I really need this truck running for my work and I am in a real pickle here guys, please help me out if you can and I would greatly appreciate it so much.

Wife was driving my truck on a short run to pick up some things, I had not had any issues that day when I parked it before she drove it and still not sure exactly what happened except that she called me and said the truck had ran hot and she was pulled into a parking lot, I got there in about 20 minutes and started checking out the truck engine. The temp gauge showed the engine was still pretty warm so I loosened the radiator cap and closed the hood and we left and came back in about 2 hours. The engine had cooled a lot and so I tried to start the engine, the engine would turn over just fine, nothing rattling or grinding or tight sounding, the engine turned over fine but would not start so I checked out the fuses and found nothing there, radiator still full of water so I suspect that I have a bad thermostat or water pump that caused the intitial over heating problem. Anyway, I had the truck towed home and I got the fault codes from the odometer and I have a p0340 code and a p0700 code, I know the 0340 code is camshaft position sensor and the 0700 is a transmission/transaxle code.

I waited until this morning very early to try and start the engine again and it did start this time but ran about 20-30 seconds and was really running rough, I have not done a compression test yet, just got in from work and very exhausted so it will probably be this weekend before I can do more checking it out.

I am hoping that the engine is still ok.... and thinking maybe the camshaft position sensor being defective could cause the engine to rough idle and shut down like it did after it cooled off, I realize that I will still have to address the reason the engine overheated but again I am confident that that's only a water pump or t'stat and so that is small beans compared to wrapped heads or blown head gaskets.. Just hoping someone will help me out with some pointers as I am not a master mechanic in the least, just a fix my own when I can type of mechanic and money is tight so I will have to do the very best I can with this repair even if it means expanding my abilities further than they now are because I cannot afford to take it to a shop for repairs.

I know you guys cannot say exactly what could be going on without laying hands on the engine and doing your own tests but does it sound like the engine could be garbage now? Wife says she only ran it hot for a few minutes like 5-7 and then shut it off. Who knows if that is accurate or not though. Please help me out guys if you can. In a very tight bind here. Thank you very much.

Engine: 4.7 Lt / V-8 Fuel injected
Dodge Dakota 2001

 

Start by scanning it for codes.

 

Thank you jkeaton for helping me out, I really appreciate it very much.
I did the ignition switch on-off 3 times method to get the codes to show up on the odometer and I have the following codes:
p0340 - Camshaft Position Sensor - circuit bank 1/sensor 1
p0051 - 02 sensor heater circuit
p0141 - 02 sensor heater circuit
p0551 - Power steering sensor
p0161 - 02 Sensor
p0700 - Transmission/Transaxle TCM to ECM fault code
p1299 - Vacuum leak

These are the only codes that show up. What do you think?

Thank you jkeaton.

 

Check voltages at the O2 sensor connectors, PCM isn't seeing correct voltage there.

How is your steering??

Find and fix the vacuum leak.

 

I am not really concerned about the voltages at the 02 sensors at this point in time unless you think it could actually keep the engine from starting and/or cause it to run hot or rough idle and the steering pump low does have a leak and I have to add a little fluid sometimes so that is probably what is showing with that fault code, low power steering fluid and for the vacuum leak, I will track that down and repair. Please read the stuff below and see what you think please.

Is it possible that the engine has jumped time.....maybe when the engine ran hot and now that it shows a p0340 - Camshaft Position Sensor - circuit bank 1/sensor 1 fault code it has jumped time???

I mean it makes what little sense I have about mechanics that if the camshaft sensor is not reading right might be because the camshaft sensor is sensing that the camshaft is in a position that it should not be according to the crankshaft and so therefore it may have jumped time.?? Does that sound possible? I will be doing the compression check this evening when I get in from work and will report back the readings on pressure. I will take reading from each cylinder and post them here along with whatever else I can find. Thank you.

 

How hot did it run...was the needle in the red? What was the coolant level? Oil level?