So thats why it was smoking....

A few weeks ago the inlaws (sister-in law) Dodge Durango started having issues. They called me after their mechanic (Pep-boys) said it had blow head/gaskets on both sides (aparently they did a compression check.. I'm not so sure about that)...

When we drove it onto the trailer to take it back to their house it was definatly smoking. It smelled like coolant and was definatly white, but it also appeared like it might have some oil in it too..

Yesterday we stopped taking apart the motor. We got as far as taking 1 head off (passenger side)...

We found this on the head over 2 cylinders..

2 of the pistons look like this (broken). And one is filled with water after sitting for the 3 weeks or so.

Yes.. thats the ring you see.. We didn't even bother to take the other head off.. We are looking at what a used motor is going to run since rebuilding this motor ain't cheap.. Also, thats a bunch of water in the other cylinder and it looks like that water has been there since the truck was parked, about 3 weeks now.

btw.. this is a 4.7 v8 out of a 2003 dodge durango..

~Mark

 

[Turdle]

Sometimes, don't you just hate being "the guy who knows how to fix stuff"



It looks like the piston got pinged and cracked. Are there any TSB's on the issue?

 

[90ranajo]

It looks like the piston got pinged and cracked.

I'd say its because the spark plugs aren't indexed properly.

But seriously, it looks like the engine was over-rev'd and that con-rod stretched a bit and made the piston kiss the head. I'm sure if you tear the motor down and mic the rods you'll find that that one is out of tolerance on the big end along with some crank journal scoring.

 

[Maniak]

There are 2 pistons on that side that look like that, the front and the rear piston.. I didn't even pull the other head off (couldn't get the impact in there to pull the head bolts)..

not sure what they heck they did..

I'm been looking at what a used motor is going to cost and 70k motors are $1500+ and not many motors around.

~Mark

 

[Joe Dirt]

Well, you know what they say...

If you can't Dodge it, shove it out of the way with the piston...

 

[Dan Whitaker]

Hmmm. Chrysler & catastrophic engine failure. Go figure

 

[storlied]

Heh.. this is no surprise.. my best friend had an 03 Durango with the 4.7L and it had nothing but problems.

 

[pwhiteelec05]

Don't be knocking on the Mopars. I have no comment on the operator though.

 

[Dan Whitaker]

Don't be knocking on the Mopars. I have no comment on the operator though.

And never let a Dodge guy work on your Mountaineer. You'll have nothing but problems :

 

[techieman33]

And never let a Dodge guy work on your Mountaineer. You'll have nothing but problems :

Damn, I'm screwed now, now wonder why the last mountaineer rolled over, it could stand being tainted by my brothers dodge cooties anymore

 

[TedJ]

Have a look at that plug gap... is it just me or does it look gigantic and the center electrode is on an angle....

Um... Ford V8 Swap? :scratch: When the wreckers don't have any engines to sell you that tells you something about the reliability of the motor.

Obligatory anti-dodge comment:

It doesn't say DODGE on the back for nothing. Its a reminder to avoid the parts that are falling off

 

[87LongroofCP]

and never let a dodge guy work on your mountaineer. You'll have nothing but problems ::d

x2:d

 

[storlied]

Don't be knocking on the Mopars. I have no comment on the operator though.

I hope you're talking about the operator of the truck this thread is about, because if this is directed to my friend, she Baby's her vehicles.. so I don't even wanna hear it. [Plus for everyone else, for the record.. she got rid of that POS and bought a Ford Ranger and she loves it.] That dodge truck had Many electrical issues, and quite a few emissions systems issues, along with tranny issues. I have another friend with a Dodge, she in fact has/had two.. One of them has a tranny that's a total POS and works like crap, along with an engine that is running horribly even after a tune-up and typical maintenance. [2500 Ram], Don't get me started on the neon.. which shall I name first.. the blown head gasket, the electrical issues including completely dead gauges? And once again, transmission issues. I had never really thought about the transmission issues until just now.. my biggest problem was the electrical issues. I will never buy a dodge, it's either Ford or Chevy for me.. and even right now I'm sorta leaning toward Chevy but even then.. Ford I don't believe has as many issues as Dodge does with their vehicles.

 

[Maniak]

I cant speak for all dodges since we only owned a neon. It was a great little car but did have its issues. It had the dead gauges.. Just whack the dash and they would work again (I replaced the cluster to fix it). In general, it did good until we gave it away at 305k miless..

As for this blown durango motor. I've found 4 motors in the area (2 of each style. I need to see which style we have) Cheapest is $1500 for 177k miles then then $1800 or so for $77k miles. Not having very many motors means either it wasn't popular (I see plenty) or that motor aparently doesn't last.. We still aren't sure what we are going to do...

~Mark

 

[storlied]

Maybe find another size that was offered? 5.9L would be a good swap, more power and I don't believe I've heard much about problems but I don't know much about them.