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SAS Dakota Hemi swap build Thread

29534 Views 93 Replies 12 Participants Last post by  Mad-Max, 
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Well its Officially began and I'm going to try my best to post the most info I can and instructions as I can...... But hell, I'll be learning this too and I might as well help others who are going down this road. With that said, I will need help from you guys as we go but I know enough people here can help down this road less traveled with the Hemi.



So here we go!!!

Background: Starting off with my 01 4.7 Dakota that is my crawler and weekend cruiser. Had 4.7 and then I went supercharged for 2 years and it just wasn't enough. Sold the supercharger and now beginning the swap. Just picked up my donor motor which is a 2008 Dodge Charger ex police car with a Crate Hemi with only 25k on it with paperwork. Picked it up last night for 2 grand after almost a 1,000 mile round trip.

Step one will be to pull Hemi out and then Pull rest of 4.7 out of the Dakota to begin.

My question for this week is the motor mounts....... I know the kit offered online that people use for about 180 is what I want to go with but my question is. I heard that one side of the kit is based off the 4wd diff like factory but mine use frame mounts on both side being SAS. Anyone have info on this?

I will try and post pictures and video as we go. This will be my Dakota build thread. Let me know any questions.






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Mad-Max
looking forward to seeing the truck done and rolling with the new Hemi power. Sure will be a great option for all of the Daks out there with a hurt 4.7...

I'll be ordering a programmer from Sean at Hemifevertuning for mine to see if I can adjust the lockup timing - fingers crossed
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Mad-Max
no idea about the starter clearance, but you're sure the clutch/trans are fully disengaged? IOW nothing else preventing the engine from rotating? No timing pins engaged somewhere etc? I've missed the simplest things more times than I can count...
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Mad-Max
just brainstorming now...

so the starter engages the flywheel properly and it's getting stuck/not releasing? Maybe the starter teeth are 'wedging' the drive teeth into the flywheel teeth and making it too-tight to turn? Assuming the battery is fully charged maybe it's just a bad starter? Could just try another identical starter, and if that doesn't work maybe a different version?

Is there a secondary power circuit that power the starter? IOW maybe there's enough amps to engage the drive gear but not enough to turn the engine?

Is there a difference between the pitch of the flywheel teeth and the starter teeth, jamming the gear mesh?
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Mad-Max
...for sure...that truck is gonna be all kinds of 'really sweet' :eek:nethumb:
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Mad-Max
alright so let's recap - when you key the switch to [start] the starter gear extends out and the splines completely engage with the flywheel, but you need to use a screwdriver to retract it, correct? So either there is a mechanical 'interference' problem preventing either gear to rotate, or there is an electrical problem preventing it. Having tried different starters it sounds like it is less likely to be mechanical, and if so either there isn't enough juice to spin the engine...or there is some electrical gremlin preventing the gear from spinning and/or retracting back into the starter - like the juice was disabled right after the gear extended out...kinda like the starter is in 'limp mode' for some reason. I'm wondering if there are more than one electric circuit in the starter wiring system that is necessary for a 4.7 to work...and one of those circuits is disabled for some reason related to the swap - a mismatch of wiring harnesses per se - like it's getting 5.7 volts instead of the full 14.3......like an old school 'ignition 1' vs 'ignition 2' issue where ign 1 would rotate the starter but wouldn't fire the coil because ign 2 wasn't energized (anyone ever have that old Mopar problem? - it was SO fun).....?

Have you tested the starter unbolted from the bellhousing? Just hanging loose but wired up - key it to see what it does? If it starts and rotates then there's either not enough juice to (also) rotate the engine...or it's back to mechanical.

...just thinking outside the box...
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Mad-Max
right on!

"Hemi Dakota" - 'nuff said :mullet:
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Mad-Max
...in the past when re-filling old school engines, I've drilled a small hole (less than 1/8") through the inner flat surface to allow air in the block bubble out...? I think some t-stats have a hole in them just for that purpose...?
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Mad-Max
...been to that movie too many times myself - good on ya for taking some time off. Looking forward to seeing some shake-down vids! :)

- Sam
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Mad-Max
looks great Jerod 👍 - the Rubicon has long been on my bucket list - your vid is giving me good incentive to press hard this winter to get mine rolling!
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Mad-Max
...just hoping you still have the truck and how it's treating you 👍
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