The Clattering Truck Thread

[tjfdesmo]

No more clatter.

"Hemi Tick" is there as expected (it is a HEMI after all).

I haven't explored the depths of the power well yet, but I can tell this will be a much better performing engine.

It has always amazed me that even with modern materials and tolerances some engines are just "happier" than others.

 

[loveracing1988]

My new engine arrived at the dealership Friday, truck is going in Wednesday for the engine swap. If all goes well I will have it for my trip at the end of the month. I know what the Owner's Manual says about break in, but it doesn't mention towing at all. How many miles should I put on before towing a 14' enclosed trailer with a RZR 900 in it 4 hrs. to ID?

Just put 1000 miles on it and then don't worry. It's not hard to put 1000 miles on a brand new vehicle. I've done that within a week or two of every vehicle I've bought so far.

 

[SupermanWV]

Almost done!

The engine is in and the tech was running it and doing new engine diagnostics... i.e., checking for leaks, monitoring coolant temp, oil temp, oil pressure, yadda yadda yadda.

I should get it back tomorrow afternoon!

Can you post a video of how it sounds now?

SupermanWV (Clark)

 

[MADDOG]

My new engine arrived at the dealership Friday, truck is going in Wednesday for the engine swap. If all goes well I will have it for my trip at the end of the month. I know what the Owner's Manual says about break in, but it doesn't mention towing at all. How many miles should I put on before towing a 14' enclosed trailer with a RZR 900 in it 4 hrs. to ID?

Have a minimum of 500 miles before you tow.

 

[MADDOG]

Can you post a video of how it sounds now?

SupermanWV (Clark)

Cold start up or warm?

 

[mandlbarrett]

Just put 1000 miles on it and then don't worry. It's not hard to put 1000 miles on a brand new vehicle. I've done that within a week or two of every vehicle I've bought so far.

Thanks for the response, 1000 miles might be hard to put on by the 29th unless I get it back by this weekend. It goes in Wed. and I'm betting I wont have it back until the day after Memorial Day. 500 miles that MADDOG said might be do-able. We'll see! I might have to take my in-laws Duramax!

 

[SupermanWV]

Cold start up or warm?

Cold start. But I'd kinda like to hear both. My truck still seems really loud to me. But they say it's normal. I'm having a hard time believing injectors and lifters would be so loud.

Clark (SupermanWV)

 

[mandlbarrett]

I just picked up my truck last night from the dealership. The loaner 1500 they gave me had remote start, and I was really digging that so I had asked the service writer a couple days ago how much it would be to install, how much of a job, etc. and was planning on getting that done in the future. Well, when he took me out to the back yard to get my truck he started it as we were walking up to it!! At first I thought the dealership installed the remote start for the hassle of this whole engine swap, but then the service writer says "you have a stellar wife, dude". My wife felt bad for me dealing with this whole situation and coordinated to have the remote start put in while the engine was being swapped out! I'm a lucky man! Going to break in the engine this weekend, needless to say the wife gained some serious brownie points!

 

[MADDOG]

Wow! That's cool!

She's a keeper. That may cost you some new shoes or even some jewelry though...

 

[SupermanWV]

Cold start. But I'd kinda like to hear both. My truck still seems really loud to me. But they say it's normal. I'm having a hard time believing injectors and lifters would be so loud.

Clark (SupermanWV)

MADDOG....were you able to get a video?

Clark (SupermanWV)

 

[mandlbarrett]

Wow! That's cool!

She's a keeper. That may cost you some new shoes or even some jewelry though...

Yeah, I know She know it as well!

 

[MADDOG]

Good luck with the next phase and thanks for the PM.

 

[mandlbarrett]

The wind is out of my sails from my wife surprising me with the remote start. I'm sorry for the long post, but here is what I emailed my Chrysler rep that I've been dealing with on this situation and my experience since picking up my truck.

Here is an update on my situation. The engine was installed(along with a remote start that my wife paid for as a surprise) and the truck was picked up last Friday the 22nd after 5:00 pm. When the service writer fired up the truck for me, I noticed a big white cloud of smoke. I even mentioned it to him, but just thought it was because the engine was new and not broke in. I picked up my wife and drove into town to have dinner, then home putting on probably 20 miles. The truck smoked really bad the couple of times I started it that night. The next morning we had planned a trip out of town for Memorial Day, so being a mechanic myself I thought I would crawl underneath and check things over and check all the fluids. I found a loose bolt on the bell housing fastening the engine to the transmission, the fan shroud was broken on the bottom side and a screw was screwed into it to hold everything together, the transmission was below the add mark on the dipstick, the coolant was well below the add mark on the reservoir and worse of all the engine was 2 GALLONS overfull on engine oil!!! I immediately called the dealership and James at the service desk told me the tech that did the work was gone and all they had was lube techs. He said I could bring it in and they could drain the oil, but we agreed that I could do it and I would just come in on our way out of town and pick up a quart of transmission oil. I drained the 2 gallons of oil to get the oil to the full mark on the dipstick, and with my 18 years of experience in mechanics this is what was causing the engine to smoke. I am also worried about over pressurizing of the crankcase and damaging the crankshaft seals or other engine components. When I went into the dealership, I talked to Josh I believe and he was very apologetic and gave me a quart of transmission oil and a quart of engine oil as well. I showed him the pictures of the damaged fan shroud, loose bolt, and dipstick with the overfull condition (which I can send to you if you like) and he said to come in Tuesday and they would make it right. We left town and got half way to where we were going and the truck overheated!! I wasn't pulling a trailer or anything, but we were climbing a grade. I babied it and kept it from getting too hot and we got to our destination. I tried to see if I could find what the problem was, but couldn't find anything. When we left to come home, the truck also overheated coming home, so I again had to baby it and stop to cool things down just to get home. I'm taking the truck in tomorrow. At this point, I'm furious. I'm disgusted with my experience with this truck, and have been from the start. I'm hoping that I can turn in this truck and they can find me a suitable replacement. I'm worried about the longevity of the engine and other issues that are going to pop up from issues that I couldn't see. I was promised by them when this all started that I would have an excellent experience and that I would have my truck back to me and be able to take it on this trip this next weekend that I've been planning for months. I don't feel comfortable taking this truck out of state with my buddies in the truck with me, and now have to come up with another mode of transportation. I know this is a detailed email I've written, but I figure you should be aware of my situation and would appreciate that this situation is taken care of as soon as possible.

 

[drittal]

Holy cow...

 

[MADDOG]

Man, they messed up some really basic stuff. And the repair by screw method is just wrong.

Good luck!

 

[regularcab2500]

That truly is a horrific experience and i would hope they take care of you for it. I would be way beyond furious at this point...

 

[RAMYOU]

wow at this point I really think you should be given a new truck. Like you said you dont know what kind of damage has been done internally that you cant see. Getting legal advice might also be a good thing right now because they cant play you like that man.

 

[cptwing]

The wind is out of my sails from my wife surprising me with the remote start. I'm sorry for the long post, but here is what I emailed my Chrysler rep that I've been dealing with on this situation and my experience since picking up my truck.

Here is an update on my situation. The engine was installed(along with a remote start that my wife paid for as a surprise) and the truck was picked up last Friday the 22nd after 5:00 pm. When the service writer fired up the truck for me, I noticed a big white cloud of smoke. I even mentioned it to him, but just thought it was because the engine was new and not broke in. I picked up my wife and drove into town to have dinner, then home putting on probably 20 miles. The truck smoked really bad the couple of times I started it that night. The next morning we had planned a trip out of town for Memorial Day, so being a mechanic myself I thought I would crawl underneath and check things over and check all the fluids. I found a loose bolt on the bell housing fastening the engine to the transmission, the fan shroud was broken on the bottom side and a screw was screwed into it to hold everything together, the transmission was below the add mark on the dipstick, the coolant was well below the add mark on the reservoir and worse of all the engine was 2 GALLONS overfull on engine oil!!! I immediately called the dealership and James at the service desk told me the tech that did the work was gone and all they had was lube techs. He said I could bring it in and they could drain the oil, but we agreed that I could do it and I would just come in on our way out of town and pick up a quart of transmission oil. I drained the 2 gallons of oil to get the oil to the full mark on the dipstick, and with my 18 years of experience in mechanics this is what was causing the engine to smoke. I am also worried about over pressurizing of the crankcase and damaging the crankshaft seals or other engine components. When I went into the dealership, I talked to Josh I believe and he was very apologetic and gave me a quart of transmission oil and a quart of engine oil as well. I showed him the pictures of the damaged fan shroud, loose bolt, and dipstick with the overfull condition (which I can send to you if you like) and he said to come in Tuesday and they would make it right. We left town and got half way to where we were going and the truck overheated!! I wasn't pulling a trailer or anything, but we were climbing a grade. I babied it and kept it from getting too hot and we got to our destination. I tried to see if I could find what the problem was, but couldn't find anything. When we left to come home, the truck also overheated coming home, so I again had to baby it and stop to cool things down just to get home. I'm taking the truck in tomorrow. At this point, I'm furious. I'm disgusted with my experience with this truck, and have been from the start. I'm hoping that I can turn in this truck and they can find me a suitable replacement. I'm worried about the longevity of the engine and other issues that are going to pop up from issues that I couldn't see. I was promised by them when this all started that I would have an excellent experience and that I would have my truck back to me and be able to take it on this trip this next weekend that I've been planning for months. I don't feel comfortable taking this truck out of state with my buddies in the truck with me, and now have to come up with another mode of transportation. I know this is a detailed email I've written, but I figure you should be aware of my situation and would appreciate that this situation is taken care of as soon as possible.

Dam, I would be super pissed. Unfortunately your experience is not unique, I think the Ram tech and service writer certification test is administered on the back of cheerios boxes. I could list a ton of bad experiences myself and as you point out most of us know more about these vehicles than they do. I seriously hope that you stop nothing short of a buyback and that Ram makes it right.

 

[w6pea]

Holy cow...

Man, they messed up some really basic stuff. And the repair by screw method is just wrong.

Good luck!

That truly is a horrific experience and i would hope they take care of you for it. I would be way beyond furious at this point...

wow at this point I really think you should be given a new truck. Like you said you dont know what kind of damage has been done internally that you cant see. Getting legal advice might also be a good thing right now because they cant play you like that man.

I think in Taxifornia they have what they call "Lemon Laws" I am not sure where you are at, but I would say you need to contact the State Attorney General or Consumer Fraud Agency.
Sorry to read this I have been waiting to order a new truck and almost want to buy another Ford now. But they are way overpriced as far as I am concerned. I have owned almost nothing but Ford Trucks for the past 30 years.

 

[mandlbarrett]

wow at this point I really think you should be given a new truck. Like you said you dont know what kind of damage has been done internally that you cant see. Getting legal advice might also be a good thing right now because they cant play you like that man.

I took the keys in this morning and gave them to the service manager. I explained to him the whole situation (because he was on vacation) and told him I'd rather start over with a new truck, and I wanted to have a pow wow with him and the store manager and he said the manager was in meetings and he'd have to call me after he was done. Well apparently the store manager approved for me to get a different truck. I got a call from the salesman that sold me the truck today and he asked what I wanted and he would look for a replacement. I told him exactly what I had, but not butchered. I am meeting with the store manager tomorrow, so we'll see what he has to say.