6 Reasons Your Dodge Durango Stalls

Stalling while driving your Dodge Durango can feel embarrassing and frustrating, but it may not actually be your fault, and something to do with the vehicle. Although stalling out from time to time happens to the best of SUVs, there are a number of components within your Dodge Durango that can be causing this problem – especially if it is ongoing. However, you need to diagnose your Dodge Durango thoroughly to get to the bottom of why your vehicle is stalling. Follow this troubleshooting guide.

Why Does My Dodge Durango Keep Stalling?

Your Dodge Durango is stalling because it is receiving poor fuel intake, has faulty or damaged sensors, a damaged torque converter, a dirty throttle body, the timing chain jumped, or there is a lack of engine oil.

Dodge Durangos are known for experiencing a number of issues, but a particularly common one is stalling out. If you have confirmed that the stall was not an isolated incident, then there is something that needs to be addressed more carefully. The issue with this is that pinpointing exactly what is making your Dodge Durango stall can be rather challenging, as this is something that can be linked to a number of different components and factors. 

The good news is if you are catching this problem early on, there is no reason why you cannot fix it before it causes any serious damage to your vehicle. To help you understand this further, we are going to take a closer look at why your Dodge Durango is stalling in more detail. 

After extensively researching Dodge automotive repair and maintenance forums, I have been able to gather enough information to determine why your Durango is stalling. My research has indicated that there are multiple different factors that may be contributing to this problem and you should consider each one to fix your Dodge Durango stalling.

Reasons Why Your Dodge Durango is Stalling

Since stalling is such a broad issue that is prevalent with many Dodge Durango’s, figuring out exactly what is causing the problem may require thorough analysis and diagnostics. If you have an OBD2 scanner handy or are in contact with a repair shop, this can save you a bulk load of time and trial and error testing. 

This is essentially a scanner that enables you to check on your Dodge Durango’s performance by evaluating the vehicle data. 

These days Dodge Durangos are equipped with enough tech to make maintenance incredibly easy and depending on what is making your vehicle stall, the OBD2 scanner could potentially highlight the issue within minutes. 

With that said, there is plenty that you can do yourself without a scanner to confirm why your Dodge Durango is stalling on you. You should try to reflect on how long the problem has been prevalent and what underlying symptoms coincide with the stalling as you evaluate your Durango.

Poor Fuel Intake

Your Durango’s fuel intake is going to be the first place to start. This is often the number one cause for Durango’s stalling out and it may be behind the issue you are experiencing. 

Bad Quality Fuel

Although it is tempting to go for cheaper gas, especially as fuel prices soar, pumping your vehicle full of cheap quality fuel is not going to do you or your Dodge Durango any good in the long run. 

Bad gas equates to poor vehicle performance over time. You should consider pumping your Durango with premium to see if this helps alleviate the stalling.

Lack of Fuel 

While you may have just pumped your Durango full of gas, there may be an issue with the fuel passing through.

This is usually due to a faulty fuel pump. You can fix the problem by replacing the fuel pump relay or perhaps just cleaning the filter. A dirty filter is often correlated with pumping cheap gas.

On the other hand, the lack of fuel could also be caused by faulty fuel injectors. If the injectors are not letting through enough fuel, stalling is generally the first symptom that you will notice. 

Faulty or Damaged Sensors 

There are two primary sensors that are responsible for letting oxygen into your fuel system – oxygen sensors and mass flow sensors. These pumps adjust your Dodge Durango’s air/fuel ratio, which is critical for maintaining a smooth ride. 

If you notice that your vehicle’s response loses its precision and that it is receiving too much or too little power at times, this is a sign of damaged oxygen or mass flow sensors. This can often result in your Dodge Durango stalling or even shutting down completely.

Torque Converter

If you are driving a Dodge Durango with an automatic transmission, then your vehicle will be equipped with a torque converter. This is designed to replace the role of your clutch so that you do not have to manually shift gears while driving.

If the torque converter does not have an adequate amount of fluid it will start to show through faulty performance – especially when you are driving at low speeds. The most common of which is stalling out with the engine shutting off.

The problem with your torque converter could potentially be more serious and this component of your vehicle may be legitimately damaged or broken. Either a lack of transmission fluid or a damaged torque converter will result in stalling. 

Dirty Throttle Body

Your Dodge Durango’s throttle body is directly connected to how smoothly it responds and how efficiently it drives. When the throttle body gets dirty, you will notice a lot of performance issues occur with your vehicle – one of which is stalling out.

You may find that your Dodge Durango’s acceleration is off – with sluggish and unprecise driving being constant. You will also notice that your fuel economy is worse than normal and that idling feels rough. 

Stalling will be prevalent and constant with a dirty throttle body but it may not be as dramatic as with some other issues. Stalling will be particularly noticeable whenever you slow down your vehicle to very low speeds. At this point, your Durango will likely stall out temporarily and then start driving again like normal.

Fixing this requires you to expose the throttle body so that you can spray cleaner inside to get rid of any dirt and debris that has built up over the years. 

Timing Chain Jumped

It is not uncommon for the timing chain of a vehicle to be off after years of use. You will usually notice this while driving as you will start to hear clanking sounds before the timing chain jumps. These sounds will be metallic, and it will be quite obvious when this occurs. 

If your timing chain jumped a tooth, your Dodge Durango will start to stall consistently when you drive it until you fix the problem. This is a serious issue that you should take care of immediately, as it will generally get worse if not repaired in due time. 

Lack of Engine Oil

Do you remember when you had your last oil change? Ignoring your check engine light? If it has been a while since you put new engine oil inside of your Dodge Durango, then the reason behind your vehicle stalling could be that there is hardly any left.

Continuing to drive your car with barely any oil puts your Durango at serious risk. Your engine could seize up, which may cause permanent damage to your vehicle.