Vehicle Shudder problems of the 2004 Dodge Durango

I was entering interstate 25 north from denver colorado's 19th street when I heard a bang and my 04 Durango began to shake violently. I believed it was a tire that popped even though I have new ones and so I continued down the ramp to a safe place where I pulled over and stopped. That's when I noticed the vehicle was still shaking and I then believed it to be a serpentine belt until I turned the vehicle off. I openned the hood and found the belt intact. I then looked under the vehicle and could see engine oil dripping off the back of the engine block & onto the ground from some unknown location of the motor. I attempted to pull the dipstick out of the engine but was unable to because it was stuck until I tried cranking the motor once again which allowed me to then pull the dipstick out, but I was never able to get it back in. I had the vehicle towed to my house and then eventually to a dealership after the motor was attempted to be started again. Flame shot out from underneath the hood along with smoke and a lot of white smoke from the tailpipe. The engine is blown it would have to be replaced and I had 12 payments left for about $5000. I was in a negative equity situation with this vehicle now & I didn't have warranties or any ability to get help from Chrysler or Dodge. There have been almost a thousand other people to register complaints for the same problem. The engine hydrolocked because water leaks through the cowling between the windshield and the hood and drains all over the entire engine. It happens at approximately a hundred twenty thousand miles, allowing water to get inside the motor eventually. I took care of this vehicle better than any other vehicle I'd ever owned.

I was pulling away from a stop when the engine suddenly made some loud noises sounding like grinding and the vehicle lost all power, steering and brakes. I had to navigate over railroad tracks with a train coming and onto a side street and a ditch. I was the only one in the truck at the time and was not hurt and there was no damage to the vehicle. If it had been one of my kids or wife driving it would have been tragic due to no power and trying to steer a 5000lb truck across traffic and railroad tracks with a train coming. This vehicle was well maintained and had an oil change two weeks prior to the failure. Within the past year this I had the vehicle completely gone thru by dealer mcinerney in mi and they got it ready for what I thought would be the next 100,000 miles. After I had the vehicle towed home due to the estimated $7000 repair bill, I called several Chrysler mechanics who told me this is a known issue with that model and engine year due to both water leaking into the engine compartment (TSB issued) and a possible problem with the crank main bearing. I called Chrysler customer service (joke) and both the people I talked too "literally" asked why I was calling since the warranty had expired and it was no longer Chrysler's problem. I told them because warranty has no bearing on a known defect. The second person I talked to literally laughed at me on the phone and refused to let me talk to someone higher than him stating "I am as high as it gets" and told me "Chrysler is not going to do anything for you". I asked his if this is the new Chrysler after "I" helped bail them out, he said they bailed themselves out. This is the same customer service that told me there were no electrical issues, then 6 months later recalled my truck due to electric fires. If this does not get resolved by Chrysler, I nor will a anyone in my family ever buy another Chrysler product.

2004 Dodge Durango limited 5. 7l hemi 4x4 my vehicle was already running for approx 3-5 minutes, warming up, after I had finished working a full 12-hour night shift. Time is 0640 hrs, outside temp is approx 30 degrees. Vehicle running normal, no alarms, no warning indicators. I was pulling out of driveway of my employment onto the roadway and accelerating on a completely straight roadway. As vehicle was passing 20-25mph and with no fore-warning, heard loud 'bang' from the engine compartment and vehicle started shaking. Vehicle's reaction was immediate. Violent vibrations, tappings and metal to metal sounds, I immediately shut down the engine and drifted off to side of road. My vehicle has never been pushed or worked hard. Never hauled heavy loads or trailored. Body is in very good condition and vehicle maintenance has always been performed on regular basis (approx 1000 miles into current oil change). At first I thought I had thrown the serpentine belt, but within seconds I knew it was much worse, shutting off the engine. Two checks of the oil level, assured me that there was in fact oil in the engine. There were no external leaks found and there did not appear to be any oil/coolant mixing. After towing the vehicle, to my mechanic, they have since reported what they believe to be as a "catastrophic loss of the engine". I have reported this failure to Chrysler corp. And they have opened a case number for me, but they have not made any commitment, if they will cover the failure. After some of my own investigating, I have discovered there are numerous complaints, of the exact same nature as my failure, with this identical make/model year and 5. 7l hemi engine, with many failures occurring in the 80-120k mile range (my mileage 97k). Very angry and upset about this failure, but thankful I was able to safely pull over without any further incident and injury.