Hi all,
I'm new here, but not new to Dodge. I was hoping that some one could tell me what a good source for an engine kit for my 1993 3.9 liter Magnum engine. The engine has 200,000+ miles on it and its ready for a rebuild.

It runs fine but has low compression on 3 of the cylinders and many of the gaskets are seeping. So I am looking for a kit that has pistons, gaskets and bearings. If the cam needs replaced I figure that out on my own. I have tried the 'common' sites (ie: summit, jegs etc.) and have had no luck finding the kit.

Any help is appreciated.

 

LOL this problem comes up every so often. From previous posts there are no kits. Your going to have to piece it together. try www.summitracing.com or http://www.mopar.com/performance/index.html
or
http://www.hughesengines.com/Index/index.php

 

bummer I was afraid of that, I will just maybe have the machine shop get me the parts then.

 

You should actually call summitracing or whoever and talk to someone there. They can help you peice together a kit for a lot less than a machine shop will sell it to you for!

Or, look up the 5.2 engine kits and make a list of everything on it and piece it together yourself. It's really not hard to do.

 

hughes engines will sell you a kit also

 

If you have the time and another vehicle to use to do a tear down of the engine. I would start there to inspect your problem. I have rebuilt CAT engines and have noticed alot of them do not need to be rebuilt. They just need the piston rings realigned. What this means is, that with the cross hatch of the cylander wall. Over time the piston ring will over time, turn and line up giving you blow by and compression loss. Because the rings aren't opposite of eachother anymore.

Therefore if you can do a tear down and inspect those piston rings and notice how they are lined up when you pull them. You'd be shocked at the life of a high mileage engine can take you. If you pull them and the rings aren't aligned. Then I would move to rebuild.

I have seen CAT engines with 1,000,000 miles on it and still have cross hatch.

 

That might be true with CAT engines, but it's not true with gas engines. Since his engine has over 200,000 miles on it. I would rebuild it. That means turn the crank, new bearings, new cam and lifters, timing chain, gasket set, rings, and be prepared to spend money at a machine shop. If the engine needs to be bored over, head work, and deck leveling.

 

I think the engine needs to be rebuilt. The V configuration tends to put a lot of wear on the cylinders. if this were an inline 4 or 6 I might just turn the crank and do a re-ring job but V engines tend to not run as well (in my experience) when they are re-rung as when they are re-manufactured.
I also recently found remanned short blocks for $699 from some engine place so I may go that way due to the fact that I may not have time to wait for the machine shop to recondition the block.

I will, however, have the heads rebuilt when the job gets done.