My dodge thinks its' a FORD - serious problem

[E7mack96]

Well guys and gals,



It happened. My Dodge Ram engine had a major failure on the way back from Florida. I usually average about 550 or so miles a tank. I fueled at the Pilot in Wildwood (exit 329?) on 75. I should'a been able to go to Tennessee on that fuel. I made it to Macon. I was like wtf. So i fueled again in Macon, GA at the J.



I got 100 more miles and had burned up the 35 gals of fuel. We stop and fuel again. This time I look for leaks. There are none, but the whole underside of the truck is covered in diesel fuel. I fired her up to see if the leak would appear.



Boy it did, right out of the crankcase vent tube. The whole engine up to the valve cover is plumb full of fuel, not a drop of oil left. Now, the funny thing is that the truck ran great. no loss of power at all, no knocking cylinder, nada.



A dealership has the truck now and I will let you in on more details at they come out.



Maybe I should get a Ford??



No way.



What is the problem? The dealer says they aren't sure what went wrong

 

[IC Smoke]

Did you take your EZ and or other mods off before the dealer took it? how many miles? STICK WITH DODGE! hopefully its fully covered!!! and sorry about your unfortunate event!





Ian

 

[CumminsWill82]

Sounds like injectors stuck open or putting out to much fuel,or valvertrain damage or cracked pistons

 

[bpenrod]

Do a search, I read of another truck doing the same thing but did not follow the thread. I think that dealer told hhim the injection pump was goofy.

 

[E7mack96]

Deler just called, They are replacing #4 injector, and draining the fuel out of the motor. Thats it.



They say that the engine is fine, no rod/mains damage. They did Not pull the pan, said star told 'em not to.



I ran this thing 400 miles with just fuel in the crank case. It did run good, but I cannot believe there is no wear on the bearings.



What do you think??

 

[nickleinonen]

It did run good, but I cannot believe there is no wear on the bearings.



What do you think??

there will be wear on the bearings, but how much, you can't see until you drop the pan and drop a few caps... last time i was under my truck, it looks like one hell of a job to get the pan off... [looks like engine needs to be lifted to get it off... ]



hopefully nothing is wrong internally with the engine... and if nothing else, the internals will be extremely clean now...

 

[JMolt]

I would be worried about the turbo.

 

[FATCAT]

Deler just called, They are replacing #4 injector, and draining the fuel out of the motor. Thats it.



They say that the engine is fine, no rod/mains damage. They did Not pull the pan, said star told 'em not to.



I ran this thing 400 miles with just fuel in the crank case. It did run good, but I cannot believe there is no wear on the bearings.



What do you think??

Ask yourself (and the Dealer) this question, "If there is no damage and the engine is fine, then it would be OK to just fill the crank case back up with diesel instead of oil after they replace the injector and YOUR WARRANTY WILL STILL BE HONERED IN THE FUTURE".

Ask if diesel fuel is an accepted lube for the engine, check your owners manual. If the dealer says it is not ... then make them prove that there is no damage to the engine internals as well as the turbo bearings. There should be a new engine in this for you ... period.

 

[Spooled-up]

I agree with FATCAT. Running highway speeds with your oil diluted can't be good for the turbo or the bearings.

 

[RustyJC]

They say that the engine is fine, no rod/mains damage. They did Not pull the pan, said star told 'em not to.

... . and the way the dealer knows there's no damage is..... ????



Rusty

 

[rashwor]

Rusty,



Because STAR says! :-laf



How many miles on the truck when this happened? If you still have most of the 100,000 mile engine warranty, you may get a new engine later anyway.



on edit: I think I will start checking my oil every day.

 

[Floor It]

If you weren't towing so the motor wasn't seeing any load then the motor could be fine. I have one here apart that went through hell and back (low oil level and the fan blade went into radiator and over heated) and the cylinder walls and bearings look great. It lost compression from the heat and still looks fine.



John

 

[E7mack96]

I ran the truck empty (just wife/kids) Since I knew what was wrong, I babied it for the 400 miles, limiting boost to just a few lbs. It is amazing that the first 2 dodge dealers just told me "We don't work on it" and sent me on the way.



It really sucked getting about 3. 5 to 4 mpgs the whole way.

 

[E7mack96]

Mileage

I have about 47,000 miles on the truck

 

[E7mack96]

one more thing,



The dealer said I have a $100 deductable AND I had to pay for an oil change too. They say that Dodge does not cover the oil. They won't even fill it with regular "Mopar" oil for free. I had synthetic in there anyways.



I have not committed to going back south to get the truck. I am really worried about the engine internals in the long run.



While I was there, I got a price in a 2005 3500 4x4 QC cummins 610. List was 46900, invoice right at $39,900 ish. They were willing to give me the truck for 300 over invoice less $3,000 in rebates. They only want to give me $26,500 for my truck though.



I am tempted to dump this one and start over with a new one.

 

[rbattelle]

Wow! I hate reading these threads. Make me think I drive a time bomb. Amazing that 1 bad injector could pump that much diesel in such a short time. Also amazing the engine didn't just explode right out of the vehicle.



Nick, raising the engine is not necessary to remove the pan. Unfortunately, removing the transmission and flywheel is necessary.



-Ryan

 

[KD7GYJ]

Looks like a good trade to me, unless you are inverted in your payoff, then you could be in trouble.



With the synthetic lubes, it will only dilute the oil, not disolve them, so the engine could be just fine.



Good luck.

 

[4xquadrod]

Wouldn't the EZ void the warranty and void the problem you are now having?

 

[CumminsWill82]

dump some more fuel in the crankcase and run the SOB real hard so it blows up and they'll have to give you a new one. just make it look like it was left over fuel from what happened recently.

 

[E7mack96]

Heres another tid-bit While I was at this Dodge dealer, another Ram came in on a flatbed - same problem even. Bad injectors.



No news from the dealer regarding my truck today.



Supposed to be done soon though