Ok Specs first.

Dodge Durango 4WD - built June 2000 (does that make it a 2000 or a 2001?)
Hood say's motor is 4.7 liter but according to the Haynes manual I have it claims ONLY the 5.2 l has the thermostat on bottom of motor - and this one is on bottom however it has the 4.7 l spark plug coil assembly - coils on each spark plug - so THOROUGHLY confused here.

196k miles.

Now for the good stuff.

Bought the truck from a used car dealer - knowing something was wrong but just couldn't find anything to start with. Figured heck - at this price if I have to rebuild or replace the engine it's still worth it.

Had it for about two months and wife was driving it and it started overheating - had antifreeze still in it and it appeared to be full so I changed thermostat. Still kept happening. Talked to a guy I know who is a mechanic (has since moved to the greybar motel for being too dumb to remember to walk and not drive when drinking) and he said that it might be a small tear in head gasket. Note - no oil in antifreeze - no antifreeze in oil. Suggested using an additive to seal it - (I used the grey stuff not the blue).

No more heating issues now but runs REALLY rough and when you let it drop to idle it stalls. Blowing white smoke from exhaust once it's warmed up some ( just a couple of minutes running) and smells like gas.

Question is - is it just that it needs to be tuned up or is the head gasket shot and how do I tell which and what should I do about it. Truck isn't moving - but my damned chevy truck just crapped out on me and I need to get one of them fixed and running.

Constructive (LOL) Suggestions welcome.(I think the wife has taken care of the sarcastic ones already).


Just for grins - just went back out and started truck again - idling rough and then stalls after about 30 seconds - also noted some water (smelled it to be sure (I used water after last repair just for testing purposes)) coming out of exhaust. So I guess it might be the head gasket. I have AllData software so just need a diagnosis to find out what I need to do.

Contact via Yahoo or skype is welcome!

 

You have a 4.7l the 5.2 didnt come with coil packs also your head gasket is shot

 

the 5.2 actually had the t-stat in the top hose like the 5.9, the 4.7 is the only one w/ the stat in the lower hose.

as for the water in the exhaust there is usually some (normally called condensation) in there if you have more than that i would say that its possible its leaking into a cylinder, especially w/ the white smoke and poor running (water doesnt burn, nor does it compress very well), i would replace the headgaskets and do it right myself.

also you now need to flush your radiator(the whole cooling system actually) to get the stop-leak crap out, if you dont get it out in time it can plug the small flow channels in the radiator and cause hotspots in the radiator and the truck to overheat again in the future.

 

Definitely sounds like a headgasket.

If you're still wandering if it's a 2000 or 2001 there are a bunch of ways to tell since the interior was redone in 2001. 98-00 had a manual transfercase shifter while the 01-03 had a electronic switch on the dash. The instrument cluster says information center on it on 01-03. There are a bunch of other differences too but those are the easiest I can think of right now.

 

Update:

And before Hydrashocker smacks me in the head with a baseball bat - I did this part as a temp solution to find some other problems.

I used the Autozone headgasket sealer stuff (Not the blue one - even I know better than that) to sela the headgasket leak (and that is all it is - I know I will have to fix that at some point). That solved the overheating problem.

Since then I have replaced the IAC and TPS and had to repair the IAC connector - the insulation was completely melted away and the wires were shorting out.

Reset the PCM and got an error P0203 on Cyl 3 - replaced the injector.

Now it idles at around 500 rpm - but it's smoking like crazy and stalls in gear at stop signs etc.... Smoke is white.

I know the low idle isn't the IAC or TPS - throttle moves smoothly.

Any clue why it idles so low and rough now?

 

white smoke sounds like steam, fix the headgasket properly and get back to us, if the headgasket isnt good it will allow coolant into the cylinders, this willl disrupt the idle and cause smoke

btw 500 rpm is well within the range of normal idle for a v8 engine, no problems with that idle speed

 

Any good step by step guides around for this. I am not a mechanic and I have a really bad back. In fact on the 31st of this month I will be going in for spinal fusion on 1 disc and 4 disc replacements in the lumbar region. So any hints or tips to make it easy would be appreciated.

 

Well I have it stripped down to the point where I can remove the timing gears and chains (Camshaft chains and sprockets are off.) and then the heads - the problem is that during the process of getting the drivers side cam sprocket off - it jumped - idler arm is now out of sink with harmonic balancer - I have the #1 cylinder at TDC - harmonic balancer is right but the idler arm is not lining up properly - the mark there is pointing at about 10 o'clock position.

What do I need to do to fix this? Hopefully without having to reinstall the cams and sprockets.

 

Well here goes nothing.

Put everything back together - still running rough. Did a compression test and the two front cylinders (one on each side) are weak - 70 - and all the others are at around 120 to 130.

We replaced the passenger head - but not the drivers - it looked ok. But the front piston on the drivers side was a bit pitted and looked like someone had run an engraver across it.

While it was running there seemed to be exhaust gasses backfeeding into the breather box and some moisture to.

I am thinking the piston on the front passenger side and the drivers head have a crack in them. Is it possible that it is something else that I am overlooking? It's already taken me a lot of time to get this far and now it looks like I have to tear it back down again.

Incidentally since I broke it down and replaced the head on the passenger side I have had two of my vertebrae fused and titanium rods put in and it's really a problem to move around at the moment.

 

It is best to replace both head gasets while its tore down that far,, An take the heads someplace that test them to make sure there in good shape an not crack inside,, I would never do the heads without havein them checked,,