NHTSA Complaint #10393524 — 2004 DODGE DURANGO

I HAVE A 2004 DODGE DURANGO WITH THE HEMI 5.7 LITER V8. OVER THE LAST WEEK IT WAS OCCASIONALLY HARD TO START WHEN THERE WAS RAIN, OTHERWISE THE VEHICLE RUNS FINE. VEHICLE HAS HAD ALL REGULAR MAINTENANCE, IS USED FOR LIGHT DUTY ONLY AND HAS HAD PROPER WEIGHT OIL USING MOBIL 1 SYNTHETIC AT EACH OIL CHANGE. I DROVE THE VEHICLE HOME FRIDAY NIGHT FROM WORK, STARTED FINE, DROVE HOME FINE, STOPPED AT A STORE ALONG THE WAY, NO ISSUES STARTING IT AFTER. UPON ARRIVING HOME I SHUT IT OFF, WITH NO ISSUES APPARENT. I DID NOT USE THE VEHICLE SATURDAY. SUNDAY AFTERNOON I PROCEED TO START THE VEHICLE AND THE ENGINE SUDDENLY MAKES A LOUD CLACKING NOISE, FOLLOWED BY A LOUD BANG AND STALLS. OIL WAS RUNNING DOWN THE DRIVEWAY AND THE ENGINE HAS A HOLE IN THE BLOCK. VEHICLE ONLY HAS 111K MILES ON IT. THERE WERE NO WARNING SIGNS BEFORE THIS HAPPENED OTHER THEN THE OCCASIONAL ISSUE TO START WHEN IT WAS RAINING. REPAIRS ESTIMATES HAVE RANGED FROM $5500 TO $7000 AS THE ENGINE IS COMPLETELY RUINED. DOING SOME RESEARCH ONLINE I DISCOVERED MANY OWNERS THAT HAVE HAD THE EXACT SAME THING HAPPEN, AND MOST OF THEM HAVE HAD IT HAPPEN BETWEEN 80,000 AND 120,000 MILES. *TR