Dodge Ram Truck 1500-2500-3500. Manual — part 1397

INSTALLATION

The No. 1 (1) and No. 2 (2) piston rings have a differ-
ent cross section. Install rings with manufacturers I.D.
mark facing up, to the top of the piston.

CAUTION: Install piston rings in the following
order:

•

Oil ring expander

•

Lower oil ring side rail

•

Upper oil ring side rail

•

No. 2 intermediate piston ring

•

No. 1 upper piston ring

1. Install oil ring expander.

2. Install the lower oil ring side rail by placing one end

between the piston ring groove and the expander.
Hold end firmly and press down the portion to be
installed until side rail (1) is in position. Do not use
a piston ring expander..

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ENGINE - 8.3L - SERVICE INFORMATION

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3. Install upper oil ring side rail.

4. Install No. 2 piston ring and then No. 1 piston ring.

5. Position piston ring end gaps as shown.

6. Position oil ring expander gap at least 45° from the

side rail gaps but not on the piston pin center or
on the thrust direction. Staggering ring gap is
important for oil control.

BEARINGS-CONNECTING ROD

DESCRIPTION

The bearing caps are not interchangeable and should be paint marked or scribed at removal to insure correct
assembly.

The bearing shells must be installed so that the tangs are in the machined grooves in the rods and caps.

Limits of taper or out-of-round on any crankshaft journals should be held to 0.013 mm (0.0005 in.). Bearings are
available in 0.025 mm (0.001 in.), 0.051 mm (0.002 in.), 0.076 mm (0.003 in.), 0.254 mm (0.010 in.) and 0.305 mm
(0.012 in.) undersize. Install the bearings in pairs. Do not use a new bearing half with an old bearing half. Do
not file the rods or bearing caps.

STANDARD PROCEDURE

CONNECTING ROD BEARING - FITTING

Fit all rods on one bank until complete. Do not alternate from one bank to another, because when the rods are
assembled to pistons correctly, they are not interchangeable from one bank to another.

The bearing caps are not interchangeable and should be marked at removal to insure correct assembly.

The bearing shells must be installed so that the tangs are in the machined grooves in the rods and caps.

Limits of taper or out-of-round on any crankshaft journals should be held to 0.013 mm (0.0005 in.). Bearings are
available in 0.025 mm (0.001 in.), 0.051 mm (0.002 in.), 0.076 mm (0.003 in.), 0.254 mm (0.010 in.) and 0.305 mm

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ENGINE - 8.3L - SERVICE INFORMATION

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(0.012 in.) undersize. Install the bearings in pairs. Do not use a new bearing half with an old bearing half. Do
not file the rods or bearing caps.

1.

(Refer to 9 - ENGINE/ENGINE BLOCK/CONNECTING ROD BEARINGS - STANDARD PROCEDURE) - Mea-

suring Connecting Rod Bearing Clearance to determine bearing clearance.

2. Before installing the connecting rod cap bolts, the bolt threads should be oiled with engine oil.

3. Install bolts finger tight, then alternately torque each bolt to assemble the cap properly.

4. Tighten the connecting rod bolts to 68 N·m (50 ft. lbs.).

MEASURING CONNECTING ROD BEARING CLEARANCE

Engine crankshaft bearing clearances can be deter-
mined by use of Plastigage (1) or equivalent. The fol-
lowing is the recommended procedure for the use of
Plastigage:

1. Rotate the crankshaft until the connecting rod to be

checked is at the bottom of its stroke.

2. Remove oil film from surface to be checked. Plas-

tigage is soluble in oil.

3. Place a piece of Plastigage (1) across the entire

width of the bearing shell in the bearing cap
approximately 6.35 mm (1/4 inch.) off center and
away from the oil hole. In addition, suspect areas
can be checked by placing plastigage in the sus-
pect area.

4. Before assembling the rod cap with Plastigage in place, the crankshaft must be rotated until the connecting rod

being checked starts moving toward the top of the engine. Only then should the cap be assembled and torqued
to specifications. Do not rotate the crankshaft while assembling the cap or the Plastigage may be
smeared, giving inaccurate results.

5. Remove the bearing cap and compare the width of

the flattened Plastigage with the metric scale pro-
vided on the package. Locate the band closest to
the same width. This band shows the amount of
clearance in thousandths of a millimeter. Differ-
ences in readings between the ends indicate the
amount of taper present. Record all readings taken.
(Refer to 9 - ENGINE - SPECIFICATIONS). Plasti-
gage generally is accompanied by two scales.
One scale is in inches, the other is a metric
scale.

6. Plastigage is available in a variety of clearance

ranges. The 0.025-0.076 mm (.001-.003 inch) is usually the most appropriate for checking engine bearing proper
specifications.

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ENGINE - 8.3L - SERVICE INFORMATION

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DAMPER-CRANKSHAFT

REMOVAL

1. Raise and support the vehicle.

2. Remove the engine front shield.

3. Disconnect the radiator fan hydraulic lines (Refer to

7

-

COOLING/ENGINE/RADIATOR

FAN

-

REMOVAL).

4. Lower vehicle.

5. Disconnect the air inlet duct, IAT sensor, CCV hose

at the throttle body, and remove the air cleaner
housing cover.

6. Remove accessory drive belt (Refer to 7 - COOL-

ING/ACCESSORY

DRIVE/DRIVE

BELTS

-

REMOVAL).

7. Remove the radiator fan (Refer to 7 - COOLING/

ENGINE/RADIATOR FAN - REMOVAL).

8. Raise and support the vehicle.

9. Remove crankshaft pulley.

10. Remove crankshaft damper bolt.

11. Install crankshaft insert, Special Tool 8194 (1).

Lubricate the end of Special Tool 8194 (1) with
wheel bearing grease or equivalent.

NOTE: Lubricate the threads of the puller using
Mopar

T

Nickel Anti-seize Compound or equivalent,

before beginning crankshaft damper removal.

12. Using a bolt-grip type universal puller (1), remove

the crankshaft damper.

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ENGINE - 8.3L - SERVICE INFORMATION

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