[Aaron'sLifeJourney]

The vehicle has 128,000 miles. It passes smog but due to it stinking up the smog shop pretty bad the guy told me he won't pass me unless I get the issue repaired. (As a result I haven't driven the truck for nearly 2 years)
Hey so I went on YouTube and found videos to replace the leaking valve stem seals which looked relatively easy... apparently I can access everything without having to remove the engine. I just need to remove the valve covers, use an air compressor and an adaptor to thread the air compressor hose into the location of the pertaining spark plug so that air compression will prevents the valve stem from falling when I decompress the valve spring. Parts for replacement were practically dirt cheap.

This issue has caused my crankshaft and camshaft position sensors to flag a check engine light despite mechanic replacing it 4 months prior to the code lighting up again.

My question is, the mechanic simply diagnosed the issue by driving it and said that when he idles the truck and than goes he see's the smoke. He said he will need to send the engine to a machinist which is a 13 hour labor job to machine the cylinder heads. Altogether the repair bill was in the 2960 dollar range... the truck seems to drive fine to me aside from the leaking valve stem seal that requires me to top off the oil. I felt so awful that everytime I drove it cars would drive VERY slow to get far behind me as possible or drive VERY fast to get passed me to avoid the stench.

I would sincerely appreciate advice on this guys! Picture of my truck is my avatar. I love this truck. Has brand new tires. I had lower and upper control arm replaced. Rear differential rebuilt. New water pump. New spark plugs. New coil ignition packs. New exhaust manifold. New oil pan gasket. New struts installed. Has a cold air intake installed. Newly purchased battery. Please help!

 

[02GenHandMeDown]

I don't think you ever quite got to the question, but if the heads need machining, take them off yourself and send them to the machine shop. Should cost you a total of $500 (including a gasket set) depending on what tools you have and what the machine shop charges. I couldn't tell you if it's necessary or not, but I take it he thinks you have a warped head?

 

[Aaron'sLifeJourney]

I don't think you ever quite got to the question, but if the heads need machining, take them off yourself and send them to the machine shop. Should cost you a total of $500 (including a gasket set) depending on what tools you have and what the machine shop charges. I couldn't tell you if it's necessary or not, but I take it he thinks you have a warped head?

I apologize! He never mentioned anything regarding a warped head. He just said it's leaking from the valve stem seal. it was very hard to understand due to my lack of knowledge with engines all I remember was machining the heads I will post the bill.


I am trying to call machine shops to get quotes but so far every one that I contacted is stating they don't work on automobiles. I will consider finding a tutorial on engine removal and rent an engine hoist and have my friend bring his truck so we can take it to the machine shop! With these cylinder heads being machined will this be the equivalent of having a "rebuilt" engine?

 

[02GenHandMeDown]

I apologize! He never mentioned anything regarding a warped head. He just said it's leaking from the valve stem seal. it was very hard to understand due to my lack of knowledge with engines all I remember was machining the heads I will post the bill.


I am trying to call machine shops to get quotes but so far every one that I contacted is stating they don't work on automobiles. I will consider finding a tutorial on engine removal and rent an engine hoist and have my friend bring his truck so we can take it to the machine shop! With these cylinder heads being machined will this be the equivalent of having a "rebuilt" engine?

View attachment 3047

Something doesn't line up here. I see no reason why the heads would need to be machined because of a stem seal. Since I gather you don't need the truck as a daily or anything, I would definitely not pay another penny until you find out more. Go to www.dakota-durango.com and ask about it, it's another Dakota forum that generally has more activity then this one, so you should be able to get a lot more info then I can give you. It could very well be necessary, but don't pay until you know.

If you do do it yourself though, you don't need an engine hoist. I'm in the middle of doing the same thing actually. You basically just take off all the "accessories", like the alternator, AC compressor, intake, etc, then take apart the front of the motor and then pull the heads. I totally understand not knowing much about engines, I didn't know a thing either until I started blowing things up and had to fix them 😂 I would recommend watching this video series to gain a general knowledge, and definitely use it if you do end up taking them off. Dodge 4 7 L Engine Cylinder Head Replacement Part One by Howstuffinmycarworks - YouTube

Idk if it qualifies as a rebuild, somehow I don't think so though. I guess you could call it an upper end rebuild 🤷‍♂️

 

[Aaron'sLifeJourney]

Something doesn't line up here. I see no reason why the heads would need to be machined because of a stem seal. Since I gather you don't need the truck as a daily or anything, I would definitely not pay another penny until you find out more. Go to www.dakota-durango.com and ask about it, it's another Dakota forum that generally has more activity then this one, so you should be able to get a lot more info then I can give you. It could very well be necessary, but don't pay until you know.

If you do do it yourself though, you don't need an engine hoist. I'm in the middle of doing the same thing actually. You basically just take off all the "accessories", like the alternator, AC compressor, intake, etc, then take apart the front of the motor and then pull the heads. I totally understand not knowing much about engines, I didn't know a thing either until I started blowing things up and had to fix them 😂 I would recommend watching this video series to gain a general knowledge, and definitely use it if you do end up taking them off. Dodge 4 7 L Engine Cylinder Head Replacement Part One by Howstuffinmycarworks - YouTube

Idk if it qualifies as a rebuild, somehow I don't think so though. I guess you could call it an upper end rebuild 🤷‍♂️

Thanks so much brother. I will definitely sign up to that site! Just heading to Walmart to get a window sun block mechanism. Because the sun is just scorching the left side of my face and this dam prius has an inadequately small unextendable window visor.

 

[DakotaDave914]

The vehicle has 128,000 miles. It passes smog but due to it stinking up the smog shop pretty bad the guy told me he won't pass me unless I get the issue repaired. (As a result I haven't driven the truck for nearly 2 years)
Hey so I went on YouTube and found videos to replace the leaking valve stem seals which looked relatively easy... apparently I can access everything without having to remove the engine. I just need to remove the valve covers, use an air compressor and an adaptor to thread the air compressor hose into the location of the pertaining spark plug so that air compression will prevents the valve stem from falling when I decompress the valve spring. Parts for replacement were practically dirt cheap.

This issue has caused my crankshaft and camshaft position sensors to flag a check engine light despite mechanic replacing it 4 months prior to the code lighting up again.

My question is, the mechanic simply diagnosed the issue by driving it and said that when he idles the truck and than goes he see's the smoke. He said he will need to send the engine to a machinist which is a 13 hour labor job to machine the cylinder heads. Altogether the repair bill was in the 2960 dollar range... the truck seems to drive fine to me aside from the leaking valve stem seal that requires me to top off the oil. I felt so awful that everytime I drove it cars would drive VERY slow to get far behind me as possible or drive VERY fast to get passed me to avoid the stench.

I would sincerely appreciate advice on this guys! Picture of my truck is my avatar. I love this truck. Has brand new tires. I had lower and upper control arm replaced. Rear differential rebuilt. New water pump. New spark plugs. New coil ignition packs. New exhaust manifold. New oil pan gasket. New struts installed. Has a cold air intake installed. Newly purchased battery. Please help!

 

[Aaron'sLifeJourney]

Hey Dave. Just to updated everyone... the mechanic stated my truck requires a "Valve job"
He said cost will be 2900 it could be 500$ higher.. so I called a machine shop to get a quote to rebuild the ENTIRE engine. I was quoted 4200$ BUT they don't "R and R" I don't know what that acronyms mean but my best guess is it means they don't remove the engine and reinstall it.

I called a shop the referred and they told me they will charge 1900$in labor. They'll send it to the machine shop and when machine shop brings it back they will charge for new sparks. New coil ignition packs. And new boots. He gave me a general ball park saying it will cost around 150$ for this... I told him I swapped out the sparks already for iridium spark plugs and I swapped all of the coil ignition packs except 1 or 2 in the back due to it being hard to reach.

So altogether 6100$for an entire engine build.. or 2900-3500 for JUST the "Valve job"

I am at a cross road and attempting to figure out if I want to spend that vast amount of money for a truck that I never driven in 2 years....or use the truck as a learning experience and take apart my engine...send it to a machine shop for them to do their repair.. and myself build it back up with entirely new parts (minus a new camshaft because my auto instructor 12 years ago mentioned the camshaft generally lasts the life of the vehicle...) however don't assume I know anything.. I am still VERY new.. that is why I was hoping if anyone has any advice on getting more information such as instructions and pertaining torque specs..it'd be MUCH appreciated!!

If this turns out good and I do it.. I would love to use my truck to assist other dodge dakota owners in repairing their own vehicles for a fraction of the cost!

 

[DakotaDave914]

Sounds awfully familiar to me. My ‘05 4.7 has needed a similar laundry list of work.

If it’s the valve seal then you need to carefully approach the timing. Once you’re done rotating the crank to relieve pressure on the rockers you can remove the cam gears. Rotate the engine to TDC by hand (21mm socket). Is it necessary? No, but it’s a good practice. Make a mark on each cam gear and the corresponding tooth and then zip tie the chain to the cog. And try not to let it slip down toward the main gear. A couple of wedges (CTA Tools 5040 Timing Chain Wedge - Compatible with Chrysler 4.7L V8 Amazon.com: CTA Tools 5040 Timing Chain Wedge - Compatible with Chrysler 4.7L V8: Automotive) will plug the hole so the chain doesn’t slip on a gear you can’t reach.

Now you’ve got to compress those springs. MartinBuilt’s YouTube channel has the best compression tool around. By a long shot. It’ll be $89 well spent.

With the springs out you can access the seals. Now here’s one of two mistakes I made. Be warned. I bought a compression test kit to screw the air line into the spark plug’s home. But I forgot to drill out the valve which prevented pressure from building in the cylinder. I pulled the seal and the valve went bye-bye. This necessitated head removal, flattening, and head gaskets, not to mention removal of the timing guides. That was nerve racking.

The seals press into place but don’t click in to let you know they’re seated properly. Just be thorough. Press from the base all the way around. If they’re not well seated they’ll introduce excess oil onto the valve shaft and cause smoke.

Now reassemble being sure get that timing right. It’s not hard to do the timing. It’s just that there’s no room for error.

But if it’s the valve seat then that’s a whole new can of trouble. Those are on the other side of the head and far more prone to failure. Getting to them requires removal of the heads, which requires removal of the AC compressor, oil filler, power steering, alternator, fan shroud, the fan/water pump/timing cover, and maybe the radiator ( for easier access to the timing cover bolts, harmonic balancer, and crank) just to remove the two timing chain guides preventing the head from coming out.

This is rabbit-hole territory. If you’ve gotten this far then don’t let pride carry you through the next step. Let a machine shop check your heads, clean them, check for flat then machine if required, and replace all the seats on both heads. Both. Not just one. All two of them. Symmetry matters.

You’ll need a new gasket set and gasket goop, inch/lb and ft/lb torque wrenches, 13, 15, 18, and 21mm sockets, a T40 torx, new stretch bolts, copper spray, torque specs and tightening patterns, an extra set of hands to place the heads and manifolds on the block, patience, and new cuss words.

While you’re into all of the above it might be good to change out your water pump, timing chain set with guides and new tensioners, serpentine belt, spark plugs, coils, and injectors. And it’ll be worth the effort to clean the intake manifold. Again, check out MartinBuilt.

Now for the second warning. You’ve just completely decompressed your engine. It’s been under compression its entire life. Metals and seals and piston rings and all those water and oil channels are all relaxed. Reintroducing compression may cause an unforeseen failure. It did in mine. Now I need my entire engine rebuilt.

Consult a technical manual for proper procedure in testing each system before restarting. I wish I had done more than just turn the engine over by hand six full cycles before starting it. I’m now thousands of dollars and several weeks out from having my truck back.

Also, get other prices. My rebuild will be less than $2K if I hook everything back up once the motor’s back on the mounts.

 

[Aaron'sLifeJourney]

Sounds awfully familiar to me. My ‘05 4.7 has needed a similar laundry list of work.

If it’s the valve seal then you need to carefully approach the timing. Once you’re done rotating the crank to relieve pressure on the rockers you can remove the cam gears. Rotate the engine to TDC by hand (21mm socket). Is it necessary? No, but it’s a good practice. Make a mark on each cam gear and the corresponding tooth and then zip tie the chain to the cog. And try not to let it slip down toward the main gear. A couple of wedges (CTA Tools 5040 Timing Chain Wedge - Compatible with Chrysler 4.7L V8 Amazon.com: CTA Tools 5040 Timing Chain Wedge - Compatible with Chrysler 4.7L V8: Automotive) will plug the hole so the chain doesn’t slip on a gear you can’t reach.

Now you’ve got to compress those springs. MartinBuilt’s YouTube channel has the best compression tool around. By a long shot. It’ll be $89 well spent.

With the springs out you can access the seals. Now here’s one of two mistakes I made. Be warned. I bought a compression test kit to screw the air line into the spark plug’s home. But I forgot to drill out the valve which prevented pressure from building in the cylinder. I pulled the seal and the valve went bye-bye. This necessitated head removal, flattening, and head gaskets, not to mention removal of the timing guides. That was nerve racking.

The seals press into place but don’t click in to let you know they’re seated properly. Just be thorough. Press from the base all the way around. If they’re not well seated they’ll introduce excess oil onto the valve shaft and cause smoke.

Now reassemble being sure get that timing right. It’s not hard to do the timing. It’s just that there’s no room for error.

But if it’s the valve seat then that’s a whole new can of trouble. Those are on the other side of the head and far more prone to failure. Getting to them requires removal of the heads, which requires removal of the AC compressor, oil filler, power steering, alternator, fan shroud, the fan/water pump/timing cover, and maybe the radiator ( for easier access to the timing cover bolts, harmonic balancer, and crank) just to remove the two timing chain guides preventing the head from coming out.

This is rabbit-hole territory. If you’ve gotten this far then don’t let pride carry you through the next step. Let a machine shop check your heads, clean them, check for flat then machine if required, and replace all the seats on both heads. Both. Not just one. All two of them. Symmetry matters.

You’ll need a new gasket set and gasket goop, inch/lb and ft/lb torque wrenches, 13, 15, 18, and 21mm sockets, a T40 torx, new stretch bolts, copper spray, torque specs and tightening patterns, an extra set of hands to place the heads and manifolds on the block, patience, and new cuss words.

While you’re into all of the above it might be good to change out your water pump, timing chain set with guides and new tensioners, serpentine belt, spark plugs, coils, and injectors. And it’ll be worth the effort to clean the intake manifold. Again, check out MartinBuilt.

Now for the second warning. You’ve just completely decompressed your engine. It’s been under compression its entire life. Metals and seals and piston rings and all those water and oil channels are all relaxed. Reintroducing compression may cause an unforeseen failure. It did in mine. Now I need my entire engine rebuilt.

Consult a technical manual for proper procedure in testing each system before restarting. I wish I had done more than just turn the engine over by hand six full cycles before starting it. I’m now thousands of dollars and several weeks out from having my truck back.

Also, get other prices. My rebuild will be less than $2K if I hook everything back up once the motor’s back on the mounts.

Wow this is great information! How Did you recover your refrigerant? Also I appreciate the information regarding repressurizing the engine! This is some GREAT information!

I misinterpreted the mechanic. The job required on my engine is not replacing the valve seals but to take it to a mechanic for a valve job.

Do you have any references you would recommend to find instruction on dissassembling the engine and the torque specs/pattern you referred to?

 

[02GenHandMeDown]

You don’t need to drain the refrigerant. Did you see my post on the other forums?

Dakota Dave has very good info.

I hope your post above Dakota Dave’s is old and you changed plans after reading up at the other forums; just in case, let me repeat it. Others came to the conclusion that you don’t have a stem or seal problem. Those guys are very knowledgeable and I would trust them over your mechanic, based on what you’ve said he said.

You don’t need an engine rebuild . I think you got that idea from one post on the Dakota Durango forums, but honestly it is 100% unnecessary. Idk where that guy got his info, but at this point, ignore it. What you need is new head gaskets and it’s not that hard. A rebuild is, frankly, a bad idea. It would be way cheaper to replace the motor altogether, but you don’t have to do either. Replace the head gaskets, get the heads checked at the machine shop and machined if necessary, and rebuild the timing. That’s all you need.

 

[02GenHandMeDown]

Edit: I can’t tell you whether you need a valve job or not. I mixed up stem seal with valve I think. Whatever the case, I don’t think you need a complete engine rebuild, and if you do, it would be cheaper to replace the whole motor.

 

[Aaron'sLifeJourney]

You don’t need to drain the refrigerant. Did you see my post on the other forums?

Dakota Dave has very good info.

I hope your post above Dakota Dave’s is old and you changed plans after reading up at the other forums; just in case, let me repeat it. Others came to the conclusion that you don’t have a stem or seal problem. Those guys are very knowledgeable and I would trust them over your mechanic, based on what you’ve said he said.

You don’t need an engine rebuild . I think you got that idea from one post on the Dakota Durango forums, but honestly it is 100% unnecessary. Idk where that guy got his info, but at this point, ignore it. What you need is new head gaskets and it’s not that hard. A rebuild is, frankly, a bad idea. It would be way cheaper to replace the motor altogether, but you don’t have to do either. Replace the head gaskets, get the heads checked at the machine shop and machined if necessary, and rebuild the timing. That’s all you need.

Thank you brother! I watched the videos on YouTube that I was referred to watch It was a 7 part video. I liked how the ac compressor did NOT require to be disconnected.

It was Very very very cool stuff!! So just to clarify. You recommend I change the head gaskets myself. Send the cylinder head to the machine shop to be checked and machined IF necessary and rebuild the timing (aka buy a new timing chain?)

Only thing I need to do is go back to the video to see what tool he used to disconnect the fuel line. And I will purchase the valve spring compressor tool. I need to figure out how they made that tool to prevent the pull from rotating when attempting to loosen its connection. Because I never have welded before..but I do have a best friend that has a welding tool

 

[02GenHandMeDown]

Thank you brother! I watched the videos on YouTube that I was referred to watch It was a 7 part video. I liked how the ac compressor did NOT require to be disconnected.

It was Very very very cool stuff!! So just to clarify. You recommend I change the head gaskets myself. Send the cylinder head to the machine shop to be checked and machined IF necessary and rebuild the timing (aka buy a new timing chain?)

Only thing I need to do is go back to the video to see what tool he used to disconnect the fuel line. And I will purchase the valve spring compressor tool. I need to figure out how they made that tool to prevent the pull from rotating when attempting to loosen its connection. Because I never have welded before..but I do have a best friend that has a welding tool

Yes, send the heads to machine shop, and if they are warped have them machined. Rebuilding the timing is more then that. There are 3 timing chains on the 4.7l, and the only way to get all three is to buy a timing set. (Remember, Rockauto.com is where you should be looking. Cheapest prices around, a meticulous catalog, and very good selection, I think most everyone here uses RockAuto.) Since you have to buy a timing set, may as well buy a good one with guides, tensioners, sprockets, etc. See these two threads:

Timing Chain Questions

Timing Chain Questions

After my 2002 Dakota with a 4.7 blew a head gasket a few months ago, I've been slowly tearing things down and rebuilding. While I'm at it I'm replacing the timing chains among other things, and since it seems I can only get the 3rd chain if I buy a timing set, that's what I plan on doing. I need...

www.dakota-durango.com

When you say ”pull”, I think you mean pulley, and I’m gonna make another assumption and say your talking about the water pump pulley and fan. Well, people think you need a special tool of some sort, but you don‘t. Get a big adjustable wrench, and size it for the large nut directly behind the fan. Position it so the handle is sticking up and sloping a bit towards the passenger side, and give the wrench a wack or two with a hammer. You might have to give it some more whacks to break it free, but I’ve done it twice and it came right off both times for me.

Personally, I would wait before spending $100+ on the quick connect disconnect and the valve spring compressor. Tear down the accessories (first 2 videos pretty much), and go from there. You might decide it’s not for you and send it to a shop (just not the guy who wouldn’t pass your smog test cause it smoked up his shop - what even?), which is totally fine, but you may as well save yourself some money in case that does happen.

 

[Aaron'sLifeJourney]

Yes, send the heads to machine shop, and if they are warped have them machined. Rebuilding the timing is more then that. There are 3 timing chains on the 4.7l, and the only way to get all three is to buy a timing set. (Remember, Rockauto.com is where you should be looking. Cheapest prices around, a meticulous catalog, and very good selection, I think most everyone here uses RockAuto.) Since you have to buy a timing set, may as well buy a good one with guides, tensioners, sprockets, etc. See these two threads:

Timing Chain Questions

Timing Chain Questions

After my 2002 Dakota with a 4.7 blew a head gasket a few months ago, I've been slowly tearing things down and rebuilding. While I'm at it I'm replacing the timing chains among other things, and since it seems I can only get the 3rd chain if I buy a timing set, that's what I plan on doing. I need...

www.dakota-durango.com

When you say ”pull”, I think you mean pulley, and I’m gonna make another assumption and say your talking about the water pump pulley and fan. Well, people think you need a special tool of some sort, but you don‘t. Get a big adjustable wrench, and size it for the large nut directly behind the fan. Position it so the handle is sticking up and sloping a bit towards the passenger side, and give the wrench a wack or two with a hammer. You might have to give it some more whacks to break it free, but I’ve done it twice and it came right off both times for me.

Personally, I would wait before spending $100+ on the quick connect disconnect and the valve spring compressor. Tear down the accessories (first 2 videos pretty much), and go from there. You might decide it’s not for you and send it to a shop (just not the guy who wouldn’t pass your smog test cause it smoked up his shop - what even?), which is totally fine, but you may as well save yourself some money in case that does happen.

Yeah I typed pulley but my autospell replaced it with pull.
I sincerely appreciate your time brotha! Rockauto will be my dedicated shop of choice! I'm doing this to save money and I have always been very interested in learning hands on trade type work. Currently I work full time and am a full time student in the electrical program with a side course in Introduction to Animation. I was a college drop out a decade ago and am just entering back into college after being initially rejected- took 6 months waiting period to reapply and now I am trying to better my life and help others along the way. Been earning straight A's every semester back to back since.

 

[Modstock]

Some mechanics seem to be "worst case scenario " guy's. Otherwise telling you they DON'T want to work on it or the job is too much for them.
Walk away from those guys. Quickly.

 

[Westfalia]

The vehicle has 128,000 miles. It passes smog but due to it stinking up the smog shop pretty bad the guy told me he won't pass me unless I get the issue repaired. (As a result I haven't driven the truck for nearly 2 years)
Hey so I went on YouTube and found videos to replace the leaking valve stem seals which looked relatively easy... apparently I can access everything without having to remove the engine. I just need to remove the valve covers, use an air compressor and an adaptor to thread the air compressor hose into the location of the pertaining spark plug so that air compression will prevents the valve stem from falling when I decompress the valve spring. Parts for replacement were practically dirt cheap.

This issue has caused my crankshaft and camshaft position sensors to flag a check engine light despite mechanic replacing it 4 months prior to the code lighting up again.

My question is, the mechanic simply diagnosed the issue by driving it and said that when he idles the truck and than goes he see's the smoke. He said he will need to send the engine to a machinist which is a 13 hour labor job to machine the cylinder heads. Altogether the repair bill was in the 2960 dollar range... the truck seems to drive fine to me aside from the leaking valve stem seal that requires me to top off the oil. I felt so awful that everytime I drove it cars would drive VERY slow to get far behind me as possible or drive VERY fast to get passed me to avoid the stench.

I would sincerely appreciate advice on this guys! Picture of my truck is my avatar. I love this truck. Has brand new tires. I had lower and upper control arm replaced. Rear differential rebuilt. New water pump. New spark plugs. New coil ignition packs. New exhaust manifold. New oil pan gasket. New struts installed. Has a cold air intake installed. Newly purchased battery. Please help!

After reading this entire thing, I think you need to get one more shop or knowledgeable person to diagnose the issue. This will give you some educated perspective on the problem. It is extremely difficult to diag. over a form with no video/pics/smell o vision. What type of smoke was it emitting? Blue? White? What did it smell like?? Noises?? These are all extremely important in diagnosing a problem and its most efficient course of action, what to do next, and how deep you need to dive to fix the issue.

If you indeed do need a "valve job" then it is fairly involved as described above and usually involves specialized shop involvement, even though R&R(Removal and Replacement) will be done by you. If it is just a seal(and by the way do them all not just one) that is needed, then it can be done by any DIYer with basic tools and a compressor.

If you decide to remove the heads for a rebuild, as suggested above, go ahead and change the tensioners, seals, gaskets, water pump, and anything else on the front of the motor that you can get to. Oh, and you might want to upgrade rocker arms to the later stronger versions with the better oiling holes and lifters. Very simple and well worth it. It will save you money in the long run.

I do want to say for a bit of perspective, I have this same motor. Currently 240k and have done the lifters/rockers and some other minor things. Keep changing that oil.

 

[Aaron'sLifeJourney]

After reading this entire thing, I think you need to get one more shop or knowledgeable person to diagnose the issue. This will give you some educated perspective on the problem. It is extremely difficult to diag. over a form with no video/pics/smell o vision. What type of smoke was it emitting? Blue? White? What did it smell like?? Noises?? These are all extremely important in diagnosing a problem and its most efficient course of action, what to do next, and how deep you need to dive to fix the issue.

If you indeed do need a "valve job" then it is fairly involved as described above and usually involves specialized shop involvement, even though R&R(Removal and Replacement) will be done by you. If it is just a seal(and by the way do them all not just one) that is needed, then it can be done by any DIYer with basic tools and a compressor.

If you decide to remove the heads for a rebuild, as suggested above, go ahead and change the tensioners, seals, gaskets, water pump, and anything else on the front of the motor that you can get to. Oh, and you might want to upgrade rocker arms to the later stronger versions with the better oiling holes and lifters. Very simple and well worth it. It will save you money in the long run.

I do want to say for a bit of perspective, I have this same motor. Currently 240k and have done the lifters/rockers and some other minor things. Keep changing that oil.

Thanks brother. Everything under the valve covers I was quoted 200$ to replace every single thing...minus the camshaft I believe.

It's been a long while since I drove the truck. I will replace the oil over this weekend and take it to a different shop for the diagnostics. As for the R&R. I work full time and am a full time student. The reality is I have no idea how long it will take. People on other forums tell me I won't be able to do it. That's why I am trying to apply to a credit card. I just desperatelt want to use this truck to make me money. I'm tired that it's been sitting nearly 2 years. I just hate that I was so stupid for getting it from the dealership at 101k miles and now it has 128k miles and just reflecting back at all the repairs I had to pay out of pocket for... I was so new to the concept of dealerships. Turns out I had a warranty that I never tool advantage of because I had asked few days after purchase for a safety inspection when I heard wierd noises in the brakes and they declined me saying "I can assure you sir; we inspect all of our vehicles prior to purchase, no safety inspection is required.. And I reported them to BBB. When they found out the guy sounded mad and intimidating when he said "You can bring your truck in; but you really screwed us when you filed that report to the Better Business Beauru" 4 months later I get in a car accident because my brakes didn't work right.
I was too too afraid to bring my truck in so I paid out pocket with my hard earned money. I was so stupid. I never sued anyone in my life so it wasn't something that I even considered

 

[dodge73dart]

Sounds awfully familiar to me. My ‘05 4.7 has needed a similar laundry list of work.

If it’s the valve seal then you need to carefully approach the timing. Once you’re done rotating the crank to relieve pressure on the rockers you can remove the cam gears. Rotate the engine to TDC by hand (21mm socket). Is it necessary? No, but it’s a good practice. Make a mark on each cam gear and the corresponding tooth and then zip tie the chain to the cog. And try not to let it slip down toward the main gear. A couple of wedges (CTA Tools 5040 Timing Chain Wedge - Compatible with Chrysler 4.7L V8 Amazon.com: CTA Tools 5040 Timing Chain Wedge - Compatible with Chrysler 4.7L V8: Automotive) will plug the hole so the chain doesn’t slip on a gear you can’t reach.

Now you’ve got to compress those springs. MartinBuilt’s YouTube channel has the best compression tool around. By a long shot. It’ll be $89 well spent.

With the springs out you can access the seals. Now here’s one of two mistakes I made. Be warned. I bought a compression test kit to screw the air line into the spark plug’s home. But I forgot to drill out the valve which prevented pressure from building in the cylinder. I pulled the seal and the valve went bye-bye. This necessitated head removal, flattening, and head gaskets, not to mention removal of the timing guides. That was nerve racking.

The seals press into place but don’t click in to let you know they’re seated properly. Just be thorough. Press from the base all the way around. If they’re not well seated they’ll introduce excess oil onto the valve shaft and cause smoke.

Now reassemble being sure get that timing right. It’s not hard to do the timing. It’s just that there’s no room for error.

But if it’s the valve seat then that’s a whole new can of trouble. Those are on the other side of the head and far more prone to failure. Getting to them requires removal of the heads, which requires removal of the AC compressor, oil filler, power steering, alternator, fan shroud, the fan/water pump/timing cover, and maybe the radiator ( for easier access to the timing cover bolts, harmonic balancer, and crank) just to remove the two timing chain guides preventing the head from coming out.

This is rabbit-hole territory. If you’ve gotten this far then don’t let pride carry you through the next step. Let a machine shop check your heads, clean them, check for flat then machine if required, and replace all the seats on both heads. Both. Not just one. All two of them. Symmetry matters.

You’ll need a new gasket set and gasket goop, inch/lb and ft/lb torque wrenches, 13, 15, 18, and 21mm sockets, a T40 torx, new stretch bolts, copper spray, torque specs and tightening patterns, an extra set of hands to place the heads and manifolds on the block, patience, and new cuss words.

While you’re into all of the above it might be good to change out your water pump, timing chain set with guides and new tensioners, serpentine belt, spark plugs, coils, and injectors. And it’ll be worth the effort to clean the intake manifold. Again, check out MartinBuilt.

Now for the second warning. You’ve just completely decompressed your engine. It’s been under compression its entire life. Metals and seals and piston rings and all those water and oil channels are all relaxed. Reintroducing compression may cause an unforeseen failure. It did in mine. Now I need my entire engine rebuilt.

Consult a technical manual for proper procedure in testing each system before restarting. I wish I had done more than just turn the engine over by hand six full cycles before starting it. I’m now thousands of dollars and several weeks out from having my truck back.

Also, get other prices. My rebuild will be less than $2K if I hook everything back up once the motor’s back on the mounts.

Wow! My very similar comment about a complete engine overhaul.
If nothing else order a rebuild long block from an Auto parts store.
Why put thousands of $ into a partial fix that will probably fail.
Your example was a perfect example of pouring good money into bad.
Thank you

 

[02GenHandMeDown]

Wow! My very similar comment about a complete engine overhaul.
If nothing else order a rebuild long block from an Auto parts store.
Why put thousands of $ into a partial fix that will probably fail.
Your example was a perfect example of pouring good money into bad.
Thank you

No, there are ways to prevent what unfortunately happened to Dakota Dave. Replacing everything is just not practica.

 

[02GenHandMeDown]

And it’s not thousands of dollars, not if you do it yourself.