Ram 1500 Won't start after Overheating

Asked by toperry Feb 27, 2013 at 09:27 PM about the 2005 Dodge RAM 1500

Question type: Maintenance & Repair

My Dodge Ram 1500 overheated and now won't start.  When replacing the thermostat we discovered there was no water in the block and the water in the radiator hose smelled burnt.  Truck rolls over and acts like it wants to start but it only makes a high pitched whining noise.  Any suggestions?

7 Answers

someone cooked this engine...with any luck the head is okay and doesn't leak, the waterjacket is sound and not leaking to the oil jacket and the fluids test okay. high pitched whining noise, like the crank is broken? like the timing chain snapped? like the starter cannot engage as siezed motor. Please do more research or we can't help you.

11 people found this helpful.
24,415

Do a compression check on all cylinders. This will uncover any serious internal damage from overheating, some of which are mentioned above.

2 people found this helpful.
945

do a obd scan on the motor it will come up with random miss fire after that fill thread and crank it over about 20 times but have someone keep a look out under your truck for leaking water especially the exhaust the reason I,m saying this is 2 years ago I blew a lower rad hose and had the same problem the diagnosis was a cracked block at #8 cyl leaking into the exhaust manifold the motor was shot it took me 2 yrs to find a decent motor to put back in the truck

4 people found this helpful.

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