mds issue with 5.7 hemi in our durango

[wtnhunt]

Our 08 durango came with a lifetime powertrain warranty.  That was part of why we settled on the dodge over chevy.  

Now I am getting a more and more often code p3441, deactivation issue on cylinder 6.  I called the dealer and talked with the service dept and the guy could not tell me if it would be covered just to get it checked out, told me I would have to pay the deductible just for them to diagnose it.  I said what deductible, there is no deductible, to which he said he did not know what it would be until he ran the vin.  

From what I can get the issue is probably with an mds solenoid.  I changed the oil after reading that oil can cause this code and that has made no difference.  Plugs were changed less than ten thousand miles ago.  It runs fine, just sometimes will not go to fuel saver where it drops to the 4 cylinder mode, other times it will.  I can clear the code and it might go a week or more without popping back up, but then it might pop back up and I clear it and it pop back up the next day.  Pretty erratic and no apparent pattern. Anyone have any experience dealing with these mds systems and deactivation issues?

Fed up with that dealer, gonna check with another dodge dealer to see if I can find one that knows what customer service is.  

[Shaun_300]

Unfortunately no dodge experience William. Have seen issues with the lifters failing on the GM 5.3's and 6.2's on the cylinders that shut down. In your case it sounds more of an electrical problem or the component that controls the oil pressure to them.

Let me know what they find. 

[wtnhunt]

I cleared the code last weekend and then drove it to town to get gas and it popped back up less than a mile from home, so cleared it again when I got back home.  I wanted to get it in to a dealer before we took this last trip, but couldn't(they would not commit to an appointment) so I took my scanner with me on this trip to erase the code if it popped up again in hopes that the mds would work right and it would go to fuel saver mode on the highway like it is supposed to.  We drove to Kentucky over 300 miles one way in the thing Monday and the fuel saver mode worked flawlessly there and back, never missed a lick and even had fuel efficiency average go up from around 15.3 to 18.6 mpg, not too bad for an all wheel drive 4 door suv cruising around 73 most of the way loaded up with all of us and our stuff.  Really think had we not hit heavy rain most the way there the mpg's would have climbed even more.  

I had considered using a "high mileage" synthetic oil, don't know if it might make any difference in a possible sticky lifter if that was the culprit. I will get it in sometime soon, may try another dealer though, will be sure to report back what they find.  

[Shaun_300]

Wouldn't hurt to try it William! Throw in a bottle of Lucas oil treatment or the AC Delco Engine Oil Supplement. Both those work wonders. Sounds like it could have been a partially stuck lifter.

[wtnhunt]

Had to get another airbag recall taken care of and was due for another 5 year powertrain inspection to keep the warranty intact so finally got an opportunity and took it in. The advisor told me over the phone before we drove over there that they had diagnostics that would be able to go way deeper than my scanner that they could find any issue.  Since the active fuel management system would not work with the code tripped I cleared it out about a month ago to get better gas mileage, and wouldn't you know it it has not tripped it again since.   It only trips the code when it has set for a good while then it might trip it several times, as in I clear it and it trips it over and over.  It has done this on both cylinder 4 and 6.  The dealer was unable to find any issues.  Oh well, the tech told me it had to either be the solenoids or more likely the harness under the intake may have been chewed on by rodents. 

So, now my question after driving home is if mice chewed the wiring harness under the intake, which is entirely possible since we have a problem with mice in our garage, why does this only happen sometimes and more often after the durango has sat, like not been driven for 2 or 3 weeks?   If the harness was compromised to the point it was causing issues while driving my experience with electronics would lead me to believe it would not be so intermittent. thoughts?

[Shaun_300]

Electrical can do some funny things sometimes William. Could very well be either of those issues. Or it could be some corrosion within a plug either at the solenoids, an inline connector or right at the ECM. if there is slight corrosion on it it may work when it is cold but as the temperature rises the resistance will increase with it and trigger a fault. 

[wtnhunt]

Thanks Shaun.  Yeah intermittent stuff can be a pain to pinpoint for sure.  I may pull the intake manifold this spring and check the harness.  As for now it has not thrown a code again.