2007 Ram 5.7 hemi in 2004 5.7 hemi durango

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lmarcucci7

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Hello everyone,

I have a '04 durango with a blown motor. The piston put a hole in the block. It's harder than I thought it was going to be to track down a motor. I came across a 2007 5.7 hemi from a ram for at least 2 times less the amount of money. I know the difference between the 2004 durango and 2004 ram 5.7s is a matter of an EGR block off plate. How would I go about swapping the 2007 into my 2004 durango? Could I just put my 04 head and intake onto the 2007 block and be good to go?
 

HemiLonestar

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It's a drop in, just use your sensors/sending units from your original engine. If you really wanted to, you could put your head son there but why? The 07 engine will have MDS (unless its out of a heavy duty), supposedly you don't have to remove the MDS stuff (cam, lifters, valley solenoids) to use it in a non-MDS application. If it were me I would, but your choice.
 
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lmarcucci7

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I was thinking there would be incompatible vacuum tubes somewhere to regulate the MDS. So, would it be easier to just use my old whole intake manifold on the new motor; instead of swapping all the sensors over one by one? Other then those sensors, are there a few sensors located on the block and head that I will need to swap over? Are there any DIY MDS in Non-MDS guides that I'm missing out on?

Thanks for your help.
 

HemiLonestar

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MDS is controlled by the computer through the use of oil solenoids in the block valley UNDER the intake manifold. Non-MDS engines have plugs where the solenoids go (engine was designed from the very beginning to have MDS, they just didn't use it til 2005). You'd probably have an easier time hooking everything up using your manifold though. I don't know of any DIY about this. On the block are your knock sensors, you may need to swap those as well. If you transfer ALL your 04 sensors to your 07 engine, it will be plug-n-play. This includes the TB, since they changed the plug design somewhere in 04-05.
 

KGBIGCOUNTRY

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He is correct. I have an 06 300c block and rotating asm in my truck. Buy new lifters and install them.
 
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lmarcucci7

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Who is correct?

I was on the dakota/durango/ram forum and one of the more credible people said this to me in a direct message

"I really don't know if you can use the MDS HEMI's in a non-MDS HEMI vehicle. Chrysler's cylinder deactivation system(MDS) uses oil pressure to pump up the lifters that deactivate the cylinders when there is a load on engine. Whenever there is light load on the engine, the computer activates a solenoid that turns off the oil flow to the lifters and the MDS lifters have a spring in them that allows the valves to the deactivated cylinder to stay closed. That is why I do not feel that using a MDS HEMI in a non-MDS HEMI is worthwhile. I would suggest you do a little more shopping, both locally and online to see who has non-MDS HEMI's for a decent price. $2500 is too high if it is a junkyard or private seller. That price is decent if it is a remanufactured engine with at least a one year warranty."


I feel like we really need to figure this out for the sake of the Hemi community. This feels like a common situation. I can pull up 8 guides to put an LS1 in my miata, but i can't find one incredibly credible source to confirm an MDS engine will work in a non-MDS vehicle, so long as i use my intake manifold and sensors.

Also, i thought the 300 had a completely different output shaft than the Durango/Ram Hemi
 

smiley

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Why wouldn't it work I would think that since you can disable the MDS if need be it would not matter at all. The only thing that may be a snag is programming the ECU which I would think if you use as is would just not know the engine even had MDS in the first place since he vehicle did not have it stock.


$miley
 
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lmarcucci7

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Why wouldn't it work I would think that since you can disable the MDS if need be it would not matter at all.

$miley

That seems like a valid point. Can anyone confirm this with their own personal experience?
 

KGBIGCOUNTRY

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I am proof it works. The motor in my truck used to be that.
 
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lmarcucci7

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So, all i have to do is swap intake manis and sensors? Do I need to swap lifters as well, or will the MDS lifters work just fine in a non-MDS environment?
 

KGBIGCOUNTRY

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Buy new non MDS lifters for the new motor. Cheap insurance IMHO. Yes all you will have to do is swap over your intake and front cover along with sonsors and acc to the new long block. When you get the two side by side on stands you will see the stuff is easy to swap over.
 
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lmarcucci7

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Won't I have to remove the heads to install new lifters? How sure are you that it will work if I don't swap the lifters to non-MDS ones? If it's 90% or higher, i'm going to not install the non-MDS lifters. Alldata says I have to remove the heads to install the lifters. That will be so much extra work. I can't imagine it not working if you can electronically disable MDS on MDS cars.
 

KGBIGCOUNTRY

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Its another 10 mins tops to do the heads on a stand along with new bolts and head gaskets. I spent a decent amount of time at a Hemi spec shop doing the motors and have been in mine a few times.
 

cars4700

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mds is bs

Hello everyone,

I have a '04 durango with a blown motor. The piston put a hole in the block. It's harder than I thought it was going to be to track down a motor. I came across a 2007 5.7 hemi from a ram for at least 2 times less the amount of money. I know the difference between the 2004 durango and 2004 ram 5.7s is a matter of an EGR block off plate. How would I go about swapping the 2007 into my 2004 durango? Could I just put my 04 head and intake onto the 2007 block and be good to go?

i had a 2004 durango without mds bought a 2007 hemi from a durango with mds. left it all installed. left harness on the engine. no problems its not connected so its not going to activate. dont buy anything its all bs.
 

RonJon '06

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i had a 2004 durango without mds bought a 2007 hemi from a durango with mds. left it all installed. left harness on the engine. no problems its not connected so its not going to activate. dont buy anything its all bs.

Interesting. Was that the only difference between the two harnesses, the connectors for the MDS? And btw welcome to RF.
 

Mimi

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He is correct. I have an 06 300c block and rotating asm in my truck. Buy new lifters and install them.

Did you have to change anything out when you changed them out? I have an 04 durango 5.7 hemi egr and found a ram 2006 5.7 hemi mds
 

HemiLonestar

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If you leave the solenoids in the will work fine. The problem is when people remove the solenoids and not the lifters. The way the system works is that it is normal until the solenoids are activated, collapsing the specified lifters. If the solenoids are never activated, nothing happens, the default setting is normal operation. If you want absolute peace of mind, pull the heads and replace the lifters and cam, pull the solenoids and plug them, then reinstall the heads. Don't forget to replace the head bolts if you do (don't reuse torque to yield bolts).
 
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