As some of you might know, I'm a tech at the Dodge store here. I see all kinds of stuff in the shop. Controllers that learn stuff they shouldn't, codes that make no sense, problems that disappear just when you want to try to check it, etc.
To make a long story short, I inherited a job from a tech that left last week. No big deal, assemble a brand new 4.7 for a 04 Durango and swap the motors out. The truck came in knocking and with the oil light on, and supposedly this all happened at one time while driving down the road. So the tech figured, as did I, that the oil pump went out and the motor is probably fried.
I went ahead and started working on gettin the motor out, which I have to say is the biggest pain I have ever seen. Anyway, I got it out and started stripping it of its extra stuff, and the sludge in this thing is crazy. 3" deep at one point in the head. Oil pick-up plugged solid. Nasty sh**
You would never guess that this thing only has 44k on it. Now, even though it is still under powertrain warranty, it just became a customer pay job. Got to lookin at the service history......2 count them 2 oil changes in 44,000 miles.

Makes you think about buying a used 4.7 vehicle huh?

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M1 intake, MSD 6BTM, 24lbs injectors, Holley 52mm TB, MOPAR headers, 3" Magnaflow exhaust, Powerdyne S/C 6lbs

That is just nuts! I couldn't see that in my engine... and 3 inches!. But because an engine only says 2 in the record doesn't mean they didn't do anything them selves, but from the sounds of it I would guess thats accurate... lol.

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wow thats just wrong makes you think about buying any used vehicle and how it was maintained im pretty sure a lot of engines not just 4.7's would sludge bad like that if they were only changed twice in 44k miles. when i got my truck the guy that had it before had a quakerstate sticker on the oil cap so im thinkiing he regularly changed it at least i hope. no problems with mine in 14k miles since i had it and i now have 104k but to agree with your title yes people are retarded lol.

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00 Dakota 4.7, 5 spd, 4x4, 9.25/3.92 LSD, HF Cat, Aerochamber Duals, Hurst, Superchips
96 XJ, 4.0, auto, 4x4, HF Cat, 40 series, K&N, Accel, M/T, 188k miles!

Yeah it can be scary sometimes. When I bought my truck the guy had most of his receipts and had also been keeping track of things in a ledger. Got a great deal on a great truck, but you have to be careful.

Yep that is pretty stupid. Oil changes only cost $20.00 where I'm at and I only pay to have them done when I am really feeling lazy or exhausted. It's not that hard to change your oil and it doesn't take more than an hour to do it.

I keep receipts for everything I have done to the truck whether it be mechanical maintenance, tune-ups, or even when I bought new blades I keep a record of everything because I know that I would appreciate it if I was buying a used vehicle and I could see everything that they did to the truck on paper.

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Sorry I kinda had to rant there for a minute last night, but I just don't get it. I mean, the 4.7's are worse about sludging than some other engines, and the last couple of 4.7's that we put in up here were pretty high mileage and they didn't look as bad as this thing does. But just imagine if one of you had bought this thing from a used lot at say 38k.

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M1 intake, MSD 6BTM, 24lbs injectors, Holley 52mm TB, MOPAR headers, 3" Magnaflow exhaust, Powerdyne S/C 6lbs

yea my old truck had 92,000 miles on it(88 chevy 12/ ton 4x4 ) and the motor literaly blew up. like caught fire and blew the head bolds off...and when we replaced the motor we looked at the inside and sludge was packed in there all the way up to the manifold...you couldnt see the cam rods. the sludge was touching the bottom of the manifold and you could see that it was packed in there like a sand mold come to find out the guy bought it new and when the check oil light came on and it was low he would just add what was needed NEVER changing the filter

i get a call 3 weekes later from the guy i bought my rebuilt motor from when he got to tearing apart my old one and said i owe him another 350 buck cuz the motor is "unrepairble"

what was wrong:
no piston rings or very badly bent and broken
3 pistons had to be drilled out
walls were warn/scratched extremely bad
oil pump had holes in it
filter seized toitsmount
oil pan was jb welded to the block
freeze plugs were gone and metal plates were welded in their place
cam was about 200 miles away from snapin into 3 pieces
sriped out all the head bolts
and the top deck(where the heads bolt up to)was so warped that the mill machine wouldnt go the deep for a flat cut

i wanted to kill the guy b/c he just bought a brand new 08 chevy silverado and i know hes gonna do the samething to that one

i've had my share of stupid ass ppl

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2000 QCBW - 4.7L, 186,000, intake, exhaust, twenties for-sale???

sounds like its time for me to check my truck for this crap, im the 9th owner, and it was originally bought in texas
at 115000 it should be time for an overhaul if i ever get the cash

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/\My goal in life/\

I don't know if your ready for an overhaul or not. These engines (as with any) if taken of properly will give you a long life span. I have read of these 4.7's running up to about 300,000 miles if taken care of, mine has 144,000 now and it doesn't miss a beat except for normal stuff wearing out. I use a good quality high mileage oil, have my changes done at NTB like clock work and still only pay $30 or less. Even if I do 5 changes a year thats way cheaper than letting it go to h$ll and frorking out rebuild money, some people are so worried about the maint. costs that they just don't use theior head. Then some people are just plain stupid[8D]

I shouldnt be but I am still amazed by how stupid people can be. I have to say that my motor with 111K still runs like a champ.

And i deliver furniture which sucks to do for work anyways but just imagine the retards that i find. I have to go in their houses

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99 Dakota STD Cab 4x4 5spd 3.9l V6
31x10.5R15 Geolander ATs, custom exhaust, high flow cat, drop in K&N

89 BMW 325IX 2dr 5spd 2.5l I6