My 4.7 Liter Adverture

[Achto 27,622]

No this is not a drinking story. Although at times it may have been enough to lead a guy to drinking. 

 

Just as my '05 Dodge Dakota was nearing 200k miles it started lacking power and started drinking coolant. The coolant issue was not extreme so I kept limping it along hoping for work schedule to slow down a bit before I addressed the problem. 6 ten hour days don't leave much time to address such an issue on my daily driver. Well like most things that you try to ignore, this came back to bite me. One day when I was leaving work the truck started running really rough. I was able to limp it home but it was very evident that it was time for the ol' girl to get some attention. With it now having over 200k on the odometer, I started thinking about some options.

 

1- Jack up the radiator cap & put a new truck under it.

2- Put a re-man engine in it.

3- Do a tear down to find the issue and fix it.

 

I really liked option #1 but that was not in the cards financially. Before deciding on option #2 I figured that I should investigate to see what the issue was. After pulling the valve covers and the intake off I found out why it started running so rough. One of the lifters had collapsed causing the rocker arm on cylinder 7 to be sent for a ride.

 

I also figured out that it was burning coolant on cylinder 8. At this point I figured a set of head gaskets would pretty much cure the coolant issue. With aluminum heads a re-surfacing is usually in order when replacing head gaskets & well might just as well do a vale job right away. To save time waiting for a machine shop to rework my heads I decided to order a set of re-man heads & hopefully be able to turn the truck around in a couple of weeks. Ordered a head gasket set & some new head bolts The heads I ordered from Cylinder Heads International and tore the heads off with the engine still in the the truck.

During this process I noticed an oil leak under my right hand tire. Turns out that the rack & pinion was leaking. As long as I had to replace the rack I also went through the rest of the front end with new ball joints & tie rod ends.

 

I Started with the head swap on a Saturday morning and by Sunday morning I had the engine back to this point.

 

By early afternoon it was all put together and ready for a test spin. The results were anything but satisfactory. The truck ran worse than before plus it now leaked oil from the right hand head. Back in the shop it went for investigation. I pulled the valve covers off and preformed a leak down test on each cylinder. What I found was that cyl #1 had about 80% leakage through the intake valve & cyl #6 had 60% leakage through the intake. A few of the other cylinders also had leakage through the valves and I also noticed some leakage past the rings.  There were a few other things about the heads that I was not exactly pleased with as well. Well...the heads had to come back off, truck is already down, so I might just as well take care of the leakage past the rings. So on to round two.

 

I contacted CHI to see if they would warranty the heads. They were very willing to warranty the heads & sent me a replacement set before they inspected the first set that they had sent me.  I dropped the block & crank off at my local machinist on a Monday for the machine work on them while I was waiting for the replacement heads. My machinist called me the next day stating that there was no reason to over bore the engine, it only needed to have the cylinders re-scuffed and that the crank only needed to be polished. Not bad for having just over 200k miles on it. He gave me the measurements of the main bearing journals so that I could order the correct size main bearings. Note the Mopar 4.7L engine has 3 grades of cranks - A,B,&C. The "B" crank is considered standard size while the "A" crank is .0004 under size and the "C" crank is .0004 over size. Given the tight tolerances on the engine Mopar produces select size bearings for this engine. The machine work on the block and crank was done by Thursday the same week. The following week the new heads showed up. They looked much better than the first set that they sent. Unfortunately the new gasket and head bolts did not show. Apparently Partsology's next day delivery is not as advertised. After watching my order sit in "processing" for over 3 business day's I was getting a bit frustrated so I gave them a call. Was told my parts would be out that day. Then came the end of day 4 and my order was still listed as processing. At this point I ordered parts from Engine Tech, then called Partsology the next morning and asked them if my order had shipped. My answer was "No" so I told them to cancel the order & refund the money that they had already removed from my account. Funny - They removed money from my account the day that I made the order, yet it took them 4 business days to put it back into my account. Lets just say that they did not earn a return customer. 

 

Finally the weekend before Christmas I had everything I needed to put the engine back together. On Saturday morning I started with a bare block. All of the main bearings were installed and clearance measured using a plastigage. This process was used for the rod bearings as well. Just wanted to make sure that all tolerances were with in spec. Put together, take apart, put together, tedious but this way I know for sure. Fit the rings and finally it can start going back together to stay. Below is where I called it a day on Saturday.

 

Sunday morning it was back at it. Before lunch time the engine was closer to the finish line. I preformed a cylinder leakage test while it was still on the engine stand and every thing checked out as it should, minimal leakage and nothing leaking past the valves.

 

My friend Joel took some pictures while I was dropping the engine back in.

 

Around 7:00pm the engine was bolted in, accessories all back in place and ready for a test drive.

It ran smooth but did not seem to have much power in the 2000 to 3500 RPM range. Plus it did not want to shift when it should. Mon. after work I did a cylinder leakage test and a compression test. Again all checked out good. Tues. while I was at work I had another thought to try, I wondered if the catalytic converter was plugged . To test my theory that night, I dropped the "Y" pipe down from the manifolds and took the truck for a drive. Other than sounding like a demo derby car, it ran and shifted like a brand new truck. I was quite happy to know that I would not be tearing the engine down again. After pricing new cats/ Y pipe I was a little less happy but they definitely had to be changed. Ordered the new cats that night with an expected delivery of Dec 29. Not as soon as I would have liked but what could I do. Next day I received notice from FedEx that it would be delivered on Dec.24. Well, Dec 24th came & went and no package. It did how ever show up on my porch by noon Dec.26th   After installing the new cats the test drive was very satisfying. Since then, I have put around 500 miles on the truck and life is good so far. 

 

Thanks for reading through my trials & tribulations.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited January 4, 2021 by Achto

[Ed Kennell 38,252]

[rjg854 11,389]

With all the trials and tribulations, you've come out on the positive side. 

[Tractorhead 9,064]

Good to read, that it comes finally to that good end.

On older Car’s or Trucks troubles can be mostly things you don‘t have in plan. 

if you be in a need for the Car / Truck, the Work can be sometimes a pain,

but after it‘s fixed and some time is passing, the story turns to good and you forget all the troubles and problems you had.

 

 

Independent of any financial Status,

i still preferr to run the Older Cars still as long as there be worth to fix them.

In my opinion that is more sustainable than allway‘s buy new.

 

👍

 

[953 nut 55,329]

                Should be good for another fifteen years of service.                  

[Pullstart 62,922]

Nice work Dan!  I learned option number 1 from reading a book by a Cheese Head... “Truck- A Love Story” by Michael Perry.  Is that a common saying over there?

 

What did you drive in the meantime?

[JCM 9,202]

You are one talented man, but I think you already know that. Very persistent and meticulous. Amazing you actually have time for an adult beverage every now and then.       Great job Dan

[squonk 41,164]

I haven't been inside a Dodge engine in like 20 years. I can't believe they still used those crappy lifters and roller followers. They ffailed so much on the 4 bangers we bought them in bulk. Import engines had the rod and main bearings all different sizes too. You had to read a stamping INSIDE the engine before you could order new ones. I worked on a Toyota where each rod was a different size and there were 2 different main sizes. Reman cranks were the same way.

 

And nothing will ruin a cat quicker than a bunch of coolant run thru it.

[JoeM 7,874]

Good job.....

Nothing worse to me than do overs! Just reading about those heads pissed me off. How sad! 

Could you just imagine getting this done at a garage? Might as well replaced the truck. 

 

I had a 4.7 and it was a good runner. That is until one of the lifters collapsed. Dodge garage said head needed to come off. I ask to talk to a mechanic not the service guy. The mechanic told me they are just going by Dodge job specification and he told me how he would fix it if it were his.  Bought a new lifter and made a tool to collapse the OHC valve spring. Replaced the lifter and it ran good and had 150k when I replaced it.  

[Achto 27,622]

33 minutes ago, pullstart said:

Is that a common saying over there?

 

What did you drive in the meantime?

 

Option 1 ( jack up the radiator cap & put a new truck under it ) is a saying that I learned from my dad years ago. Not sure where it originated.

 

As for wheels in the mean time, Gretel is working from home so I was able to drive her Jeep. It's a nice vehicle but it sure feels good to have my truck back. 

[Mikey the Monkey 697]

Great work Dan, you are a true 1 man army

[WHX?? 48,834]

It's amazing, and good to hear, you got fairly quick with shipping on parts. Especially with holidays and covid stuff all thrown in. Sent some stuff to other members weeks ago and they still haven't gotten it. I would have went with plan A but I am nowhere near the mechanic and engine builder you are! 

Glad to know you got the oil pan leak fixed too, wasn't sure if I should just skip the seal coating on my driveway this year or just start my own oil field... 

You should have a rig all set now to haul tractors to shows, and speaking of tractors hopefully now that this project and the holidays are over time to get down to some tractor projects! I kinda miss my shop time at mom's and red paint boogers! 

[Skwerl58 704]

Great work! I know some good techs that might would have thrown a hammer or wrench in the midst of this rebuild. It is frustrating to buy new reman and it be junk. Again great work!! 

[Handy Don 12,247]

11 hours ago, Achto said:

Thanks for reading through my trials & tribulations

Utterly amazed at your skill, persistence, commitment to saving that machine. I wouldn't have any idea how to even start a project like that or where to look for problems.  Hat's off to you.

[JCM 9,202]

3 hours ago, JoeM said:

Good job.....

Nothing worse to me than do overs! Just reading about those heads pissed me off.  

How true,no matter what trade you are working in.    

[ebinmaine 67,696]

VERY nice work Dan!

 

I could have taken that apart for sure but it would have never run again......

[Achto 27,622]

12 hours ago, JoeM said:

 Bought a new lifter and made a tool to collapse the OHC valve spring. Replaced the lifter and it ran good and had 150k when I replaced it

 

The tool to remove the rocker arms was the only tool that I had to add to my arsenal. This tool hooks under the cam shaft & allows you to push the valve down so that you can remove the rocker arm. This tool can also be used on Ford engines if you install the other foot that came with it.

 

I watched a few You Tube videos to get some tips and determine what special tools may be needed. I saw that there was a tool to hold the timing chains to the idle gear for installation.

https://www.amazon.com/OTC-522902-Timing-Chain-Holder/dp/B007TMYD82/ref=asc_df_B007TMYD82/?tag=hyprod-20&linkCode=df0&hvadid=312192385809&hvpos=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=7858178172464351646&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=c&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=901

 

Yet another video showed me how to accomplish the exact same job with two rubber bands. Costing less than 10cents.

 

 

Edited January 5, 2021 by Achto

[ClassicTractorProfessor 5,314]

Nice work. Getting ready to tear in to the 5.7 in my old blue Chevy in the coming days. Hoping to get lucky and only have to do intake and head gaskets. but time will only tell what I'll find when I tear into her.

[Achto 27,622]

1 hour ago, ebinmaine said:

I could have taken that apart for sure but it would have never run again......

 

 

 

I look at all engines the same way. They need to go suck, squish, bang, blow. Just need to figure out how some engineer made your particular engine perform those 4 functions.

[tom2p 2,394]

internal combustion engine is an amazing thing - as are the people that can wrench them !

nice job !

 

[WHX?? 48,834]

23 hours ago, Achto said:

 

I watched a few You Tube videos

I tried do that when I was going to take up brain surgeoning.... figured I'd  havta have a bit more than the sixth grade....decided best stick to soda jerkin Jethro....

 

22 hours ago, Achto said:

 

 

 

 They need to go suck, squish, bang, blow. 

Why was that stuck in my head when I was havin the Onan issues!?!?! 

[ebinmaine 67,696]

16 minutes ago, WHX24 said:

when I was going to take up brain surgeoning

Hey I got a fair set o' X-acto knives. 

[JoeM 7,874]

On 1/4/2021 at 7:37 PM, Achto said:

The tool to remove the rocker arms was the only tool that I had to add to my arsenal. Think my homemade one started out as a ball joint tool 

[Achto 27,622]

23 hours ago, WHX24 said:

I tried do that when I was going to take up brain surgeoning.... figured I'd  havta have a bit more than the sixth grade

 

Don't feel bad Jim! I never made it through gynecology school, but I've always been willing to take a look.

[953 nut 55,329]

On 1/4/2021 at 8:25 AM, Achto said:

Option 1 ( jack up the radiator cap & put a new truck under it ) is a saying that I learned from my dad years ago. Not sure where it originated.

That saying is so old it was around when I was a kid!                          Been a lot of candles bit the dust since then.