Okay guys, it's go time. I need all the help I can get! Here's the quick run-down... There are many thing I likely could have done to avoid this situation, but I am where I am. Thanks for reading. Enjoy, and let me know if you can offer any insight.
So... I've had this truck, my 2017 1500 BigHorn, since early 2020... picked it up with around 40k miles on it.
Started off as a daily driver, bringing me to and from work, then started working from home, so it was just an errand runner pretty much.
Fast forward to a mid 2021 and we see the $**T hitting the fan, so I started doing some driving to earn extra money.
While I still had the extended warranty, I brought the truck in for a peculiar tick that was fairly loud... Turned out it was an exhaust leak at the header due to a broken bolt... They fixed it, and a few months later, that sound came back... and I was busy driving around, didn't really think twice about it as I had extended the warranty by getting the work done at the dealer.
Well, the warranty expired, and I was stuck with this "exhaust leak".
2022 - Drove 220,000 Miles
Replaced my front wheel hubs due to near failure, recognized symptoms pretty early, and the repair was pretty smooth. Cost like $700 at a local mechanic's shop.
Driving out to Colorado, during a pretty violent wind storm, the truck began exhibiting some issues. The truck was kicked out of cruise control, which at that point was inoperable, and the traction control light came on. I did some quick research and decided it was a wheel speed sensor that was malfunctioning due to the high wind, and load I was trailering. Continued on my trip, and the following day, the issue(s) went away.
2023 - Drove 40,000 Miles
Fast forward to a couple of months ago, I get a P0420 code... which gather is a catalytic converter issue code - which I assumed was due to THE ORIGINAL SPARK PLUGS still being used... ** I am waiting on a prototype set up spark plugs from a Nascar racing development team that they are actually making specific for GEN IV RAM's ** So my plan was take it into the shop, without really having more time to wait for the plugs to be made (available in early 2024)... I get into my truck on Thursday morning, and head over to the mechanic shop, when all of a sudden, the truck made an "odd" sound and began driving terribly. Poor throttle response, noisy, and ROUGH. I immediately turned around and came back home. Had it towed to the shop, and waiting 6 grueling hours to hear that I had collapsed lifters in bank 4.
The truck has 313,000 miles roughly. The engine is shot.
What should I do?
New engine, Used engine, rebuilt engine, rebuild my engine?
Please, I need someone to talk to about this. I think this is the best place for it.
Thanks ahead of time!
**UPDATE** Oct. 27 - Picked up my truck from the dealership, with a new longblock installed. I'll answer all posts below. Happy to answer any questions for clarity to help anyone in the future, though not sure how much of help I would be. Thanks for everyone's feedback and advice.
