Contour Enthusiasts Group Archives Forums General Troubleshooting HEAD GASKET

Hello everyone.

I bought my 1996 Dodge Dakota V8 last month with 113,000 miles. Not even 3 weeks since I had it and it needs serious repairs.
At first it was great. Nice body (excellent shape). I mean this guy took good care of it. So we thought.
I decided to change the oil, that was fine, he took care of that every 3,000 miles. But he forgot about everything else. He never changed the spark plugs/wires. Nor did he ever change the radiator fluid. So we decided to tackel the radiator fluid. Needless to say the fluid looked horrible. It was pretty brownish, like old coffee. And the coolant resavior was empty when we got it. After many flushes later, to get all of the gunk out. We decided it was ready to be refilled. After a successful flush/fill, there was white smoke out of the exhaust. And it wouldn't go away.

Bad head gasket right? Well my friend took everything apart to get to the heads. First off he found the 8th spark plug had oil/stuff on it. When he pulled it all apart he said the head gasket appeared to be fine, no leaks. He took the heads to a machine shop and found nothing wrong with the heads, he said there weren't any cracks. My friend is now wondering how this fluid got into the spark plug #8. The next thing he would think would be a cracked block. If that were the case the whole engine would basically need to be replaced. Am I correct thinking this?

I think the gasket may still have been the problem even though he couldn't see anything wrong. I think once everything is cleaned up we should put it all back together (new gaskets etc) and then try it. If no white smoke, then bingo, fixed. If white smoke we then could determine a cracked/bad block. Then the whole thing would have to be taken out anyway correct? I'd rather not have him go thru all of the work of taking the block out unless it is the final step to a new engine.

Any thoughts from you guys/gals?

Is a cracked block common on the 1996 Dodge Dakota?

If anyone knows any info at all would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

maybe a compression test will help you determine. But first, put it all back, refill with coolant and see from there.


Good luck!

Yes, I didn't want my friend pulling the block out unless we know for a fact it was bad/cracked. If it is cracked then we can pull it all out and start over. I don't want him doing unnecessary work. I think it'd be easier to put it back together (I have a hunch it was a bad head gasket, not a cracked block). You know the gut feeling I am talking about?? He is trying to solve the question of why was there oil/moisture in the 8th spark plug. I guess I am curious, but I won't die if he puts it back together and it is fixed.

BTW, how's the Contour running?? Do you need to update the mileage in your sig now??

I will update the milage. The Contour is running great! AC is still cold, she runs like a champ! And everyone was telling me to sell it, they were crazy. The Dakota was my truck to haul stuff with. I drive my Contour everyday.