Some thoughts and questions on my Dakota situation:

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Not counting your labor, you could have a runner for around a grand here. ($300 for the truck, $500 to $700 for a running junkyard motor, much cheaper if you use a "pull it yourself" yard).

'Round my parts, a $1000 retail car is junk. Your are looking at the former "$100" car of 20 years ago in that price range. Wore out!

A little blood, sweat and education later, you could have a 9 year old truck that may prove to be a viable runner for years to come.

In the end tho, I would not spend another dime on gaskets or parts for the motor you have. It is done for and you are 3/4 of the way to removing the block at this point. All you have left to go are the Starter, bellhousing and torque converter bolts and motor mounts. You could have it out in an afternoon.

If the body is nice, fix it and flip it for a couple of bux!

Can anyone tell me what year Dakota engines will fit my truck?

Can anyone tell me what year Dakota engines will fit my truck?

Yes, it could be cracked and still good- SOME cars have allowances and cracks don't determine it's bad. (not many, but some.) The recycling yards have a crossover listing.- I would do the same, get a engine and put her in. I just spent the time putting a engine together for my Subaru, and made it 500 miles befor it drank the oil and killed the block. I bought another engine, will do a parst swap on this one, don't want to throw aray the new stuff. I would be about 500.00 ahead if I had done the junk yard engine.

1. I expected there to be a problem with either the gasket or head on the driver's side as there was coolant coming out of the firewall side spark plug hole. But was a little surprised bothe heads were cracked. I watched the guy do one. He used the magnaflux powder and a magnet. I know there are some shops that pressure test. I wonder if it is possible for a head to have a crack that would not cause a problem. Would pressure testing show a head as alright when magnaflux says it is cracked? Would it be wise to have one or both heads pressure tested? I am assuming that the drivers side is probably no good. The guy noted after thaking the intake valve off that there was rust in there. Still not sure if that is from the head or gasket.

1. I could just have the passanger side pressure tested and if it showed ok only buy one head. It would cost me 30 bucks to have it tested. If it were good. Would it be acceptable to have one "new" head with a valve job and everything and one old head without a valve job? Would both heads need to be milled even if they are not warped so they are the same "height"?

2. I know the proper thing to do is probably to rebuild/replace the engine. I am now just wanting to sell it at the local auction or possibly to an individual. There is a chance I may be downsized and I may have to drive alot farther than I am now to find a job. My idea is to take any money I can get and put it on something that gets decent gas mileage. Maybe an older civic accord with 100,000 or so on it. WOuld this be a reliable type vehicle?

ANyway I am just weighting my options. I really appreciate everyone's patience and help!

I don't know anything about Magnaflux but according to what I've read a leaking head will show up as low cylinder compression on one cylinder or two adjoining cylinders. You can buy a compression tester from Harbor Freight for about $10-15. I had a leaking head (not sure if it's the gasket or a cracked head) on my '91 Explorer 4.0L. I put in a can of stop-leak (something like Justice Brothers) that said it fixes cracked heads. It worked but clogged my heater core. I flushed the radiator and heater core and put in about 1/4 can. That was a couple of years ago. I just wanted to see if it would help and if the engine was worth fixing (220K miles on it now). So far it has help up. I have no coolant loss or bubbling over. I did have to replace the thermostat recently but I can't really blame the stop-leak for that. Sooner or later I will have to at least replace the head gaskets (at least) but I'd just put in about $100 worth of manifold and valve cover gaskets and would have to that all over again to replace the head gaskets.

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Honestly at this point I think what you should do is pull the front clip, buy a cherry picker and junkyard engine, and replace the whole mess. It will probably take less time than you think and then you won't be worrying about all the corners you cut. You will need a helper though most likely.

nate

://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/DODGE-MAGNUM-3-9-V-6-REBUILT-CYLINDER-...

Your truck is worth scrap price at an auction (think $150, and you gotta get it there). It is partially disassembled and obviously needs a motor.

You may be able to drag a couple of bux out of it if you part it out on your local Craigslist.

You never really said what model, what condition, how many miles, 4WD, etc.

A base 'Club Cab' in excellent condition is $5,000 on NADAGUIDES.COM. Trade in is $3750. Rough trade is $1875.

How many miles, what condition? If you saw the truck on the side of the road with a For Sale sign on it, what would you be willing to pay?

Base your decision there. If it's worth another go around, get a decent junkyard engine and put it in. If it's worth half a go around, replace both heads, as long as the cylinders are OK. If it's a 'work truck', 2nd or third vehicle and not real important and you only want to get another year or two out of it, get one decent head and install it.

If it's a decent, clean vehicle with a good body, trans, steering, etc. I'd go about half of rough trade, or $900. Then you know it's worth $1875, anyway.

If not, $400. Call it a beater and drive it till it drops.

Don't be. The engine was severely overheated. The fact that both heads were cracked means _now_ you understand precisely what happened to wreck the engine and _now_ you know what to to about it.

The heads are cracked. The engine was overheated. One head might not be cracked severely enough to be a bad problem now, but it will just get worse.

You may also have damaged rings as a result of the overheating.

No. The engine has been overheated. Now that you know what is happened, you know what to start looking for. Both heads are bad. Both heads need to be replaced. The rings may be wrecked. There is also something wrong with the cooling system. On top of this, either the temperature gauge is bad, or the guy who was driving it when it overheated should be taken out and shot for auto abuse. All of these things must now be checked.

If you want to get anything for it honestly, you will have to put a new engine in it. If you get a couple junkyard heads for fifty bucks or a hundred bucks each and slap them on, the vehicle may be just fine. If you want to be _sure_ it's fine, you need a new engine... and I wouldn't sell it unless I was sure it was fine.

Get a couple junkyard heads, throw them on, find out what's wrong with the cooling system and drive it. If it burns insane amounts of oil, the rings were probably wiped when it was overheated. If it doesn't burn insane amounts of oil, keep driving it. And watch the damn gauges, that's what they're for.

--scott

This vehicle is a 2000 Dakota Sport king cab 2 wheel drive. It has

151,000 on it. It is white and looks to be good condition. It has a toolbox and bed liner. New heater core, brakes and tires.

It was my brother's who bought it new at the dealership.

I guess I am a littl leary of pulling the engine as I have never done it before and have to work outside. I am considereing it.

I will say I found on craigslist a 3.9 out of a 96 Dakota with 149,000 miles on it that had been wrecked. How can I tell if an engine such as this is any better than the engien I have?

You cant, really. It is a pig in a poke.

You can get some idea of what will fit, and what it might cost, by going to

and searching.

Did your brother run that vehicle sort of hard, or pull unusually heavy loads?

That should have been a reasonably tough engine, but apparently it failed rather catastrophically. Niece also had one that blew apart similarly while her husband was towing a tractor on a flat bed trailer...Dealership tried to "fix" it, never got it right, finally she cut some sort of a deal with them and ended up with a Ford.

towww.car-parts.comand searching.

This truck has never towed anything. It was a daily driver.

ANY engine you buy will be better than the engine you have. I'd hold out for a lower mileage one, but if the price is right, go for it.

Have you figured out what your brother did yet?

--scott

It failed because something went wrong with the cooling system... maybe it was a blockage, maybe it was a failed water pump, maybe it was a bad hose or a leaking head gasket.

THEN, the engine started to overheat, but the driver wasn't watching the gauge and kept on driving.

The differential expansion caused the head cracking. It may also have done other damage which I bet you'll find if you look more carefully.

This may not have been an avoidable failure, but it's certainly a small failure that was allowed to get out of hand through inattention.

--scott

You can check with Certified Auto Recycling in Ardmore,Alabama for auto/truck parts/engines.

cuhulin

If you need to remove/replace an engine, you don't need to rent or buy a cherry picker.A handy strong tree limb and a come along will work just fine.I have done that a few times before. cuhulin