Thanks, the information you guys have provided is invaluable. It's one thing to get bit by something that legitimately breaks, but when it's something you should have seen during purchase, it leaves you hating your purchase.

Thanks again.

 

The 4.7 is a little bit better on gas, but not by much. I've had 2 of the 5.2's (same basic design as the 5.9) and 2 4.7's. The 4.7 feels like it revs up a little bit quicker, and it feels faster just judging by the butt dyno. I;ve only driven 5.9 Dakotas a few times, but they felt on par with the 4.7, but they are a bit better in the low end torque dept. If you plan to do a lot of towing I'd say go with the 5.9 and if highway driving or running at higher RPM is your game then the 4.7 would be my choice.

The 5.2 was easy to work on (5.9 is the same) and the above poster is correct, plenum gasket is a very common problem, but not a huge deal. The 4.7 is a great motor, but it does have an iron block with aluminum heads so it is prone to warping because they heat up and cool down at diffferent rates due to the dissimilar metals. This can cause blown head gaskets and they are a pain to change because the 4.7 has overhead cams. To remove the head you have to remove every belt driven accessory.

 

Note for you: I own a 2001 Dodge Dakota 4.7L Quad Cab 4x4 4 speed (currently running 5 speeds) automatic

Only an automatic? I'm so sorry for your loss... jk. Out of the transmissions the best one is the manual. As for the best of automatics, I'd say the (5)45RFE takes the cake. It has the lowest first gear, and top gear is equal to the slushboxes 4(2,4,6)RE. It also was "better" built if I dare say, considering Mercedes (yes the Germans) had input on it. I've got 4 friends with the slushboxes and they are jealous of how smooth and balanced the 545RFE is.

The 4.7 was designed to be a replacement or base engine. So it was designed with cost in mind, while head gaskets are something brought up, I've never had nor seen an issue with the heads. The more prevalent issue is crap oil pumps (thanks to Daimler's crack dept of accountants). So if the motor hasn't been maintained well with proper oil changes and good fluid levels it will cause excessive wear and valve issues (in my case). Don't let this detour you really, because in all honesty the 4.7 is a great engine. It likes to rev, from 2,800 to 4,500 rpms it pulls very well. Compared to the 5.2, the 4.7 is a stronger engine when you start going past the 2,000 rpm range. It will give a stock 5.9 a run for its money, an probably would beat it in some areas. The 5.9 can be heavily modified if that is your type of thing. While the 4.7 is kind of a bastard engine in that respect, there are some performance mods for the 4.7 but nothing worth mentioning.

In terms of working on your 4.7, if you have worked on a 4.6L Ford Modular engine. You can work on a 4.7, they are surprising similar. While the 4.7 was a step towards modernization of truck engines, it is not rocket science. I think of the 4.7 a transition motor because it isn't the old tried an true carburetor turned fuel injected V8s engine, but it isn't a super computer on wheels. So if you look at it, it seems intimidating but when you start working on it, its like every other old engine just "smarter".

If you can I'd try to aim for a 5,000 dollar price tag, so the miles are sky high. I'd say try and find a 4 speed 4.7 for that money. The fifth gear is a double overdrive and I find it useless and makes the transmission change to much on the highway. If possible make sure the differential gears are 3.92. That'll help with city mpg, acceleration and towing; while sacrificing very little for the highway mpg.

 

While I agree that the 4.7 is a great engine, I must inform you that Mercedes had nothing to do with it. It was a Chrysler design, thru and thru.

 

I could have swore the 4.7 has Mercedes influences on basic design, but after looking it up some you're right. I'll edit that.

 

I kept hearing it too, so I looked it up a while back.

Anyway, the 4.7 is a lot tougher than people give it credit for. I just purchased this truck last year and when the owner showed up with it, it was roughly 246K and very low on oil. To make it worse, he hadn't changed the oil in 18K and didn't know where the dipstick was located. When I pulled the stick, it was glazed liked a chicken leg with black oil at the tip.

Now normally, I would have run the other way, but I thought about it. Thee fact that there was still oil left in the engine after all those miles impressed me. I had him gas it while in park and there was no smoke from the tailpipe. In fact the tailpipe was cleaner than my Honda's when it comes to soot deposits. The records indicated that the truck had been kept up, but that maintenance fell off when he knew he was going to sell it. Test drove it (after insisting that he add oil) and the tranny shifted nice and engine sounded healthy. Used the low oil as a very effective bargaining chip.... sold!

Later on, I realized that the radiator was low on fluid (it was too hot to check at the time) so he might have been overheating it too. It sprung a leak in my driveway. Oh and the plugs...THE PLUGS, were the worst I'd ever seen. The center tip was worn right down to nothing and the ground electrode was so worn, it could cut you. When I gapped it, the whole gap tool passed through it without touching. I have no idea why it still ran well but it made my understand why the previous owner was complaining about 9 mpg. LOL Replaced all that and all has been good since then. She now enjoys premium synthetic oil and the level is kept up.

 

I'm in the same boat actually, when I bought mine 20 months ago. It was owned by a Marine who had up keep on it like no ones business. But at 200k he gave it to his son as a present who treated it like crap for 44,000 miles till I got it. I got mine for $3,400 had to flush all of the fluids and changed all the oil. Despite a half dozen gaskets leaking and most fluids being low or in the engine's case it had 1 quart of black oil left. There was no metal shaving, no apparent excessive wear, as our mechanic put it she is a healthy truck in desperate need of TLC. I didn't have a whole lot of money to overhaul all the needs, so I replaced the severely worn out shocks, brake rotors and pads and inspection requirements. The 8th cylinders started firing weird 2 months later, took out the plugs and my ***. All the plugs were eaten and the 8th cylinder, the electrode was all but gone. My boss (shop owner) looked at it and said "I'm shocked that didn't explode and I'm in awe that it was still firing the cylinder". We estimated it had been driven 50,000 miles on the plugs (which are only to do 30k). I got 2 mpg back after swap out those. I know the coolant issue too, when we swapped out the engine when the original died. We discovered it had been overheated recently (I really don't like that man's kid now). The overheating, poor oil and just abuse of a adolescent, did in the engine when it bent a valve. The block had some wear but very little for a 1/4 million mile engine

But since I've gotten all the maintenance and repairs caught up, I love my 4.7 and the truck in general. Haha mine now runs on premium oil swapped out every 4,500 miles too.

 

On my 2nd Dodge with a 4.7l. I like'em.

You will probably hear ticking on the 4.7l, especially on startup. Don't be scared; it is likely one of two things, lifters (common yet no big issue) or exhaust manifold leak (the bolts break over time).

The 4.7 is really easy to work on, especially considering the amount of how-tos out there.

 

Yeah, I'm still kind of surprised that we're not seeing much from Mercedes in domestic production. In particular, I figured we'd be seeing Mercedes Diesel engines instead of Cummins by now.

Anyway, thanks for all the info so far, though it's really making the decision between the 4.7 and 5.9 difficult, they both seem to have their own pros & cons that seem to balance out.

Please keep the advice coming though. I'll certainly post updates as I progress through this process. At this point, I'm expecting a small lump sum in the next 4 weeks or so, which I plan to put toward the purchase, so I'm not rushing this.

Thanks again.

 

I stole mine... $1,800.