I have a 1996 ram 1500 3.9 v6 auto. when i got the truck no smoke it did miss a little at idle. About three days ago after letting it warm up for about 5 mins it smokes out the tailpipe and smells like it is burning antifreeze. i do have some coolant loss and miss firing on cylinder 5.the 2 codes i have pulled from the truck using my snap on solus is P0138 O2 Oxygen Sensor Circuit High (B1S2) and p0305 engine misfire cylinder #5. i have went to my local oreillys and rented the block tester tool and it came up to check good. If you are not sure of what i used it is the tool that you use this blue fluid and suck air from the radiator into the fluid and if it turns yellow. there is carbon monoxide in the cooling system.which means blown head gasket or cracked head. there is a little spot on the oil dipstick which makes me lean towards water mixing in the oil but it isnt bad enough for me to say for sure the head gaskets are bad. I think maybe intake gaskets. no external coolant leaks. to add to the smoking part i can drive the truck smoke goes away but when i start it back up it smokes again.

 

If you are burning coolant, you have a bad head gasket. Leaks at the intake would only make it into the oil..... Do the radiator hoses get hard as soon as you start the motor?

 

I will check when i get off work tonight. If i remember correctly. They don't. If the head gasket are bad is a 194123 motor worth put them on. I just got the truck. Not a fan of using head gasket sealer. Like blue devil or bars have had more issue arise from them clogged heater cores and other issues.

 

Don't use a product that you leave in with the coolant. Use something that you run with water and drain out. You disconnect the heater core while running with it. Once you drain it, you have to leave the truck sitting for a few days so it dries. K&W has a good product. They have a few actually, remember, the one you run with water.

 

i went out this morning started the truck up. radiator hoses don't change they can still be squeezed the same as if the engine was off. I was talking to a person at work he mentioned that he had a chevy do the same thing it was a cracked head from the coolant passage to the exhaust port. Said he had to put the head and get them pressure checked to find it. any thoughts on this.

 

Anything is possible......

I would be tempted to pressure test the cooling system, and see what happens.

 

i pretty much know the head gasket is leaking into #5 cylinder. Here is my question should i do the head gasket job or replace the engine. current miles 194123 as far as i know nothing head wise has ever been done to this truck. i know the job includes head gasket set, head bolt, and a trip to the machine shop to get head checked and leveled. Around my area 3.9 engine goes for 300 to 400 plus core. pull apart which is a two hour drive for me used engine will be about 240 tax included. but what other issue could a different engine bring. the truck runs ok right now a little miss at idle but runs down the road fine. other then the coolant loss and smell in exhaust it does fine. gasket set 75.99 head bolts 26.99 x2. plus coolant and machine work. with mile considered. what is your opinion. not really wanting to do a swap to a bigger engine either.

 

Entirely possible it would end up being cheaper for you to simply replace the motor. Provided you can find a decent low-mileage unit. Given the mileage on your current motor, its likely the heads are cracked.... and finding uncracked used heads is going to be difficult. Spending several hundred dollars on new heads for a 194K motor just doesn't make sense to me, unless you go full boat, and rebuild the rest of it as well.....

 

After calling every junk yard in my area the best engine i could fine has 210k ok it. For 500 plus my old engine. Not going to put a higher mileage engine in my truck. Did take my heads off and can see where the gasket is bad at. I had them checked for cracks and the machine shop said they are good. No cracks. The guy did say if i wanted to just rebuild the entire engine he would do it for 960. I dont know about that either that would be buying the truck a second time pretty much. The engine looks good inside from what i can see. Might be leaning more towards an engine swap now. Found a 2000 1500 5.2 v8 with 148k. It has been wrecked in the rear for 650.

 

Completely rebuilt engine for $ 960 or a used 148k ( crap shoot) engine of a different configuration for $ 650 = $ 310 difference
In my opinion the rebuild makes more sense ............... but that's just my .02 cents.