Hi guys,

well, I have a 2002 dakota 4x4 automaticwith the 3.9. I bought it used with 20,000 miles back in '03 and now just rolled over to 80,000. Let me tell you about being upside downon a loan. I think I still owe at least 16,000 bucks on it. Bad decesion durring a bad time.

About a week ago my truck began to idle roughly when I would start it up. After a few minutes it would idle smoothly. Then about a day after it threw a p301 code which is a missfire in cylinder 1. I just replaced the plugs, wires, cap and rotor last year.
To be safe anyway, I tested the spark from the plug and it was fine. I figured I had an issue with the injectorso I brought the truck to the local mechanic. They pulled the codes and did a coolent presure test and found that I had anti-freeze in the cylinder.

They basicaly said that I have a leaky head gasket or possibly a cracked head. Right away the quoted me a price to put in a new engine which is around 4,500 to 5,000 dollars. When I asked about just trying to replace the gasket the mechanic couldn't give me a quote. He said it was hard to tell becuase after they pull the engine they have to send the head out to a machine shop to test it for cracks, etc..

Has anyone had this happen and successfully cured it with just a head gasket? If I do have to replace the engine, what dealer or company should I look at?

Thanks for the help,
Dave

 

Sorry to hear about your troubles. In my opinion, it sounds like the shop that you went to is trying to screw you into something you don't need. If it is the head gasket, not so bad to replace, no where near the cost of an engine (but I would rebuild the head since it is off). If it is the head, more involved, but no where near the cost of an engine. He is right, most places have to send it out to check if it is cracked.

I would find another shop that is willing to quote a head gasket job and a head job (LOL) so you know worst case before pulling the head, although do you have a choice whether or not to get the work done? THen have them pull the head and diagnose the problem so you will know the costs involved. My .02.

 

Yea, just because the head gasket went/Cracked doesn't mean you need a new engine. It could though. Watch out because for how long you were running it on the broken head/Coolant could be bad. It could have worren down a bearing and now the bearing is just waiting to break. So It all depends. If your going to be dropping in an engine you maybe should think about a v8 (More power, but than you have to do a tranny, but these days you can get that done cheap and you will have a hell of a lot faster truck.)

 

Thanks for the quick reply guys!

Is there anyway to figure out if there is antifreeze in the crankcase?
I actually had to put a whole bottle of antifreeze in it after I picked it up from the mechanic.
I'm not sure if they emptied it and forgot to replace it, or if the leak completly drained it.


Thanks again,
Dave

 

Drain the oil, coolant will typically show up as milky.

 

Wait awhile for the motor to cool. (Like over night).
Just crack the drain-plug for the oil. It will be pure water,
(Antifreeze mix) with very little oil at 1st.
Then, it's a head gasket or cracked head.
Hope you haven't been driving it much like this.
Because, you will wash the bearings. So, maybe
the shop you took it to is hearing bearing-knock also.
You can buy a Bone-Yard head if the old one is cracked but,
You'll want a machine shop to go thru it to see if it's ok.
THEN,.. Since the manifold and the one bad head is off, might
as well go and take the other one off and have gone thru also.
(I've gone thru quite a few Head-Gaskets on my Blown-Mustang,.. Big job if it's a 1st time for you.

 

My brother had the same thing happen with his 3.9. Ended up being a cracked head. I think he ran it hot after the upper rad hose broke. Used heads from a junk yard and then having a machine shop go thur them will most likly cost about the same as a set of brand new heads from the parts house. Depends on how many miles the junk yard motor had on it.

You may also be able to check the dip stick from antifreeze, oil color good, milk bad. The more of a sweet smell out the exshaust the more antifreeze in the cylinder.

My ford ranger did the same thing a 175,000 miles, sold it and got a better truck, dakota.

If you do one go ahead, <-lol, and do both.

good luck

James

 

if you have antifreeze on top of the piston it will either belch out white smoke from the exhaust or hydro-lock the engine.if you have not seen this or have water in the oil,take to another shop-i.e.,second opinion.you can also check this site and maybe ebay for wrecked trucks for an engine.i think chrysler also putthe 3.9 in the early jeep liberty and some full size ram pickups.

 

Well, a mechanic worth his weight would have drained the oil to check for coolant contamination. If none was present, he'd have given you two options:

1; tear the heads off and send them to be checked. If they failed, new head (S). IF not, they'd be milled and reinstalled.

At my shop, head gasket job would run ~$1,300 + plan on about another $200 in hoses, belts, fluids and other sundries. Head gaskets call for 9.5 hours, complete gasket set is $175, and machine shop will be about $100 each to mill. If it needed new heads, they're about $600/each.

2; Replace the engine and be done with it. They're right in the ballpark at $4,500 ish. Labor is 18 hours for a long block, and the 3.9 assembly will be right around $3,000.

I typically don't start recommending engines just for head gasket failure until the engines have 150,000 miles or more. That said, lots of times the failure results in contaminated oil or a severely overheated engine, both ofwhich damage bearings. But on an 80K motor that seems sound int he bottom end, I see no reason not to do just heads.

BTW, if you're mechanically inclined, 3.9 heads are not that big a deal. Without air tools, I can have them off the engine in under 2 hours.

 

thanks for the help guys.
I brought my truck to a different mechanic. He is actually a friend of a friend.He did a compression check and said the engine was like new. The only thing he noticed was that there was a little bit of coolent in the cylinder when the truck is first started and that it was nothing to be worried about. He drained the oil and said everything is fine! He is going to send both heads to a machine shop and replace the head gaskets. Sounds like he's giving me a great price too.

I'm just amazed that the other shop was so quick in recommending a new engine when they didn't even drain the oil to check for coolent. He even wanted me to buy a new rear end. The new mechanic said that was fine too. Go figure!

Dave