to dcc and 142 warranty claims related to the alleged defect conditions.the reports and claims included 8 incidents of either steering wheel separation or steering shaft decoupling while driving due to loose or missing bolts.one of the failures resulted in a crash. Pe05-056 has been upgraded to an engineering analysis (ea0
Engine stall
Summary
On may 16, 2005,odi opened preliminary evaluation pe05-027 to investigate complaints of engine stalling in model year 2004-05 dodge durango suvs and ram 1500 series pickups equipped with the 5.7l v8 engine.information provided by daimlerchrysler during pe05-027 indicated that a large percentage of the complaints are related to an idle undershoot condition that may cause the engine to stall during turning maneuvers.in february 2005, daimlerchrysler revised the powertrain control module software in production vehicles and issued a technical service bulletin (tsb 18-013-05) releasing the new software as a service remedy for the idle undershoot condition.the bulletin was superceded by tsb 18-013
Questions about the 2004 Dodge Durango
- What are the most common problems with the 2004 Dodge Durango?
- By NHTSA owner complaints: engine (575 complaints, typically around 105,000 miles); electrical (243 complaints, typically around 60,500 miles); air bags (143 complaints, typically around 129,500 miles).
- How many recalls does the 2004 Dodge Durango have?
- 8 recalls listed by NHTSA, the latest from December 21, 2017 (equipment). Check your VIN at nhtsa.gov/recalls to see which ones are still open on your car.
- Is the 2004 a bad year for the Dodge Durango?
- It is the 2nd most complained-about Durango model year since 2000, with 1,115 complaints. Complaint counts are not adjusted for how many cars were sold, so popular years collect more of them, and the newest years have had less time to.