[ajcan]

I have been a reader here for a while but never a poster.
I bought an 04 Durango about a year ago with 87,000 miles at the time.
It now has 107,00 roughly.It is a Hemi 5.7.
My wife was driving today and out of the blue started making a knocking noise so she pulled over.
After I had it towed to work it had a horrible engine knock.
I checked oil and it was at proper level as was coolant with no overheating.
After running it for a minute the noise went away but a bad misfire was present.
I checked the manifold pressure with a vacuum gage and found only 5 kg/cm instead of 20 atmospheric pressure.
Obviously internal engine damage like dropped valve maybe.
I am about to fork over $1800.00 for a used engine but am wondering if anyone has had this happen?
I am an auto mechanic for Honda and have maintained it to a tee.
My wife said no driveability problem or noises until this happened.
I guess I don't really have a question other than what the heck?
That and maybe if anyone else has had this happen.

AJ

 

[03DakStampede]

Have you checked for codes as to what cylinder is missfiring? Have you done a compression test on the cylinder?

 

[ajcan]

Thanks for the reply.
I have checked the code which is p0300.Random misfire.
As for compression I have not.I figure it is cheaper in the long run to buy a used low mileage engine rather than dig into this one to repair.I do know from the knocking noise and the lack of manifold pressure that something has come loose internally.

AJ

 

[Don Fox]

AJ:

If you so some googling, you will find that others have experienced this with the 5.7.
IIRC, mostly the 04 and a few 05 engines. One had less than 40k on it when it happened.

Just what you said. Dropped a valve when the valve spring disintegrated.

I agree that your best bet might be another engine, but beware that the one you get may have the same malady and strand you again at some point.

Don

 

[ajcan]

Don

Thank you for your insight.What you told me is exactly what I wanted to know.
I did indeed google it and found quite a few.
Will the 06 bolt up if it does not have the same issues?
Also I have read some questiuons on engine swaps and ECU's recognizing the new components.
Is anyone aware of any issues with engine swap's in general on the Durango's?
Thanks for your help again.

AJ

 

[moe7404]

moe in wichita ks
did the engine oil have zinc in it? you need to google "bob is the oil guy". and go to zddplus.com to get the stright story on zinc.

 

[rangoneer]

Sorry to hear about the failure. Keep us posted. www.car-part.com is a great resource as is going to our classified section here on DodgeTalk I know of 2 motors that are for sale. I can't remember if they said they will sell the motor separate of the transmission or not. Good luck!

2006 has the MDS feature and I don't know how an 04 PCM would respond to that. Good Luck.

Here is a link to one of them: http://www.dodgetalk.com/forums/showthread.php?t=231792&page=1

 

[Don Fox]

AJ:

How about an update?? Are you back on the road or what??

Don

 

[ajcan]

Hi Don,
I actually decided to sell it rather than repair it.
I got a more than fair offer on it "AS-IS" so I took it.
The guy who bought it plans on a used engine from a local salvage yard we use.

AJ

 

[KC_Metal]

it will not cost you much at all to do a compression test and leak down test, these will give you a lot more information on what's going on and where, particularly the leak down (in terms of where the air is escaping from, it will definately tell you if a valve has dropped and what valve it was)

All I can say with this thread is that if your engine is misfiring or stalling or anything like that don't screw around. I know it's costly but it does seem that rebuilding the heads with stronger springs is necessary. If you drop a valve your engine is toast. If I had 100k on my engine I would redo the freaking heads anyway. My 2 cents! :rck: