04 ram 4.7

-
R

RyanUpdike70

Well-Known Member
Joined
Jul 5, 2007
Messages
578
Reaction score
9
Location
North Vernon Indiana
My 2004 ram 1500 4.7 is losing coolant and check engine light is on I took it to auto zone to get it read and says #1 mis fire and mulitple mis fire. I thinking blown intake gasket or head gasket. I check oil it a quart low i change it about a month ago. I take oil cap and all i see is sludge. I changed the plugs and coil about 5 months ago. I was hauling my 70 duster to a race and it over heated on the way.So i changed the clutch fan and thermostat. Help for a whiile but now it is doing it again Anyone have this problem
 
Definetly sounds like a head gasket let go. Those 4.7 motors do not like to be overheated at all, and will let go faily easily. The miss fire is more than likely being caused by the coolant entering the combustion chamber, and if you have sludge in the oil that is a sure sign of a blown head gasket.
 
Look at dodge forums under 3rd gen rams . There are a lot of those exact.same conditions. Believe.it or.not dodge recommends replacing the entire engine in most cases.as.the sludging alledgedly packs up the oil rifling as a result.the lash adjusters starve for oil and the cam followers fall out of place. Some guys even report getting the heads off to find no gasket. I'd pull the valve covers and.se.that.all the followers.are.in.place. good luck.
 
RyanUpdike70 said:
yeah i figuered that do u no if they are that hard to change
Click to expand...
It would be one hell of a job thats for sure. The worst part would be dealing with the timing chains. I haven't ever had one apart so I can't say for sure. I do have a 4.7 in my dakota and really hope I never have to dig in to it lol. These motors get a bad rap because people dont maintain them well enough and they sludge up the oil. I maintain mine very well and it has treated me well. Good luck man.
 
I have 150,000 on mine with no problems. It sucks the gas though. Averages 13 mpg.
 
You overheated it and was towing with it. True the old V8's could be abused like that, not anymore. Stuff is made so cheap now, nice when new, wears out much too soon.

Its rebuild motor time, the bearings and rings are shot, no point just doing the head gasket, IMO, won't last for long. Maybe you could stick a V6 in it but no more towing.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
-

Back
Top