wondering what parts are even made of copper or maybe brass.
i was told that it would only be my main bearings and that i could change them from underneath. Any thoughts?

98 dakota sport 3.9

 

Might be the rod bearings, which would be a best outcome--they could be replaced without pulling the engine. Or the rod bushings (up where the piston is.)

Main bearings, however, require that you take the engine out--crank is attached to the flex plate or flywheel at the back, so doing an inframe is nearly impossible. If the mains or rod bearings are spun, you need to take the crank out anyway to have the crank turned at a machine shop.

It would be nice to know why your bearings failed, too.

 

Ok, first thing, thanks for the response.Now that you mention it he did say rod bearings..
the situation was as follows: wife was driving my truck while i did a tune up on hers. when she was pulling up to a light the oil pressure went to 0. by the time she got pulled to the side she heard a knocking sound. Cut it off and called AAA. When I started it to drive it down the drive way it was fine. Changed oil/filter, Started it and seemed fine. Trying to see if i could hear a knock or sound at all, I revved up and heard a distinct knock above 2500ish. cut it off dropped the pan (saw the flakes) pulled the pump. Posted this topic.. and we are here. Im working in my driveway so...?
deciding what i want to do.

 

Even if it's the main bearings, it should be possible to rotate the old ones out and install the new ones the same way. It's not ideal, but it works. If any bearing material has transferred to the crank, though, it makes more sense to remove the crank and dissolve the transferred material with muriatic acid.

 

Really hope the fix for you may be as easy as described above. If I may ask, how many miles on the engine? Also, was it run low on oil at any point. Oil change habits?

 

it was bout a half qt low when i changed it. oil changes were every 5k max.
any idea where the flakes came from? are the bearring the only copper colored thing?

 

Copper is a component in the bearings and bushings. You see flakes and have a knock, a bearing is wearing.

Did you ever figure out why the oil pressure dropped to 0? 1/2 a quart should not cause it. A spun bearing could but why did that happen?

 

Ok so pump replaced, rod bearing replaced and back together now.
The only issue now is a strange noises in park. When in drive or reverse it seems fine, though I haven't put it under a load yet. I'm thinking I missed something. Any ideas what I'm hearing?

 

Update:
After removing the flywheel dust cover the truck sounds great. I have since put about 75miles on it and no issues. So it seems that the cover was bent just enough to drag on the flywheel. Thanks again for the help.
Oh yeah. After looking thru the forum on how drop the oil pan. And then realizing that every one I read on the subject left out one detail. That is, you need to jack up the rear of the transmission an 1/2inch or so to get the pan past it. I found this in the service manual.
Thanks again

 

I don't run my dust cover, either.