Are Dodge Durango Remotes Junk?
Why yes they are. I'm talking about Durango's from 2004 - 2007, possibly 08's too. The problem with these remote head keys is the battery terminal clip can very easily break away from the circuit board. It is unknown to me whether this is a problem with weak solder, cheap materials, or poor quality control but what is known is that thousands of people have experienced a premature failure of the these fobs.
It is amazing that Dodge has released and continues to release such a defective product onto the unsuspecting public and will not honor the key under the factory warranty. The cost to replace it at the dealer is around 150 to 200 dollars! If you own a Durango or any Dodge / Chrysler / Jeep vehicle with a remote head key that is in good working order I would recommend taking extreme care to protect it. These keys can fail by dropping them or even looking at them funny.
If you have a key that has already failed, you do have a couple of options available to you. The first and obvious would be to bite the bullet and replace it. The second option would be to attempt to repair it yourself. If you have any sort of experience repairing electronics this would be an easy job, just resolder the terminal back onto the circuit board. If the thought of that sounds scary to you, as a last resort , you can open up the housing and reposition the terminal clip over the board, holding the battery in place.
Take a piece of electrical tape and tightly wrap it around the lower half of the housing several times. Snap the housing back together and screw it down. (will be tight) Take a knife or razor blade and trim the excess tape from the housing. (it will now be wrapped entirely around the bottom piece) If it worked, you should have a working remote. I would only do this as a temporary fix and would not really recommend it for a permanent solution.
If you would rather not bother with repairing it yourself you can shop for Durango Remote Head Keys right here at CheapFobs.com (see related pages) for a fraction of the dealer price. These keys can be programmed with an on board procedure if you have 2 working keys present, working as in the key will start the vehicle. (not referring to the remote)
If you only have one working key (or none) a dealer or locksmith will need to program the key.
September 4th, 2008 at 7:47 pm
I just saved myself $200+ by fixing the key fob myself. After reading the blog about the terminal clips breaking off of the terminal board, I opened mine up to to verify (since my fob operated intermittently) and sure enough two of the three clips had broken off.
I soldered them myself and it is now stronger than ever. I did not have to reprogram the fob.
I called a local Dodge/Chrysler dealer to see if they can fix it by soldering. Their answer is no…buy a new one for $135, $60 to program, and $10 for the battery. Ouch!
If anyone is interested in saving $$$ email me for soldering. I can do it myself.
Thanks
September 4th, 2008 at 8:41 pm
Albert,
That’s awesome, glad to hear you were able to fix it!
September 14th, 2008 at 7:01 pm
Can you solder my fob? Where are you located? Both of mine are dead.
February 13th, 2009 at 5:57 pm
I have the same problem, pieces of junk key fobs, I bit the bullet and bought a new one, I hope I will be able to program it myself, since my other two do not work, but they start the engine… I wonder if using a regular key had anything to do with it?
June 23rd, 2009 at 6:07 pm
i was able to fix my daughters remote. the terminal clips where loose. I went to my local Radio Shack and bought a $7.99 soldering kit and a battery total of $13.00 dollars spent and two minutes to solder the terminals. I was lucky I did not have to reprogram the remote.
July 10th, 2009 at 9:50 pm
Dave,
Glad to hear it.
November 17th, 2009 at 12:15 am
hey so i have a dodge durango with both problems one key has the termial clip that got like bent out of place or soldering came un done.. but my biggest concern is the fact that the other key i like de program it or something because i was messing around with it hitting the unlock and lock and maybe the pantic button and the next time i went to go use it. it didnt work.. have u ever heard of something like this happening and is there a way to re program it myself and if not how much is the dealships asking? thanks for the time
December 8th, 2009 at 8:00 pm
I have had FOUR factory keys break on me. I was able to solder and get one of them working. I had very little experience with this so it was not easy for me. I refuse to buy another one of these keys. $600 worth of keys breaking is rediculous.
December 20th, 2009 at 10:39 pm
WOW!!!!! My keyless entry has been broken for 3 years. I am so sick of opening the door and sticking the key in the ignition as fast as I can to turn the alarm off all while being stared at by everyone within a 25 mile radius! This fix worked and has changed my life forever. Just for the record, my personal best was 1 and a half honks before turning the key in the ignition.
THANKS!!!!!!!!!
January 1st, 2010 at 10:25 pm
How does one reprogram a key? If the remote does work, but it doesn’t make the door open, how does the dealer do it?
April 16th, 2010 at 9:41 pm
My key/fob will unlock the doors and start the vehicle but then it shuts down the other key/fob works ok though?
May 18th, 2010 at 8:28 pm
Dennis…you cracked me up with the “personal best” comment. Indicating of course that there are other “bests” out there. Very funny. I’ve been doing the race to the ignition myself for a few days. But three years? You must be one happy man! I just bought a used Dodge Durango (2007) and the dealer did not have a fob but is getting one for me and will not be charging me for it or the programming. My question is this; Should I go ahead and buy another one from the dealer? It seems that if they break so easily there is no reason to spend the extra $$$’s, but can I program the second one or will I need the dealership to do that? Thanks in advance.
November 30th, 2010 at 9:12 am
I replaced two of my keys through the dealer – a few months later I had 4 keys that didn’t work. I found a service that was able to fix the keys. Now they all work. There is also a workaround on the site so you do not set the alarm off everytime.
http://www.keylessentryrepair.com/
June 16th, 2011 at 10:28 am
I brought an 08 durango home for a day or two to test. One of the fob’s does not lock or unlock the vehicle. The other one does “sometimes”. I ended up unlocking the door with the key and the panic alarm went off. I kept pressing the unlock button and nothing. Ended up starting the vehicle and letting it shut itself down. This is my first Dodge and I was not prepared to have everyone on my block staring at me like I was an idiot! Will have my husband read the advice above when he gets home to see if he can make this thing right or ask the dealer to fix this problem! This never happened with my chevy suv’s.