After 6 months of rarely having time to work on it I finally put the rebuilt Hemi back in my 04 limited this past weekend. I need to improve the grounding of the engine as I did not get every ground connection that was originally on the engine back on (what are there like 20 of them?), but used some jumper cables to make a few solid ground connections then it started right up. Little smoke and lifter tick as the oil pumps up and engine breaks in. Have an engine light, but that maybe left over from when the engine broke a rod. I tried the key dance to get a code readout, but did not seem to work. Can anyone confirm that correct way to see the codes/reset codes? Ran out of daylight before having everything back together, and still need to; improve grounding, replace inner fender wells, front wheels on, get off the jack stands, new wiper cowl on, wipers, hood, grill, fan shroud, some other under hood plastic, replace a radiator hose, and that should be it.
List of what I did and cost estimates:
2004 Durango Limited with broken rod ($800)
Tow to the house $100
Rebuilt Hemi with a new connecting rod, a new piston, all new bearings, rings, valve seals, and gaskets. (Something like $500)
New timing kit ($75)
New water pump ($75)
New starter ($50)
New wiper cowl ($135)
New intake ($325)
New plugs ($40)
Honed the cylinders ($20 for the hone)
Cleaned up all the carbon build up (hours of labor and like $20 of cleaner)
Cleaned throttle body (Same cleaner so free)
Lot of fresh engine paint to make it look nice. ($30)
Misc nuts and bolts. ($30)
New fluids and filters ($70)
Total: $2270
Calling it $2600 adding in things like engine lift and stand that are not really part of the Durango, but I would not have needed otherwise. Considering a rebuilt Hemi long block will set you back $2,600 I think I did all right on this one. Not in a hurry to do it again. Will post pics once it is all back together, but will add some engine pics now.
List of what I did and cost estimates:
2004 Durango Limited with broken rod ($800)
Tow to the house $100
Rebuilt Hemi with a new connecting rod, a new piston, all new bearings, rings, valve seals, and gaskets. (Something like $500)
New timing kit ($75)
New water pump ($75)
New starter ($50)
New wiper cowl ($135)
New intake ($325)
New plugs ($40)
Honed the cylinders ($20 for the hone)
Cleaned up all the carbon build up (hours of labor and like $20 of cleaner)
Cleaned throttle body (Same cleaner so free)
Lot of fresh engine paint to make it look nice. ($30)
Misc nuts and bolts. ($30)
New fluids and filters ($70)
Total: $2270
Calling it $2600 adding in things like engine lift and stand that are not really part of the Durango, but I would not have needed otherwise. Considering a rebuilt Hemi long block will set you back $2,600 I think I did all right on this one. Not in a hurry to do it again. Will post pics once it is all back together, but will add some engine pics now.
