Where to start troubleshooting?

[Jernberg]

2007 Dodge Ram, Hemi 5.7L

Vehicle had a violent shut down while on the freeway. Sounds of grinding were heard from engine before complete electrical shut-off. Was able to get it to the shoulder safely and towed. No physical damage to the engine seen after initial inspection, vehicle non responsive when turning key. Tried to jump engine and nothing. Going to check terminals and fuses next. Any thoughts on what I should do after checking electrics? Thanks.

 

[jawzs2]

First thing I'd do is put a socket\breaker bar on the crank pulley and make sure the engine turns over.

 

[Black-Wolf]

Sounds like you threw a rod, shattered a piston, or the camshaft broke. As Jawzs2 said, see if you can get a breaker bar to turn it over. If it won't budge, then something bad happened. If you threw a rod, check under the carriage and see if it blew out at the bottom of the engine. If not - doesn't mean you didn't - but if it did, then you at least know the answer 100%. Otherwise, the only thing that can be done is an engine tear down and possibly a rebuild if it's salvageable. If you can do a rebuild, might as well upgrade it to 6.2 camshaft and new pistons, rods, etc. Either way, it's going to be an expensive repair - probably close to $2.5K


Good luck!