I think I need a new engine, any advice?

[Purepk507]

Good evening everyone, I am new here but I just recently purchased my first dodge, I have always been a huge ram fan ever since my grandpa put over 400k miles on a few of his trucks.

Well to start a fellow friend of mine had a 2009 dodge ram for sale because the engine was knocking really loud and it wouldn't get up to speed. He offered to sell me the truck for 1300$, it's a black Laramie 4x4. I couldn't turn it down under the impression that I can fix the motor myself or just do a swap. I'm still trying to figure out what is wrong with the truck but I was able to drive it off the trailer and back it into my garage.

My questions are if I do plan on doing a swap can I use a few years prior to 2009? For instance can I use a 2008 or a 2007? I have found a few engines used ranging from 2000$-3500$.

Also if I do the swap what type of programming would I need to do? If any?
What do I check on my VIN to make sure that the motor I go to use will actually work with my vehicle?

When do I know if I should just do a rebuild versus an entire swap?

 

[tidefan1967]

No the earlier gen Hemi is not compatible so it would be more trouble than it’s worth. Considering you only paid $1300 for the truck it’s worth rebuilding the engine or getting a crate motor and you’d still be thousands ahead of the game.

 

[Travelin Ram]

Welcome to the gang. Your least costly repair will likely be a swap with a junkyard engine. Rebuilding is dicey unless you have a skilled builder with a known good reputation. You can also buy new engines from Mopar $$$$. There are other vendors of remanufactured engines, but read their warranties and you’ll find out how little confidence they have in their own products.

Good luck. A little due diligence on the rest of the vehicle is called for; what’s the condition of the transmission, body etc. Old vehicles can turn into money pits easily and cost more than they are worth.

 

[crash68]

what @tidefan1967 said
If the rest of the truck is in good shape look into turn key crate engine for it. Maybe even have the transmission rebuild and it be like have a like new truck.

 

[Rlaf75]

What's the mileage and condition of the truck?

 

[Purepk507]

Thanks for all the quick replies everyone. I think the truck is in great condition for a 2009 with 180k miles. The rocker panels have the start of a little bit of rust, the bed has no rust and the undercarriage has only a few rust spots. The interior is 8/10 and no issues with electronics.

So I've done some research and I found an engine with 60k miles on it from a local junkyard for 2950$ with core exchange. Do I need to make sure it's exactly a 2009 motor?

If I do th swap do I keep the keep the ECU and wiring harness off my old motor?

@crash68 mentioned maybe even rebuilding the transmission while I have the motor out. What does that entail and I would assume it's pretty expensive or labor intensive?

I really want to tackle this project and hopefully with your guys help and guidance you can steer me in the right path.

My entire family thinks I'm in over my head but I feel confident I can do it.

 

[kurek]

That same $3k buys a remanufactured engine.. well flip a coin there some people don't trust reman's either.

Ideally you would only swap the engine block/heads and keep all of the wiring, accessories, intake etc with your truck.

Rebuilding a transmission isn't a lot of fun, if the budget's there you can have yours rebuilt while the engine is out but if you don't suspect a problem with it just change the fluid in it and run it. You can save up for a rebuilt in case it fails later.

Regarding the work of swapping the engine you've got a garage to work in, that means it's not going to be that big a deal. Don't be shy buying the tools you need, they're an investment in future jobs as well and the right tool can turn almost any difficult task into a breeze. Might even treat yo self to a top-side creeper if you can find the budget, will make all the accessory disassembly/reassembly and wiring work a lot easier.

 

[Purepk507]

Thanks for the reply @kurek I do have a good amount of tools and the space. My buddy is going to let me borrow his engine lift. I'll have to go get a nice creeper. After alot of research I've come to the conclusion that rebuilding the transmission is a bit out of my area of expertise.

My game plan is to get the best engine for the best price then just swap them out. Since I'm already going to be pulling the engine and swapping it, what are some upgrades/mods that I can accomplish while the motor is out to increase longevity?

I want to make this truck a workhouse and super reliable. I'm not trying to break the bank but I do have some money set back for this project.

Any extra advice or links to tutorials and or books or Manuels would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks!

 

[EdGs]

........Don't be shy buying the tools you need, they're an investment in future jobs as well and the right tool can turn almost any difficult task into a breeze. Might even treat yo self to a top-side creeper if you can find the budget, will make all the accessory disassembly/reassembly and wiring work a lot easier.

+1 on the tools and top-side creeper.

 

[kurek]

My advice from decades of turning wrenches both alone and with others... don't put dirty parts in your car. Anything that leaves the engine compartment gets cleaned before going back in there. Anything that is exposed for the first time since 2009 and is dirty gets cleaned. If you have or can borrow a pressure washer, and buy a few packages of kitchen scrubbers you're in business. Dish soap friction and water pressure are fine no need to spend money on specialty chemicals but give the dish soap time to work it's not instant. Good time to sit down in the shade while you're working too

Engine oil cooler is a good idea here if the truck isn't already equipped. I like the wet/wet ones that plumb into the coolant system because that helps keep the whole engine the same temperature and brings the temp up more evenly which means fewer total thermal cycles & can delay the onset of gasket leaks by years. You might even want to install a remote oil filter kit just because of how annoying the OE filter location is on future changes.

For that transmission on an 09 you'll have the RFE, that's a good machine for a stock 5.7 . Nobody's going to say it's as good as the 8 speed but that doesn't mean it's bad either. Drop the pan and inspect it.. if you just have a beard on the magnet but nothing in the bottom of the pan with texture you can feel when you rub between your fingers then the moving bits of the transmission are probably in decent shape for the time being. Replace both the filters (use an OE spin on filter), clean the magnet, reinstall the pan. If you're feeling fancy you can get a Mag-Hytec aluminum pan or get one of the Dorman replacement steel pans - both will have a drain so you can do routine service more easily in the future. Remember when you're replacing the pick-up filter you will need to carefully pick down the plastic seal and be careful not to scratch the bore it's sitting in while you pick it out.

You can install a shift kit if you want to, Transgo makes a good one - you can try to install the whole thing or just do the valve body part of it. That will shorten up shift overlap a little bit, replace a couple wear parts inside the valve body and supplies a heavier duty valve body pressure plate. Really by 2009 all the meaningful bugs had been worked out of that transmission so the shift kit doesn't have any serious problems to overcome but they don't hurt either. I was thrilled with that little change in my 2002 RFE transmission but don't feel the need to install one in my 2015 even though it's easy work for me and the cost is negligible.