Recommendation... look at the pics below, this motor has 500k on it when I adjusted the valves. Been using Hot Shots Stiction Eliminator for about 60~70k miles now. Last time I did the valve adjust (360~370k) it did not look like this, lots of soot on everything. I was shocked when I pulled the rocker cover and found it like this.







I ran this in the dakota and the 1st time I drained the oil it looked really really bad. I thought the motor was done. Did the oil change (royal purple 5w-30 + stiction eliminator) and motored on. The following oil change (5k OCI) oil came out as expected. I expect this stuff cleaned all the carboned up deposits out of the motor. fast forward 20~25k (?) and zero issues.

with my "build" complete for now I will do nothing but continue to maintain it. Next up would be a plug change, been running Autolite 3923's gapped at 0.035" and have 15~20k on them now with zero issues (installed last winter so probably more miles since its been a full time ride with the Ram having a bad trans bearing.

Anyways, food for thought...

 

Thanks for the tip, Steve.

The Dak is back in action! When it was time to start it, I pulled the fuel pump relay and cranked for 5 seconds a few times to distribute the oil. (Damn thing acted like it wanted to start even with the relay pulled). With the relay in, it started right up and idled Q-U-I-E-T-L-Y. No ticking, rattling or weird noises that I'd been hearing. Shut it back down quick as it didn't have a drop of coolant in it. Took care of that, then ran a 5 min motor flush through it (Motor Medic) then changed the oil. Went for a half hour highway drive and all good. Running well and very smooth.

Mileage today = 346,481 mi

 

Awesome.

 

A lot of great info in this thread! Thanks for posting it up, it is appreciated. Will be referencing this thread when I pull the covers for an inspection on the timing chains (not sure when yet, thing runs awesome with no funky noises... There used to be a slight tap on cold start that went away with the stiction eliminator use).

 

I've come to realize another benefit from the timing chain job. All these years, I've had an oil drip which I thought was due to a rear main seal leak. Well, it's not dripping any more, so I think it was the crankshaft seal all along. And it makes sense when you see the before and after of how much crud I cleaned off the timing cover. It was so thick, I started by scraping it off!

I also no longer believe the Federal Mogul/Sealed Power lifters that I installed back in 2020 are junk, though it's still possible, LOL. The fact is that most or all of the clatter I was hearing was the chains running without guides or on worn out guides and tensioners.

Next job on the list....I'll be replacing the front wheel bearing hubs again. The steering is feeling squirrely in sweeping left turns. The Timkens I last installed have around 85K on them. I remember scouring the Timken box till I found "Made in China" in some really tiny print. This time I'm going with SKF although it might be the same deal...

 

Glad to see your still in your Dakota great post.

I look in a few times a year still

Sad if that's true (Timken box till I found "Made in China") as im thinking of replacing my Hubs also and was thinking of using Timken Huds.

looks like you could use a good cleaning oil for a year to clean up some of the gunk buildup.

 

Good to hear from you, man. 85K is still decent but the cheaper parts store hubs will probably last just as long, it seems. Wish they made these things greaseable. Although you see everything blackened in this engine, I didn't find any solid gunk built up. I've been running full syn and do a flush every 3 oil changes. I remember the first oil change after buying back in 2013. The oil came out slow ...like black honey.

 

I installed a cheap Hub on one side last time it lasted 10 years so that's not bad.

My PCM went crazy on me took 2 months to finally decide that was the problem after chasing trouble codes for 2 months luckily the rebuilt PCM was a good one as half the time they are junk.

I used https://store.allcomputerresources.com/ they were a good company.

 

Only half the time?

 

Drove the Dak over 1100 miles, this past weekend for an ATL to Orlando trip. At first I was going to rent a car, then I decided to put it to the test. I found room to store a gallon of coolant and a quart of oil in the engine bay. I brought along my tool bag as well. None were needed. The oil and coolant levels did not drop and the whole trip was smooth. I did run into the REV limiter a few times... that party pooper.