Light rod knock in a Durango 5.9... is it terminal?

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MopaR&D

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I'm doing some minor repairs and lots of catch-up maintenance on a coworker's 2000 Durango with a 5.9L Magnum. She made the classic mistake of letting her oil go roughly 8,000 miles since the last change and the engine seems to have (from what I've found on YouTube of similar noises) a very light rod knock. I tried to explain that it COULD be serious but she might be able to get by for a while. She knows nothing about cars it just happened to be the family SUV that got passed down to her when she went to college and is in otherwise great shape for having 170k miles on the clock. Have you guys ran SBMs with light rod knock for a while, or is it guaranteed to throw a rod out the side of the block after 100 miles? It's a very light but noticeable knocking that only shows up around 2000-3000 RPM when it's not under load i.e. about to shift or free-revving in Park. Definitely not valvetrain noise I'm familiar with that, plus this is at a higher frequency (rattles more rapidly than a lifter tick/tap).

I also stopped by the parts store to grab codes for a CEL and it came up with P0132 - Oxygen Sensor Bank 1 Sensor 1 Shorted to Voltage; P0135 O2 sensor heater for same; and P0171 - Fuel System (same bank/sensor) Lean. Think I should throw a new O2 sensor in there? It is averaging around 13-14 MPG and it has part-time 4x4 I'm thinking it could be a bit better?

I'll try to get a video up tomorrow or Sunday when I'm off work...
 
without hearing it, hard to say it's a rod. pull the plug wires one by one and see if the rod knock goes away. could be wrist pin among other things
 
drop pan and check the rod barrings if thay wore, roll a new set in and cross your fingers! itll live or knock will come back! did a buddys chevy truck 3 summers ago he still driving it daly!
 
I had a similar noise in my 86 dump truck with a worn out 360, along with low oil pressure- that otherwise ran fine. I dropped the pan and installed a high volume oil pump and now no noise and normal oil pressure.
 
Dropping the pan in this thing would be quite a task, if it was an older vehicle I might give it a shot but this Durango is super tight with the front diff right up against the oil pan. I searched other forums and people were saying the engine needs to be pulled to get the oil pan off... i'm honestly trying to not get pulled into this thing too much because it's a bit of a basket case, just found out the transmission might be messed up too it seems to skip 2nd gear and shift directly 1-3. I guess it depends on how much the owner is willing to spend.
 
Gas mileage sounds about right. We have an 02 Durango that we bought new. 5.9, as well. Running around town, we get 12-14 depend if I drive, or the wife drives. Ours is 2wd, so that one being 4wd, I say good luck trying to squeeze any mpgs out of it.
 
Try a bottle of Rislone oil treatment (ZDDP Additive) and a quart of STP Synthetic High Mileage oil treatment. If it's a rod bearing and it isn't almost completely trashed out, it usually will quieten it down some, or it has at least kept mine from getting any louder in the past.
 
Dropping the pan in this thing would be quite a task, if it was an older vehicle I might give it a shot but this Durango is super tight with the front diff right up against the oil pan. I searched other forums and people were saying the engine needs to be pulled to get the oil pan off... i'm honestly trying to not get pulled into this thing too much because it's a bit of a basket case, just found out the transmission might be messed up too it seems to skip 2nd gear and shift directly 1-3. I guess it depends on how much the owner is willing to spend.

Those transmissions will shift from first directly to third if the front band is out of adjustment. (too loose)
I say adjust the band, change the oil and get on with your life.
You know then next thing to happen to it will be your fault, right?:D
 
I'm gonna leave the engine alone and just put some additive in the oil to thicken it up. I only filled it with Valvoline Synthetic 10W-30 so I know it can go thicker, I think I'll drain a quart (in a clean container then put it through a coffee filter for reuse) and add back in some STP mixed with some Mobil 1 15W-50 I have.

While waiting for the water to drain on the final cooling system flush (original issue was a cracked radiator) I checked the trans fluid; the color was ok, slightly brown/gray but no real smell at all. I am making money off doing all this work so I'm not trying to cheap out and do the least required work, I want to actually get the whole car solid so she can go tell all her friends how I magically made her car drive like new again :D plus more work = more money. @TrailBeast I know it was probably a joke but like I said this thing was a basketcase when she brought it to me and she was fully aware she had neglected the maintenance badly so I highly doubt she'd blame any future problems on me. I saved her from being screwed over by a local shop that wanted to charge her $1000+ to fix her cooling system and do some other random BS that isn't even needed.

Most likely tomorrow evening I'll go under and adjust the front band on the transmission, if it brings back 2nd gear I'll ask her if she wants me to drop the pan and change the fluid and filter. I'm tempted to try an at-home flush as well using this method (it's even the same transmission in this video lol).

 
It was quite common for us to replace the oil pumps and clean the pan on the Dakota and Durango 5.9s at the dealer for lack of flow/ pressure. Also, your lean codes could very well be caused by the lower intake gasket pushing out- very common, I used to do at least one a week.
 
Run 20/50 oil.
I use it in all my "loose" engines.
Use it till the noise comes back, that'll be a long time, imho.
Cheers.
 
Tried to do front band adjustment on the trans, adjusting screw went almost 1/8" into the case before it snugged up... looks like the transmission is FUBAR. I suppose I'll just put some additive and thicker oil in the engine, flush the brakes and be done with it for now. It's a nice coincidence the same place doing the machine work on my cylinder heads is also a transmission shop I'll just send her over there, I know the owner pretty well he *might* give her a bit of a discount if I explain her situation. I worked there for a month and the shop transmission guru could pull a truck transmission, strip it down, rebuilt it, and reinstall in about 4-6 hours... and he wasn't a hack either I watched and tried to learn as much as I could but it was tough to pick up on not having rebuilt an auto trans myself.

Oh yeah FYI stay away from late 2000s Ford Super Duties we did a ton of those LOL
 
My grandpa ran Pennzoil 40 weight in my truck. He racked up 350k miles on it before giving it to me. And he currently has 460k miles on a '96 5.9 ram. It smokes, leaks, but runs decent and has had Pennzoil straight 40 weight oil since the warranty ran out.

I had the no 2nd gear issue on my 727 in my dart. I couldn't adjust it so I pulled the pan and found the band anchor laying in the pan! Reinstalled it, adjusted it, and it shifts great still.
 
Sure it's not pinging? My 5.2 would sometimes ping on certain brands of 87 octane. Never had a problem my self, but weren't these intakes know for having issues sucking oil causing pinging too?
 
If you end up trying to change the rod bearings, this is how I did mine in my Dakota. Jack up the front of the truck, Slide the bolt out of the motor mounts, put the transmission in neutral, take out the spark plugs, drain the oil, remove the fan shroud, put an engine lift in place and pick up the engine until the transmission hits the firewall. Then you will have enough room to pull the pan. With the spark plugs pulled you can turn the engine over by holding the balancer and turning by hand. If you get them changed to before it burns through the zinc, the journals will still be fine.
 
Tried to do front band adjustment on the trans, adjusting screw went almost 1/8" into the case before it snugged up... looks like the transmission is FUBAR. I suppose I'll just put some additive and thicker oil in the engine, flush the brakes and be done with it for now. It's a nice coincidence the same place doing the machine work on my cylinder heads is also a transmission shop I'll just send her over there, I know the owner pretty well he *might* give her a bit of a discount if I explain her situation. I worked there for a month and the shop transmission guru could pull a truck transmission, strip it down, rebuilt it, and reinstall in about 4-6 hours... and he wasn't a hack either I watched and tried to learn as much as I could but it was tough to pick up on not having rebuilt an auto trans myself.

Oh yeah FYI stay away from late 2000s Ford Super Duties we did a ton of those LOL
Probably no material left and just metal band to drum.
 
If you end up trying to change the rod bearings, this is how I did mine in my Dakota. Jack up the front of the truck, Slide the bolt out of the motor mounts, put the transmission in neutral, take out the spark plugs, drain the oil, remove the fan shroud, put an engine lift in place and pick up the engine until the transmission hits the firewall. Then you will have enough room to pull the pan. With the spark plugs pulled you can turn the engine over by holding the balancer and turning by hand. If you get them changed to before it burns through the zinc, the journals will still be fine.

Thanks for the tip, I will keep that in mind if she wants me to change the bearings but now she has to worry about paying for a transmission rebuild. @1994redram I don't feel like dropping the pan to check the transmission at this point, when I told her about the transmission she said the car had a new one put in at only 35k miles so this one has 135k miles on it which is quite a lot for a 46RE based on their reputation for not lasting long. I really don't feel like spending an hour plus pulling the skid plates and trans pan (and then reinstalling) just to confirm that it's shot.

@SIX225 It's definitely not pinging, the sound is RPM dependent and is loudest when the engine has no load on it, basically the opposite of pinging; I had chronic pinging issues (too much cylinder pressure) which led to the eventual destruction of the previous 360 I had in my Duster so I'm VERY familiar with what it sounds and feels like.
 
Well I thickened up the oil but the knock is still there, i'm pretty much gonna stop here and tell the girl she should just start saving her money for a new car and run this thing into the ground. Might be able to sell it for parts after that, the rest of the truck is in great shape.
 
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