She's hurt!
 

Driving up a gravel road in Mission, BC my 2000 Dakota shuttered and then stalled out. She wouldn't start past that point. It's giving me the code 0340. After changing the cam position sensor twice, i thought i should look into it further and speak to a couple mechanic friends of mine. I changed the crankshaft position sensor with the same result. I have fuel in the rail, but no spark.

I pulled the cam position sensor out and looked inside as one of my friends turned her over. Nothing moved, meaning the camshaft didn't move. Thinking the timing chain broke and i have a whole bunch of problems ie the head, i pulled the rocker cover off. To my surprise when the engine is being turned over the timing chain is not turning. Any ideas???

2000 Dakota 4.7 4x4 with 330000kms on it

Hi and welcome to the forums.

It seems you know what you need to do. The timing chain broke, at least one of the 3 did but more likely it's the primary.

If you need a factory manual you can download it here: https://dodgeforum.com/forum/2nd-gen...-download.html

Good luck.

Depending on how much collateral damage there is, you might be better off getting another engine. Is the rest of the truck worth putting a bunch of money into it? You should be able to find a decent used engine, I would think. I know of a really good pick 'n' pull style wrecking yard in Olympia, I got a bunch of Gen1 parts there last summer.

I don't know your engine, is it an interference engine--do pistons hit valves when the timing chain fails? If you're looking at a bunch of bent valves, it's gonna get expensive.

It is an "interference" engine. You likely will find damage, especially to the intake valves.

EDIT: if you do decide to replace the engine you need to be sure of the tone rings. They differ in later years. You can tell by the PCM if it's in the truck, you have JTEC, 3 connectors. Around late '02-'03 they went NGC, not compatible, with a 4 pin connector.

I won't know if the timing chain is broken until i do some digging. I changed it less then 15k ago. When it stalled out i didn't hear any damage, however i was on a gravel road when it happened. Has anyone heard of anything else that could have happened ie sprocket or keyway?

I was told that this 4.7 is a zero clearance engine, but with the rocker cover off the passenger side there is no visible damage.

I've put quite a bit of money into her since i've had her including a new rear diff and a transfer case.

I think, at this point, short of actually tearing down the engine anything we could suggest would be idle speculation.

Back in the olden days, some engines used fiber timing gears--old GM Iron Duke 4 cylinders for example. You knew you sheared a gear when the distributor stopped turning when you cranked the engine.