Need advice on brother's 2002 Dodge Dakota

stryped · 2008-12-12T13:27:54+00:00

Sorry for another question but things just seem to keep happening: My brother has a 2002 Dodge Dakota truck with a v6. 150,000 miles. He took it to Midas and had a new heater core, coolant flush, etc a month ago. Spent about 700 bucks. Anyway he was driving it and it overheated and began blowing out clouds of white smoke. He took it to Midas. They said it would be a 3-4 hour job at 70 bucks an hour to take it apart and find out what is wrong. Since my brother mentioned to them that he was wanting a new vehicle anyway, they offered to buy it as is for 275.00. When my mother told me I called the mechanic at Midas. He said it was billowing smoke so much they had to open the bay doors. Think he said they did a pressure test and it was not holding pressure and it was leaking coolant internally. I got a call from my mom last night saying that if I wanted the truck I could just have it. If not, they were going to sell it to the guy at Midas. What are the odds this is just a head gasket and not a cracked block or head? I have replaced heads before but it was a long time ago. Would this be worth me takign and trying to fix to sell it or am I asking for a headache?

Dec 12, 2008 21 Replies

Rate this thread:

Scott Dorsey 17 years ago

Oh, he can be pretty sure he's got combustion chamber gases in the coolant. But the question is whether it's the head gasket or something worse.

--scott

Vote

Steve 17 years ago

Yeah, that would be my worry. That the engine lost coolant (for some reason probably unrelated to the engine- like a hose or radiator leak), was overheated, cracked a head or the block or at least warped a head, and now has a built-in leak. All the Dakota engines from 96 onward- the

3.9 v6 (5.2 minus 2 cylinders), post '96 2.5 (actually the Jeep 2.5 that is related to the Jeep 4.0 inline 6), the 5.2 v8, the 4.7 v8, and the 3.7 v7 (4.7 minus two cylinders) are very rugged and not prone to blowing head gaskets without, shall we say, provocation.

Vote

Join the Discussion

Have something to add? Share your thoughts — no account required.

Didn't find your answer?

Ask the community — no account required