I posted earlier but it didn't seem to make it up on the site. I blew my motor late last year and deployed in a couple of weeks after. Truck has been in storage ever since. I'm desperate for a solution because unspent a lot of time and money last year on axles, shocks, diffs, hubs, leaf springs. I can't scratch enough money together for the nearly $2000 replacements. Anyone on here around the NC area that knows where to get a hold of a block or a decent junked motor. Or any links to step by step rebuilds for guidance? Any thing you can offer would be greatly appreciated. Email me or respond here. Much thanks.

 

Check craigslist and local junk yards for a motor. Probably videos on you tube for rebuilds.

 

Yeah, locally and regionally are not affordable... I am mulling over the idea of strict rebuild kit and doing it with help... But I can't find anything online or on YouTube with step by step rebuilds.

 

What blew on your 04?

 

I pulled a good bit of water in through the intake. So I had it pulled out of the woods. I then took off the intake and pulled the plugs and ssucked all the water out(very little bit). I sprayed a little bit of chemtool into the cylinders and let them dry out over night. Came back the next day put it together and turned it over... It cranked right up and ran fine for about 30 seconds or so then *snap knock and tap tap tap* and the piston rod blew out the side of the block.

So I'm thinking with the rumored difficulty of remanufacturing this engine that buying a reasonably priced motor would be best and just dropping it in. But the mechanic seems to believe everything up top is still good and getting a kit with bearings and and just rebuilding is a really good plan for the price

 

If you blew a rod out the side of the block...there is no rebuilding. You can salvage the top end, but the bottom end is toast if that's what happened.

 

Yeah, I forgot to mention that I would need a block then rebuild from there up, obviously salvaging everything from the top. Would the crank still be usable? What kind of headache am I looking to get into?

 

Hydro-lock failure Well whatever you do with the new engine or rebuilt engine, copper permatex the intake seals! this will effectively triple seal the intake if you permatex the intake seal seats in the intake and then a thin layer on the heads. It also does another job, it seals the plastic intakes slot where water sucks in let alone just triple sealing the rest. This is what kills a lot of Durango Hemi engines, their cowl design sucks and allows rain water to leak through the cowl and through the wiper motor holes right on top of the engine at the rear 4 cylinders. I'd be willing to bet cylinder 8 or 7 threw on yours. Ram cowls are much better designed than the Durango cowls, that's why hydrolocking is not as common with our trucks, obviously with enough water it can still happen, but permatexing the intake seals just insures you never have to worry about it happening again.


Its the same thing that failed the Challenger Space Shuttle, O-ring not sealing in the cold. When the engine is cold, the o-ring style intake gaskets don't conform as well and as it heats up they actually somewhat seal to as you would never notice a vacuum leak. I bet your intake ports on the mating face of the head/intake surface show carbon trails of where the o-ring gaskets leaked. Sometimes these seals just fail regardless of cold or hot weather conditions.

 

Dunno where you are, but I've seen some fairly cheap ($500-1000) 5.7's on craigslist and ebay for strict rebuilds.

 

Could you link me into some of those options. Perhaps I'm not searching with the right vernacular. Much obliged, sir.