4.7 head gasket problems

Tex912 · Mar 3, 2016

I recently had to replace my coolant resovior on my 2002 4.7L. After doing this I noticed the truck would rough idle occasionally at start. After awhile I notice I was losing coolant out of the overflow tube so I replaced the cap. This stopped the coolant loss out of the overflow but I am still losing coolant. I have no smell of burning coolant anywhere in or around the truck. The P0307 code came on last week after a rough start. cylinder 7 misfire. The Idle smoothed out but the truck still feels like it is missing a little. I am pretty knowlegdable in car repair and after talking with a few other mechanics have come to the conclusion that I probably have a bent or stuck valve and a small head gasket leak. So my question is...knowing that this has been a common problem with these engines and somebody else has had to of done this before...do I rebuild my heads with dodge parts back to stock....buy new complete heads for local auto store... Or? Also...if i use the stock heads or stock replacement heads am i going to run into the same problem in another 50000 miles. My truck currently only has 70,000 miles on it. Any opinions would be great. I will be doing the job myself and am Just looking for anyone with experience with these motors and thier opinions. Thanks In advance.

JAMMAN · Mar 26, 2016

Wow only 70,000 miles? Did you find it in a barn? A number of things could cause this to happen prematurely but if you remove the heads have them checked for cracks and have them resurfaced even if they are only .004 or .005 out. Use decent multilayer head gaskets, brand new head bolts and make sure to torque them BY THE BOOK.

Clean the deck surfaces extremely well and look for cracks between the cavities before putting them back on.

It isn't an easy job but it isn't rocket science either, you should be OK.

Rustycowl69 · Mar 26, 2016

My daughter has a Jeep Commander (07, I think) with a 4.7L. She has over 120K on it, no problems, at all. I replaced the front struts, recently, and front brake pads once, that's it. She's been real happy with it.

Tex912 · Mar 29, 2016

Thanks for the reply JAMMAN. I got the truck from my father inlaw who barely drives it. He bought a prius in 08 and parked the truck only starting it on weekends and driving it once in a while. I ended up taking it to the shop for head gasket replacement and was told coolant was leaking into the number 7 cylinder causing the misfire then the gasket was also breached between the NO. 7 and No.5 cylinders as well causing misfire on No. 5. Head was warped and was machined. Pressure tested and was told valves were fine. New water pump and thermostat and all new timing tensioners and other plastic parts were replaced while they had it open. Kept original chains. Total for the job was $1900. Hopefully all is good now.

Andy the mechanic · Mar 12, 2020

Got similar issue, 94,000 on my 2005 ram with the 4.7 magnum now, overheated last year due to a blown radiator, had a small head gasket leak. Water pump went bad shortly after. No coolant in oil. Would set off check engine once every few weeks, cylinder 7 misfire. Swapped out the thermostat to a 180F one, replaced water pump and coolant. Has been pretty good so far, rough start but still goes, we’ll see how long it runs..

4.7 head gasket problems

Tex912

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JAMMAN

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Rustycowl69

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Tex912

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Andy the mechanic

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