The heads may have tested fine, but was the block tested for warping where the head meets?

 

I paid 9.5K for my 02 back in May....


I will say tho, that as soon as people hear the word Lawyer, they tend to have a change of heart...

 

Your codes of P0300 and P0301 are likely going to be electrical more than mechanical IMO. Condensation in the morning is normal. I understand you think it has gotten worse but unless you are measuring your engine temps and humidity, it could still just be normal.

You already know your coolant system isnt leaking so stop looking for a leak.

If you have already changed all the ignition coils and plugs then move on.

You say you have an 04 but dont say with how many miles but if you already have the engine broken down to the heads then I would go ahead and change the timing chain while I was there. Ive seen ONE other thread where with p030(x) codes were caused by a bad chain which causes the timing to be off just a bit. Vacuum line issues both on the engine and in the evap system (under the truck by the fuel tank) can also cause these codes.

Try looking here for more help and see

https://dodgeforum.com/forum/3rd-gen...m-alldata.html

 

The truck has 97,000 miles. I understand some condensation is normal as with any vehicle but it got so bad my wife would not ride with me because of the sweet smell from the coolant burning and I really meant the part about it being a 4 door fog machine for the first few minutes and the vapor stretches all the way across the street while being 15 foot tall.

When the truck over heated for the first time it was 1 gallon low of coolant and I refilled it twice since then and when they pulled the motor down there was about 1 quart of coolant left. They also said there was coolant in the number 4 cylinder when they pulled it apart.

 

Ah.....I see now.

But I guess your definition of leak is different from mine because whether it is leaking externally on internally, it is still leaking.

So your heads are fine. Your head gaskets are fine. But yet you were losing, using and burning coolant. And no one know where from? Sounds like they missed something.

 

I agree with weed, only a couple ways that coolant gets into a cylinder and they're saying everything checks out. I would have them give it another once over before calling it a mystery.

nateroach

 

yeah i would have them check again and replace the gasket and see what happens after that

 

Well I went and looked at everything today and there was no sign of a leak anywhere.

The machine shop tore the heads down and found nothing but could not say for sure if there were cracks within the heads.

I said screw it and just bought a new motor. It's a long block with a 4 year unlimited mile warranty. It set me back $2,300 total. I look at it this way the truck is in great shape but has 97000 miles. With the new motor and truck I will have invested $17,000 on this and will almost have a new truck.

I know that I might have fixed the old motor cheaper but it already had tons of miles and there could be no guaranty if they put everything back together and it not leak again.

I am in a situation that I need my truck and don't want to worry about it breaking down on me. Hell I might as well do it since the wife's not complaining... LOL

I wish we could have solved this but I just don't have the time...

Thanks everyone for trying to help,
Chris

 

Hmmm.....i can understand your concern, caution and reason for a new purchase. But if the shop could not say for sure if the heads were cracked or not then i would not be using that shop.

Anyway, PM sent for other things

 

Well I have a update on my truck... So I went with a reman motor from powertrainproducts.net and was happy that they shipped it on a Monday and I had it Wednesday of the same week.

Well they had the motor in and running on that Friday and was there for the test drive which I road shootgun. The motor run perfect!! 300 feet from the shop the truck shuts off and smoke was coming from the engine compartment. The guy tried to restart it and it would only diesel for a few seconds and then shut off.... What had happened was he never got the air out of the motors coolant system and had caused it to over heat. The funny part was when if first shut down the temp gauge was only about 1/8 inch past Normal Temp but after we got it running again it was maxed out.

After letting it cool down a little every time you started the motor it would knock.

So yea I left it there over night and they called me Saturday to pick it up and the truck ran perfect. All they did was let the air out and it run like new again.

So yesterday I had to stop there because I seen a small oil leak and after looking there is (2) 3/8 plugs next to the oil filter and they were loose from factory. it was a easy fix and I went shopping... When I was done I started my truck and it could barely keep itself running at idle and the CEL was on...

Today I took it back to the shop and it was throwing the p0300 code but we were able to see cylinder 6 was misfiring like crazy... But now there is smoke coming out of the exshast but it is not coolant nor oil, it seems to be fuel... So I left it there and right after I got home they called me and said they were going to file a claim on there insurance and buy me a new motor...

So here I am again without my truck for another week...

Did i mention I hate used car/trucks...

Well atleast I can laugh about other wise I might be in jail now... LOL