1996 dodge ram
v6 3.9 2wd


hey all, so i took my truck to the shop and the mechanic took about 2 minutes to tell me my engine is crap...

i am blowing oil out my tailpipe, and i am getting a chatter when i hit about 60mph, so he pulled off the pvc valve and its smoking out of the valve cover,

so he told me i had bad rings, and with out me even telling him about the chatter he asked if i could hear the noise on the underside of the motor. i cant hear it but he described the sysptoms to a tee.

he told me that noise was the rod bearings, he has a heavy accebt so i didnt catch if he said they were loose or bad.

he told me that i needed a new engine.

to which i ask, do i need a new engine, or can i pull this engine out and strip it down and have a machine shop hone it out and put new rings on.

ive never done rod bearings so i dont know what it consists of.

i am prepared to buy a used engine from a junkyard with a lifetime warranty for 850, or a reman from advance for 1695.

please advise

 

Since the JY motor has a lifetime warranty, and provided it's in good running condition I'd get that over the nearly $2k re-manufactured one from Advance.

The chatter @ 60Mph could be your valves rattling which is often a side effect of a blown plenum, I'm not sure I've heard of one blown so bad oil comes out of the tailpipe.

Just going by the fact's in your post I'd be inclined to think the mechanic is right, but I could be wrong.

Edit:

You can pull your motor and have it rebuilt, but it may be more cost effective to just get the JY motor. A full out engine rebuild can get costly, no telling what they'll find till they start diggin'...

 

you won't be able to rebuilt that motor for under 2k unless you can do it all yourself...

if you like you truck and want to keep it i'd option for the new motor... i know u said JY motor has a life time warranty but for 850 more... you can have a brand new motor with 0 miles... and a better piece of mind..


if it was my truck i'd go for the brand new motor... but thats my .02