On Tue May 2 23:56:34 2000, dakota-truck@buffnet.net wrote:
>---SNIP---
>Well today i took it into the dodge dealer and asked them about it. They
> said to bring it in and have the oil changed thier and so they can start a
> oil consumption test and have me bring it every 500 miles to check it out.
> I asked the service manager if this is the case, what are you going to do?
> He said they'll probably re-ring it. When i got to work after going thier,
> i checked the oil and i saw it was slightly down
> My question is: If thier is a problem with it and they do the
> re-ringing, would it be best to have them do that or would thier be some way
> i could get a new engine out of it? Im not familiar with how dodge does
> this stuff with warranties. I gotta tell them that i can't be without the
> truck for a long time.
> By the way: if the truck has been sitting for a long time, like when i start
> it in the morning, it has a hard time starting, like its struggling then i
> comes up to life. I have no mods done to the engine.
> My truck is a 97' auto 318. thanks
Do you get a puff of smoke when you start it up in the morning? Since you said
it sluggish firing up after sitting a while, your guides could be worn from an
improperly setup valve train, causing oil to get sucked into the combustion
chamber as you drive. The amount is barely noticable - as in no smoke trail. A
ring problem will cause smoking, almost 99% of the time, expecisally when
decellerating in gear. Worn guides and bad valve seals will usually cause a
puff of smoke on startup, and no sign during operation, but your oil level
drops. Do a compression test on your own to verify if it's the rings or not.
After the first round of the test, go back and squirt some oil into each
cylinder as you test it. If the compression rises, it's your rings. Haven't
done a compression test on a 318, but I would assume you should be between 140
and 160 psi, others that have done it will verify.
Mike Schwall
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