I guess I can stop bragging about my 2004 Dodge Hemi truck. Son told me awhile back that the fan clutch was going bad. Since the weather warmed up he decided to replace it, the water pump, and belt. Water pump seemed okay but after swapping he discovered it was seeping. Every Dodge i've owned needed a water pump at 80,000. We went for new parts since the truck only has 79,400 and I plan on making several round trips to Illinois with a trailer if and when we move. Fan clutch made in USA. Water pump China. New thermostat is 203 degree same as old one. So now it has new antifreeze and a fresh oil change. Not cheap even in my own driveway anymore. So far all good. After changing the parts under the hood he test drove the truck saying it seemed to have a lot more power. Fan was sucking like it used to. He'd convinced me I needed dual exhaust a few years back. Since he used heavy exhaust pipe all the way back the clamps kept working loose on the heavier pipes. While welding the exhaust rather than trust the clamps he saw antifreeze dripping from under the rear seat floor area. Not a good thing. He discovered the 13 month old replacement heater core was leaking....badly. Cheap foreign crap or excess pressure? Dash has to come out again to replace it. He quickly bypassed it under the hood like the first time the heater core broke.:confused: Antifreeze on carpet is not a good thing. When starting the truck and walking around it son noticed water shooting out both tailpipes. Gushing was more like it. Plus dripping from the pipe connections he hadn't welded yet. He couldn't finish. In a short time most of the antifreeze coolant was gone from the overflow bottle. Diagonsis, bad head gaskets and maybe more. Won't know till he gets time to pull heads. The only thing we can figure is the old waterpump wasn't pumping much altho the engine never seemed hot. A few times I got a faint wiff of coolant when first getting in the truck. But it ran fine. Perhaps the new water pump created enough pressure to cause already bad head gaskets to let go into the exhaust valves. No water so far in oil. :confusedid the extra pressure cause the fairly new heater core to burst? Now we are without transportation and getting farther behind packing to move. I know the truck is ten years old but it's never been abused and has under 80,000 miles on it. I read about powertrains going 200,000+ miles with no problems. Son checked the internet about this engine. I really didn't want to hear about head gaskets leaking at 60,000, defective valve springs breaking and destroying pistons at 50,000, transmission problems at low mileage and other things on these hemi powered vehicles. No wonder people buy Preus'.
not sure on a hemi but i know on fords there are many similar looking water pump gaskets and the wrong ones can cause all sorts of leaks. just saying maybe double check what you did first.
I've heard of lots of issues with the 4.7L Dodge engines having issues as soon as they run hot (head gaskets, etc). Haven't heard of that issue with the 5.7L HEMI though. I've got an '03 with the HEMI, approaching 95k miles. So far, so good (knock on wood). Good luck. Sorry for your troubles...
Well, at least you're not already on the road doing your move when the trouble came....... Seems like a lot of issues for a truck with only 85k or so......
Sorry to hear about your troubles, T1. My Daughter and Son-in-law bought an '08 Durango from her boss about a year ago with 43,000 miles on the Hemi. They haven't had any trouble with it, yet. I must admit the gas mileage sucks compared to my wife's tahoe. Pulled my car trailer empty about 170 miles last month and got 10 mpg. I can pull it loaded and get 14/15. Changed the water pump on the Tahoe at about 200K, now has 223K no other problems.
That things got a Hemi As for the new waterpump. It is not leaking....so far. It seems to be the head gaskets internally leaking into the exhaust ports. Both heads which seems odd but I don't know about these new vehicles. Plus for another unkown reason the replacement heater core broke. This may be a coincidence because of a defective core. Or too much pressure caused when the head gaskets leaked. My son, his boss, and a few others who know engines and have had Hemis blame me for using 87 octain gas for 80,000 miles. I was told by the Dodge dealer mechanics it was fine if it didn't detonate. As far as I know it's never pinged or gotten hot. The gauge has only gone above the minus side of center a few times when pulling our RV. That was about 3/4 up the gauge on a long steep grade up Cheaha mountain in Ala.. Even that wasn't long. Sadly I need the truck for at least a few 1000 mile round trips then I planned to sell and get a small car. I hate that thought but I also discovered the garage door at the new place is 6' and the truck is 6'10". Son just got home and is going to tear into the engine. I bought him a new Haynes manual. We'll worry about the heater core later. I'll keep updating just for fun.
The good thing about the HEMI engine is that it has a very good track record (if you count 16 spark plugs on a tuneup very good), so whatever caused this may only be minor. Keep your fingers crossed. You might also want to start looking around for a used replacement, just in case (knock on wood). As for the octane, audible pinging usually happens under heavy load, but inaudible pinging can happen anytime you open the throttle. These engines have the advantage of computer controls that can back off the timing under pinging, but if that circuit or sensor fails, it'll happen whether you hear it or not. Think GM code 42.
Good luck, Denny. Hope the problem is found and fixed in short order! Nothing much worse than needing your vehicle and that is the time it chooses to break. Had an Oldsmobile like that. Now I drive Fords.
Oil ????????? Son is too busy and I just can't do the work anymore. He removed intake and more unexplainable bad news. Oil in intake. Was going to remove heads this evening but he's still at work. I'm sure once the heads are off we will find something. I'm not a happy camper. Never been without some sort of transportation.
My 2004 Dodge Truck Finally an update on a nonwagon problem. First off I still think of my truck as a new truck. Looks new and ran like new till recently. In reality it's 11 years old. Son replaced head gaskets on the hemi and so far no leaks. He'd already replaced the waterpump, thermostat, and fan clutch. However it runs like crap. It ran great before. Even with water coming out exhaust. That's a techniqal word used in the boonies. Son has been busy rebuilding his 350 Chevy truck engine after a friend added sugar to both gas tanks. The good thing is he shut it off as soon as it sounded odd. Rebuilt the engine cleaning up the bores. Replaced the cam with a Lunati HP cam he had and a 750 Holly he'd rebuilt. Engine sounding good. Now back to my truck. I had to keep after him but finally today he checked to see why it was running like a few wires crossed or carb loading up. Well it doesn't have a carb but hopefully he figured it out. Removed all four O2 sensors and drove the truck. Actually ran good except didn't want to idle. Could the front O2 sensors be the problem? We will soon find out. For 79,300 miles I've had very few things wrong. Front suspension went out way too early. Other than that been a good truck. That's the latest so far. Darn I miss my truck. Still need to replace heater core for second time. Another fun week long part time job. That took an hour on most old cars. Didn't replace it while truck was down because it didn't look like we'd ever get it running again.
I hope the problems with the truck are over with soon for you, T1. I agree, under 80,000 miles, you shouldn't be having these problems. I wonder if my daughter can expect the same stuff with her '08 Durango Hemi? I'm glad my wife hasn't had problems with the '01 Tahoe, 225,000 miles and still runnin' strong!
Dodge this. Thanks. We read these are typical problems from 60,000-80,000 but not sure. :confused: Here's an update to my last update. Maybe tomrrow I'll have an updated update to this update. Son finally came over to check out the latest problem with the hemi. The 2004 engine is not one of those 4-6-8 wonders so I'm glad of that. Sadly I just can't climb under like I used to. Well I could. But I'd never get up. So I have to wait for my son to do my dirty work. Believe me I pay him well. Our friendly NAPA dealer had one upper O2 and both lower O2's. Son said the gizmo that showed they were bad only showed the upper ones as defective. Since I am planning on making several 1000 mile round trips I decided if the upstream O2's are bad the downstream ones will soon be. Shadetree logic! Apparently our son and the gizmo were right. He drove to town and back, around 20 miles, and the truck ran fine. That's with one upper O2 still defective or unhooked. :confused: So hopefully I will again have my favorite truck on the road in a day or so after he replaces upper O2 number two. Still need that new newer heater core. Piece of cake. Just move the steering column down and take out the dash and all it's parts. Hope the recall air bags don't activate before I take the truck in for those. Even at his discount those four O2 things cost $213+ dollars. If I'd taken it to the dealer which I was about to, I would have had to get a bank loan. I'm sure they would have went through a process of replacing other things also starting with the tail pipes. Not that I am accusing my dealer of doing anything wrong. But I've been to garages before. It's been a nerve wracking situation. Never ever been without something to drive and never lived in the boonies without transportation. Even my faithfull 55 Chevy is dismembered for things. Actually today was a better day.
Well, that's good news! Finally! I'm like you, I'm too old to crawl around under my cars and trucks. I call my son-in-;aw over to do it for me.
I'm not quite too old yet but if I would have known I was gonna live this long I would have taken better care of myself!!! I still try occasionally but my knees and back have gotten to the point where a 2 hour job takes me 6....then another day for the swelling in my knees to go down and be able to straighten my back out. Well at least if I do get "called home" no one will walk past my casket and say "He looked so good!" Instead they can say "Dang! I see why he died!" Hard living caught up to me early at 30 years old but I didn't feel it until after 40.
