Hey folks, new to the forum, just posted this to the general area...I've got a big problem I'm hoping to get some help with on my truck. Haven't had any degradation in performance lately but the other day I fired her up and she was making some loud sounds and stalling at low idle. Had to keep engine rev'd high with the brake on to limp to the mechanic. They replaced injector, but still couldn't fix it and referred me to the dealer who checked and said zero compression on #4 cyl. They want $700 to take head apart and investigate, but also quoted me $5k for 90k used engine or $8k for long block. I could spend the $700 and still need to fork over the cash for the engine, or just call it a loss, since KBB is only $7500. Scrap...trade...fix?? Other ideas?? Any advice is much appreciated!

'04 Ram 1500 SLT Quad Cab
5.7L Hemi
K&N, brake/tow pkg
135,000 mi

 

I would at least pull valve covers off and look at rockers and valve springs sounds like maybe broken spirng I think i remember a thread about 5.7 hemis doing that might be a relatively easy fix dont know till you look.

 

X2.
Gotta pull the valve covers and check those springs. Early Hemisphere were noted for it.
Al.

 

Does sound like a broken valve spring. They can be replaced without pulling the heads. The dealer is just trying to milk some more money from you. Hopefully, driving it that way didn't bend a valve stem (shoulda had it towed).

 

sounds like 2 places Milking jobs.. first the injector... and dealer on replacement engine..

like others said. remove valve covers... easy to check valve springs.. could also be a stuck valve.

 

You can get a 3rd party reman 5.7 for about $3000. Should be about $4500 installed at an independent shop. It hardly worth doing a used engine unless you are installing it yourself because of no warrantee. But check the valves first. One could use an inspection camera if the valves look ok to check the inside of the cylinder.

 

Man I seen 31K 5.7 engines on eBay for 2200

On top of that, go to our DIY section, I posted a thread on how to change your cam. You don't want to go that far but t shows you how to change the valve springs

 

have a leakdown test done... that will confirm a piston problem or a valve problem.... i would bet its a valve problem though....

 

If you can't do a leak down test, use a compression gauge and some oil.

1. Put a teaspoon of oil in the #4 cylinder hole.
2. Preform a compression test again.
3. If the compression raises pretty dramatically (Like 20 psi or more i'd say
=Piston/ring issue.
4. If the compression stays generally the same= valve, head, spring etc issue

 

Thanks for the feedback guys. I had them pull the valve cover to check and they said the springs and those components look good, but said it's definitely something with the head. So they are sending it to a machine shop. If head's good or repairable, or just the valve, it's $1400 out the door. If head needs replacement, looking like $2400. Not cheap, but much better than long block replacement!

And for the record, the first shop spent half a day trying to figure it out, but charged me $0, said if they couldn't fix it, they wouldn't charge me! That's Travis' Auto...some serious customer service there! Thanks again!