Two rocker arms off?!?! WTF?

Any information on what the service history of the truck? I would be willing to bet six one packs this was the root cause of your troubles.

I had something like this happen on my Dodge 2500 cummins. I went into the dealership to get my valve lash adjusted. It was under warranty at 42K miles and the valves were getting a little noisy. This service wasn't supposed to be done until 125-150K. I wanted to take it to a buddies place in Denver and have him show me how for 125.00. Well my wife threw a bitch fit (rightfully so) and pointed out we have a GD warranty for these issues.

Anyway, the dealership lead diesel tech took off the rocker bridge on the exhaust valve (needed to pull injector) and called to tell me the injector was all "coked" up and needed fuel system cleaning for 400.00 upsale. I knew for a fact my injectors were not the issue and use fuel system treatment every fill up. I told the service advisor I would be right down to look at this "coked up" injector. Of course it was already reinstalled.

Anyway, to make a very long story shorter, the tech didn't tighten down the rocker bridge and 1/4 mile down the road it came apart and my engine compression locked (exhaust valve not opening). The push tube (called push rods in gassers) was bent, and I knew a head gasket was coming in the future since the motor compression locked (17.2-1 ratio). Dealership had the truck for 5 weeks, never fixed it but said it was good to go. Damn motor sounded like ball bearings were lose inside.

This is when I became my own diesel tech and did part time work in a shop in Denver. The problem was fixed for 265.00, but of course the head gasket that soon followed was not so cheap. I had to mill .007 off to make true (which is a buttload since the max is .013), ARP head studs, marine head gasket (stronger), and mostly my own labor. Bill still came out to 7000.00 after my injectors failed as well.

To this day, I cannot recommend a Dodge/Ram product to anyone. Not because of quality, but due to the service departments in my city.

 

You only know the half of it. That truck (04.5 Dodge) in conjunction with my 02 HO Dodge diesel made me purchase the Tundra so I could catch up on my bank account. I shit you not. We knew the Tundra was not a long term solution, but it totally stopped the bleeding.

04.5 Dodge replacement parts:



CP3 injection pump
4 sets of injectors
FASS lift pump
Head work mentioned above
Front axle u-joints
Trans was slipping at 70K miles
Turbo labyrinth seals leaking, which was rare for such a low mileage truck. Instead of rebuilding, I upgraded to a different spec turbo. I also didn't want a run away diesel motor.

We had several trips ruined due to this truck breaking down right before vacation or just wiping out the vacation account. The wife put her foot down and allotted 2500.00 in repair bills per year. After that, truck would sit.

Sold at 75K miles

02 Dodge HO truck:

How I purchased it. You can see the clear coat falling off the bed and hood.


Now to be fair, I purchased this truck at 90K miles and knew it needed some TLC with no prior history. This is one of the reasons I will never buy a used truck again with more than 25K miles.

Turbo
paint
dash
wheels and tires (those offset wheels are tough on ball joints)
ball joints
NV-5600 rebuild and clutch. Purchased a 400 hp rated clutch. Wasn't enough after my build. Go figure.
Transfer case housing cracked due to bad front drive shaft u-joints. Common problem that's hard to catch until to late.
Dana 80 LS needed new clutches...I said "F it"
Complete front steering
Injectors (I replaced these at 150K, so not bad) and way cheaper than common rail injectors. All 6 were 360.00.
Blend door for HVAC, which totally sucks on these trucks. This was also the reason for the new dash since it fell apart when removed.
FASS lift pump
2 VP-44 injection pumps. These suck.

Once done and then sold this money pit. On average, over the 42 months of ownership it cost 619.00 per month for repairs.




When I started looking for another diesel, the wife was clear if I purchased another Dodge/Ram truck, divorce papers would be delivered to me. I don't think she was joking. Pretty sure she was tired of the constant draining of the bank accounts and my dumb ass working on these damn things all the time.

The 04.5 Dodge was a birthday present to me from her. We test drove the Duramax trucks, and due to costing 16K more, didn't go that route. Hind sight.....

 

Now the B5 S4 is pretty sweet!

I went down the rabbit hole for sure. The trucks were actually pretty good. I almost always had some sort of issue with the motor or fuel system.