WTF !?!?!?!?!?!?

I just had my water pump, serpentine belt, tensioner pulley, timing chain, timing gear, and timing cover gasket all replaced. Had my entire cooling system, including heater core, backflushed at the same time.

$495 out the door. Parts, labor, new antifreeze, shop supplies, and sales tax.

(98 5.9)

Holy crap. Damn happy I don't have a 4.7.

 

Awww cm'on.... it's not THAT bad!!!!

Remember that the timing chain setup on the 4.7 is THREE chains, 5 sprockets, a bunch of guides, and (I believe) the tensioners as well. There's a whole bunch of things moving around under that cover at one time!

4.7's might be a little touchy, but they do run well, give plenty of power, and are smooth. Besides, I get 16.5 mpg all day long from mine, & much better when interstate driving!

Bob

 

Um, yeah. That's why I'm glad I don't have one. LOL....

My 5.9 has more power, get's close enough to the mpg you're talking about, and is obviously much cheaper to work on.

Won't be a 4.7 in my future....

 

16.5 i wish i could get that all day only highway i get that 01 4.7l 4x4

 

Yeah yeah, you probably want to go back to centrifigul advance distributors with points, & condensers too!

+1 on it being expensive to work on though. Parts are harder to find and are twice the price. Friggen head gaskets floored me when I bought them. Something like 35 bucks each?
Bob

 

Seriously, I get a true 16.5 (calculated - not using the overhead console) and most of my driving is 40-55mph on county roads with some city (30 mph) driving thrown in there. On trips I get 18-19 consistantly unless of course I'm towing something. THEN it takes a pretty severe hit.

I keep the tires pumped up to 40psi, but other than that nothing special. Guess maybe I'm becoming that "old man driver" that I always hated..

Bob

 

No, no, no... The boat I just got rid of last year had centrifugal advance. Worked great when it was working, unfortunately that amounted to about 5% of the time. Had to mess with it 9 out of 10 times I took the boat out. I was shopping for an electronic ignition setup to replace it with when the company I worked for went belly up and I had to sell off all of my big toys.

I'd be thrilled to just stick with vacuum advance, though, leave the computer controlled crap out of it.

(EDIT: Damn I miss that boat... '86 Stingray runabout, open bow, Mercruiser 140 HP 4 banger. Mountains of torque, I could pull two skiers easy, and 3 if they were good skiers. Would hit 50 mph when it was running right, and the hull was heavy enough to glide smoothly across whitecaps that were throwing much bigger boats around... And yet I could take it out on the lake for a full weekend and never use up the whole 12 gallon tank if I was just cruising around nice and easy... You just can't get all that out of the new crap that Bayliner and the likes are turning out these days...)

 

Amen to that! Why is it that my 65 Ford 289 can pump out all the horsepower & fuel economy I want all day long, & I can count the number of wires & vacuum lines under the hood on one hand?

I do miss the "simpler times".

Sorry I took this thread off in another direction. To the OP, look over your 4.7 close before deciding what to do. If you jumped a chain you most likely hit a valve as they're zero clearance engines. And while that 4.7 swap thread is impressive, that's a whole lot of hacking going on to swap a motor in a Durango.

Bob

 

I like the 5.9 - AKA- 360 Dodge Motors..If I hadn't got such a GREAT Deal on my Hemi, There would be one in my Dakota ..Thank God- I got my Hemi at such a great deal, or I wouldn't have it..

 

I have to say the 360 is one of the easiest motors I've worked on. I have it in my 2000 Durango and love it, I had a '04 Sierra 2500 with the Duramax and it was the biggest PITA just to change the oil! Everything is pretty easy to get to and parts really aren't too expensive compared to other engines.

I don't like the 360, I LOVE it!