I have a chance at a 2003 Dodge 4 door half ton pickup, 2WD, in decent shape otherwise at 140000 miles, with an overheated and dead 4.7L, for "free" (I have to go get it; it's 5 hours away).
I'm wondering a) what should I look for in general and
b) what would it take to use the 2008 4.7L in this truck?
thanks
jg

 

a) make sure you get the right replacement engine (there are crank wheel differences)
b) harness alterations to be able to fire dual coils; throttle body adapter to use your cable one in place of the 08's electronic; change crank tone wheel so your PCM can actually run it (requires removing the crank); custom tune to run it properly - minimums

 

first of all, thanks for your time and your help, Hemilonestar.
beginning to sound like more trouble than I want to go through. However, I do have questions:
I do know about the crank wheel differences. I've never understood why. Why are there two different crank wheels?
I thought the engine had coil on plug - sounds like you're saying each plug has 2 coils on it?
harness alterations - I'm assuming I can simply use the harness from the 08? and perhaps also the PCM?
I thought all of these engines were electronic throttles. a throttle body adapter to convert from cable to electronic... wow. maybe just use the 08 throttle body. or do I have this backwards?
custom tuning opens up a whole can of worms, for another day - not enough info now to even know what to ask.
thanks, again
jg

 

Because that's what Mopar did as the electronics changed over the years, other than that how the hell would I know lol?

Up through 2007 the 4.7 had a single coil om plug. The redesigned heads starting in 08 have two plugs, therefore two coils (upper and lower). Have you done absolutely no research on this?
There are pics and info literally EVERYWHERE.

Nope. 08 is a CAN bus vehicle, the electronics are not compatible with your PCI bus vehicle.

Sigh...the hemi's are all fly by wire, the 4.7 didn't get that until 2008. As the intake manifold ALSO changed in 2008, YES, you will need an adapter to use your old cable driven throttle body on an 08+ intake manifold (repeating myself is starting to get old...)

Easy part, find a pro tuner who has the correct software and familiarity with your engine, give him the your specs and combo and he writes a tune for it.

 

thanks for all your help. Trust me, You won't be repeating yourself again.
jg

 

One thing you can do, it has been verified that you can use the 08+ heads (with their associated cams) on the pre 08 block with no issues. You would just have to figure out the firing the second coil thing, but you could use the 08+ intake manifold (with adapter) and run it on a custom tune with your PCM. Could probably tune it a bit more aggressive than factory calibration an would put you at least at the 310hp mark (factory stock for the 08+) or more.