hey everyone,
i just joined in search for advice about my truck (someone recommended i come here.) i'm a 23 year old girl and have no idea whats up (my dd is a vw bug lol)
I have a 2004 ram 1500, i bought it used one year ago.
Anyway, it started acting up a month ago when it suddenly died in the middle of the road for no reason and refused to start until the next day..and had gone untouched in between dying and starting back. Well, it started sucking the oil out super fast (was completely dry after having it changed 2 weeks prior.) After this happened I took it to a mechanic that works from his home and i dont remember the exact diagnosis he had given me but after i got it back it was MUCH worse! On my way home I stopped at a gas station where it left me stranded as I was trying to leave, it wouldn't budge when pushing the gas, began overheating like crazy, made lots of white smoke and the oil pressure gage was fluctuating terribly. I called the mechanic and he came and put water in it and it made it home after that. But now it will not start at all.

Also, when i bought the truck it didnt have a thermostat in it and i was told it never had used one. We put one in it and I think thats when my problems began so after this happened we took it back out and now it wont even start, it barely turns over.

Does anyone know what could be going on? I am 6 months pregnant and cannot afford to take it to a dealer and be charged like crazy but I desperately need it working again.. any help would be greatly appreciated! Thanks in advance

 

I hate to be the bearer of bad news, hon, but it sounds to me like the head gasket is blown. Probably from an overheat.

I'm guessing the engine is the 4.7 V8???

You can verify this (and your work-from-home mechanic SHOULD HAVE) by checking to see if there is coolant in the oil - which is typified by white exhaust.

You getting any CELs (check engine light)? I would suspect you'd have misfires from hell when it's running...

 

I dont remember it misfiring at all but yes it is a 4.7 v8.

yeah, the check engine light is on too..

 

how exactly would i know if it is a blown head gasket?

 

Have a compression test done, this will tell you for sure of a head gasket or head problem. But the presence of coolant in the oil is a tell tale sign.

The issue is VERY common in the 4.7 - it's got aluminum heads that don't fare well with even mild over-heats.

I am currently rebuilding the 4.7 in my Grand Cherokee - different issue - also fairly common - it dropped a valve seat, but I have to dig about as far into mine as someone would have to do to yours to replace the head gasket. These modular, OHC engines are no picnic to get to the head gasket - the mechanic book calls for 8 hours just to pull the heads and about a 10 hour job. Labor is not gonna be cheap kiddo.

BUT that mechanic should have spotted it a mile away - and for sure when you overheated should have known it was gonna take more than just pouring water into. So I'd say job one is to find a better mechanic.

If you have any questions - ask. Lot of VERY good and experienced guys on here. And by all means post before you agree to any work.

I'm sure your CEL is gonna come up with a misfire code (among others) - you wouldn't be able to tell a misfire - I'm not talking about a backfire that you'd hear.


Common things that you can check for yourself - white and/or sweet smelling exhaust (you already spoke of white smoke), loss of coolant (check on that one too), coolant in the oil (you can tell this if the oil has kind of a milkiness to it), very rough running or not running (check). Like I said, hon, I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but I'm pretty sure and I've been working on engines, doing mods, lifts on trucks, etc. longer'n you've been alive...

 

gosh, i dont know anything about this stuff you're speaking a completely different language to me haha but i dont plan on doing any of this stuff myself just figured you guys could maybe pinpoint my issue here

i do remember the mechanic saying is was not a cracked or blown head gasket but after this i dont trust anything he says/does anyway.

i'll look into having a compression test done on it though. also, if i took it to advance they can give me a code for why my CEL is on tho right? i just have no way to get it there since it wont even run

 

Unless this mechanic did a leak down (compression) test there is NO WAY he can say it doesn't have a head or head gasket problem - period and yes, any chain auto parts store will usually pull a code and do it for free. I know Advance and Autozone do for sure.

Keep me posted on what you find and again, if you have nobody with good auto knowledge, post up on here before agreeing to anything - we can tell you if you are getting taken to the cleaners or are being BS'd or not...


Oh yeah, and welcome to the forum, btw. Wish it was under better circumstances. At least you have a DD to fall back to...

 

okay, thanks so much i'll def check with u guys before having work done i know its easy for some mechanics to take advantage of a girl whose clueless to this!

btw, how much does a blown or cracked head typically cost to fix?

haha yeah, thankfully i do have my bug but getting a carseat in and out of there is gonna be a major pain in the butt.

 

You don't wanna know and I don't wanna tell a 6 month pregnant young lady, LOL...

If it is the head gasket - and symptoms would suggest it, but maybe not - let's hope! But if it is the head gasket kit itself is cheap - I'm talking like $25-30 cheap. The problem is the labor - as stated yours is a modular, overhead cam engine which basically means EVERYTHING has to come off to get the heads off. Chrysler mechanics manual calls for something like 10 hours - and typical dealer rates in my area at least are about $90 an hour.

 

holy crap, you almost made my water break telling me that. lol jk