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2001 Durango SLT 4.7 Performance Issues - Codes: P0601 P0204 P0205

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#21 ·
Sweers:
Here is to hoping the TPS was your issue. Run it for a week or so, then report back please.

Thx

Don
 
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Discussion starter · #23 ·
Howdy folks, so it's been about a year, and the P0204 and P0205 codes have recently returned, along with the intermittent poor performance. :(

Pretty much the same symptoms as before, it runs rough intermittently, gets poor MPG intermittently as well. Very strange. Replacing the TPS last year resolved the P0204 and P0205 codes for a year, the P0601 had remained, and when that was the only code present, it ran fine.

Curious if anyone had this issue and had it be something other than the TPS. I wonder if something is cooking the TPS?

I think the first thing to try is disconnect the battery, reseat the TPS wire harness and PCM harnesses, reconnect battery and see what it does. The last time, disconnecting and reconnecting the battery would clear the codes until engine restart. I may also take it to a trusted local shop to have their guys look at it. Maybe their expensive big boy toy scanner will give additional info my little $30 scan tool doesn't.
 
#24 ·
Hi sweers:
Did you ever replace the battery? I'd have it load tested to rule it out. Your idea of going over the TPS harness sounds good.
Before you take it to a shop, if the batter is new or tests good I'd throw another TPS in there, and see if that does it.
Maybe your replacement crapped out.
Keep up posted please.

Don
 
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Discussion starter · #25 ·
Don Fox said:
Hi sweers:
Did you ever replace the battery? I'd have it load tested to rule it out. Your idea of going over the TPS harness sounds good.
Before you take it to a shop, if the batter is new or tests good I'd throw another TPS in there, and see if that does it.
Maybe your replacement crapped out.
Keep up posted please.

Don
Click to expand...
Hi Don,
I appreciate the response! We have not replaced the battery. I believe testing it is a good idea. If it was mine, I'd probably replace it. I assume we can just pull it and bring it to any auto parts store for them to do a test, or should I take it to a reputable shop for the load test?
I believe the TPS we used was a Delphi, wasn't as expensive as Mopar but was close. I'd consider a cheaper one just to see what that does, and if it later cooks, at least it was $25-$45 instead of ~$100.
I'll talk to my dad about this soon with your insight. (It's his vehicle, I'm rocking a 2005 Explorer with 301,000+ miles that has different problems, but still goes down the road alright considering) :p
Alex
 
#26 · (Edited)
@sweersalex , did you replace the battery on 2023-08-13?
I thought you mentioned in your post on that day that you did.
Would be interesting if, in testing, you discover that a warranty replacement for battery is necessary.
How hot does the weather get where you live? Heat kills batteries.
Here in hot Phoenix, AZ, batteries only last 3 years !!!
I actually got a partial warranty claim (as store credit toward the new battery) on one of my batteries for my D, as well as a battery for my old sedan. I have put in two new batteries for my Durango since I bought it in 2017.
Anyway...
I agree with Don. I think he has you on a good path.
And yeah, I'm jealous of anyone whose car battery lasts more than 3 years. o_O haha
 
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Discussion starter · #27 · (Edited)
Hi Jimmy, Thanks for the response! Nice catch, now that you mention it, we must have replaced the battery as I recall the bolts retaining it in the housing were a pain to loosen due to rust.
We’re in Michigan, so we have a few 100 degree + days and usually snow from mid to late December through April. 3 years is a bummer! I have seen 2-3 year life here on some of our fleet vehicles but that was usually due to neglect or abuse by staff and leaving them sit without a charger during the winter.
I plan on seeing my dad on Sunday, so the first thing I'll do with the Durango is a battery disconnect to reset the PCM, reseat the PCM connectors and the TPS connector, reconnect the battery, and test drive. I expect, as in the past, the test drive will go great with those two codes cleared, only to return on restart. I'll probably pick up a cheap TPS to have handy in that event. The Delphi one we ordered was less than I thought, at under $40. Perhaps I'll order a $10-$15 one to throw on there and see what happens. I recall the Mopar one was $100, and maybe that's the answer. I'll go with a cheap one for now, if anything for troubleshooting $10-$15 plus shipping aint so bad and I'll throw some oil and air filters in the order or something for my other vehicles to justify shipping.
I'll share my results after we work on it on Sunday. :)
Thank you everyone,
Alex
 
Discussion starter · #28 ·
Worked on the Durango with my dad earlier today. Got some unexpected results! We initially disconnected the battery to reset the PCM. Then I reseated all three PCM wire harnesses with battery disconnected. I noticed the connector closest to the firewall had an oily dark yellow liquid all around and in it, it was worse than the photo below, as I had wiped most of it off before taking the photo. Could this be a remnant of some sort of grease that had gotten hot? The other two connectors were bone dry. I cleaned it as best as I could before reseating it. I wonder if I should clean it out with some electronics contact cleaner of some kind that is safe to use on plastic.

Image


Before reconnecting the battery, I also reseated the wire harness to the TPS. We then reconnected the battery, started her up and had a successful test drive with no engine lights. Everything ran well until we turned it off, then restarted it. The P0601 PCM code returned, along with a new code, P0551 which is the power steering pressure sensor/switch. It was wet with what I presume to be power steering fluid, so it's not surprising. I plan on ordering that $15 sensor on my next RockAuto order, I don't think this issue is related to the recent performance problems, but I'll address it anyways. I took a photo of what that sensor looked like with the wire harness removed.

Image


I cleaned up and reconnected the power steering sensor/switch, and also disconnected and reconnected the battery again, which miraculously cleared the P0601 and P0551 code. But the P0204 Injector Circuit/Open Cylinder 4 code returned... but the vehicle drove fine on the test drive. We replaced the TPS regardless, as I had it on hand, but the P0601 code returned, as did the P0551 code, and the P0204 code remained. It drove fine after that as well on two test drives and a few restarts even with those codes present.

In summary, the P0205 code went away and so far has stayed away, the P0204 code returned and remains, as did the P0601 code, and we have a new code related to the power steering switch/sensor that I assume will be resolved with a new sensor.

I think the next steps are cleaning up that PCM connector better, as it still had a little of that fluid inside of the connection (impossible to reach it all with a rag or even q tips in the connector itself) and reseating that connection and replacing the power steering switch/sensor. I welcome any feedback on these findings. Thank you!

Update: I may have answered my own question, I found the below post on another forum with a similar issue on a Durango, where a guy had a strange fluid in the same area and said it was power steering fluid that somehow made its way in there due to a bad switch! Weird circumstances, including that below for reference:

Image
 
#29 ·
YES!
Those switches are known to go bad via leaking. The PS fluid wicks into the harness traveling around causing all sorts of electrical grief.
Good catch!!

Don
 
Discussion starter · #30 ·
Don Fox said:
YES!
Those switches are known to go bad via leaking. The PS fluid wicks into the harness traveling around causing all sorts of electrical grief.
Good catch!!

Don
Click to expand...
We're hoping we don't need to replace the entire wiring harness that goes to that bundle of wires into that connector to the PCM from the power steering switch that failed. I ordered the power steering switch, the plan is to replace the switch, and use an automotive electronics cleaner spray on the connector that goes to that power steering switch, and also the connector that goes to the PCM. I'm thinking it be best if we remove the PCM, and open it up if we can safely to also spray electronics cleaner in there too, and also to remove any power steering fluid, should any of it pooled inside of the PCM housing.
What a mess! I suppose worse case, is we need to replace the PCM and wiring harness. This explains why we got so many inconsistent results with resetting connectors and the battery, etc.
 
Discussion starter · #32 · (Edited)
Finally was able to work on the Durango again today. We disconnected the battery, and replaced the bad power steering pressure sensor. I also disconnected the power steering fluid soaked PCM connector and of course the connector that went to the replaced power steering pressure sensor and used electronic contact cleaner on them both before connecting everything back together and started it up and test drove it, the P0601 computer code came back quickly but the performance during the test drive was great. We shut the vehicle down, and I repeated the cleaning of the same connectors with the battery disconnected and on the next startup and test drive, the P0601 code went away and the P0204 injector circuit open cylinder 4 code came back and is currently the only code and the poor performance returned on the test drive. I repeated cleaning the wire harnesses with contact cleaner and the P0204 code remains.
So in short, we replaced the bad power steering pressure sensor which I believe was the culprit that started this madness and the P0601 code has gone and P0204 code returned and currently remains. My dad is going to drive it for a week and we plan on cleaning the harnesses again that were affected next weekend if our schedule allows.
I welcome any ideas/feedback!
 
Discussion starter · #33 · (Edited)
Talked to my dad today, he's been driving the Durango for about a week since we last worked on it. He says it will be good about 70% of the time now. Some trips it runs as it should, but some of the time it still runs rough with poor MPG. He still has the CEL, which I presume is still the P0204.

Tomorrow when I'm at my parent's house I plan on unplugging the PCM and power steering pressure sensor and hitting them with the electronics cleaning spray again.

Anything else I should do or check? If the P0204 comes back, I'm tempted to swap the injector from that cylinder with another one to see if the code follows that injector. Not sure how hard of a job that is.
 
#34 ·
Hi Alex:
Congrats on all of the progress. Moving that injector around to see if the code follows is a good plan IMO.
If so, I'd throw in a new one and see if that cures it.

Don
 
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Discussion starter · #35 ·
Don Fox said:
Hi Alex:
Congrats on all of the progress. Moving that injector around to see if the code follows is a good plan IMO.
If so, I'd throw in a new one and see if that cures it.

Don
Click to expand...
Hi Don, thank you!
We made further progress today on my dad's Durango. I removed the PCM connector that was soaked in PS fluid before, and it was dry this time but I hit it with electronics cleaner again, and I also pulled the wire harness connector from the injector for cylinder number 4 and hit it and the injector's contacts with the electronic cleaner spray. I did the same with the power steering pressure switch connector where the issue originated before replacing that sensor. Got everything put together again, and on first engine start and test drive there were no codes and it performed well! When we shut it down and started her back up, it ran fine but one code came back, and that was P0601. So as of now, the P0204 is gone. As long as the performance stays good, we are letting the P0601 code remain, as it has had for years with no poor performance. My dad is going to run it again all week and I'm going to check codes again next weekend to see if any go away/return.
 
Discussion starter · #36 ·
An update, my dad has been driving the Durango for another week, and he said it only performed poorly once in several days. I re-scanned the vehicle and got two codes, the P0601, and the P0204 returned. Since it's working most of the time, we're leaving it for now. We talked about possibly trying another PCM from a junk yard from a like model.
 
#37 ·
Alex:
If you go PCM shopping, be sure that the donor D matches yours regarding the alarm system. If yours has it, the donor PCM needs to have it also. If not, then the donor also should not.

Keep us posted.

Don
 
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Discussion starter · #38 ·
Don Fox said:
Alex:
If you go PCM shopping, be sure that the donor D matches yours regarding the alarm system. If yours has it, the donor PCM needs to have it also. If not, then the donor also should not.

Keep us posted.

Don
Click to expand...
Hi Don,
Will do! Thanks for the insight. My dad's Durango indeed has the alarm and is also a 4x4 with the 4.7 V8.
It could be a while before we get around to it. Always fun going to the junk yard though. There's always more odds and ends to pick from vehicles.
Thank you,
Alex
 
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