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Dodge Durango Maintenance and Repair

718 messages,  Last post on Nov 15, 2009 at 8:59 AM

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#678 of 718 Re: o2 sensor + power steering pressure switch Dodge Durango Nightmare [ncdodgeowner] by durangoroo Mar 19, 2009 (1:24 pm)
Replying to: ncdodgeowner (Mar 15, 2009 4:55 am) I do have a (possibly stupid) question, if the PS fluid has made its way to the connection on the PCM, will the bypass wiring solution (running seperate ground from O2 sensor 1 to PCM) still work? thanks! Replies to this message: mucuna (Mar 19, 2009 8:18 pm) durangoroo (Mar 21, 2009 11:09 am)
#679 of 718 Re: o2 sensor + power steering pressure switch Dodge Durango Nightmare [steve_] by durangoroo Mar 19, 2009 (2:04 pm)
Replying to: steve_ (Mar 15, 2009 10:24 am) FINALLY!!!! ladies and gentlemen, I want to express on how HAPPY I am to find this thread. To date, my Fiance and I (her 00 Durango 4.7L) have spent in excess of $700 thus far trying to figure out this friggin problem. The local shop we had it at recognized the issue, but simply unplugged the harness from PCM and cleaned it. 3 consecutive days in a row, trying to get all the PS fluid out. Still yet, she drives a mile or so and I don't need to explain how the thing runs. Crappy mileage, heavy soot, and it hardly wants to accelerate and sometimes lurches while at stops. I am going to try unplugging the upstream O2 sensor as described previously, just so she can drive it for the time being until we can get enough $$ saved to try and do this bypass harness. Darned Durango has costed us some of our wedding fund!! LOL just trying to keep it light, thanks to all who are posting here to help out!!!!!!!
#680 of 718 Re: o2 sensor + power steering pressure switch Dodge Durango Nightmare [durangoroo] by mucuna Mar 19, 2009 (8:18 pm)
Replying to: durangoroo (Mar 19, 2009 1:24 pm) the fluid leaks through the wires from the PS unit to a junction that branches into larger harness about 6-8 inches above the right upstream o2 sensor. Fluid can be seen leaking at that junction and at the O2 sensor outbranch and connection These are the low points in the harness. The PCM on the other hand is way upstream on the terminal end of that section of the harness. To high up to get contaminated (i hope). I suppose if the PS fluid was really leaking bad and had some pressure behind it PS fluid could travel or "wick" uphill and contaminate the PCM but it seems unlikely.. ncdodgeowner's method would likely provide a clean connection by grounding at the or near the PCM using a splice. The other 3 wires can get cross contaminated at the o2 connector from the old ground wire leaking PS fluid at the connector pins and then recontaminate the new ground. A very early message talked about replacing all 4 pins on the harness side of the connector and using a new o2 sensor because those wires are contaminated for sure. Still waiting to hear from ncdodgeowner's repair to see how it worked out and anymore specific details of the repair Replies to this message: durangoroo (Mar 21, 2009 11:09 am)
#681 of 718 Re: [mucuna] by kando Mar 20, 2009 (6:43 pm)
Replying to: mucuna (Sep 19, 2008 4:41 pm) Hello there Mucuna...I have a 2000 D that just showed the check engine lite, i found the code 0551 for the power steering switch. Do you know how to replace one? Can a handy person do it? Replies to this message: mucuna (Mar 21, 2009 10:05 am)
#682 of 718 Power streering fluid sensor nightmare by mucuna Mar 21, 2009 (10:05 am)
Replying to: kando (Mar 20, 2009 6:43 pm) This is so easy to do yourself and your immediate attention is needed to avoid the possibily of thousands of dollars of repair. You can purchase the sensor from your dodge part dealer. they will look up the part for you. (power steering sensor switch) it is about 25 bucks!. they will ask for your VIN # so have it handy when you go there. Buy a quart of PS fluid also. To remove the old sensor, you can locate it on a metal tube right below the backside of the PS fluid resevoir. Easy to work on and freely visible. It is a silver color - looks like a lug nut- with a black connector and two wires coming out of it (black, green w/red stripe). Uncouple the connector at the sensor (it has a little side clip you squeeze in with your fingers (should come off freely). The sensor itself can be unscrewed with a common wrench . PS Fluid will come pouring out but this is better than draining the entire PS system- you should only lose a small amount of fluid out of the resevoir which you can top off later- use you finger to keep to much fluid from leaking out while you switch the sensors. With all these components you should used firm tighting but don't herf on it and strip the threads. replug in the connector and your done. Spray off the PS fluid from any painted, rubber parts by using a water hose (PS fluid corrodes paint and rubber). A bigger issue however is if you have PS fluid in the harness wiring from the bad PS sensor leaking into the wiring. If that is the case it will (or could) eventually travel through the harness down under the car and contaminate the ground wire of one of your O2 sensors. When this happens you performance gets so bad the car is virtually undrivable. Dogde dealers in general have no clue about the causality of this problem and proceed in doing thousands of dollars of needless repairs, There are allot of 2000 dodge durangos out there with this problem and dodge dealers are making $book$ on the repairs. I believe this is one reason they don't invest in educating the repair techs on a national level. The proper fix should only run about 400 dollars replacing an o2 sensor and doing a o2 wiring bypass through the harness. Check the PS sensor connector immediately for PS fluid leaks. You may have even notice losing PS fluid on the ground. If you have any PS fluid in the connector when you remove it from the PS sensor leave it disconnected until you make the sensor replacement repair. Your car will run fine- in fact it may stabilize your idle RPM since a bad PS sensor sends bad signal to the PCM - idle control module.
#683 of 718 Re: o2 sensor + power steering pressure switch Dodge Durango Nightmare [mucuna] by durangoroo Mar 21, 2009 (11:09 am)
Replying to: mucuna (Mar 19, 2009 8:18 pm) Mucuna thanks for your reply. I did disconnect the upstream O2 sensor, and did notice that the connector itself was saturated with PS fluid. However after I disconnected the sensor I am happy to say that my Fiance can at least drive the vehicle now until we find out more details on the repair. I did contact a dodge technician from the dealership that does side work, and have yet to hear back from him on the issue. again thanks to everyone on here who is helping out.
#684 of 718 Re: o2 sensor + power steering pressure switch Dodge Durango Nightmare [mucuna] by ncdodgeowner Mar 21, 2009 (1:20 pm)
Replying to: mucuna (Mar 15, 2009 10:15 am) I do not know the original sensor wire colors. The trial and error was just that. I thought I had spliced into the correct wire, until it set a transmission code. I only realized that there were two wires of that color after reviewing the wiring diagram. When I switched to the other, the O2 reading showed correctly.   Update: I have put 350+ miles on the Durango with no further O2 issues. I was finally able to get it to pass the state OBDII emmissions test and back on the road. The Bosch universal sensor seems to be working fine. I read elsewhere that it is later model Durangos that must have an OEM sensor to work. Way to go Dodge - plan your own obsolescence!   The wiring that I installed for the bypass was very rudimentary and "fly by night" so I plan to get back under there and clean it up, since I do not believe it would last the long haul. I just did what was necessary to prove weather it would work or not, and so far it has been sucessful. I am getting an overall average 16 mpg, which is "unfortunately" good for this vehicle, but better than 6mpg, which I was getting when all of this started.   Start this repair by purchasing a bosch universal fit oxygen sensor for your car since your sensor is likely bad anyway. Follow the instructions as written to match up wiring. The instructions give all of the wiring codes. Once you identify the signal and ground wires, do not connect them as instructed. Instead, utilize the splice supplied, but do not hook up the corresponding signal and ground wires from the old connector, only hook up the two heater wires. Run two wires separately from the splice kit up to the PCM from the signal and ground, carefully routing them with wire-ties and or some wire braiding cover to protect them since this is all located near the hot exhaust pipes.   Once you have the two wires routed to the engine compartment, you will need to cut open the large wire bundle that snakes around from the back of the engine to the PCM (a box with several wire bundles leading to it, NOT the fuse box) I made my splices between the back of the engine compartment and the PCM where you can open the bundle cleanly along about a 8" section. For the signal wire, you must cut the light green wire with a red stripe on it. NOTE: there are two of these, the other one goes to the tranny, so you can either continue cutting the bundle open to figure out where each one goes, or try one, then the other. Connect your signal wire to the end of this wire that leads to the PCM. As for the other end of the wire, you can just leave it hang. It is the source of contamination, and leaving it in the circuit defeats the purpose of the bypass.     For the ground wire, locate one of a couple of black wires with a blue stripe on it. There are a couple, but according to the diagram they are all common to one another, so it should not matter which one you use. They are all isolated signal ground. Again, you can spend a lot of time tracing this out if you want, but once you see how difficult this is in the tight space, you again understand why dodge just said bypass it. For this connection, you do not want to cut the wire, but rather splice into it. They sell crimp style connectors for this at all auto stores which enables you to connect one wire to an existing wire without cutting it and having a big nasty three wire splice. If you cannot find these connectors, you can just cut the wire, but you must connect them all back together to keep other sensors connected also. That is the extent of it. After testing, you can neatly incorporate your bypass wires into the wire bundle and close it up with zip-ties or electrical tape. Of course, you will need to reset your codes, and it is helpful to have a scanner available that you can read O2 sensor values to ensure all is well before closing up. Good luck! Replies to this message: cloves (Jun 15, 2009 8:43 pm) cloves (Jun 19, 2009 1:58 pm)
#685 of 718 Re: [mucuna] by go1 Mar 24, 2009 (1:52 pm)
Replying to: mucuna (Sep 19, 2008 4:41 pm) after reading this I googled ps pressure switch and got nothing did I read you correctly I need to replace this part to stop the o2 sensor problem..? thanks go1 Replies to this message: durangoroo (Mar 24, 2009 2:06 pm)
#686 of 718 Re: [go1] by durangoroo Mar 24, 2009 (2:06 pm)
Replying to: go1 (Mar 24, 2009 1:52 pm) yes, replace the sensor asap. then inspect the wiring behind the connector to see if there is any power steering fluid on it. if it has contaminated the wiring, welcome to our world.   P.s.- mucuna is the man. our savior thus far on this seeminlgly crazy battle.

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