halfmoa
Ensign
- Joined
- Aug 19, 2011
- Messages
- 955
I own a 2004 Dodge Durango. Thank God it's my wife's car and we got a killer deal on it because I despise this vehicle to the depths of my soul and I think it knows. The fit and finish, or rather the lack of it, is despicable, the front end rattles as though it were going to fall to pieces at any second even though it passed a suspension and alignment check with no issues, the 3.7L V6 sounds like a diesel for the first 5 minutes after you start it, the transmission shudders under acceleration at highway speed, the torque converter is like nothing I've ever driven (locking up tight at 1500 revs under acceleration), and to top it all off if I sit up straight I'm looking through the tint at the top of the windshield. The only time I drive it is when I'm towing the boat...which it does poorly.
Now for the parking light saga. One evening I borrowed my Dad's utility trailer. I hooked up the hitch and attached the trailer wiring harness to the vehicle and did my usual walk around. The drivers side parking lights weren't on. No big deal, I thought. Probably something wrong with the trailer wires. The brake lights and turn signals work so I'll go straight home and fix it in the morning.
The next morning I unhooked the trailer wires and the parking lights on the drivers side still wouldn't work so I started the testing. Fuse checked out fine. I removed the tail light assembly and tested every light. All working fine. I tested the light assembly. Fine. Checked the wires for voltage...no juice. I removed the trailer wiring kit. Still no voltage. Bought a new relay and installed. Nope. I pulled the entire dash out to replace the $50 unreturnable headlight switch that I had to special order. Still no parking lights on the drivers side.
I disassembled a large portion of the interior and traced every wire as well as I could to check for breakage. They were fine. Then I did everything again just for good measure. Still not working. I popped the hood and checked the relays again. Fine. Then I noticed three little unlabeled fuses adjacent to the relays. Better check them for good measure, I thought. 10A fuse blown. I replaced the fuse and the drivers side parking lights came back on. There's 3 seperate fuses for the parking lights on this vehicle, one for all of them in the cabin and two under the hood (one for each side) in the fuse box that the owners manual FAILED TO MENTION.
For years I've wondered if manufacturers do things like this on purpose so "Joe Average" will have to take the vehicle to the dealer and they, in turn, make more money.
[/RANT]
Now for the parking light saga. One evening I borrowed my Dad's utility trailer. I hooked up the hitch and attached the trailer wiring harness to the vehicle and did my usual walk around. The drivers side parking lights weren't on. No big deal, I thought. Probably something wrong with the trailer wires. The brake lights and turn signals work so I'll go straight home and fix it in the morning.
The next morning I unhooked the trailer wires and the parking lights on the drivers side still wouldn't work so I started the testing. Fuse checked out fine. I removed the tail light assembly and tested every light. All working fine. I tested the light assembly. Fine. Checked the wires for voltage...no juice. I removed the trailer wiring kit. Still no voltage. Bought a new relay and installed. Nope. I pulled the entire dash out to replace the $50 unreturnable headlight switch that I had to special order. Still no parking lights on the drivers side.
I disassembled a large portion of the interior and traced every wire as well as I could to check for breakage. They were fine. Then I did everything again just for good measure. Still not working. I popped the hood and checked the relays again. Fine. Then I noticed three little unlabeled fuses adjacent to the relays. Better check them for good measure, I thought. 10A fuse blown. I replaced the fuse and the drivers side parking lights came back on. There's 3 seperate fuses for the parking lights on this vehicle, one for all of them in the cabin and two under the hood (one for each side) in the fuse box that the owners manual FAILED TO MENTION.For years I've wondered if manufacturers do things like this on purpose so "Joe Average" will have to take the vehicle to the dealer and they, in turn, make more money.
[/RANT]
