Control module (ECM/PCM/BCM) failure on the 2000 Dodge Durango
2 crashes 1 injury 3 of the 20 reports for this failure mention a crash, a fire, an injury or a death. Those are the owner's words on the complaint form, not a verified finding, and one report can mention more than one.
When control module (ecm/pcm/bcm) failure gets reported
Owners of the 2000 Dodge Durango report control module (ECM/PCM/BCM) failure at a median of 140,000 miles. A quarter of the reports come in before 140,000 miles and a quarter after 170,000 miles, from 17 reports that carried an odometer reading.
A part like this is normally expected to survive 92,000 miles. It is the 13th most-reported problem on this model year.
The mileage distribution
The reported range runs from 130,000 miles at the tenth percentile to 195,000 miles at the ninetieth, a spread of 64,047 miles across the middle 80% of reports.
A spread this wide points at use rather than design. Towing, climate, service history and city mileage all move a failure like this, so the median is a weak guide to any individual car.
0% of the dated reports were filed under 36,000 miles.
The whole distribution
| 10th | 25th | Median | 75th | 90th |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 130,600 miles | 139,000 miles | 142,000 miles | 170,000 miles | 194,647 miles |
Read the 10th percentile as “one report in ten arrived this early”. Exact figures are shown in this table because it is the table of record; everywhere else on the site they are rounded to the precision the sample can carry.
What a percentile can and cannot tell you here
These five numbers describe the readings owners gave, in order. The median is the middle one: half the reports arrived below it. The 10th and 90th are the edges of the bulk of the distribution, and the distance between them is the part worth reading. A tight spread — say 70,000 to 95,000 miles — points at something that wears out on a schedule, and the schedule is knowable. A wide one, 20,000 to 190,000, points at a fault that hits some cars and never troubles others, which means the mileage on the listing in front of you tells you very little about your odds.
What these figures are not is a survival curve. Every reading here comes from a car whose owner filed a complaint, so the sample contains only failures: it cannot say what share of the fleet made it past 150,000 miles untouched, because those owners had nothing to report. Nor is the mileage the moment of failure — it is the odometer reading as recalled at the time of filing, which may be weeks later and is sometimes rounded to the nearest ten thousand by the person typing it.
Percentiles are shown at all only once 8 readings exist for the vehicle and mode. Below that the middle of a handful of numbers is noise wearing a decimal point, so the figures are withheld rather than dressed up.
What happens, and what it costs
Of these reports, 2 a crash and 1 an injury are mentioned. Owners write their own complaints and the agency does not verify them, so read this as what the reports say happened rather than as a confirmed count.
Putting it right typically runs $700–$3,000 at an independent US shop. That range is an editorial estimate held in this site's failure-mode catalogue, not a figure from NHTSA, and it is a repair cost rather than a diagnosis cost.
The same failure on other years
The same failure is reported on 13 model years of this car. It shows up earliest on the 2016, at a median of 5,000 miles, and latest on the 2000 at 140,000 miles.
By volume the 1999 carries the most reports, with 105; the 2000 has 20. A mode that appears across most years of a model is usually a design choice rather than a bad batch.
If one year stands out to the left, that is the year to avoid; if the whole line sits at a similar mileage, this is wear rather than a defect in one production run.
Tick median reported mileage Solid middle half of reports Faint 10th to 90th percentile Colour how bad the failure is when it happens
What owners wrote
Verbatim from NHTSA complaint narratives, trimmed for length. The mileage is the one the owner gave.
The clock spring malfunctioned. As a result, radio inside of the steering wheel and the cruise control failed intermittently. A recall was issued for the clock spring, however this vehicle was not included in the recall due to VIN. *ak
I own a 2000 dodge durango slt 4WD. The vehicle shuts off when the outdoor temperature exceeds 75 degrees. I have traced the issue to the PCM of the vehicle, which becomes so hot that you cannot touch its metal housing with your hands. The PCM is located in the engine compartment, bolted above the passenger front tire. The PCM has three wire harnesses attached to it, and once the PCM heats up, a "kill" switch is triggered and the vehicle shuts off. Shortly after, the odometer reads "no bus" and the only way to reset the PCM is to leave the ignition key in the "on" position, pull the PCM wire harness that is closest to the passenger compartment, re-seat the harness and hope that you hear a "clicking" sound. The vehicle normally re-starts, but will again turn off at intermittent times. On a typical day of 80*, I will perform this process several times in my 22-mile round-trip to work. Many people have been experiencing the same events, thus causing nightmares for those that do not have a safe pull-off from roads, or those that are in intersections or near crosswalks, since the engine shuts down sporadically. *tr
I have a 2000 dodge durango with 118k and with out warning I lose all power gas brakes steering etc and for me to get the car started again I have to pop the hood and wiggle the middle PCM harness ( which is a white connector) and then im able to start my car again. This also once cause me to go bounce off a wall in a parking garage because of the loss of power steering and brakes when the cut off on me while trying to make a turn. *tr
Also reported on the 2000 Dodge Durango
Control arm, ball joint or bushing failure
Other engine problem
Other suspension problem
Other powertrain problem
Other body or interior problem
Steering rack, gear or tie rod failure
How far this goes
Complaints are voluntary, so 20 is a floor and not a count of affected cars. Mileages are typed in by owners and cluster on round numbers. And the mode itself is assigned by software reading the complaint text, which is reliable in bulk and fallible one report at a time.
Questions this page answers
At what mileage does control module (ecm/pcm/bcm) failure happen on the 2000 Dodge Durango?
Across 17 owner reports that included an odometer reading, half were filed by 140,000 miles. A quarter were filed before 140,000 miles and a quarter after 170,000 miles. These are the mileages owners reported when they complained, not a prediction for any individual car.
How common is control module (ecm/pcm/bcm) failure on the 2000 Dodge Durango?
20 reports have been filed with NHTSA, about 0.3 per 1,000 vehicles. Complaints are voluntary, so this is a floor rather than a count of affected cars.
What this is and is not. These are the mileages at which owners chose to complain to a federal agency, which is not the same as the mileage at which the part fails on every car. It skews toward failures that happened outside warranty, cost real money, or frightened someone. It is still the only public dataset that carries failure mileage at all, and the shape of a few hundred readings is informative even when a single one is not. Methodology · JSON · this failure on other cars
Source Owner complaints and recall records published by the US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, model years 1996–2027 Figures rebuilt Published by AtWhatMileage How every figure is computed