[:@]I have a 2001 Ram 1500 2wd 5.2 with 67704 miles on it. Comming home from work I went to pass carand when it kicked down my engine let loose. when I came to a stop and opened my hood I found that my harmonic balance and pulley were pointing at the dirt (what a sick [:'(]feeling I've only had the truck for 6 months). I have owned mopars since the early 80's (First truck was a 1970 D-100 fleetside baby blue) and everything else has been able to last better than 100,000 miles. Has any body else experianced this or heard this happening? I and working on the dealer (Chevy)to see if they will do anything( haha), I don't have alot of extra cash laying around and the dodge dealer quoted me $4200 for the motor and $1100 for the install. any thoughts?

 

Holy christ, thats realy wierd. I've never heard of that.

 

I say go to the junk yard and find a running used motor and swap it.

 

hey just thought of this its some what dishonest but buy an aftermarket extended warranty wait a month or so and claim it. they buy a motor reject your warranty and you get a new engine for about 1700 or so and most places let you make payments.

 

HOLY CRAP!
Bummer about your motor. I would agree about a junk yard substitute, but HOLY CRAP!
Someone on here that's as old as I am!
WC

 

that really stinks. the crank has probably been cracked its entire life, and finally just let go.
$5300 is a lot of money for a motor.
here's some other ideas.
buy a jasper rebuilt and get it installed w/36k warranty for about $3000-3200, maybe a litte more/less.
buy a jasper and install yourself for about $2700
buy autozone reman for $1700-2700, install yourself or find local shop.
find local shop to provide engine and labor. make sure you get warranty.
junk yard motor, install it yourself or pay local shop.
tear yours down and rebuild yourself if rebuildable. carry to machne shop for machining & inspection

 

Are short blocks still available?

 

i'm sure they are. but if you reuse your old heads it'd be a good idea to replace valve seals and lap the the valves, maybe replace springs. do a hughes or apc plenum plate, new water pump, tune up, etc and you'd be back on the road. stock of course. pretty soon you'll get all kinds of tips for stroker kit, cam, etc.

 

first of all... man THAT'S WICKED! never heard of a crank with that form of failure.

I used one the ideas fromdvaughn's list:I live near Austin so I had already found my engine exchange. I went with a long block (to replace a chevy 3.8 v6 front drive) the extra cost for the heads done was worth it since I needed the car fixed as soon as possible. and it had high miles
that long block cost $1200 including the core since the camshaft tore up the bearing chase and I lose the core.

 

I rebuilt my engine for less than $1,500. Rebuild your engine and put some mild mods in there.