MOPAR Mania II 1986 Dodge Ramcharger Engine: 5.2 liter (318 ci) V-8 Transmission: 3-speed automatic; 3-range transfer case Sold: 2004

Failing to learn my lesson from the Rabbit, in 1995 I once again bought a vehicle from a coworker. The Ramcharger was leaking copious amounts of oil when I bought it, but for $1500 vs. a bluebook value of $3500, it seemed like a good deal. And it has been: $35 and a few hours' work corrected the oil leak from the rear of the intake manifold. (The rear intake gasket had been installed incorrectly, either at the factory or by the previous owner's mechanic.) The interior of this engine was the dirtiest I've ever seen, with lots of oil sludge that looked about like mud. I kid you not: There were pine needles in the cam valley. (OK, technically they were spruce needles, but still!) If I had to describe the Dodge, I'd say "tough but plush." It's got power everything, air conditioning, and even one of them newfangled cruise-control things. The first major trouble with the Ram came about a year after I bought it: The truck ate its timing chain.

The Great Dodge Rebuild

She stripped her gears only late last night,
I don't think that thing was oiling right.
-- ZZ Top, "I Wanna Drive you Home"

I replaced the rocker shaft, which had been worn almost through, two rockers, and three pushrods. I resurfaced the #1 exhaust valve stem, knowing that it was only a temporary fix, and crossed my fingers. In June '98 things started to come apart again. I had the Dodge towed three times in two months and decided that it was time to park it.

After checking into prices for rebuilt long-blocks, I came to the conclusion that it would be much cheaper to rebuild the Ram's 318 myself.

The folks were up for Christmas, and Dad helped me pull the engine. Dad was right: The radiator panel does come out, and it makes a difference of about three feet of lift on the cherrypicker.

Hey! There's a lot more room in here without the mill... .

The long block just prior to removing the heads. (I call this The SOL Rope Trick, since I learned it on the British Cars Mailing List -- feed about three feet of light rope through a spark plug hole, then turn the crank and the head pops right off. Oh -- remove the head bolts first... .)

As of New Year's Eve 1998 the engine has been stripped to the short-block. I've found three bent pushrods; the timing chain's stretched; several lifters are shot; I'm sure it's time for a new cam.

There's a lot of work and a modicum of expense ahead, but damn it, the Dodge is my dog's favorite truck!

1/1/99 -- The engine is stripped to the block now, and here's what I've found even without making any measurements:

• Bent pushrods (4i, 5e, 6e, 8i)
• Worn-out lifters (some visibly concave)
• Cam lobes worn through the hardened surface (at least a quarter of 'em)
• Scored con-rod bearings
• Scored cylinder walls
• Stretched timing chain (from the extra load of bent pushrods?), and it was only two years old!

1/6/99 -- It's down to the bare block: Ridges reamed, crank and pistons removed. Now where am I gonna find a set of calipers and a telescoping gauge that'll accommodate 4" diameter pistons and cylinders? The heads are disassembled too. All the valves except 1e (as noted above) seem to be in decent shape. Here are some more problems:

• Main bearings scored
• Crank scored (but that can probably be ground)
• All exhaust valve seals disintegrated

1/11/99 -- Not much forward progress since the last entry, as I'm waiting for a set of big micrometers to come in at the local tool store. But, I think I've identified the root of the trouble: As I was halfway expecting, the oil pump is shot. (Since I've owned it, the oil pressure has never run higher than about 20psi.)

Not only are they out of tolerance by a minimum of .004 inches in every dimension except the outer-rotor-to-housing clearance, but the meshing faces of the rotors look like someone (a very small someone) has been pounding on them with a hammer. There have been a lot of fairly hard, fairly large particles ground up in this pump over the years. Another indicator is the oil pump drive shaft: The leading edges of the hex are obviously well-worn.

So far the only things I'm sure I don't need to replace are the valve-spring keepers... .

1/20/99 -- The block and heads from the real truck are currently in the back of the toy truck: They're headed down to S H Racing tomorrow for hot-tanking, R&R of cam bearings, boring (if necessary) and honing. Gotta ask 'em about milling the deck if required... .

At the moment the plan is to buy a master rebuild kit (includes pistons, cam, crank, etc.), have the machine shop deal with the block, and bolt everything back together. Bottom line appears to be about $1100. Not much less than a rebuilt long block, but I'll know what's been done to it, and the components are almost certainly higher quality.

1/22/99 -- Took the block and heads in to the machine shop yesterday; had to go back in today to give 'em the main-bearing caps: I didn't realize that they needed 'em, but I was told that they have to install them and torque 'em down in order to bore the cylinders accurately. I wouldn't have thought that five relatively small chunks of cast iron would create that much distortion in a much, much larger lump. You learn something every day. (And I wonder whether just any place would worry about it.)

Putting the engine from the real truck into the toy truck.

I have a good feeling about this shop, S H Racing and Development, in West Slope: Not only do they do work on aircraft engines and airframe components, which they wouldn't be doing if they screwed up very often, but the gent who took custody of my parts came to the counter wearing surgical gloves. (Sure, I wear 'em too, when I'm working with particulary dirty parts or nasty solvents, but at least they have the desire to keep something in their shop clean, even if it's just their own hands.)

I pressed a couple of wrist pins out tonight to see how they looked and to get the R&R (remove and replace) tooling worked out in anticipation of installing the rods in new pistons. I was relieved to find that the piston rods and pins are in good shape: There's a bit of discoloration near the mating flanges of the rod bearing castings where there must've been enough play for oil to get behind the shells, but I can still plainly see the hone marks, and thank God none of the shells spun!

If I get my wish, S H will tell me that boring isn't necessary: That would knock about $100 off the bill, and mean that I could use standard-sized pistons and rings.

While my engine is in the shop I volunteered to fix my sister's warped head. (Well, at least the warped head from her truck).

Sorry Dodger, you won't be riding in either of these trucks for awhile!

The rebuilt Toyota 20R head on Sis' truck.

2/11/99 -- Called the shop to check on progress: They've hot-tanked everything, and magnafluxed the heads (checked out OK); they should be able to check out the block early next week, then I can start spending money on parts.

2/19/99 -- S H Racing says that the cylinders do need to be rebored. They weren't sure that .020 over would be enough, so I told them to go ahead and take it to .030 over. That will give me a total displacement of 322.8 c.i. With an RV cam (and a lot less internal friction from worn-out bearings) I should notice an increase in power. The shop also advised me to have the valve guides bored and sleeved, so I told 'em to go ahead.

Since I now know the bore dimensions, I was able to order the master rebuild kit and a new crankshaft. They should be in early next week, and S H Racing should be finished with their work late next week... I might be able to start the re-assembly process next weekend!

2/23/99 -- Well, my wallet's lighter... . Picked up the master rebuild kit and crankshaft tonight: $688.10, not including core charges. Cha-Ching!!

But, that included a higher-performance camshaft, .050 lift, 204 intake, 214 exhaust; stiffer springs to go with it; a high-volume oil pump; and a new oil-pump drive shaft, gear, and bushing. I have to thank Damon at Beaverton Auto Parts for giving me dealer pricing, otherwise the cost would've been over $1K. (Now if I can work it so they'll open me an account and credit the crankshaft core charge to it, maybe their computer will tag me with dealer prices from now on... that'd be cool!)

Now all I have to do is get various parts up to S H for final fitting and installation, and get Sis' Toyota out of my garage... .

3/6/99 -- Sis picked up her Toyota. She says it sounds the same as it did before, which is a real relief for me: I was afraid that there was still an exhaust leak (though I couldn't find one), or that I had the timing set too far back. I guess the odd (to me) sound must be from the aftermarket exhaust system.

Since her truck was in the garage anyhow, I also fixed the tachometer, fabricated a new radio antenna, a new heater-control lever, a new battery hold-down bracket, and a new contact-ring wiper for the horn buttons. Probably other stuff that I've forgotten about, too.

For my efforts I was rewarded with a bottle of The MacAllan 12, possibly the world's finest Scotch -- $45 a fifth around these parts. Thanks Sis!

3/12/99 -- Finally got the pieces back from S H. Now the fun begins!

3/14/99 -- I shouldn't have done this until the end, but I was afraid I'd lose the paperwork. I started adding up what all this is costing:

Item	Cost	Subtotal	Vendor
motor mounts	22.48	22.48	G.I. Joes
block+head refurbish	210.00		S H Racing
balance assembly	160.00		S H Racing
check rods	24.00		S H Racing
install pistons on rods	48.00		S H Racing
valve grind	115.00		S H Racing
surface decks	70.00		S H Racing
R&R guides	144.00		S H Racing
9960H replacement guides	32.00		S H Racing
1 new exhaust valve (#1)	10.25		S H Racing
R&R exhaust seat + seat	14.00		S H Racing
valve stem seal set	32.00		S H Racing
4 soft plugs (heads)	1.00		S H Racing
remove 2 ex studs; inst. helicoil	20.00		S H Racing
install distributor drive bushing	4.60	884.85	S H Racing
master rebuild kit	371.00		BAP
reground crankshaft	134.00		BAP
delete stock cam	-63.91		BAP
add RV cam	137.94		BAP
delete stock rod bearings	-25.20		BAP
delete stock main bearings	-39.21		BAP
add double valve springs	72.80		BAP
add double valve-spring retainers	59.04		BAP
delete stock oil pump	-21.08		BAP
add high-performance oil pump	41.08		BAP
distributor drive shaft	22.19		BAP
return piston bushings	-10.80		BAP
return single-row timing set	-26.32		BAP
16 pushrods	38.88		BAP
flex-plate bolts	18.35	708.76	BAP
double-roller timing set	60.45	60.45	Baxter Auto Parts
Total		1,676.54

Ouch! I could've gotten a rebuilt long-block for about $1,200... . (Note that while I was credited for the stock rod and main bearings, I was never charged for the undersize shells. Gee, too bad!)

Today begins the reassembly process, starting with a thorough washing of the block before installing the freeze plugs. Stay tuned... .

3/23/99 -- Trouble in paradise? The engine is reassembled to the long block and beyond with no problems until this evening: Everything went fine until it came to mounting the bracketry for the various belt-driven accessories.... I've got plenty of pictures of the mill coming out of the truck -- missing the steering pump and air-conditioning compressor. Why didn't I take any photos of the thing before I started unbolting things? Damn!

Problem #2: I took it into my head to fabricate a driveshaft and spin up the oil pump. (Hadn't planned to do so until the motor was bolted in. Turns out oil is pouring out of the oil-filter adapter... apparently I left out a gasket. Double damn!

Well, there's always tomorrow... .

4/1/99 -- It runs like a champ! (April Fool!) It just dawned on me this evening that I've spent more on the engine than I paid for the entire truck. At least I didn't have to call Hillsboro Towing again... would've been embarrassing to have their flatbed driver show up: At this point I wouldn't even have to say a word, he'd know the way to the house.

Let me back up: The motor really does run well. If you ever do a rebuild I heartily recommend having the mill balanced. Remember that Cadillac commercial where they stacked a bunch of champagne glasses on the hood and ran the car up to 80 on a dyno? It's that smooth! Or was it an Infiniti ad... doesn't matter: The Dodge's engine just runs nice!

Play a video of the intitial startup (AVI format, could take over five minutes to load at 28,800 bps)

The problem is this Goddamnit-to-Hell electronic ignition! With the '70 Plymouth everything's straightforward: The timing mark is either running on the mechanical advance or the vacuum capsule. Plug the vacuum hose and you get the real ignition timing. Simple.

With the '86 Dodge, there are at least five different sending units running to the "Spark Control Computer." What happens in there, who knows? I've checked the valve timing three times now, and TDC on the harmonic balancer coincides with TDC of the #1 piston within 1/1000 of an inch -- I checked that with a dial gauge; The reluctor and rotor in the distributor line up with the #1 spark plug wire just as they should, but I have to advance the dist about ten degrees before it'll run. Checking with a timing light when it's just cranking over on the starter, I can't even see the timing mark on the balancer, but when it's running it's at least in the range -- idles best at about 10 degrees BTDC. It'll idle or rev with no load for 20 minutes, but as I found tonight, under real load it dies after about 1-1/2 minutes. Damn!

Could it be the fuel pump? I just put a new one on about... (checks records)... about four years ago. (Although, according to my records, that was the last time I replaced the fuel filter, too. I'd better check the filter itself: I always mark 'em with the installation date.) Later: As I suspected, I replaced the fool filter on 7/9/98. Could still be the pump, I guess, or possibly the 1/2-tank of gas that's been sitting for seven months.

4/18/99 -- First time in awhile I've gotten around to updating this. In keeping with the delay, I've put together a slide show of reassembling the engine.

In our last thrilling episode, I'd decided that the Dodge had a fuel-supply problem. In this order, I: Replaced the pump and filter; rebuilt the carburetor; removed, drained, power-washed, and reinstalled the fuel tank. Didn't make a bit of difference.

Finally, on Thursday night, I got fed up with fooling around: I pulled the distributor, coil, and ballast resistor out of the Plymouth, and jury-rigged them into the electrical system. (Mechanically they're a direct swap.) With that done, the engine would fire and run... but only while the starter was turning. Discouraged, I went to bed.

Friday evening it finally dawned on me: I'd connected the ballast resistor to what seemed to be the proper terminal of the starter relay, but I was interpolating between the Plymouth's wiring diagram and diagrams of two different configurations for the Dodge (one with SCC ignition and one with ECU). I guessed wrong.

With the coil hooked to a permanently hot wire through the ballast resistor, it fired right up! (Of course I had to cut the wire to make it stop.) The moral of the story: MOPAR Spark-Control Computer ignition systems suck! Granted, the engine did need to be rebuilt, but there was nothing so mechanically wrong that it stopped running: Something's wrong with the SCC or one or more of its zillion sensors.

I'm tempted to install an aftermarket ignition system, but I don't know whether the DEQ would fail the truck on its smog check for non-original equipment. A safer option would be to install an ECU ignition system, since it was also used in '86.

Before spending more money though, I should run through all the vacuum hoses -- there are at least a dozen -- because a broken one could be causing the SCC to receive false data. Or it could be a faulty electric sensor -- of which there are about six -- that initially had thermal problems and is now completely dead. What a pain!

I guess I could just throw the SCC gear in the back seat, drive it to the dealer, and tell them: "Fix it!"

9/12/99 -- Finally, progress!

I broke down and ordered an electronic ignition "upgrade" kit from Summit Racing. (I suppose that technically it's a "downgrade" from the SCC engine-management system, as it's intended to replace old mechanical-style ignition systems, but if it makes a nonfunctional vehicle work, I'll call it an upgrade!)

Here are a couple snaps of the installation process:

Working on the distributor and vacuum-advance connections. Gee this is fun... .

The new ignition system in place. The MOPAR "orange box" ECU is installed just below the left hood strut.

I messed with this thing for about six hours without success. Turned out that I'd burned up a coil in the starter, or possibly the solenoid while cranking the engine back when it was acting up. This weekend I installed a new starter, and damme if it didn't fire right up!

Unfortunately, or maybe not, it was about 30 minutes after the DEQ emissions station closed for the day. It idles and runs well without a real load on it, but I need to go out and get an adjustable timing light and a better tach-meter to really get the new distributor's vacuum advance dialed in.

I'm close though: I can feel it!

9-20-99 -- Fired up the Dodge and motored it up to the DEQ for emissions testing and registration renewal today, since tomorrow's the last day on the temporary permit. Everything seemed fine and I had moderate hopes of passing the test (the new ignition's still not dialed in quite right, and I suspect it'll read high on hydrocarbons until the new rings are seated). Anyhow, I pulled up to the test station and left 'er stitting there running and went into the waiting room while they finished the dyno test on the Saab in front of me. I was just thinking about how it probably won't pass until I replace the rockers and get a steady vacuum reading, when the DEQ guy busted through the door and said "your truck's really leaking oil bad, you'll have to get it out of here!"

Aieeee!

At first I thought the new rear main seal had let go, the worst-case scenario, since replacing it means at least partially pulling the engine, but I eventually concluded that it's either leaking around the (new) distributor, or from a plug I put in place of the oil-pressure sender while I diddled with the vacuum-advance adjustments. Safe money is on the plug, since I fabricated the thing in about five minutes. (But it's brazed together, and the engine shouldn't get hot enough to melt that... .)

Anyhow, it was a long 2-1/2 miles home, with stops to pour in about two quarts of oil... . I had visions of about $300 worth of bearings being chewed to Hell with less than 48 hours of accumulated run-time on 'em... .

11-27-99 -- It's getting uncomfortably close to a year now since I started working on this thing... .

I finally concluded that the oil leak must be coming from the rear intake manifold gasket. Either that or the even-side head gasket, but I don't think it's that. I'm betting my money (well, nine bucks' worth) that the intake manifold was poorly sealed at the rear even-side corner. And, as long as I'm tearing into it anyhow, I decided to replace the rocker arms and shafts -- the last moving parts I hadn't replaced already -- in hopes of getting a steady vacuum reading.

Here's the updated financial report:

Item	Cost	Subtotal	Vendor
balance forward		1,676.54
ignition upgrade kit	178.90		Summit Racing
starter	29.99		Knecht's
left rocker arms	47.92		BAP
right rocker arms	43.92		BAP
rocker shaft	42.98		BAP
intake gasket set	8.89		BAP
fuel pump	21.99	374.59	BAP
Total		2051.13

(The fuel pump is incidental: I tweaked the one that's currently installed with a socket extension while I was torquing a bolt, and I can hear what sounds an awful lot like a spring hanging up then popping free with the stethescope. Not something that I want to have give way on the road.)

The rockers I should've replaced anyway, as they're all worn, and the odd-side shaft and several arms are from a junkyard.

Here's why I should've painted the engine parts:

After pulling the manifold I've come to the conclusion that my oil leak and vacuum problems might come from the same source: When I installed the intake manifold, my manuals disagreed whether to use sealer on the side gaskets. Foolishly, I went ahead and used RTV. I now think this was a mistake.

If you look closely at this picture you might notice that the RTV around the intake ports looks odd. In fact, it really wasn't adhered at all, especially between the siamesed ports. Crosstalk between the intakes would definitely make the vacuum readings wonky!

When I examined the old gaskets, I found that the ridges of wrung metal had been only slightly crushed at best. It looks like the RTV filled them in and prevented the gaskets from compressing properly.

At least the new gasket set came with an instruction sheet, which is more than I got with the full-rebuild set. One note of interest in these instructions is:

DO NOT use any sealer on side gaskets.

5/29/01 It's been awhile... . I was hung up with a project at work for a year or so, and having the Nissan available wasn't a motivating factor to work on the Ram. I've gone 'round and 'round with the ignition system and the vacuum system, and just about two days ago found a vacuum line to the evaporative emissions charcoal cannister with a good- sized hole worn in it. That might be something... . At present I've switched back to the SCC, thinking that I haven't tried it since resealing the intake manifold... . Had to take a break tonight and install a Beta version of the new hood ornament: