OK, my 318 magnum in my 1997 RAM Sport has turned itself into a ticking bomb...my mechanic is sure its a wristpin and he always been pretty much on the money with his diagnostics.

My truck is a 1997 RAM SPORT reg cab short box, 4x4 and is in good condition, it has 210 000 miles on it.

I know engines pretty well I have build many and I think I can tackle this myself BUT the idea of having my truck in pieces for more than a week ( I know how SLOW my local machine shops can be!) is something I would like to avoid.

I have seen some remanufactured 5.2 (longblocks) going for 1800$ shipped in the lower 48 states. with a 3 years/60 000 miles warranty.

and finally there is a couple people in my area that have USED motors for sale, from dakotas and rams with 100-120 000 miles on them , and "supposed" to run great. A used engine would cost me 2-300$ plus the hassle of swapping my intake, the new water pump and the new starter I have on my current motor.

Honestly I dont know what you guys experience out there, which way to go ?

What is the best deal for someone who has a dying 5.2 and needs a replacement.

 

i would say get a 5.9 from somewhere cheap (craiglist) slap er in

 

So what's your worst case scenario budget and your ideal budget? Also, how long do you have to do this rebuild or engine swap? Once we know that, then we'll have a better idea as to what we'll recommend.

 

a 5.9 swap involves an ecm swap too and need the correct damper and flexplate since balanced externally...

5.9s are not too common here...

The truck has a light ticking sound (like a time bomb), from idle to 1000 rpm after than the engine is fine. Power is fine, mileage is fine , oil pressure always been low on that engine moving between 30-45 psi and the truck isnt taking any oil despite its decent mileage.

It has been ticking like this for 3 months now and even if its not souding too alarming, I want to go ahead and prepare myslef before it throws a rod ...

best scenario would be to score a super deal on a healthy long block spend 1000$ and be done with it ... Im just scared of used motors that I cant hear running first.

my 5.2 has plenty of zip for what I do with it, Im very easy on my equipment except when I get into the zone once in a while...even my friends found my truck quite fast for a 5.2 , well a fast 5.2 ram is an oxymoron...

Honestly my truck will require some maintenance repairs too, like shocks all around , two tie rods and eventually some body panels painted. I really like my truck but Im not kidding myself, its getting old and despite the fact that its really clean for its age /mileage, I may not need a new motor in it...

but a new motor would give me peace of mind for a while.

 

swap in a used motor normaly a dodge motor lasts forever....

 

check the oil, may have a plenum leak

 

I ran into that same scenario not long ago. I chose the rebuild route for the simple fact that it cost me about 1600 for the rebuild which isnt much less then buying a reman but......Heres the scoop on remans they are in business to make money so if there motor is on 200 bones more then it cost me to rebuild my own, THEN MAKES YOU THINK HOW GOOD IS THAT REMAN motor. They arent going to make no money on it so they have lower tolerance specs then you would have if you did it urself. they just want to make it run for 36000 and dont care after that point, not that they can control that but ive never known a reman to run more then 100k. plus they charge you a core charge or you have to ship them your old block back and how much will that cost you? All this is just IMHO

 

Like any other project it all comes down to two things, time and money.

 

yeah less time = more money. More time = less money. LOL

 

yeah, im just not sure if I want to put a 100k motor in my truck , with all the hassle of doing it, even if I can get one locally that is said to be in good condition (100k) and cant see it running its out of the truck, for 200$.

rebuilding my own could be interesting, the only problem is the machine shop , since I can assemble it myself and can use better parts for not much more money than oem. Like thicker casting heads , and a slighly better camshaft.

I can gather the parts trying to get the best deals and when Im done, start digging in the motor.

The Remanufacted engine I could get is 1800$ shipping included and there is NO core charge. so its 1800$

but again, you never know what they put in them even though the shop sounds "koscher".

if I could really rebuild my 5.2 using a performance camshaft, new ticker casting heads and some decent bearings and pistons , for less than 1800$ , I think I would go that route.

Thanks for the input guys..