rexsfour
Junior Member
Guy had the truck listed for 3k but I gave him 4k for it to hold it for me. Figured maybe it would be a easy fix and if not new engine. It turned out to be a easy fix if the oil pan was easy to pull. 6 of the connecting rods had the bearings squished and binding. Took a few weeks to get a tow truck to tow it 200 miles. The tow cost $500.
Its a 08 Ram 2500 quad cab 4x4.
I called S&J because of another review on ramforumz (that fourm is kinda dead so decided to post here as well). SandJ said it would be 8-10 weeks since they didn't have that block in stock. I had to put half the money down for them to start the build. The new longblock was just over $4600 delivered and took a few days over 10 weeks to be delivered. I paid for the upgraded warrantee just incase I wanted to sell the truck with the prices. Their site shows the new engine has 390 HP, Torque 410 lbs.
After all the parts and truck/delivery, I spent 10k on a 08 ram 2500 but now have a new engine with a 100k/7year warrantee.
The swap went fairly easy, I didn't have the torq converter all the way in the first time so had to pull the engine and try again. The spacing just didn't look right when I mounted the transmission. You should have two thunks where it goes in.
I used the following new parts:
thermostat
spark plugs
coil packs
alternator
water pump
air intake
intake manifold - SandJ engines required this be new
serpentine belt
battery
MDS solenoid blockoffs
The warrantee application for a private party install was easy. I took it to autozone. they checked for codes then printed out the report. I sent SandJ the report and a list of new parts used, they approved it next day.
Issues:
-On first start up everything sounded good, i had good oil pressure, no check engine light came on and all gauges looked good. I let increased the rpms to 2k for a few mins then added water again, then proceeded to do their recommended break-in. It started to get hot so i turned it off for a few seconds then decided to try and restart it to pull it into the garage and let it cool for a few hours. it ran rough when i restarted it so i turned it off and pulled it into the garage with a winch. I started it the next day and it ran rough again like it was missing then i got a check engine light. That cylinder with the check light had no compression but it still ran but just ran rough like it was missing. figured it was just my compression tester since you can really see it seating down in the head. Got another compression tester and same numbers 0. So i pulled the heads. The drivers side got to hot and dropped three valve seats. The passenger side had no issues with the head. I let the company know that I need to fix this but dont mind paying as its most likely my fault the drivers side overheated. They said they would send me a new head, gaskets and bolts but i would need to cover shipping costs. I was relived that they did that for me and had the new head to me in about a week. On the next start up I made sure i had help to make sure the coolant did not get low.
-DMV wanted to charge me tax on bluebook value of the truck but there is a forum you can fill out with the owner to change the sale price. Washington state.
-Priming the oil was a pain. The ports dont work well because oil can feed only one way. I built a hose that sealed inside the oil filter points. I pushed oil down into the oil pump while spinning the engine backwards, and used the other hole to send oil to the head and marked sure oil got up there before stating. But trying to use the alen ports above the oil filter with the oil filter in is not the way.
Have about 2k miles on the engine now and getting ready to do second oil change.
Next on the list for upgrades:
E-fan swap - have a new 2000 grand Cherokee E-fan on the way
It needs shocks bad, so thinking Bilstein's 5100? mostly city driving with the occasional towing a small 21' trailer.
I have the JBA shorties headers for it but after reading tons of posts everyone says they dont fit the 4x4 ram 2500. so not sure what to do.
Should I do a leakdown test to verify the rings seatted?
Thanks
Its a 08 Ram 2500 quad cab 4x4.
I called S&J because of another review on ramforumz (that fourm is kinda dead so decided to post here as well). SandJ said it would be 8-10 weeks since they didn't have that block in stock. I had to put half the money down for them to start the build. The new longblock was just over $4600 delivered and took a few days over 10 weeks to be delivered. I paid for the upgraded warrantee just incase I wanted to sell the truck with the prices. Their site shows the new engine has 390 HP, Torque 410 lbs.
After all the parts and truck/delivery, I spent 10k on a 08 ram 2500 but now have a new engine with a 100k/7year warrantee.
The swap went fairly easy, I didn't have the torq converter all the way in the first time so had to pull the engine and try again. The spacing just didn't look right when I mounted the transmission. You should have two thunks where it goes in.
I used the following new parts:
thermostat
spark plugs
coil packs
alternator
water pump
air intake
intake manifold - SandJ engines required this be new
serpentine belt
battery
MDS solenoid blockoffs
The warrantee application for a private party install was easy. I took it to autozone. they checked for codes then printed out the report. I sent SandJ the report and a list of new parts used, they approved it next day.
Issues:
-On first start up everything sounded good, i had good oil pressure, no check engine light came on and all gauges looked good. I let increased the rpms to 2k for a few mins then added water again, then proceeded to do their recommended break-in. It started to get hot so i turned it off for a few seconds then decided to try and restart it to pull it into the garage and let it cool for a few hours. it ran rough when i restarted it so i turned it off and pulled it into the garage with a winch. I started it the next day and it ran rough again like it was missing then i got a check engine light. That cylinder with the check light had no compression but it still ran but just ran rough like it was missing. figured it was just my compression tester since you can really see it seating down in the head. Got another compression tester and same numbers 0. So i pulled the heads. The drivers side got to hot and dropped three valve seats. The passenger side had no issues with the head. I let the company know that I need to fix this but dont mind paying as its most likely my fault the drivers side overheated. They said they would send me a new head, gaskets and bolts but i would need to cover shipping costs. I was relived that they did that for me and had the new head to me in about a week. On the next start up I made sure i had help to make sure the coolant did not get low.
-DMV wanted to charge me tax on bluebook value of the truck but there is a forum you can fill out with the owner to change the sale price. Washington state.
-Priming the oil was a pain. The ports dont work well because oil can feed only one way. I built a hose that sealed inside the oil filter points. I pushed oil down into the oil pump while spinning the engine backwards, and used the other hole to send oil to the head and marked sure oil got up there before stating. But trying to use the alen ports above the oil filter with the oil filter in is not the way.
Have about 2k miles on the engine now and getting ready to do second oil change.
Next on the list for upgrades:
E-fan swap - have a new 2000 grand Cherokee E-fan on the way
It needs shocks bad, so thinking Bilstein's 5100? mostly city driving with the occasional towing a small 21' trailer.
I have the JBA shorties headers for it but after reading tons of posts everyone says they dont fit the 4x4 ram 2500. so not sure what to do.
Should I do a leakdown test to verify the rings seatted?
Thanks
