Water gets in the oil from condensation every time you start a cold engine. Think of a cold block with hot combustion chambers... like cold water sitting in a glass. The water evaporates when your engine gets hot enough. This is why folks who mostly do quick trips, should change their oil on a shorter schedule. If you're constantly doing five minute trips around town, the water starts accumulating. This is why I was never a fan of putting in colder thermostats, especially those with a 4.7L. Also why I don't run conventional oil... it tends to coagulate and create sludge, unlike full syn.

 

steve, I did it in my garage with a jack and two jack-stands. The taller the better. I had to disconnect the sway bar, pretty simple, just 4 bolts I think.

I had had to replace the steering rack because I still had clicking noise and slop even with new bushings. I think I found it for $80 refurbished on amazon.



If you’re going that far I suggest doing sway bar bushings, I used pro-thane I think. I like polyurethane bushings but rubber works fine.

Let me know if you have more questions!

 

Came from the coolant system. Meaning a head gasket blew at a minimum.

 

Well, it’s running! I’ve driven it 2 miles so far :P

here are some progress pics towards the end. More to come!

Fuel/ignition done, just air/water left!

Air/water done, now to chase gremlins

Just a few hours of locating plugs, I forgot to plug in the oil pressure switch, fuel vent solenoid, and crank position sensor and it fired up! Let it idle an hour and burped the coolant. Took her for a spin and topped everything off. Now to get it registered and inspected (Maryland, ugh ):

 

Youre right, although I had 100,000 more miles than you did. Also this truck was used for off-roading very frequently, so bushings, bearings, joints and suspension should wear faster. The engine could have been overhauled but I expected that to take longer than replacing it.

 

Was probably a blown head gasket. I didn’t know if the head gasket had been blown long enough for the head to have deformed, and if I were to replace the head I would have spent more time fully overhauling the whole thing. For me it was faster to replace the engine than to rebuild it. I realize most people would rather be more frugal, but I couldn’t have the truck down for that long, and I actually enjoy working on it and learning. So does my friend who helped me most days.

 

Yeah I’ve been running royal purple for a few oil changes, and my trips are all over 15 minutes. This new engine is being broken in with royal purple AND Lucas break-in additive. I will change it after 500 miles and inspect the filter, possibly send a sample for analysis.

I have heard synthetic isnt isn’t recommended for break-in but with the additive I feel ok doing it because then the engine will have only ever seen royal purple, and I don’t need to worry as much about compatibility or contamination.

 

This is dodges new cylinder deactivation motor...

 

Yeah, but, it only works once, and can't reactivate the cylinder.

 

I thought it was the hidden cash for clunkers mechanism or how to get rid of first gen Durangos lol