The best oil filter review i have seen:

http://minimopar.knizefamily.net/oil.../opinions.html

 

Sorry, I don't have any pics. I wish I had took some of what it looked like before my mechanic cleaned it.

 

That's funny. Yes I did. Small world isn't it.

 

North GA. Little town called Blue Ridge about 1.5 hrs north of ATL.

 

My Bad. I didn't mean a factory warranty. I only received a 3 year 36k mile warranty on the truck when I purchased it. I'm way past that with a dead engine and know that I can't get dodge to warranty a replacement engine. What I meant was the place I purchased the replacement from is giving me a warranty / guarantee on it. I could have had the lifters done in the old engine, but since there was some uncertainty that something else might go wrong I decided to purchase another engine.

 

Yes it is. No biggy though, I'm not quite ready to buy. I see you got it for 200 less, not bad for a practically brand new motor. I hope I can get a deal like that when the time comes. Otherwise I'm just going to buy a brand new assembly-line '06.

Good luck with the install, take lotsa pics if you can.

 

Yep. Saved a few bucks. It really wasn't too bad of a price especially compared to some of the higher mile engines I found. It was that or 1600 to fix the other with a chance there may be something else wrong other than just the lifters. I hope it works out and I made the right choice.

The engine actually showed up earlier this afternoon. It looked real good and did look like I would expect a low mile engine to look like other than you could tell it had been exposed to the weather. Rusty bolts, fly wheel, etc... I hope there are no issues because of it being exposed. They had the old engine out already and have probably started putting it in since I was there earlier. We'll know in a couple days if I got a good deal so keep your fingers crossed for me.

 

Well. The engine is in and running good. I actually had just stopped by the garage to check on their progress this morning and it just so happened that they had just started it as soon as I pulled up. I got a little worried though because it was smoking like a freight train and knocking some, but they said that was normal for an engine that had been setting for a while and it would most likely quit in a few minutes. The truck needed some gas in it so I ran out and picked some up and when I got back the truck was so quiet I thought they had actually shut it off. That was a big relief. I actually ended up taking it for a quick spin to see how it was running and it did great. They are finishing up some things like charging the ac, etc.. and I'll be able to pick it up in the next couple hrs. Can't wait!

Thanks everyone for all your replies and information. I'll keep you updated on how it does with the replacement engine.

 

I don't know a whole lot about cars, but there is something built up in my engine just below the alternator and to the right. It's dry and tannish in color. What color was the stuff you had built up?

 

The build up in my engine was sludge due to using the incorrect oil and infrequent oil changes. It was real black. If you've ever seen what walnut shells looks like after they've turned and have been broken up it looked almost exactly like that. A real black tarry looking substance.

I sounds like you might have something leaking that's building up on the outside of your engine. I'm no mechanic myself and wish I could help, but I really don't know what it might be. Maybe some of the other guys here can help you out. I'd say if you could take a picture of where it's at and what it looks like I'm sure someone here can tell you exactly what it is.