i was involved in a truck roll over in my 1998 dodge ram 1500 truck with a 318, so the truck rolled onto the driver side and id say about 2 maybe 3 quarts of oil was leaked out of the valve covers. when the wrecker got to my truck he rolled the truck back onto its wheels and then they started the engine to help pull the truck out of the snow covered ditch. the truck ran for about 10 min on the side of the road with good oil pressure, no looping or surging, and the check engine light didnt turn on. after that they towed the truck back to town as a precaution. so what im wondering is if there maybe an issue with the engine cause i havent started the engine since. the insurance is willing to fix the body damage (driver door and third door plus paint) put they want to total the truck because with a new motor the price will be over what the insurance says the value of the truck is worth. theyr leaving the motor decision up to me and im wondering what the risks are?

 

if the engine didn't run when it was on its side, and you still have good oil pressure, and it doesn't make any rude noises....... (runs good too....) don't worry about it.

I flipped my scirocco onto its roof. We all crawled out, flipped the car back onto the tires, and I drove it for another four years.......

If you are nervous about it.... take the money, buy another truck.

 

If it wasn't clattering and didn't overheat, you're probably in good shape. What matters most is whether or not the oil pickup stayed submerged, so if there was no clattering it may well be that no damage was done.

That said, it's a roll of the dice no matter how you slice it. If the truck's at home, I'd top up the oil and run it, preferably at about 2500RPM and for at least 20 minutes, while keeping an eye on things. If the oil pressure stays up and it's running just like it did before the wreck, I personally would take the gamble on it.

 

I would probably keep it too if the motor isn't putting up a fuss like everyone else has said. Meaning good oil pressure, didn't overheat, and didn't run for more than a few seconds after it rolled over.

I want to see a picture of how it held up.

 

well curently the truck is at the body shop and im not able to take a full look at it. at best i think that i may need to get som new valve cover gaskets for the motor. but i was mor worried about oil making it onto of the pistons. but the exhaust didnt burn blue so i guees im good there. i still have access to it at the shop so ill proly go test the motor out on sat. ill post som piks of the damage if i can. the truck has family value since my mom has had it since new and i prety much grew up in it so im optimistic about it being on the road agian. all i can say is that, that dodge is one tuff son of a bitch and that thing has hauled trailers, did a short stint off roading and has crossed over 140000 miles but still drives like new without a single hiccup

 

It's prolly fine... check all the motor mounts and exhaust hangers for cracks. I'd also change all the fluids and get an alignment. check the axles and rims for damage and trueness. Depending on how hard the flip was will depend on how much damage is done. If it was a soft roll over you're prolly fine... but if it was a violet hard roll over then you might want to do a real good check before committing