2022 Dodge Durango

Vehicle engine shut off while driving approximately 50mph. No prior issues or warning lamps. The failure happened without any warning. I had over half a tank of fuel at the time of the stall. Loss of engine propulsion is extremely dangerous as I was in rush hour traffic on a major highway in Houston, TX. Luckily the stall occurred at an exit and I was able to safely get to a area to pull over. Dash read out said I needed to be in park to start the engine. Engine started without issue and I finished my drive home.

While enroute to a priority call our officer experienced a catastrophic engine failure. Said vehicle was in the day before for brakes, and our mechanic always does PM to include a check of coolant fluid level, oil and windshield washer fluid, and car was fine. Vehicle overheated, and shut down shortly after, taking officer out of service and leaving call without an police unit to respond. For personal vehicles this creates a risk of car failure, but for emergency responders it is a much higher safety risk based on the nature of our calls we are responding to. At one point last year i had 4 cars all down at once for same issue. I spoke with Dodge dealer who said this is a very common issue. I tried to file a complaint with Stellantis which was not helpful.

While driving on the highway, the engine overheating light came on, the car seemed to be losing power, and I pulled over and was then towed to the dealership. My safety was put at risk as I could have been hit as the car was slowing down in fast traffic; it also was extremely cold (about 5 degrees F) while I waited for the tow truck. The tow truck driver noted that I had lost coolant fluid due to a large puddle beneath the car. The dealership reported that the aluminum coolant line had rubbed against the transmission cooler and had broken through, causing a loss of fluid. The dealership replaced the coolant line and also stated that they cut an extra piece of aluminum and wrapped it around the coolant line to reinforce that line and stop it from rubbing through by rubbing against the transmission cooler. I stated that this seemed like a design defect but the dealership responded that these things just happen. I note that there appears to be a similar recall in 2022 Durango Hellcats for the coolant line being subjected to abrasion from rubbing on the serpentine belt. The dealership did not return the parts to me; I do not know whether they provided them to the manufacturer for inspection.

From manufacturing dodge put a clamp on a rubber hose that goes to the transmission heater. That clamped rubbed a hole into the metal antifreeze line above it. My car started over heating on a busy road. Luckily I was able to pull off without being hit. Dodge doesn’t wanna do anything about it but it’s a known issue for the Durango’s. But dodge won’t recall the issue. Instead their wanting to charge people anywhere from 2k up to 6k depending what state you live it. The issue is known to occur around 50k miles to around 65k miles

Vehicle has a long crank time. Vehicle will not start after approximately 10 seconds. The vehicle will start on the second try. There is a strong smell of fuel after that. I have taken the vehicle in multiple times with the dealership saying nothing is wrong or they can’t duplicate the problem. I have showed the dealership videos of it happening and feel that they are not taking it seriously. The problem is getting worse and I fear that one day either I will be stranded or the vehicle will shut off while I’m am driving it.

My engine failed with no notice while driving on the interstate leaving me coasting under no power leading to a very unsafe situation being that was no prior warning. The engine failure was under normal highway driving speeds. The dealership said that it was a catastrophic engine failure which brings up possibly a risk of fire the vehicle only has 24K miles on the odometer so very immature failure. Note** After talking to several other Durango SRT owners several have had the same engine failure concern. I don't have total stats on this but to me there has to be a design flaw that could lead a motorist to be put in an unsafe situation. I will upload supporting documentation later.

On Saturday, 04/23/2022, the Dodge Durango ran fine. I was able to back out of my driveway without incident around 12:00 PM and go to Walmart. I drove to the Sheetz gas station from Walmart and topped off the fuel tank because we wanted to take a family trip during the weekend. At 12:40 PM, I arrived back home, turned off the engine, and went inside my house to pick up my son. We entered the vehicle around 12:50 PM. I put my seatbelt on, put my foot on the brake pedal, and pushed the engine start button. Then I placed the vehicle in reverse, released the parking brake, and slowly backed my foot off the brake pedal. This time around, the vehicle did not drive backward normally like it's supposed to, but hesitated like it didn't have any power (NHTSA complaint 11461953). The engine hesitated several times, the RPMs dipped under 500 more than once, and then when I almost got to the street, the engine died, and the vehicle stalled. The transmission placed itself into the park position (AUTOMATIC PARK), and I could hear and feel the driveline clunk when the parking pawl locked the transmission. The "R" led started flashing on the gear shifter. I put my foot on the brake, and moved the lever from the "R" to the "N" position. The "N" position was still flashing, indicating that the vehicle is not really in "N". Then I pushed the engine start button to completely turn off the vehicle as the "RUN" led was flashing, but instead, the engine turned back on. Without taking the foot off the brake pedal I moved the shift lever from "N" to "R" and heard a loud clunk and even felt it. It sounded and felt like there was a lot of pressure on the parkin pawl and it got barely released. I am concerned that the vehicle stalling might have damaged the parking pawl somehow. I don't feel safe driving this vehicle. This is very difficult to reproduce as the vehicle exhibits this behaviour randomly, however I am concerned for my safety and my family's safety while traveling in this vehicle.

On Friday, 04/22/2022, at 5:30 PM, I remote-started the vehicle, and let it run for 5 minutes, then my wife and I entered the vehicle. I put my foot on the brake pedal, pushed the engine start button to unlock all vehicle functions, and put my seatbelt on. I placed the vehicle in reverse. Then I released the parking brake and backed off the brake pedal. My driveway is slightly sloped downwards towards the garage doors, around three degrees and around five degrees or less where it connects to the street. This vehicle has enough power to back out of my driveway without pushing the gas pedal while in reverse. However, the Dodge Durango in this report barely moved, then stopped, so I gave it a bit more gas. The engine kept hesitating with the RPM needle going under the 500 RPM mark several times. I managed to back it to the end of the driveway. However, the vehicle was struggling. I then put in drive and moved forward. It moved forward without any issue. I pulled up to the garage door and entirely stopped. With the foot on the brake pedal, I placed the vehicle back in reverse, and it struggled again like it didn't have any power. The RPMs dipped under 500 several times until I managed to back the vehicle out into the street. I then put it in drive, and the vehicle ran fine and didn't repeat this behavior until the next day.