Looking at a 2004? Dakota one a local lot, 4x4, 4 door, pretty burgandy & silver. Called about it and it's a 4.7, 160,000 or so miles. EVERYONE says they're death.

Are they really that bad?!

And... go!

I don't say they're death, and I am in the minority and PREFER the 4.7 in dakota-durango sized vehicles. Gotta keep up on the oil changes. Mine has 170 k and I may do the chain-tensioner and guides just as a preventive measure, even though this engine makes no funky noises.

My mechanic friend tells me to avoid them like the plague ... and the hemis aren't much better - valve seats fall out, pushrods wear into the rockers, etc, etc.

I'm thinking if it has gone 160K and hasn't blew up, it not likely will for some time if mine is any indication. Maybe you can use the "bad engine reputation" to your negotiating advantage.

I have an 03 Ram with one in it. 35,000 when I bought it and 180+ plus now.

I switched it to 10/30 Mobil 1 at the first oil change and it never gets changed on time, not even close. It has the 4.7 cold rattle and has had it forever. Doesn't use any oil.

I've replaced 2 coils and a water pump.

I changed plugs at about the 150,000 mark with Bosch Platinums that the dealer insisted would burn the pistons out of it. It didn't because it never went more than 1000 miles before one would quit. After the 3rd one failed I put Champion Copper Cores in like the dealer said and no problems since. Don't know how the engine knows the difference but it don't like platinum.

I was a little underwhelmed at first with the power and fuel mileage until I weighed the truck. Quad Cab 2wd and it only weighs 5500 lbs... It does mid teens local and 19-20 MPG tops on a trip with the cruise at 75.

It has 3.92's and a 545RFE so it sounds like it's doing a stroke of business when you take off but it's all done after it grabs second.

Step on it on the highway and nothing happens until it downshifts. Not sure if it has something to do with the fly by wire or not but when I say nothing I mean it doesn't even get louder like it's trying. The pedal just acts like it's dead until you push it into kick down range and then it's all sporty again.

Electrical gremlins have sidelined it for a few years now or it would be north of 250K and it has given me no indication that it wasn't capable of going the distance.

Kevin

I'm sure there are plenty of 5.7s out there with over 200k
Our '08 Durango has 155k on it, we bought it new, currently needs an MDS solenoid but still gets 17+ mpg without MDS.
Our '09 Charger 5.7 has 143k on second engine.Previous owner drove through deep water with original engine!
The forums I've read seem to point to overheating as the possible cause of valve seats dropping.I think it's less likely on '09- engines.
On the Charger/300 the electric fans can be troublesome.
The Ram may have a belt driven fan, not sure on the Dakota.
Sounds like a great truck!

They aren't the most powerful engines down low but they get the job done. My 02 quad 4x4 has been good to me, I had to replace the engine when I got it because it had been run very hot and burned a hole in a piston. Keep the oil changed and the water level checked and you should be fine.

I had a 2002 Ram 1500 with the 4.7. I had ZERO problems with the engine.
I'm at 282,000 on my 2007 Ram 1500 5.7. Yes, I am WAAAY over 200K and it still runs great!

I have one in an 01 Durango. It has about 195k on it, uses a lot of oil, but runs super smooth! I'm pretty sure it's the valve seals and possibly the guides causing the oil use.

Have noticed after seeing alot of Jeeps with 4.7s that alot of them are sold with non running engines but with an extra set of heads,or owner says they have overheated bad and wont run right.
And i got the advice on here to stay away from the 4.7 since they realy dont appreciate if they have not been taken care of right,no tolerance for ignorign oilchanges and such.

The 4.7 is a good engine IMHO. I had one in a 2002 quad cab and never touched the engine. It still had the OEM water pump on it and went way over 200K on it. I only traded it in because I wanted a new truck (15 Crew cab/Hemi). I used 15w40 oil after it had 9000 miles on it and changed it about every 3K then went 4K and was going 5k on oil changes.Coolant flushed every 2 years.Just maintained it is all I did,and it didn't cost me a lot of money doing so.

When asked about the durability of a particular engine, I always recommend that a few calls be made to local salvage yards to check on price and availability. That will tell the curious a lot about the engine in question.

In this case, you will find very few good 4.7s and they will be expensive.

Got my 4.7 Dakota used at 30k miles and now I am at 185k. I'm happy with it.

Only thing that went out on it was the water pump at about 110k. These have a plastic impeller from the factory and are prone to failure. I got the truck stopped quickly and shut off so it didn't overheat. My guess is a lot of the 4.7's die this way. Water pump goes out, and if the driver doesn't know what's going on they keep driving it dry and overheat it.

I also have the usual lifter clatter for about 30 seconds on cold startup. This is very common on these engines and does not seem to hurt anything.

Anything used at 160,000 miles is a bit of a risk if you don't know the history. If the rest of the truck seems well taken care of, the engine probably was too. If the price is right I'd take a chance.

I'd say if you like the truck, and can get it cheap (2004 truck should be cheap) - then go for it. Do some maintenance, and use it until the wheels fall off.

Just try to find a used 4.7. Some of you guys have lucked out, the majority are in the scrap yards because the engine is bad. Don't believe me? Call around.

I have seen lots of dakotas, durangos, rams for sale cheap with blown or non-running 4.7's. I never see ones for sale with bad 5.2's or 5.9's.

2002 Durango here with 165K on the clock. Still runs great, uses very little oil and I cannot recall when I changed it last....
The only odd thing that might work in your favour is that many that I have seen, mine included, have a milky sludge that builds up in the oil fill tube. It looks like hell and ya gotta wonder if there is water leak in the engine. There isn't.
The only 'failure' that we have experienced with this rig is/was a loose connector at the EMC and had to buy a rebuilt computer.

They don't really blow up so to speak but they have many issues.

Blown head gaskets and cracked heads are common and usually mean it needs a radiator, heater core or water pump as the heads and head gaskets only seem to go bad when it gets overheated, ocasionally it will also drop a valve seat when it gets overheated. I can't think of any instance where an owner told me it didn't start overheating before they got those issues.

The "lifter noise" they typically have is no biggie... till one of your rockers fall off in the morning. For it to fall off it has to sit with the tip of the lobe pressing directy down on the rocker with the weak lash adjuster and it has to sit long enough to completly bleed down the lash adjuster, then when you start it it kicks the rocker off before the lifter has a chance to pump up. If your lucky you pull the valve cover and put it back on and your back on the road in an hour. Sometimes though depending on where exacty the rocker falls is can bust the lash adjusters hole out of the head, break the cam, or bend or break a vave and even poke a hole in the piston.

The timing chains are another biggie that usually gets em condemend, if you let it go long enough it will sound like the bottom end is coming apart, they are a lot more complicated than most timing chains to replace and a lot of shops won't even touch em. The plastic guides break usually starting around 125,000 (I just finished up a set in an 07 dakota with 109,000 and they were al falling apart). Your best bet is to do em around 100K just like you would a timing belt. Get the kit with all 3 chains, all 3 tensioners and all the plastic guides, do it once and do it right. The plastic in the engine just can't take the heat.

One other issue I have seen a couple times is the rod bearings seem very soft and will just go away for no reason. luckily the rod bearings are very soft and every one I have seen do this the crank still looks new, put in new bearings and go on with life.

The bores hardy ever show any significant wear on em, cranks seem to last forever, pistons, rods... all seem to hold up ok. I have worked on tons of them and never seen one need rings or bored and pistons replaced. Some of the issues can be avoided by overy active maintnance and by watching your temp gauge very carefully. Even with the best maintnance you still should do the timing set up to expect the most out of it.

I remember when Chrysler came out with these engines and even said they only expect them to last 150,000 so there is that.

Thanks all. I probably won't buy it, as I'm soon to be retired and won't want to spend thousands on a 10-15 y/o truck.

My 07 Jeep Commander has 110K and it is the smoothest, best performing engine I've ever owned. No problems ever and I keep the oil changed every 4K miles.

So, was it something we said?