Dead Hole 4.7L

[Sun_Devil375]

I have a 2004 ram 1500 4.7L non flex fuel. I recently took it into a dealer to get the two airbag recalls taken care of and when I got home I looked over the paperwork they gave me. They never mentioned anything to me in person but on the inspection report it notes I have a dead hole in my engine. Does anyone have any experience with this and can tell me more about it? I have had a few cylinder miss firers over the past three years but changing out the spark plugs turns the code off and does the trick for 6+ months until a misfire happens again. I didn't think it would be a dead hole though. They didnt include any other notes or tell me which cylinder it would be happening to and honestly my truck runs fine and I dont notice any power loss or rough idle or lagging anything like that. I did notice that my truck has been burning a little bit of oil though and I did just have to refill up my engine coolant and I read that may be a sign of piston rings being shot? I cant tell because I live in AZ and with temps 100+ and an hour plus commute each way to work I thought that was pretty normal for the engine coolant being used up. Any advice helps, I reached out to the dealership but no reply yet.

 

[Bloody_Knuckles]

It isn't normal for coolant to be used up. And yes, burning oil is a sign of worn rings. My experience is that #8 cylinder is the first t burn oil.

 

[Sun_Devil375]

Thank you for the info. If I remember correctly my problem cylinder is #4. But it would be helpful if the shop could let me know what they found.

 

[Sun_Devil375]

Just pulled the engine light code and its P0304 missfire again. I guess I just need to diagnose what is causing it to missfire especially with new plugs. But the burning of oil and engine coolant leads me to think it still may be a piston ring issue. That would require a rebuild right?

 

[Marley]

Remove the oil fill cap and check for blow by......excessive air pressure coming up is a sign of worn rings.

 

[Marley]

Remove the oil fill cap and check for blow by......excessive air pressure coming up is a sign of worn rings.

 

[Sun_Devil375]

@Marley Just look to see if there is any oil on the cap? Will it be pretty obvious?

 

[tidefan1967]

@Marley Just look to see if there is any oil on the cap? Will it be pretty obvious?

He means to take the oil filler cap with the engine running. If a smoky vapor is coming out of the oil fill tube with it running you have blow-by.

 

[Sun_Devil375]

@tidefan1967 Thank you for clarifying. And if there is any smoke then it is worn rings and I will need a rebuild basically?

 

[Bloody_Knuckles]

Bluish smoke on acceleration is a sign of worn oil rings. Bluish smoke on deceleration is a sign of worn valve seals. Blow-by through the oil filler means worn compression rings.