Agreed. I enquired about this . The owner said he pulled a 3.9 out of a 2000 Dakota and it was ready to go but the guy who wanted it found out his motor wasn't bad. So the engine is just sitting there taking up space and he wants to get rid of it.

​​​​​ I don't think the guy was all that interested in doing an engine swap having to swap the ECU and wiring harness and all. He likes things to be straight forward if you know what I mean.

​​​​​​I just want the van to run and be reliable so I can drive it out of town. And get by with less than 2 grand .

I used to build turbo systems in my 30s. Now that I'm almost 50 and have two kids, I'm kind of out of driving hot rods. In fact I have two cars that don't even make 30 BHP!

Now if I had time to burn, I'd do a V8 / 5 speed swap myself. That would be awesome.

 

How many miles on it?

 

I'm not really sure. Since this van will probably see 1000 miles per year, it would probably do me the rest of my life. Even if it uses some oil, I'm not concerned as long as it's not making a death rattle like the engine that is in it. He said he would guarantee the engine for 60 days. That would give me time to evaluate it.

This is the first engine I've ever seen with a death rattle. I've had cars with engines with excessive blow by that may use oil but run and sound just fine otherwise. I've also never owned a car that the oil pump failed in. I always thought because they were in contact with oil they didn't wear out.

But I've also always changed my oil regularly and never let one run out of oil either. I think this van has just seen allot of poor maintenance.

 

I have a similar experience with engines holding up so long as I do the maintenance... with a few exceptions.

To be frank, it's not going to feel like a hotrod with a v8, but will be soooo much better to drive - especially if you wind up anywhere hilly or trying to pull a trailer...

I think you mentioned you live in Eastern Tn. Where about? I live in Eastern NC, and it's not unusual for me to go further West a bit (less now that My daughter isn't in Boone, NC anymore), and...

...If you're considering doing a v8, I haven't "purged" yet from converting my 99 van to 4wd so I could give you new motor mounts, the engine and transmission cross members if either is different, a really nice weighted aluminum drive shaft (would have to check length on yours), I'm pretty sure I still have the original v-8 cat with one side of the y (I went with individual high flow cats and 3" stainless), a usable tail pipe, as well as some other odds and ends if they'll be needed / helpful... probably some decent front shocks (one set of fronts almost new?)... Might have a spare (barely used) torque converter and flex plate for a 5.2... would just have to see what I have laying around still and compare that with what you might need. I'm planning to dig into a bunch of stuff once my semester is over next week.

That would only leave you with an sub-parts of the wiring harness and a computer... Seems like those would be straightforward from a pick a part lot or someone parting out one. I know of at least two in this area that are currently being parted out...

Just something to think about...

 

I hear what your saying. I forget about the front springs. It sounds like a job in itself and I'd need a whole donor vehicle.

I'm not so sure this engine is as bad as the previous shop said it was. I don't think the guy actually checked anything. He just said the engine was bad. That guy was a GM mechanic anyway.

Just from what I've read, I wonder if it is the timing chain slapping against the cover as the engine changes RPMs. Also the timing advance is all over the place at idle when I linked up my phone to Car scanner app and my ELM plugin tool. I don't think that is normal because my Subaru and my Chevy van doesn't do this.

The guy who is going to be doing the engine swap who knows about Chrysler engines and maybe able to tell what's wrong with the van just from driving it.

It does need an oil pump. Dumb question but is the oil pump behind the timing chain cover and driven off the camshaft on V engines ?' I've only really messed with oddball foreign stuff with overhead cams and timing belt when it comes to engine internals.

I shot a video while driving in L2 haven't posted it yet. I haven't even received it yet to see if it turned out ok.

 

Ok here's the video:

 

Sounds like the cam or distributor shaft is worn and vibrating.

 

I watched the video. Get a wooden dowel rod and find out what rpm range the rattle occurs. Have someone hold the throttle at that speed while you have the inner dog house off and put your knuckle on the end of the dowel rod and press the cartilage flap on your ear closed with your knuckle. Put the other end of the rod on various places to listen to the engine. Something is hammering in there and the different speeds it happens sounds like it's something loose and beating the inside of the engine somewhere.

The oil pump is in the oil pan and the distributor goes through the block and a gear is on the camshaft. The end of the distributor has a tab that fits in a slot on the oil pump and the camshaft turns the pump via the distributor shaft. There is a bronze bushing in the block that the shaft runs through. I don't think it's the distributor but listening will tell you where the problem is.

As for swapping a V-8 in, you'll need heavier springs in the front suspension and a different wiring harness. I'd just swap another 3.9 in. If you find one with around 100K on it, freshen it up a bit and swap it in. When I swap Dodge engines like yours, I'll replace the oil pump with a high volume piece, new timing chain and water pump as well as pop the expansion plugs out and flush the block. You'd be amazed at how much rust and sand comes out when you flush it with a garden hose.Clean it up a bit, maybe spray some paint on it and swap it in. While you're at it, replace the front seal on the transmission. I've seen them start to leak when disturbed by an engine swap. It's several hours of aggravation for a $25 or so part.

 

Hard to say, but if I was to guess, it sorta sounds like real bad piston slap. Maybe a broken ring?
You do have a lot of valve train noise though...

 

My Subaru has some piston slap at subfreezing temperatures but goes away after a few minutes. This sounds like something internally resonating throughout the entire engine. I pulled the doghouse and reved it up and it sounds like the noise is either from the valve covers or kegger manifold.

The engine doesn't smoke or seems to be using any oil otherwise so I don't think be it's a broken ring. It actually runs OK.

It is hard to guage it's performance wheather it's running at it's maximum power. Wheather it's because it's a V6 or it's something else.

The jury is still out on wheather this engine actually blew a head gasket to begin and with the rattle is due to that or the guy made up this story to cover up the engine's real problem.

Problem is it seems in order to find this problem might require tearing into it. So maybe just swapping engines would be cheaper.

I have noticed its doing this popping and cracking thing 30 minutes to an hour after a hot start again. Plugging off the EVAP port apparently was not the problem. This makes me wonder if this condition is timing related as well as the advance being all over the place at idle using my ELM tool.

I watched Eric the car guy's video on timing chain slack. This test sounds easy enough.

Unfortunately this is going to require two people and I don't have any help. My 8 year old daughter probably wouldn't know what to look for and my wife is sick and
my father is always willing to help but he's 75 years old and it's hard for him to get on the floor of the van to see the distributor while I rotate the engine.

Anymore now it's all I can do to make straight forward repairs let alone spinning my wheels troubleshooting something for hours on end.