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2002 Dodge Durango R/T 4dr 4WD

2002 Dodge Durango
Trim Info:
4-Wheel Drive, 4 Door, 4WD Sport Utility Vehicle
12 mpg city / 16 mpg hwy
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January 15, 2013, 11:29 am

Matthew F
 

Question: Why does my durango hesitate after a warm start?

My Durango is having an issue where it will hesitate and stutter after a warm start. It does it once and then its fine. Its always while its in gear and after I move a little ways and then stop. It doesn't do it if the engine is cold, only warm. I can shift into neutral and the hesitation stops. Then I can start driving again and it doesn't happen again until I turn off the vehicle and restart warm later. Or if I can get the rpms above 2k, while in gear, it doesn't happen. Then I can drive without issue again until after another warm restart.


January 23, 2013, 1:37 pm

Elizabeth K
Expert Mechanic

It sounds like the problem is either a too rich or too lean condition, and the computer cannot correct for it right away because it is not accepting feedback from the sensors until a few minutes after start-up. My guess is the fuel injectors may be slowly leaking down while it's sitting, resulting in a rich mixture when you restart it. You can try flooring the gas pedal (all the way, no pumping) while cranking. This will put the computer into 'clear flood' mode and temporarily lean out the mixture while cranking. If the problem goes away, then the mixture was too rich before. If it makes it worse, it was too lean before.

Either way, the problem will be easier to diagnose when it gets worse, so there's no big rush to diagnose it now if you can't figure it out.


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