Hey guys,

Damn am I pissed.

I bought a 2004 Ram-1500 4x4 4 door at the dealer for $14,250 Cash a few months back with 90,000 miles.

Two weeks after buying it I had CEL come on "P300/P301". I called the service manager and he asked me to bring it in which I did and all the could say was it need a tuneup.

Well i did the tune up "plugs and coils" but the CEL would always come on after a day or so after having it reset. Well I always noticed the condensation out of the exhaust in the morning but slowly it started to get worse.

While sitting at a drive threw I had the check gauges light come on and seen the temp high but not on the red mark. Well i let it cool down and checked the fluid level and the resivor and it was at the full mark but the radiator was empty. I refilled it with coolant and within a week it was low again.

Well I figured it was a blown head gasket and took it to a trusted shop to repair it. Well they got the heads of yesterday and found not a mark on the gasket. The heads have already been taken to the machine shop to have them rebuilt if possible and checked for any warping. They are cleaning and blasting them today and I will know if there are any cracks in the morning.

My shop also told me that I would need to replace the timing chains as well as the adjusters.

What to do?!

I was told by my shop to price a motor just in case. I called a local place and found one that has 44K Miles for $2,400 but I searched online and found a rebuilt long block for $2,400 at automotix.net.

I have also filed a complaint with the BBB as well as the Dodge Dealer to see what happens.

I am not sure what to do and now I ask your advice.


Thanks in advance,
Chris aka Death Sharp

 

wow you got screwed i paid 10k with 50k on it almost 2 yrs ago for my 04....id get a lawyer and see about returning it for a 06 for that price with 60k maybe....

 

Yea I was thinking about going the lawyer route and also felt like I got screwed ever since I bought the thing. I almost pulled my concealed weapon on the sales manager because I thought he was going to punch me.

If you are ever in Crossville, Tennessee NEVER go to East Tennessee Dodge... LOL

 

+1

I payed 10.5 for my 2005 with 60k last june=\


Sorry to hear about your problems man. Hope everything works out for you. It's going to be a pita to prove that the truck already had the problem(s) before you bought it.

 

The one thing I wouldn't have done brother was taken the truck to my mechanic. Now the dealer has an out for your possible claim saying that your guy did the damage.

At this point if i were you i would get a lawyer and make him aware of current problem and your intentions if the dealer doesnt help you out. Make sure you get him on retainer if you plan on going after the dealer.

 

Yea it always seem that I get screwed with used cars and trucks.... Oh well...

Does anyone know of a good place to find a short / long block for my truck? I searched online and did not really find anything besides 2 motors on ebay and 1 at automotix.net.

I would only like a reman motor with a good warranty.

 

Well here is another update...

Contacted the machine shop today and they told me they were unable to find any cracks on the heads. He told me that actually look very good for there mileage.

I went to the shop with my truck and looked at all the gaskets and they all look fine. There was also no sign of cylinder wash caused by the coolant getting into the cylinders and all the pistons look the same as each other.

Everyone is stumped by this and nothing shows signs of damage. They did suggest that it was possible that coolant was leaking threw layers of the head gasket but I have never seen that myself.

All in all almost everyone I talk to says to buy a reman motor with a good warranty and call it a day since mine could need new heads and timing assembly.

What do you guy think of the situation?

 

i would find out what the problem was before i went all out and got a new one/ rebuilt one..... have u tried fillin up the radiator up and have some rev it up to get the collant flowing and get under the truck to see if u see any leaks since its not the head or the head gaskets?

 

The truck was not leaking coolant it was burning it and was doing so very well in the morning. After about 5 minutes driving it would stop but before that i had a 2 ton fog machine... LOL

 

yeah i noticed that after i read the whole page my bad.... but that dont make since to me, if u was burning it u would be able to tell when u removed the head... but idk i aint no expert, goodluck my man