One man's misfortune is another man's blessing.

The engine in my 1999 Ram 2500HD has finally come to the end of its life with over 400K on it. It was a good run, but it's time to put it out to pasture. I did have a nice 60K motor to go into it, but just had a fully built crate motor with under 4K fall into my lap. So now it's time to do an engine swap. While the truck is down, I'm going to take advantage of the time and also replace both the upper and lower steering column, put a new front drive shaft in, convert it to electric fans and replace the seats. Naturally, while I am taking the engine out, I will replace the clutch and install a new Flowmaster exhaust system.

Before I start this major undertaking, I want to come on the Forum and ask what folks are using for clutch brands these days. A quick scan of the internet shows a bewildering array of brands and prices. I'm not looking to race or do pull competitions with it, just everyday driving with some towing now and then. Any advice/opinions on brands, both good or bad?

Lastly, any advice, tips or tricks on the engine swap? (or other items I am doing) I'm sure there is a lot of experience out there and I'd love to benefit from it and not make some bone-headed, rookie mistake. I've worked on enough vehicles to know there's the easy way and the hard way. I'm getting to the point in my life that I just want to do things the easy way, without all the drama.

Thanks for your input and advice....and yes, I know it's worth exactly what I'm paying for it!

 

Well, first off. What kinda power is the new motor pushing?


South bend is the current hot item in the diesel world. But I seriously doubt you need or want to deal with driving a multiple disc clutch

 

I should be so lucky as to have a low-mileage motor drop into my lap. (although, I suspect that would hurt a great deal......)

I have found that labeling all the electrical sometimes helps, but, on our trucks, it seems that if you just lay the harness out, connectors pretty much fall very near what they want to be plugged in to... so, it wasn't really necessary for me to label things. (or, maybe I have just been doing this too long.......)

Motor mount bolts only need to be loosened, don't need to be physically pulled out. The frame side mounts are slotted.

Remove the crank sensor before pulling the motor. Put it back in when you have the motor bolted in. They are frequent victims of such swaps.

Don't forget to have the flywheel resurfaced when you do the clutch.

No clue on a good clutch brand any more. I haven't done one for a decade or more.....

98 and up seats, from the same cab style you have, should be direct swaps.

Have fun.

 

Thanks for the advice gentlemen

Ham Bone: Standard power output. Nothing fancy. Former owner had a crate long block built to standard specs. No need for a fancy, high dollar clutch. This truck is a daily driver.

Hey You: Thanks for the advice. I am well aware of the crank sensor issue. I'm going to replace it regardless. Also good advice on the flywheel. I might also replace the clutch master/slave cylinder circuit while I'm in there with one of the new pre-filled systems. I don't want to be taking anything apart again if it can be helped.

 

Just get a stock clutch then. They are made by LUK. Good stuff for stock engines.

The new pre filled slaves are awesome. They come with a quick connect and are pre bled.

 

You don't say what engine: 5.9 gas, 8.0 gas, 5.9 ctd. I'm assuming V8 and for the NV3500 in my truck, it came with Sachs clutch as OEM. Not sure of the NV4500 or 5600.

I highly recommend replacing motor mounts with the new engine. I just put new ones on my 318 and it tightened everything up greatly. Shifts are smoother and it starts without shaking the truck. From a visual standpoint, they looked fine. But the rubber had softened over the years and caused the engine to sag or twist. Another thing to do is pop the dash out and replace heater core and evap core plus check any vacuum lines, radio wires, etc. It can become a slippery slope but why not when so much is removed.

 

Ramman18: Sorry, it's a 5.9L gas V8 with an NV3500 tranny with a PTO.

My research is leaning towards a Sachs clutch being sufficient for the job. No need to spend stupid money on something that I will never need the capabilities of.

The new motor has new motor mounts already. I had poly ones on the old engine and they were pretty harsh.

I've done the heater core replacement dance once before, so I know what you mean. I think I'd rather have a root canal while getting a colonoscopy before I ever tackle that project again.

Thanks you the input.

 

Actually, you have a NV4500 behind the 5.9. The NV3500 only was mated to the 5.2 in the 1500s and does not come with PTO. So I'm not sure what was stock clutch in there. If you go Sachs, get bearings from the dealer. I had a Sachs replaced just two years ago and it is already vibrating and squealing. I got 160k and 14 years out of the stock clutch. There are also much better/stronger diesel quality clutches that should work since the same trans was mated to the CTD until 2005.

 

The flywheels are different diameters IIRC

 

I would think so, too. But these companies should have beefy clutches even for the gasser since it shares the same trans is my train of thought. I haven't done any research on diesel clutches though.