i blew my engine 95 ram 5.9l

Disclaimer: Links on this page pointing to Amazon, eBay and other sites may include affiliate code. If you click them and make a purchase, we may earn a small commission.

clanceman427

Member
Joined
Aug 10, 2016
Posts
88
Reaction score
15
Location
West Chester, PA
Ram Year
1995
Engine
5.9
Guys I blew the engine in my 1995 dodge ram 2500 HD with 5.9l. It had 168,000 miles on it and had made a long trip before. My oil pressure gage and light showed no pressure, but it had done that before and I just thought the gage wiring was goi g. Because the engine had full oil and still has full clean oil. It started tapping g on the highway then tapping like a woodpecker, then eventually stalled. Never ovwrheated. No oil loss, no smoke. I'm thinking perhaps the oil pump pickup maybe fell off? I'll eventually find out once I tear it down. How do you pull the engine in this truck? Do you have to pull the cab off first? The firewall overgalhang is pretty far. Rock auto has a longblock for 1600 with core. Plus warranty, instead of rolling the dice with. Used motor. Looking at my options and curious to hear your opinions.
 

dudeman2009

Senior Member
Joined
Feb 9, 2016
Posts
1,562
Reaction score
208
Location
Arizona
Ram Year
2001 1500 Sport with enough electrical modifications to make my brain hurt
Engine
Magnum 360
Mine did the same thing, oil pump gear broke into 3 pieces. Ruined my whole week.

Removing the engine is pretty easy if you have some experience already. Its easier to pull the engine and trans as a unit instead of trying to disconnect the trans in the trans tunnel and support it while the engine is out.

The easiest way to remove the engine is to remove the radiator support and lift the radiator and A/C condenser out of the vehicle. From there the whole front end is open and its just disconnecting the electrical connectors and securing them away from the engine. Just make sure you unbolt the ground straps on the back of the heads, either from the engine or body. Disconnect the fuel line from the fuel rail and pop the line out of the holder down by the transmission. Disconnect the throttle linkage from the trans as well as the shift linkage. Unbolt the throttle body and A/C compressor and just move them aside, no need to remove them from the vehicle. Then pull the intake as it will make it a ton easier to get the engine out from under the cowl. You'll need an engine hoist and load leveler. You can either remove the exhaust manifolds or disconnect the exhaust at the downpipe, its up to you. From there, just undo the engine mounts, secure the driveshaft with a ratchet strap or something so it doesn;t drop on the ground and start pulling the engine. Just be sure to check all over the engine to make sure you havent forgotten any wires.
 
OP
OP
clanceman427

clanceman427

Member
Joined
Aug 10, 2016
Posts
88
Reaction score
15
Location
West Chester, PA
Ram Year
1995
Engine
5.9
Dudeman2009, thank you so much for this extremely helpful info! Exactly what I was looking for and needed. Curious- when you put you engine back in, how hard was it for you to reinstall the intake manifold in the truck? Guess you just need to be careful.

My truck is 4wd so would I need to remove the transfer case underneath the truck first, then pull the engine and transmission as one unit put the front like you described? I do own a good hoist with a leveler.
 

goodtodoo

Senior Member
Joined
Jul 17, 2016
Posts
130
Reaction score
14
Ram Year
1996 indy pace truck
Engine
5.9
Putting the intake on in the truck is no problem, you will already have the rad and shrould out so you can stand in there.
 
OP
OP
clanceman427

clanceman427

Member
Joined
Aug 10, 2016
Posts
88
Reaction score
15
Location
West Chester, PA
Ram Year
1995
Engine
5.9
Thanks!..another newbie question: does the hood need to come off or maybe just the grille for hoist clearance?
 

goodtodoo

Senior Member
Joined
Jul 17, 2016
Posts
130
Reaction score
14
Ram Year
1996 indy pace truck
Engine
5.9
I would take the hood off, 4 nuts only. Instead of messing with the brittle grill shell nuts. Pita.
 

Gr8bawana

Senior Member
Joined
Dec 7, 2015
Posts
1,274
Reaction score
1,060
Ram Year
2017
Engine
6.7 CTD
I'll be following this thread to see what you think of the engine from Rock Auto. Seems like a pretty good deal for a stock engine to throw in the pick-up.
 

dudeman2009

Senior Member
Joined
Feb 9, 2016
Posts
1,562
Reaction score
208
Location
Arizona
Ram Year
2001 1500 Sport with enough electrical modifications to make my brain hurt
Engine
Magnum 360
I took the hood off, otherwise unless you have the shortest chain on your lift, you'll hit the hood. As far as putting it back in, the intake is easy after you get the engine into the mounts, you can sit on the bumper if you want. I put the rad support back in with two bolts and sat on that, the frame rails made good footrests for reaching the back of the engine.

Its up to you if you want to remove the fan, it will give you more clearance and save about 30-45 minutes of time on the removal and install (single handed, not as big a deal with two people) vs the 20-35 minutes to fight with the fan after the rad has been removed.
 
OP
OP
clanceman427

clanceman427

Member
Joined
Aug 10, 2016
Posts
88
Reaction score
15
Location
West Chester, PA
Ram Year
1995
Engine
5.9
Thanks guys! I took a quick peek today, and I noticed the top cross bar of the radiator support simply unbolts :) I guess I was thinking of old-school radiator supports that were one gigantic piece. I checked the oil again, totally normal and full. I bet I find an oil pump that went capoot.
 
OP
OP
clanceman427

clanceman427

Member
Joined
Aug 10, 2016
Posts
88
Reaction score
15
Location
West Chester, PA
Ram Year
1995
Engine
5.9
Ok, had a chance to pull the oil pan. I must say it was quite easy to do, as you would expect with a big 2500 4wd. I only had to remove the engine mount-to-bellhousing brackets, pull the starter, take off the torque converter dust cover, and remove all the pan bolts and the pan came right off. When I drained the oil there was nothing out of the ordinary, no lumps/chunks flowing out. The pan definately has debris in the area of the front, shallow end. Looks like shake pepper sized pieces of bearing probably. I didn't notice any rods that got blued from heat. The engine turns over with a wrench easily. all the rods react to crank motion. Still think it's rod bearing(s). Next time I'm out there I'll pull all the rod caps 1 by 1 and inspect them all. Here's a shot of the pan contents:
 

Attachments

  • IMG_2164.jpg
    IMG_2164.jpg
    103 KB · Views: 36
  • IMG_2165.jpg
    IMG_2165.jpg
    102.9 KB · Views: 34
OP
OP
clanceman427

clanceman427

Member
Joined
Aug 10, 2016
Posts
88
Reaction score
15
Location
West Chester, PA
Ram Year
1995
Engine
5.9
more investigation. Yep. Spun #1 rod bearing. The #1 rod bearing halves actually got stuck together and were a fused full ring around the crank journal. Surprisingly, the #2 rod bearings survived unscathed. Both bearing halves of the #2 rod were showing normal, with no sign of trying to spin. The little tangs were all still there.

IMG_2172.jpg

IMG_2176.jpg

IMG_2169.jpg
 
  • Like
Reactions: Mop
OP
OP
clanceman427

clanceman427

Member
Joined
Aug 10, 2016
Posts
88
Reaction score
15
Location
West Chester, PA
Ram Year
1995
Engine
5.9
Well I got it all back together with new rod bearings, started the engine, and the oil pressure was good, but it was loudly knocking still. I only ran it for like 30 seconds or so at idle. I did a compression check on all 8 cylinders, and all but #1 were good. #1 was like zero. Adding oil in that cylinder and redoing the test only bumped the pressure to like 4-5 psi. I watched all the valves and rockers move correctly while doing the compression test so no signs upstairs in the valvetrain. So I'm in the process of tearing the engine down so I can remove the drivers side head and discover what is wrong.
 

dudeman2009

Senior Member
Joined
Feb 9, 2016
Posts
1,562
Reaction score
208
Location
Arizona
Ram Year
2001 1500 Sport with enough electrical modifications to make my brain hurt
Engine
Magnum 360
You got some messed up bearings my man. With how bad those bearings are, you likely wore down the rof journals, if they aren't gouged up.

Did you measure the rod journals or just put regular bearings back in? With bearings that messed up you'll need to plasti-gauge or mic the rod journals to figure out how undersized the new bearings need to be. If its still knocking i'd guess a thou or two should be sufficient, but you'll have to measure to be sure. Either way, unless you have that crank machined, its going to have a much shorter life.
 
Last edited:
OP
OP
clanceman427

clanceman427

Member
Joined
Aug 10, 2016
Posts
88
Reaction score
15
Location
West Chester, PA
Ram Year
1995
Engine
5.9
thanks dudeman2009, my answers in all caps:

You got some messed up bearings my man. With how bad those bearings are, you likely wore down the rof journals, if they aren't gouged up ROD JOURNAL WAS A LITTLE GOUGED.

Did you measure the rod journals or just put regular bearings back in ? PUT REGULAR BEARINGS BACK IN With bearings that messed up you'll need to plasti-gauge or mic the rod journals to figure out how undersized the new bearings need to be. If its still knocking i'd guess a thou or two should be sufficient, but you'll have to measure to be sure. Either way, unless you have that crank machined, its going to have a much shorter life. YEP, I FIGURED I'D ROLL THE DICE
 
OP
OP
clanceman427

clanceman427

Member
Joined
Aug 10, 2016
Posts
88
Reaction score
15
Location
West Chester, PA
Ram Year
1995
Engine
5.9
my next goal is to remove the intake, and drivers side cylinder head. well today I had a chance to mess with the truck a little, and i drained the coolant out of the engine. I have already removed the serpentine belt, unbolted the power steering pump and left it aside, I also removed the a/c compressor, and have the lines unbolted such that they can just be laid to the side.

I'm looking at the wiring and vacuum lines on top of the intake and wow, there is a ton of stuff. I guess I have to find a way to make it the least amount of disconnects to avoid unneeded disassembly, but it looks like the wiring for the injectors is all hard-wired from the harness that drops down from the cowl, so all that wiring needs to be taken off. Same with the vacuum lines I guess.

Any time-saver tips like the earlier one about unbolting the throttle body and laying it aside, much appreciated! IMG_2216.JPG IMG_2220.JPG IMG_2220.JPG
 

dudeman2009

Senior Member
Joined
Feb 9, 2016
Posts
1,562
Reaction score
208
Location
Arizona
Ram Year
2001 1500 Sport with enough electrical modifications to make my brain hurt
Engine
Magnum 360
You'll have to take the whole wiring harness off the intake as you have to pull the intake to unbolt it from the head. Don't even bother trying to remove the head without pulling the intake, its asking for trouble. There are no shortcuts for removing the wiring harness, you just have to follow it around and unplug everything, even the cam,crank, oil pressure sender connectors to make it easy to move around. There is a ground strap on both the front and back of the head, make sure to unbolt those, don't unbolt the rear strap from the head, just unbolt it from the firewall, its much easier.

Undo the wiring harness and move it aside, then you can unbolt the intake, if it already hasn't been off, order intake bolts and a gasket set now. Also if you haven't dont the plenum repair, order a felpro plenum gasket and if you want new plenum bolts. Soak those intake bolts in your favorite libation a day in advanced to get some of the rust broken loose. Then if they don't come out easily, don't force them, just rock them back and forth (tighten and loosen) until they break loose, snapping them isn't and automatic destruction of the heads, but snapping too many can cause issues.

Next would be pulling the valve cover, blow off all the junk first. When thats off, unbolt the rocker arms so the lifters and pushrods are no longer being compressed, and remove the pushrods. Tip: take a piece of cardboard and skewer the pushrods through it and ziptie or wire twist the rockers through the cardboard and label them, this will prevent getting them confused. Then you can undo the exhaust manifold. Order a set of exhaust bolts and studs now, those things are bound to be messed up. Don't be afraid to hammer the next size down socket on them, you don't want to round those babies off.

Once everything is off the head you can start unbolting it. I'd suggest following the reverse procedure of install to slowly let stress out of the head. That means loosening the font and rear most bolts opposite corners first, then moving your way in opposing corners fashion until you get them all out. That should give you the best chance not to crack or further crack the head. From there, it should lift off with a bit of elbow grease.
 
OP
OP
clanceman427

clanceman427

Member
Joined
Aug 10, 2016
Posts
88
Reaction score
15
Location
West Chester, PA
Ram Year
1995
Engine
5.9
Dudeman2009 thank you so much for the detailed steps and advice, just what I was looking for and will help me avoid so many pitfalls Thanks so much!!
 
OP
OP
clanceman427

clanceman427

Member
Joined
Aug 10, 2016
Posts
88
Reaction score
15
Location
West Chester, PA
Ram Year
1995
Engine
5.9
Question regarding disconnecting the fuel line- I can't seem to disconnect the fuel line, it's the metal-style connection. I bought a fuel line tool that works on either 3/8 or 5/16 line. seems like it fits either size, but it won't budge the fitting. Is there a trick to disconnecting this fuel line? See pics.IMG_2241.JPG IMG_2242.JPG IMG_2242.JPG IMG_2243.JPG IMG_2242.JPG IMG_2243.JPG
 

Micchi

Senior Member
Joined
Feb 25, 2012
Posts
254
Reaction score
71
Location
West Lawn, PA
Ram Year
1999
Engine
5.2L
Question regarding disconnecting the fuel line- I can't seem to disconnect the fuel line, it's the metal-style connection. I bought a fuel line tool that works on either 3/8 or 5/16 line. seems like it fits either size, but it won't budge the fitting. Is there a trick to disconnecting this fuel line? See pics.View attachment 116739 View attachment 116740 View attachment 116740 View attachment 116741 View attachment 116740 View attachment 116741
Try pushing in on the line and see if the tool will slide in further. Should just pop off then.

Sent from my SM-G920P using Tapatalk
 

Latest posts

Forum statistics

Threads
194,925
Posts
2,864,167
Members
155,293
Latest member
RedFlameRam
Top