Anybody ever rebuilt a 4.7 motor? I bought a 2004 Dakota 4 door, and the motor has been overheated and is locked up tighter'n a drum. I did a search, and people either love em or hate em. How far over will they bore? The rest of the truck cleaned up nice, and it will be my wife's little truck so she will leave my diesel alone....lol. I can swap a 5.3 LS motor in it as easy as pie, but who knows what I will have to deal with at state inspection time. I live in a county that has to be smogged. 4.7 rebuild advice or tips appreciated!

speed pro has a set of pistons .020 for 190.00.
If your going to the trouble of swapping an LS put a G3 behind it.
Enginswaps.com has the mounts if your truck is 2 wheel drive.
your ecm will run the hemi with a tune.

I don't really WANT to do an LS swap, but I can buy a low mile 5.3 with a 4L60E transmission for about 1/3 the price of a 5.7. Also, the LS is practically a bolt in using the 4.7 motor mounts. I'd prefer a 5.7, but finding one at a reasonable price is the hard part. I have one that I am putting in a 70 Duster, but I've already invested too much in that swap to use it in the Dakota. I do appreciate the info. I did not know you could run a G3 with the 4.7 ECM.

Some have done it.
I just picked up another 5.7 core for 500.00 Canadian With wiring harness and computer.
Their out there.
The 4.7 ECM has been done but to what extent I do not know.
But HP supports 04 to 10 Ram and Dakota.
Cant see it being that difficult. They say 05 ECM are the best and easiest to tune. Soooo get an 05 Dakota ECM and youy keep the throttle cable.
Dakotas Durangos .com has lots of info.
The reason I want to use the 4.7 ECM opposed to the 5.7 is that I live in an area that requires smog testing.
So no cel light equals a pass.

If you decide to go with the 4.7 its not that bad of a motor.
Biggest problems was head gaskets and manifold bolts.
Good gaskets and SS bolts fixed mine.
The second is the lifters. Or whatever they are called. They trap garbage in them need to be cleaned often.

What color is it, JD? I found a gold one in Columbus, GA on craigslist that needs an engine. Nice looking truck but just cannot get excited about replacing/rebuilding a 4.7. Hemi swap is interesting but don't think I want to put that much time and money in one. Same deal with swapping in a 5.2 or 5.9.


Tim

JD, CME has remanned 4.7s in stock. Yours should have the later JTEC 16 tooth/4 prong computer

http://www.cmengines.com/se/search.aspx

Thanks Dan! I'd forgotten about CME. Not a bad price, and cheaper than an LS swap with no smog test worries. I've read that the 4.7's are pretty good engines if you just take care of them like you should. The inside of ours is all sludged up, so it obviously never had the oil changed like it should have.

Tim.....ours is Atlantic Blue Pearl. If you see a good chrome back bumper for one down your way, let me know. Ours is rusted, plus the last owner jacked a trailer around too far and twisted it like an airplane propeller! LOL

I would start with a JY core that turns over, blocks hardly ever show any significant wear, cranks show almost no wear even with lack of oil changes and other abuse the bearings usually take the abuse, they seem to be faily soft. Timing chains, guides, tensioners are terrible in these things. That will save you money on boring and buying pistons, throw in rings and bearings maybe deck the block and thats all I would do to the bottom end. If you do feel the need to do a set of pistons you might as well get the domed ones for the HO engine, you get more power and MPG with no down side. The top end should get new lifters as they like to loosen up and let the rockers fall off. Re surface the heads. Get the brand new timing chain, tensioner and gears set off fleabay. Re assemble.

If you need a few extra HP you can add the HO cams. I am not a fan as I like low speed TQ and the 4.7 needs all the help it can get but they are not too bad and you can feel the increase.

If your looking at core engines you can get one of the HO engines (easy to identify as there is a big "HO" cast into the head in the valley near the front of the head), even the earlier ones bolt in if you swap your tone wheels while the cam and crank are out. The HO has bigger cams, dome pistons, floating rods and forged crank (not that I have ever seen a cast crank cause a problem). Some of the earlier ones had supposedly better intakes but you need to make sure you get one that has your matching EGR system or lack of it to keep it emmisions legal. If you dont have EGR you can use EGR engine parts and just block off the unused holes but it is harder to go the other way.

If you were not 3000 miles away I would pull the motor out of my 07 dakota I just did all that to and sell it and you could bolt it in and go, I need a good reason to stick my 6.4 BGE in it.

Thanks Dave. Good info if I rebuild mine versus buying one from CME. I'm going to give them a call on Tuesday, and see what they say. They are a very reputable company, and not too far away for me to go pick it up cheaper than shipping.

if you were closer to Philly I'd hook you up with a 05 4.7 core , tiered of stepping over it.

I appreciate it. I will more than likely just return the motor that's in the truck now as a core. My wife and I were talking about it, and she asked if we didn't want to keep the truck numbers matching. Somehow, I kept a straight face and told her they stopped that for vehicles other than future collectable cars like Challengers....etc!

Your 04 truck is a 32 tooth motor not 16. No big deal just make sure you get the right engine if you get a replacement. Keep the maintenance up and don’t ever run it hot and it will live.

Thanks. That's pretty much what I have found in the good vs bad reviews I've read about them. It sounds like they have a low tolerance for neglect!

Anybody have any first hand experience with the rocker arm fixer things you can buy now? I have seen an ad on Craigslist for them, so that makes me wonder if all they fix is the thickness of your wallet! Supposedly, they keep the engines from spitting out a rocker arm?

If its a keeper engine I would just throw in a new set of lifters and be done with it. If you buy a reman engine it should have new ones in it hopefuly.