I recently bought a 1998 Dodge Ram 1500 2WD with the 3.9L V6 engine. It has 153,000 miles. Test drive and visual inspection were good - no problem detected. After I bought it, I changed the engine oil (10W30 Castrol). There were no problems during the first few weeks. Then last weekend, I was driving normally on the highway. The power started dropping. First I could only get up to 40 MPH, then 30, then 20. Finally, after about 10 miles, the engine completely shut down. The engine would turn over but not start. I had the truck towed to the local Dodge dealership service department. They checked the diagnostic codes and said it was showing faulty distributor and/or plug wires. They replaced those and it still won't start. They've had it 4 days now trying to find the problem. They called today and said the engine is dead, no compression, must be replaced. I'm having a hard time believing that the engine is shot. I had not noticed any oil leakage or usage during the 3 weeks I've been driving it. I really expected the problem to be the fuel pump or fuel filter. Anyone have any thoughts on a next step? Thanks

 

Get a second opinion if you don't like theirs. It's a 20 year old engine.

 

Did you take it back to where you bought it from for this repair? Even though the vehicle was used, there still may be some sort of warranty/lemon law applicable for your area/state.

 

I bought the truck from a small local car lot as is/no warranty. I honestly don't think the guy knew there was a problem with the engine. He disclosed a lot of minor issues but nothing related to the engine.

We talked to the service department manager again. He says the cylinders are showing 60%, 0%, 30%, 40%, 0%, 0%. I guess that makes it pretty obvious the engine is history.

 

I just purchased a small car (2001 Nissan Sentra GXE 1.8) from a shop that had told the original owner that the car "had a blown head gasket". The original decided to sell the car on craigslist. I went to look at the car and noticed that the shop had pulled the plugs and coil packs and left them sitting out. I came back and did a quick compression check and noticed that cylinder #1 was down just a bit on compression and all the other cylinders were fine, so I decided to purchase the car. Once I had the car towed to my house, I cleaned the plugs, re-installed the plugs and coil packs on the motor and fired it up. The motor instantly fired up and ran like a Swiss watch. I've been driving the car and have not experienced it run hot or show signs of a blown head gasket.

I say all of this to say that its likely best to get a second opinion from a trusted source. Personally, I would have taken the vehicle back to where you bought it from to see what they could do for you.