…… 2000 Dodge Caravan Base 3.0 Engine

kyrsyan

Has No Life - Lives on TB
Need some help please.

About 3 weeks ago my caravan started making a lot of valve rattling noises. I originally thought it was due to the wear on the oil (I run a newspaper route). While it was well within the change period, I got an oil change and new filter. But there have been no changes in temperature, no changes in gas mileage, no engine lights. Just the noise.

The noise continued. Dad checked over everything he could and we both thought it was narrowed down to the oil pump. So I took it into the shop to have the oil pressure sensor and the pressure checked. The pressure sensor was bad but the oil pressure is just fine.

The shop said it was the valves and we took it back. Today I called them. They took off the valve covers and can't find anything wrong.

Dad has a friend who says the shop is just not realizing what they are seeing and that it is most likely the rocker arms. He also says that since it hasn't affected the mileage or power I can continue to drive it "for a while". But no input on what "a while" is.

Can anyone help me to understand this? If the rocker arm goes out while I'm driving it will it severely damage the engine? What qualifies as "a while"? I know nothing is "guaranteed" or "written in stone" but vagueness with no further info is driving me up the wall.
 

Ambros

Veteran Member
Not sure about that specific engine but is it OCH or OHV? It could be any number of things, a bent lifter, valves out of adjustment(OHC car), weak valve springs, etc. Also if its hydraulic lifters you may not be getting enough oil to one or more lifter to fully engage it. Plenty of possibilities but nothing you can really tell until you get in there and find out the clearances on all the valves/lifters. I'm betting its a OHC/DOHC engine just based on chrysler tech from that era. That being the case I'd bet the valves need to be shimmed. It really 'wont' hurt anything not to shim them, at least not for a while, but it does need to be done. This will affect power output, fuel economy, and even make the engine idle rougher.
 

Ambros

Veteran Member
Also wanted to add, as an addition to the stuck lifter route, sometimes you can take a quart/pint of marvel mistery oil or in a pinch automatic tranny fluid and add it to your oil. Both of these are thin enough and usually have enough detergents in them to clean the lifters out. After 500-1000 miles of that drain your oil again and swap in fresh. I've done it plenty of times in my car and have had good luck. MMO is a god send for reviving engines and such that 'should' be dead
 

kyrsyan

Has No Life - Lives on TB
Thank you. We actually did check all of that. Finally came down to the bearing rods going bad. Or that's what the dealership said. Everything else was perfect but they found metal in the oil pan. It was drivable (if noisy) when I dropped it but completely and utterly died within 10 miles of leaving the dealership. Actually I knew before I even got out of the lot that something had gone seriously wrong in their explorations. It had seriously lost power.

We towed it to the mechanic we use for big work and are waiting. He's over an hour away so that's why the dealership got to figure out the issue. We are now waiting for the replacement used engine, which should hopefully arrive today.
 

Ambros

Veteran Member
Yeah i've ate rod bearings before in my TransAM... Whole different noise from lifters though. It sounded like my engine was trying to come apart completely....it was down right nasty, but thats what i get for building a top end to rev to 8000 and the bottom end to only handle 6500 :|. Usually if you lose a rod bearing you will notice a drop in oil pressure. Good luck getting it back together, that's not going to be a cheap fix :(
 

kyrsyan

Has No Life - Lives on TB
Nope, it's not cheap. Used engine, shipped, $900. Installation $400. And a bit more but I don't have the price on the bit more yet.

Hopefully I will have my van back by Friday.
 

byronandkathy2003

Veteran Member
Nope, it's not cheap. Used engine, shipped, $900. Installation $400. And a bit more but I don't have the price on the bit more yet.

Hopefully I will have my van back by Friday.

you most likely have spun a rod or crank bearing.

did you get a quot to replace the crank shaft and any connecting rods that may be bad??

some times it is cheaper to fix it and have it like new rather than buying a used engine.
 

kyrsyan

Has No Life - Lives on TB
All of that was checked. It finally came down to bearings shredding. And it didn't help extend the old engine life any when the shop poured the old oil, full of shavings, back into the engine rather than replacing it with new oil.

The "new" used engine is in and seems to be okay. The oil pan is leaking and it will go in to a new shop on Monday to have the oil pan replaced with the one off of the old engine. After it's been scrubbed and prepped.

I'm keeping my thoughts positive and focused on this being the last of it. That the van will hold up well without any more major issues any time in the next couple of years. I still have to do brakes, shocks, and catalytic converter.
 
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