Update on a few things on my 2001 RAM 1500 van.
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Update on a few things on my 2001 RAM 1500 van.
Although I pride myself on being able to work on my own cars, spare time is of the essence these days and I want instant gratification (not to be confused with self gratification. LOL! ). I've got a bunch of funky collector cars that need my attention and I won't let anybody touch them because they are too funky and most mainstream mechanics wouldn't even touch them to begin with such as a 1968 Ford Fairlane (well not that funky) that needs an electric fuel pump which is going to require a special bracket, a Fiat 124 Spider (actually fixed that car the other day), 1981 Trabant 601 and a 1987 Citroen 2CV. So I want to concentrate on getting those cars fixed and let someone else work on this van which is mainstream.
I've made an appointment with a shop I've had previous work done on my 98 Chevy van to take a look at my Dodge. I was hoping to find a shop that actually specialized in Chryslers but so far no luck.
Hopefully this place can figure out what this rattle is. I'm hoping this engine is not a potential grenade and it's going to suddenly explode on me. Worst case scenereo, the engine is crapped out despite the fact it doesn't smoke or use oil. Could it be a rod bearing? When idling, this engine sounds so smooth and quite otherwise.
I Googled "Dodge 3.9 liter engine rattle" and it pulls up page after page of complaints. Mainly Dodge Dakotas since this same engine was used in these trucks.
One of the things that seems to be a major issue with these 3.9 liter engines is slack in the timing chain. From what I've read, as it wears, loosens tension and slaps the inside of the cover making a god awful racket. Would that cause the noise to resonant through the valve covers? Since the noise tends to happen at part throttle, but goes away at idle and under acceleration, I'm thinking under cruise, it takes the slack out of the chain but at idle the engine is not spinning fast enough and under acceleration the chain spins faster and takes some of the slack out.
I'm still not 100% convinced this engine actually blew a head gasket in the first place. I'm kind of wondering if the engine developed this rattle and he had a shop diagnose the problem and told him it was a bad timing chain and the guy just didn't want to pay to have it fixed and made up some BS story about it developing a rattle after he had the head gasket replaced. Otherwise I would have taken it back to him.
I mentioned that when the engine first reaches normal operating temperature, my mechanical oil pressure gauge reads 10 PSI but when the engine is fully warmed up, my mechanical oil pressure gauge drops to 5 PSI and the dash guage drops from 30 to zero. So yeah, the van probably needs an oil pump. I'm not arguing that.
I'm wondering if this is messing with the hydraulic lifters causing this noise? The ODB-II is showing a code saying #1 cylinder is misfiring, although I don't feel it. I don't know if the ECU is just picking this up at times and storing a code or what. I've cleared the code several times and it keeps coming back. So before going with a full tuneup, I want to make sure this rattle is not somehow related.
One more thing. The front end of the motor has a squeak. I replaced the serpentine belt, idler pulley and tensioner pulley. This seemed to fix it for about a day but damn if the noise is not back again! The A/C doesn't work and I plan on getting that fixed next spring but I noticed that the outer disc of the AC clutch was spinning but stopped when the AC is off. Is that normal for the AC clutch pulley to do that? I sprayed some penetrating oil on it and didn't take care of the problem. Since the AC compressor won't kick on (probably due to low refrigerant), there is no way to test to see if the squeak changes or goes away with the AC on. I'm thinking the bearings are worn in the clutch.
This squeak is weird. It sounds like a freewheel squeak. It occurs under cruise and get's faster and a bit louder with the rpms. If I take my foot off the accelerator and coast, the squeak slows down then goes away. Like something is freewheeling. The only other thing I can think of is the fan clutch. I grabbed the fan with my hand and tried to turn it and it is a bit tight. I'm thinking the fan should spin quite easily.
I guess I just want a warm fuzzy feeling these issues won't be hard to fix. I really love this van! I just hope the repairs on this van won't set me back too much.
I've made an appointment with a shop I've had previous work done on my 98 Chevy van to take a look at my Dodge. I was hoping to find a shop that actually specialized in Chryslers but so far no luck.
Hopefully this place can figure out what this rattle is. I'm hoping this engine is not a potential grenade and it's going to suddenly explode on me. Worst case scenereo, the engine is crapped out despite the fact it doesn't smoke or use oil. Could it be a rod bearing? When idling, this engine sounds so smooth and quite otherwise.
I Googled "Dodge 3.9 liter engine rattle" and it pulls up page after page of complaints. Mainly Dodge Dakotas since this same engine was used in these trucks.
One of the things that seems to be a major issue with these 3.9 liter engines is slack in the timing chain. From what I've read, as it wears, loosens tension and slaps the inside of the cover making a god awful racket. Would that cause the noise to resonant through the valve covers? Since the noise tends to happen at part throttle, but goes away at idle and under acceleration, I'm thinking under cruise, it takes the slack out of the chain but at idle the engine is not spinning fast enough and under acceleration the chain spins faster and takes some of the slack out.
I'm still not 100% convinced this engine actually blew a head gasket in the first place. I'm kind of wondering if the engine developed this rattle and he had a shop diagnose the problem and told him it was a bad timing chain and the guy just didn't want to pay to have it fixed and made up some BS story about it developing a rattle after he had the head gasket replaced. Otherwise I would have taken it back to him.
I mentioned that when the engine first reaches normal operating temperature, my mechanical oil pressure gauge reads 10 PSI but when the engine is fully warmed up, my mechanical oil pressure gauge drops to 5 PSI and the dash guage drops from 30 to zero. So yeah, the van probably needs an oil pump. I'm not arguing that.
I'm wondering if this is messing with the hydraulic lifters causing this noise? The ODB-II is showing a code saying #1 cylinder is misfiring, although I don't feel it. I don't know if the ECU is just picking this up at times and storing a code or what. I've cleared the code several times and it keeps coming back. So before going with a full tuneup, I want to make sure this rattle is not somehow related.
One more thing. The front end of the motor has a squeak. I replaced the serpentine belt, idler pulley and tensioner pulley. This seemed to fix it for about a day but damn if the noise is not back again! The A/C doesn't work and I plan on getting that fixed next spring but I noticed that the outer disc of the AC clutch was spinning but stopped when the AC is off. Is that normal for the AC clutch pulley to do that? I sprayed some penetrating oil on it and didn't take care of the problem. Since the AC compressor won't kick on (probably due to low refrigerant), there is no way to test to see if the squeak changes or goes away with the AC on. I'm thinking the bearings are worn in the clutch.
This squeak is weird. It sounds like a freewheel squeak. It occurs under cruise and get's faster and a bit louder with the rpms. If I take my foot off the accelerator and coast, the squeak slows down then goes away. Like something is freewheeling. The only other thing I can think of is the fan clutch. I grabbed the fan with my hand and tried to turn it and it is a bit tight. I'm thinking the fan should spin quite easily.
I guess I just want a warm fuzzy feeling these issues won't be hard to fix. I really love this van! I just hope the repairs on this van won't set me back too much.