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capone
Dodge Dakota
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5/06/2007
17:54:51
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 Subject: 318 Purchase - Question
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Ok, so I just took a look at a 97 Dakota with a 318 5spd and 2wd. Its the perfect setup for me. Problem is, he says it burns a little oil. This obviously concerns me. I had 2 Dakotas with a 3.9 and they burned some oil too. I also had a Ram with the old LA 318 and that burned more oil. My question is, how much is acceptable? I know none would be ideal, but thats not realistic. The truck is $3500 and is in great shape anyways. The motor seemed strong when I drove it. So I'm thinking I have it compression tested and if its ok then don't worry about it too much. Maybe rebuild down the road. I've also got a start on building my 408, so I could just throw that in when I'm done too. In any case, the truck has 90k miles on it and it burns about a quart every oil change. Is this something I should be overly concerned about? If so, would it still be a good buy concidering the price? Thanks everyone for you help.
- capone
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Kota Kid
Dodge Dakota
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5/07/2007
12:45:00
|  RE: 318 Purchase - Question
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1 qt an oil change isn't too bad but if you want to stop it you should take a look inside of the throttle body at the bottom of the intake manifold. If you see a lot of oil or a heavy oil film than the intake plenum pan gasket on the bottom side of the intake manifold is probably leaking. There is a bulliten that can be found on alldata for a oil consumption/spark knock concern, this bulliten has a better way of checking it. I had to replace this gasket on my 99 318 4x4 when I bought it, and also on my little brothers Grand Cherokee 318. My Dakota was burning about 1qt an oil change, but the Grand Cherokee was burning nearly 2qts.
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Rustywrenches
Dodge Dakota
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5/07/2007
15:38:19
|  RE: 318 Purchase - Question
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How many miles between oil changes? If 4-5k between oil changes, its not too bad. Also Kota Kid is steering you in the right direction about the plenum gasket leakage problem.
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Kowalski
GenIII
5/07/2007
17:36:25
| RE: 318 Purchase - Question
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Where it is leaking could be as important as how much. I'd be hoping to find that manifold leak, if it's not that, I'd prefer to find leaky valve seals over leaky cylinder rings. A ring job would be the most drastic repair.
Lead, follow, or get out of the way
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Hammill
GenIII
5/19/2007
09:50:11
| RE: 318 Purchase - Question
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If it is leaking oil it might just be a seal. I've heard of some guys replacing the rear main seal and that being the problem. If it ias is the seal there would most likely be a small puddle under you truck if it sat for a while.
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OBIO3
Dodge Dakota
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5/19/2007
21:32:45
| RE: 318 Purchase - Question
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I feel some different on this. How many guys in here are using oil with 90 thousand on there truck. How about 200 thousand or 3 ? Thing is, using oil is a thing of the past. grant you it can happen but it's getting pretty rare. My point being, PRIOR to slaping your money down, Take the truck to a really good shop an get a real opinion.
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Kota Kid
Dodge Dakota
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5/20/2007
18:23:46
|  RE: 318 Purchase - Question
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Everything uses a little oil, just because you can't see it on the dipstick doesn't mean it ain't happening. There isn't an engine on the planet that is efficient enough to not burn some. My 318 uses a little less than a 1/2 of a qt in 3500 miles or so, and my intake manifold and plenum pan gaskets have already been changed before at 61,000 mi. My 02 4.7 is the same way, she burns a little bit less than 1/2 qt in about 3500 miles. I just quit a Chevy dealership and they say up to a qt in 3000 miles is acceptable.
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OBIO3
Dodge Dakota
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5/20/2007
18:55:47
| RE: 318 Purchase - Question
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Kota. In theory your correct. If what you say wasn't true the rings and pistons would do a melt down. But this usage is so minimal under normal conditions it is unnoticeable. I own 3 rigs. 99 Dakota 5.2 4X4 CC...95 Plymouth Voyager 3L V6....94 Dodge 5.2 150 LE van. I do once a year changes at approximately 7,500 miles using Mobil 1 EP and Mobil top quality filters. If any of my vehicles show missing oil, it is unnoticeable on the stick. This is as it should be,
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98blackdak
Dodge Dakota
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5/26/2007
19:12:17
| RE: 318 Purchase - Question
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yea its probably the plenum gasket. We had to replace it on my truck and my dads (both 318's) Our friend also had to do it on his 360. The 318/360 are very know for that. Mine actually sucked part of the gasket into the motor!!! luckily it didn't tear anything up........If i was at the shop I would luck up the labor hours on the Job so you could get an idea of what you would spend to have it done. Depending on your shops hourly labor rate of course;)
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Kota Kid
Dodge Dakota
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5/28/2007
15:31:03
| RE: 318 Purchase - Question
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It pays about 5.5-6hrs by the book to change the plenum pan gasket.
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dak_rt
Dodge Dakota
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5/30/2007
01:29:27
| RE: 318 Purchase - Question
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The intakes on these trucks are nitourious for leaking oil. They also arent that bad to change the gasket in. I have a 93 5.2 and a 99 r/t that both burnt a little oil. Changed the lower plenum gasket on the 93 and fixed the problem. The 99 I changed to an m1 style intake (mopar performance intake). These style intakees dont use the lower plenum gasket but are around $600 from summit and well worth it do to performance gains and no longer burning oil. If you are mechanicly inclined you could do the gasket in 3-4 hours. you dont need any specialty tools maybe a rachet wrench for that stupid bolt that they put behind the idler pulley but other than that it is pretty simple to do.
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