I have a 2001 Dodge Ram 1500 with a 360 motor. Im currently in Afghanistan working and before I left my truck started to loose oil ( alot of oil ). It would burn at least 4 qts of oil every 2 hrs of driving. I checked for leaking and there is no sign of leaking so I believe its burning the oil. The truck has roughly 130,000+ miles on it. I'm wondering if it would be better to rebuild the engine or buy a crate motor thats easy to install and would bolt up to the trans. I dont have any special tools to remove the pistons or piston rings if that the case to repair the already installed 360. Im wondering if its the plentium gasket or the piston rings? What would be the best route to take given these cirrcumstances? Thanks.

 

its probably the plenum. pretty easy fix with the hughes plate in about 6-8 hours. only costs about $200 or so. you can test your engine with a compression check to verify the rings, heads, and valves are all tight. the lower ends are pretty good to last a long time.

 

if its not smoking really bad to loose that much oil your probably not burning it but the plenum could definately be the problem from what ive been seeing and reading. with that much miles and if you really want to keep the truck crate motor IMO

 

I suggest you repair the plenum, but if not, let me know. I am looking for a 360 to rebuild in my spare time.