Durango SXT 4.7L V8

• Automatic transmission
• 68,000 miles

Headlights began to flash on their own, hardly noticeable at first. Started to happen more often. Then recently, while it was raining and at night, lights began to strobe on & off
(headlights and dash lights) horn would intermitt. honk and door locks clicking. Then lost all headlights, dash lights , horn & power locks/keyless entry. Completed drive home with emergency flashers. Next day checked all wiring, fuses, connections, & grounds I could access - no problems found. When I reinstalled the battery, everything worked again for a
couple of days then the same problem. A little internet research pointed to a Central Timer Module Malfunction. CTM failure seems to be very common on these vehicles. One auto review website (MSN) even listed this as major con in considering a used 02 Durango purchase. Fortunately when our headlights went out, we were in an area with streetlights, I hate to think what might have happened if this occurred on some dark back road. Cost for dealer repair was over $380 and this was with a 25% employee discount on part - would have been approx $450. There have been some recalls on Central Timer Modules for some early 2003 durangos (around 3600 vehicles) but our 2002 was not covered. This is a potentially very dangerous problem that Chrysler should be addressing !!!!