Well, after 3 years of my ownership, and no problems, the 4.7 gave it up friday. Went into the bank to cash my check, come out 5 minutes later and truck wouldnt run good at all. No problems before. Mechanic has had it for 2 days and called and stated that 2 cylinders have no compression. Also, in the last month, it has started a heater core leak, at lest i thought. smell coolant inside, but no wet floor. Always a gallon of cooland low avter a couple weeks. Maybe not the heater core and something more sinister?? So what do you guys think, is it possible to drop 2 cylinders just like that? It has 164,000 mile on it, so it is getting tired.... (2002 Ram QC 4x4, 4.7 auto)

 

Why would you keep driving it after consistently losing coolant? That could have caused your current problem right now!
If they did just a compression check, that's not enough. They need to do a leak down test which checks your valves as well.
Could possibly be a bad headgasket that finally cause a cracked head.

 

well i twas the heater core, and the timing chain jumped on the pass side, causing the piston to bed the valve, and punching a hole in the top of the piston. Good news is that there was NO sludge in the motor, after 164000 miles!! getting a new motor! According to the mechanic that I am at, andy dodge motor that ends in a 7, is a candidate for trouble....stretched timing chains, head leaks, etc....I figure after 164000 miles, [I]something [I] was about to go anyway.....Looking forward to another hundred thousand after i get it back!

 

quick update....the new motor is awesome, and there are around 20 updates to the new crate motor that the original motor didnt have. So far, it is getting a little better gas mileage (1 mpg) and sounds a whole lot better. I assume that the rattle in the cold mornings was the timing chain and not lifter clatter.....oh and by the way, the heater core is the first thing that they install on the production line!! hehe

 

No sludge that's good. Did you buy your truck new? What oil and how often did you change it? What are some of the updates to the crate engine and how much?

 

Good news. If you don't mind my asking, what was the total bill for a crate motor and the labor?

 

wow glad you got it fixed im on the train too how much.....