2017 RAM 1500- Engine issues

[harleyram75]

Looking for some feedback here. My truck first started dropping 2 - 3 inches of coolant in the reservoir but I didn't see any signs of a leak. I replaced the 3-way bypass valve and thermostat hoping it was something simple. That didn't work. Suddenly I started hearing a knocking sound near. Ack of engine.
Took it to dealership and they said they think it's the flex plate and wanted $1800 to pull transmission and check it. Told them no thanks and took it to a reputable transmission shop. He listened to it and had a couple of other people listen to it and all agreed it's not the flex plate. So I took it to another local mechanic. They did a compression test and said it's a blown head gasket but unfortunately they can't repair it and I should take it to the dealership because they have to lift off the cab to repair. I called a couple of diesel repair shops and nobody will work on, all say same thing take it to a dealership.

My question is, first would the blown head gasket repair solve the knock or is it safe to assume that there will be other issues like a rod,lifter, injector, waterpump, etc. I know it's hard to tell without diagnostic work and digging into it.
Could I be looking at needing a new motor?
Truck has just over 100k miles on it.

 

[A standup guy]

I don't have any feedback here other than to say my 2016 with 95,000mi has a slow coolant leak as well that I can't find. No knock yet but I'm curious to see what you find. I did a oil analysis on mine to see if it was going in there somehow. Nada. Looking into the Turbo coolant tube under the manifold. Haven't pulled it yet though. Kinda a big job.

 

[Todtod]

Looking for some feedback here. My truck first started dropping 2 - 3 inches of coolant in the reservoir but I didn't see any signs of a leak. I replaced the 3-way bypass valve and thermostat hoping it was something simple. That didn't work. Suddenly I started hearing a knocking sound near. Ack of engine.
Took it to dealership and they said they think it's the flex plate and wanted $1800 to pull transmission and check it. Told them no thanks and took it to a reputable transmission shop. He listened to it and had a couple of other people listen to it and all agreed it's not the flex plate. So I took it to another local mechanic. They did a compression test and said it's a blown head gasket but unfortunately they can't repair it and I should take it to the dealership because they have to lift off the cab to repair. I called a couple of diesel repair shops and nobody will work on, all say same thing take it to a dealership.

My question is, first would the blown head gasket repair solve the knock or is it safe to assume that there will be other issues like a rod,lifter, injector, waterpump, etc. I know it's hard to tell without diagnostic work and digging into it.
Could I be looking at needing a new motor?
Truck has just over 100k miles on it.

My bet is the head gasket leak allowed water to get in your oil and the rear main is now knocking. I'd do an oil change to see if you have water in the oil before having just the head gasket replaced. If it's a lot of water a frothy brow on the dip stick will indicate the same

 

[TC Diesel]

Need to have OA to determine Lube Status.

 

[harleyram75]

My bet is the head gasket leak allowed water to get in your oil and the rear main is now knocking. I'd do an oil change to see if you have water in the oil before having just the head gasket replaced. If it's a lot of water a frothy brow on the dip stick will indicate the same

I did change the oil but no signs of coolant in the oil.

 

[Todtod]

I did change the oil but no signs of coolant in the oil.

Any metal "glitter" in the oil?

 

[bob5000]

Looking for some feedback here. My truck first started dropping 2 - 3 inches of coolant in the reservoir but I didn't see any signs of a leak. I replaced the 3-way bypass valve and thermostat hoping it was something simple. That didn't work. Suddenly I started hearing a knocking sound near. Ack of engine.
Took it to dealership and they said they think it's the flex plate and wanted $1800 to pull transmission and check it. Told them no thanks and took it to a reputable transmission shop. He listened to it and had a couple of other people listen to it and all agreed it's not the flex plate. So I took it to another local mechanic. They did a compression test and said it's a blown head gasket but unfortunately they can't repair it and I should take it to the dealership because they have to lift off the cab to repair. I called a couple of diesel repair shops and nobody will work on, all say same thing take it to a dealership.

My question is, first would the blown head gasket repair solve the knock or is it safe to assume that there will be other issues like a rod,lifter, injector, waterpump, etc. I know it's hard to tell without diagnostic work and digging into it.
Could I be looking at needing a new motor?
Truck has just over 100k miles on it.

Possible the coolant leak is the EGR cooler, goes down slow and no sign of leaks . Knocking sound different animal, most of the time a bad head gasket if it's blown out of motor will sound like air leaking not knocking. I would pull the oil pan and look for bluish hugh on the rods or crank. Could try a stethoscope to try and narrow it down

 

[Martin Camarena]

I replaced my water pump at 75K, I need to change it again at 175K.

 

[harleyram75]

Any metal "glitter" in the oil

 

[harleyram75]

Oil pan pulled after they stethoscoped engine. Found pieces of metal (not shavings) and "sludge" . Said it needs an engine. Not repairable.

 

[A standup guy]

Ah man, sorry to hear that. I assume if you knew what caused it you'd say here. If you ever figure it out please let us know. I'm going to have the dealer look into a possible EGR cooler leak for mine. If it is that, I believe this component might still be under warranty from the EGR recall years ago.

 

[bob5000]

Had my egr cooler changed twice under warranty