You're an idiot! The OP is obviously not a professional mechanic (like most of us)... hence his quest for guidance. With that said, you are telling him to pull a valve cover to diagnose a problem on a vehicle he knows nothing about.

I agree with Hydra, get the truck to a mechanic that can check it out. You'll get more insight about the truck in 2 hours than
you would from just owning and driving it for six months.

Oh about these being crap motors... What the hell are you comparing these to? Dodge engines are known for being the strongest, longest lasting, work horses available. My ONLY complaint is MPGs, but that's the trade off. I accept that.


To the OP: If this is an inexpensive project truck, go for it. But if you're looking for a daily driver, get as much info as possible.

 

Agreed, find a mech that knows Dodges. I looked around here until i found a mech that knows mopars in and out. Every town has one. As far as ur question, I always start at the battery when i have an electrical prob. I've learned that if the battery output is not at 14.2 it will screw everything up, atleast it did on mine. It stalled, coughed, misfired, mpg's went down hill and it all was caused by a bad battery.

 

Thanks guys and yes I wanted to find a project truck since I am not getting my license back till april and the truck is 700 obo. I am just trying to figure out what could possibly be the issue because my first guess was the starter was bad or the ignition needed to be replaced. But I can't go threw and check for bent valves or check the lifters. When I go I am going to bring a battery and check for any loose connections, and try to start it cause I can't check for compression or any cracks in the cylinder walls without the engine turning over because the starter won't turn at all.

 

you could also try using jumper cable to jump fromthe battery right to the starter to confirm that the starter is not seized

 

You mentioned that when you turn the key there is no click, no cranking, nothing.

What you didn't mention is if the interior electronics are working. Radio, dome lights, etc... When the key is turned on, where does the volt meter read?

On the surface, this sounds suspiciously like a simple case of a dead battery in need of nothing more than a jump start.

 

And yet again a different member totally aggreeing with swiss being a complete moron and a troll!


Get a clue swiss!

 

Oh good lord....

This poor guy is describing the symptoms of a dead battery, and he's being told to basically do a complete tear down and overhaul of the engine on a vehicle that's not even his.

I agree, it's a usually a good idea to drop the hundred bucks and have a mechanic check a vehicle out before you buy it. But on a $700 project vehicle? No. (Although I do question the wisdom of getting into a "project" if you can't diagnose a simple "won't start" problem.)

Having dealt with a lot of neglected vehicles, I'm about 90% sure that all he's looking at is either a dead battery or a bad connection in the top post battery terminals. Modern vehicles have electronics that place a drain on the battery even when it's off (most obvious example is the clock. if it wasn't drawing power from somewhere, you'd have to set the time every time you drove the truck). It's a small drain, not enough to be noticed under normal circumstances, but if it sits for 3 weeks or a month, it can be enough to kill the battery, especially if the battery has some age on it.

When he goes to look at it he should bring two things; jumper cables and some channel lock pliers. Give the battery connectors a good squeeze and a few twists to make sure there's good contact, throw the jumper cables on, and I'd bet you five bucks it starts right up.

If it doesn't, walk away. Don't drop $500 diagnosing a $700 truck. Let them advertise it a little longer and sell it to someone who knows what they're getting into.

Me? If I could get a Durango, in good condition for 700 bucks, I'd jump on it even if the motor was completely missing. But for someone who is going to have to pay mechanics to do the work? Nah..... They're going to charge him double on parts, charge him for 4x labor, it's just not cost effective..... By the time it's done it will likely have been cheaper to spend 4 or 5 grand on one that's already road worthy.

Eh, my advice would be to find a good used car lot that offers a 30 day warranty and just get something that already works.

 

I agree with sharps and corey. Jump that baby with a good battery to see if she runs. If you need to keep a high rev after the engine turns over, then it's the battery. Ask the salesman about the D and how long has it been sitting there w/o being started once in a while. I'll bet you they say it hasn't been started up in a while. Last used car dealer I went to had about five or six booster packs laying around the show yard to start up dead cars.

 

If you can't drive it on it's own power to have a mechanic inspect the vehicle, I wouldn't be looking to purchase that one. You can find other D's that need repairs and you can at least listen to them run and know what you're getting into. Always verify the cost of repairs (the first step of that verification would be knowing what's wrong) before you start a project vehicle. Without verifying you'll be throwing money into a never ending pit and you'll end up selling that heap after you've blown more money than it's worth in perfect condition. If you can figure out exactly what's wrong and know what it'll cost to repair it, then go for the good deal and have fun with your new project.

 

Ok im going to be doing all the work on the vehicle myself i know how to do pretty much everything myself and I am going to school for automotive and my dad is a master mechanic I just wanted to get advice from others that know more about dodges because I don't know a great deal about them. But the first thing i am going to do is try to turn the engine over by hand to make sure that is not seized if the engine is not seized I will buy it because if it is just a battery since he said it was junk to begin with and there is minor surface rust and the engine turns over I don't see the point in not getting it I just need to figure out what size socket to use on the 4.7 to hand turn the engine. The truck so far has been sitting for 6 months and was sitting for a month before the truck just stopped working so I just want advice to try to make it easy for me to figure it out cause this is my first dodge ever if I buy it I had always owned Ford and after seeing my friends rams and my brothers durango the love them. So I thank you for the advice and would appreciate it if there is any other things to look into the problem before I go there tomorrow. Thank-you all