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My new beat up broke down Ram truck

That screenshot of your pic is the 2nd one of the cylinder heads. I'm assuming that is the passenger side head? If so, then that would be cylinder #4. Hard to tell from the pics of the block if there is a ny sign of a leak in the same spot. Might want to look closely at that spot on the head and the block.


Fwiw, I've got a cracked head or leaking head gasket on my 2001 5.2, and all it does is foul out a plug every now and then. That is why I think you've got a bigger problem going on. Hope this helps some.
 
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MoparMan said:
Looks like the water jacket on the right in this pic might either have a crack between it and the combustion chamber, or the gasket failed and was leaking right there. But to have that much water in the oil I think you've got bigger problems than that.
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I got bored after dinner. Went out and wiped the heads off around each cylinder. Some of it was not clean but no cracks there visible to the eye or touch. Will look closer tomorrow. I expected catastrophic damage to be clearly visible. We'll see.
 
crispins said:
that motor has to be wiped out with that amount of coolant in the oil.

I gave up a long time ago trying to look at heads to see what is wrong with them.

I just send them to the machine shop and let them tell me if they are worth fixing or not.

If I was you I would be looking to rebuild that engine or find a replacement one.
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It very well could be. It was not rattling and showed oil pressure. I've seen motors survive worse and die from less.

I'm going to look it all over real good tomorrow. If I don't find anything conclusive I'll take the heads in to get magnafluxed for cracks. I think. Junkyard motor is only $500.

The new thought is this:

Cheap fix to get it running and spend the saved money on getting the bodywork and paint done.
 
MoparMan said:
That screenshot of your pic is the 2nd one of the cylinder heads. I'm assuming that is the passenger side head? If so, then that would be cylinder #4. Hard to tell from the pics of the block if there is a ny sign of a leak in the same spot. Might want to look closely at that spot on the head and the block.


He is, I've got a cracked head or leaking head gasket on my 2001 5.2, and all it does is foul out a plug every now and then. That is why I think you've got a bigger problem going on. Hope this helps some.
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It is passenger side. Will pull head gaskets tomorrow and take a good look. Driver side gasket looks damaged more. It looks black.

I expected a gasket blown to pieces or a crack big enough to make love to.
 
Ugly pumpkin said:
It is passenger side. Will pull head gaskets tomorrow and take a good look. Driver side gasket looks damaged more. It looks black.

I expected a gasket blown to pieces or a crack big enough to make love to.
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I had a chevy 350 with a cracked head it was only visible after I used scotch brite on it. It left the surface shinny and the crack dark.
 
Have a machine shop nearby? Cost me $80 to have a set of heads hot tanked and inspected.

Sounds like a shitty backyard repair
 
TRINDU said:
Have a machine shop nearby? Cost me $80 to have a set of heads hot tanked and inspected.

Sounds like a shitty backyard repair
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Like I said, going to look it over tonight, maybe get the heads magnafluxed and if I'm lucky, do the cheap fix for now. That frees up money to get the body looking good. Plans may change without notice.

If you're looking to follow a high dollar, awesome restoration, this is not the thread for you.
 
Lots of idiots will slap on head gaskets but are too fucking cheap cheap to have the heads pressure tested. Seen it more than a few times.
 
Ugly pumpkin said:
Fair enough.

I have about 20 minutes of eyes on time at this point. So blah blah blah is pretty much what we're working with for the moment.

180k on the instrument panel.

46RE, got it. Decendant of 727 inspires hope.
Off to research it.

Nothing visible new underneath it. I did not bother driving it. So who knows what is on the brink of disaster.

At 180k, and being a fleet vehicle most of its life I'd assume it was kept in good running shape until the engine let loose. At that point it had passed some age/mileage limit and was retired.


360 was the only thing I was looking at slapping in there unless there was a bigger small block it came with. Sounds like I'm sticking with the 5.2.

Current engine: PO described it pretty well. He bought it with "new head gaskets", drove it a bit and it went to shit on him. White smoke out the exhaust, losing coolant, about a gallon of coolant in the crankcase and water in cylinder 2. I'm assuming bad gasket job or cracked head/block. So if cracked heads are common, that's probably the problem.
Knowing the trouble water in the crankcase causes, I'm expecting a full rebuild. At least that is my luck.

Barely a lick of rust. Any undercoating recommendation to keep it that way?

Dash is gone. Need a replacement. Someone mentioned a brand I need to look into.

Trans is most likely coming out. What are the known issues and what are the fixes? What rebuild kit should I be looking at if required or desired?

I've never touched a 9 1/4" What is the design/slack issue and what is the fix?

I'll take a hard look at the brakes, unit bearings and bushings.

I have a late 90's jeep that I would rather had beat my dick with a hammer than deal with the electronic issues it has had. So we'll see how it goes with this one.:homer:

VIN VJ614688

Thanks for the input.
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I had this happen to a truck I did an intake plenum gasket on... I pinched the head to intake manifold gasket in the back of the engine.

I found out it was bad when the truck died in the middle of the road and I saw the milkshake pumping out of the dip stick.

I poured 5 gallons of oil in it and drove it home. Fixed the gasket, did a few flush jobs and it ran like that till I sold it. This was the 5.9, I don't know how similar the 5.2's are.
 
Aisin said:
Lots of idiots will slap on head gaskets but are too fucking cheap cheap to have the heads pressure tested. Seen it more than a few times.
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Got a close look at one of the gaskets and found this.
Along with them reusing all the bolts. I'm guessing it's a botched gasket job. Also head bolt torque was all over the place. One threaded intake bolt hole is drilled and tapped to the next size up.

I hit the heads with a stone and they look pretty good. Still need to check them with a straight edge. So I might be one of those idiots and just throw new gaskets and bolts at it. :flipoff2:
Still need to look things over better.
20200922_190636.jpg
20200922_190621.jpg
 
Talon2006 said:
I had this happen to a truck I did an intake plenum gasket on... I pinched the head to intake manifold gasket in the back of the engine.

I found out it was bad when the truck died in the middle of the road and I saw the milkshake pumping out of the dip stick.

I poured 5 gallons of oil in it and drove it home. Fixed the gasket, did a few flush jobs and it ran like that till I sold it. This was the 5.9, I don't know how similar the 5.2's are.
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I'm leaning towards this being the case. Lots of hack job looking stuff going on. No ridge around top of cylinder walls and heads look to clean for 180k miles. I'm thinking it got rebuilt at some point. Might get heads checked still.
 
Machine shop said $70 to pressure test the heads.
So I'll get em up there Friday. Might as well have the peace of mind that I'm not putting junk heads back on. If they check out I'll get new gaskets and bolts on order.

Anything else I should check or change while the top end is off??
 
Just gave the heads and cash to the tool man. His route puts him at the machine shop tomorrow. Going to have them gone through and patched up if necessary. Should have them back in a week.

Anything else I should fingerfuck or replace while it's apart?
 
Edit. Gaskets only go on one way. One was not upside down.

I got the other head gasket off tonight. Looks like one was put on upside down. :rolleyes:

What do you guys think?
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Ugly pumpkin said:
Just gave the heads and cash to the tool man. His route puts him at the machine shop tomorrow. Going to have them gone through and patched up if necessary. Should have them back in a week.

Anything else I should fingerfuck or replace while it's apart?
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Get an upgraded aluminum plenum plate...

Trust me... if you don't you will be doing it again, and again till you buy it.
 
Ugly pumpkin said:
You fuckers sure don't like answering questions.
Y'all retards or just stoopid and don't know how to tipe?
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I'd wait till you hear back from machine shop. Buy gasket kit, updated magnum pieces such as the plenum, and slap that 200hp monster back together :flipoff2:
 
Ugly pumpkin said:
You fuckers sure don't like answering questions.
Y'all retards or just stoopid and don't know how to tipe?
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Should have cleaned up the deck , checked for low spots on it and tapped all of the head bolt holes before sending the heads off. That way if the block is no good you won't be wasting money on heads that you don't have use for.
 
M92PV4U said:
Should have cleaned up the deck , checked for low spots on it and tapped all of the head bolt holes before sending the heads off. That way if the block is no good you won't be wasting money on heads that you don't have use for.
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Apparent hack head gasket job inspired confidence.

Along with what you said I should have verified oil pressure, compression and visually inspected a couple bearings. Good judgment has never been a strong suit of mine. It will most likely come back to bite me in the nut.

What's your procedure for cleaning the deck and inspecting for low spots?
 
Ugly pumpkin said:
Apparent hack head gasket job inspired confidence.

Along with what you said I should have verified oil pressure, compression and visually inspected a couple bearings. Good judgment has never been a strong suit of mine. It will most likely come back to bite me in the nut.

What's your procedure for cleaning the deck and inspecting for low spots?
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I use these wheels to clean the deck off then use a steel ruler to check for low spots.
Screenshot_20200926-153150_Chrome.jpg
good luck.
 
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