Hey all,

Changing gears here...After getting my 2000 4.7L Durango going (thanks again to everyone who helped) my dad, (in his infinite wisdom /shakes head) decided it was time to build my son a Durango...We had picked up a 2000 Durango with the 5.9L engine it...it only has about 98k on the odometer and we were told it had a "blown head gasket". So with my new found knowledge of Dodge anatomy (well 4.7L Dodge engine anatomy that is, lol) we tore into it...boy were we wrong...the entire motor seems shot...got the intake off, then peeled the skid plates off (think they will be "acquired" for my 2000 4.7 Durango ) we found that there is a major hole in the oil pan from the inside out...almost as if a rod cap came off and ripped through the pan....and the oil dipstick seems fused to the engine now....so all work stopped on it...now for the fun.

In storage I have a 2000 4x2 Durango with a 5.9L (no transmission) that I was given from a kid in CA...all I wanted was the like new 31x10.50x15 tires and wheels from it...rest is all bonus parts.

So now on to the questions, sorry for the long rambling intro...

1. Is there any modification that needs to be done when taking an engine from a 4x2 and swapping it into a 4x4? Back in the day when we were working with Ford motors, a 390 engine from a car could be swapped into a 4x4 truck by changing out the oil pickup tube and an oil pan from a 360 4x4 engine...are the 5.9's similar? Do we need to find a pan and pickup tube from a 5.9 out of a 4x4??
2. What is the safest and best way of hooking a 5.9L engine to a cherry picker hoist to pull it out of the engine bay? Currently the 4x2 motor is held in by a rope to the front end and the motor mounts...kid I got it from dropped the transmission and took it all apart and it currently is in a million or so pieces in the back end...

Once pulled the plan is to mount the motor to a stand and rebuild it (rings, bearings, oil pump, water pump, t-stat, injectors and gasket kit have all been ordered)

Supposedly my son will be moving to Colorado sometime in the next few months so we want to make this a bullet proof as possible....

Thanks in advance..

Steve

 

Oil pan and pickup would probably be the extent of the changes. 2000 was a goofy year with lots of mid year electronics changes, so you might need to swap some sensors too.

 

and with the intake manifold on a normal carb plate type pickup would work

 

The donor engine is about 2 months older than the recipient Durango by the door sticker...So its definite that the 2wd and 4wd have different pans/pickup tubes? Will definately check closely when I pull the donor engine in the next couple of days.

Thanks again

 

It looks like you want to replace parts w/o a reason. I diagnose engine first, then replace whatever is needed to be replaced. There is no such thing as "normal engine wear". Metal parts do not touch each other, there is oil between them.

 

I'm not sure where you're getting that i "want to replace parts w/o a reason". The original 5.9L engine has a hole in the oil pan from the inside of the engine. I am assuming that it is a rod cap or perhaps a broken rod. The dipstick is non-removable from the tube. It feels fused to the engine. The donor vehicle has an unknown history to me as it was given to me in a non-runnable state (no transmission, previous owner took it all apart and it is in pieces in the rear of the vehicle). As my son will be moving from California to Colorado, my father and I are going to rebuild the motor to ensure that he has the best running vehicle possible. My original purpose in posting this was to ask the best way to pull the motor from the donor and if there was any complications going from a 4x2 to a 4x4 with a 5.9L V-8. So I'm not sure what diagnosis I've missed.

 

Based on your description, you are going to rebuild an engine (which is possibly good) because you didn't hear it run.
This is what I would do, if I had replacement engine:
attach starter and check wet compression
remove oil pan for gasket and rear main seal, check connecting rod bearings by removing caps or just turning crank and pushing connecting rods.
good luck whatever you do.
Usually I start with diagnosing original engine

 

Does anyone know if a 46re transmission and transfer case out of a 01 durango 5.9 4x4 will swap over to my 97 dodge ram 1500 5.9 4x4 with no issue?

 

Unbolt the tube assembly and see if it all comes off.

 

The dipstick tip may have been buggered by the same flailing internals as made the oil pan toast.