Hi,

First of all I have been using this site since I got my truck last May, Awesome site a lot of good info and there is some helpful people on here!

So like the title says, I have a 2002 1500 with the 4.7 140,000 miles, and yes it is 3rd gen! lol usually people say It's not since in 2002 dodge made both body styles.

My problem started in Dec, I live in Louisiana and It was a pretty cold winter but even though it was cold I would overheat, which didn't make sense to me so I added some water and coolant to my truck and it still overheated but not as soon and it didn't get as hot. Then In February it started to overheat again, even just driving 3-4 blocks the needle was past the half mark.

I took it straight to a local mechanic, told him what's going on and left it there, a day later I called and asked what it was and how much? I figured it was something simple...... That was one of the worst days in my life since this truck is my first vehicle I ever owned and since I'm 19 and can't afford a lot of money. He told me he thinks it's internal issues, he did a pressure check and nothing was happening and they just noticed a lot of water running out of the exhaust.......... : ( After that I left the truck there for a few days because I really couldn't deal with it at that moment. I picked the truck up and I never seen this but my exhaust was smoking sooo bad and it's colored grey/white he said it was cause of the water that they put into it.

Fast forward 3 months later, I still have my truck I haven't even drove it 3-4 miles since I picked it up since the mechanic is only 3-4 miles away. I do start it up once every 2 weeks for about a minute and shut it off. It still smokes pretty bad.

I really don't know what to do with my truck, should i fix it? and if I do fix it how? New motor? rebuild it?

And if I do get a new motor how do I know which connection to get? 16 or 32 pin?

I'm fixing to go outside and wash her down for the next hour or 2 I really need your guys advice on what to do. The truck is immaculate inside and out. I'll post some pictures below.

But I really need some advice, cause I can afford to put money into this but I want it to be dependable as well for me and my family, I don't wanna invest 2-3 grand and it's not dependable anymore. you know?

Help me out guys, I'll check back in a bit!

 

Hmm, sure sounds like a cracked head or head gasket to me. Unsure what that would cost to have fixed. I have seen some say on here that if you ever overheat a 4.7, end up being serious issues. I am guessing you did not severely over heat it?

 

One time me and my brother's went to the Home depot, I left the truck started for them since it was last summer right under the big canopy, I was only supposed to be a minute but i ended up staying nearly 10-15 minutes since you can never find what your looking for at the depo and when I got back she did turn off the truck but when I started it back up the needle was nearly slabbed. Once I pushed the throttle though It cooled down within seconds and when back to normal temp, that is the only time I could think of, I always thought in the back of my mind that caused the issue.

other then that I never let it get bad, but It was at least 3/4 of the way a few times.

It was really stupid of me to drive it like that but I didn't know at the time the damage it could cause, now it's not like I would be driving and it was overheating or nothing cause whenever I was driving the truck would be fine it's just when I was sitting/idling which is why I kept driving it like that until it started to overheat even when I was driving is when I realized it was serious.

 

Wow, that's a lot. Maybe someone else will chime in, but that looks just like a cracked head or blown head gasket to me.

 

I'd start off with the simple stuff first.

Are you "using/losing" coolant?

If you are, check on the dip stick for milky engine oil.
Also look for a creamy white paste/crud on the underneath of the oil filler cap.

If you find any of the above, it's either a cracked head/s and or head gasket/s.

If those look ok, you will have to do a compression check etc.
That will tell you which cylinders are down.

Unfortunately from all the threads I've read over the 5 years or so on this and other Dodge boards, the 4.7's do have a knack of overheating. Warping and cracking the heads.
This can be from many things but usually, bad maintenance is the culprit.

Looking at that smoke your making, I'd figure an engine rebuild is in the immediate future.
Sorry.

Al.

 

My oil isn't milky, water isn't getting in the oil yet.. That's another reason I'm not driving it cause I know I'll simply make it worse.

So is it better to rebuild the engine or buy one off of craigslist that has 40-80,000 miles?

I found a few in my local craigslist for $1500 and the reason there selling it because there truck got wrecked, and it's still in there truck with 60,000 miles on it and it's a 08? is this a good deal?

And how do i know which connectors do i have? 16 or 32 pin?

http://houston.craigslist.org/pts/3013635919.html

EDIT:

Yep it's milky ..... Just checked it

Water has been mixing in the oil..

 

Just by what you've posted on the way the truck acted, I you choose to replace the heads/ gaskets you may consider replacing the fan clutch and water pump. Fan clutch because of the overheating only whole stopped and the water pump because of the cooling down when the accelerator is pressed.

 

I decided I'm going to try and put another motor in it, for around $2,000 I can get one with around 50,000/60,000 miles installed.

I just don't know if i'm 16 or 32 pin?