6.4 hemi Lifter failure

[Chris8579]

The dealer told me originally. They were doing all the lifters. But supposedly there was a miscommunication between tech and service writer. When I dropped it off I was pushing them to do all of them. I figured out they only did half when the check engine light came on and I rechecked my paperwork and there were only 4 sets on paperwork. I even asked when I picked it up if they did all of them. I hope they didn’t tell me they were doing all to shut me up to push the job through. I’ll see how it sounds Monday may bring it back after work. It’s a 14 hr and you have to remove all lifters to change can so it’s a stupid waste of time to change half but that’s all Chrysler will pay for.

 

[jlbush]

My 2018 6.4 Hemi Power Wagon with only 3,500 miles has lifters that are not staying up. Knocks on startup that levels out to a nice ticking sound. Ram said the exhaust manifolds and gaskets are good, so that leaves one thing...lifters.

First Ram and love the truck, but bad lifters at 3500 miles is not good.

 

[Leonard Russo]

I don’t want to ridicule but Mobil-1 0W-40 does Not Meet Chrysler’s Spec . It’s a European spec oil. You should be using Pennzoil Ultra 0W-40 . That meets the Chrysler Spec

 

[Leonard Russo]

I don’t want to ridicule but Mobil-1 0W-40 does Not Meet Chrysler’s Spec . It’s a European spec oil. You should be using Pennzoil Ultra 0W-40 . That meets the Chrysler Spec

MS-12633 is the Chrysler Spec . Mobil-1 does Not Meet it & it’s web site will tell you that.

 

[68PowerWagon]

No sir , they are both tow trucks , we change oil every 5000 miles with mobile 1 full syn . I hope they are not getting driven hard .

Well that takes my question out of the mix. I thought maybe changing oil more frequently would help keep the needle bearings clean & lubed. 5,000 is pretty regular even for a commercial vehicle. Weird how I have seen some guys on here get 3-400,000 on these 6.4's without any major failures & others are having issues 100k or sooner!
I wonder if anybody here has had cam failure with the PUP? I know Burla & many on here swear by it but every time I read about one of these it shows they were using M1. Probably just started a **** storm. I am not trying to do that but I would like to know the numbers of failures with each oil & frequency of oil changed with these failures.

 

[U&A]

It Comes down to a **** part problem and an oil flow problem . Been discussed MANY MANY times over and over on the syn thread.


At a minimum all you can do is run a high moly ester oil and hope you dont have a failure.


Sent while firmly grasping my redline lubed RAM [emoji231]

 

[Fitz-0518]

I agree with U&A. First, the parts vendor is occasionally sending RAM a bad run of cams. There is no quality control checks by the vendor or RAM. Parts come in under the "just in time" economic procedures and they are never checked. Today, there is no longer quality control. No one stops the production line if they see a defect. Trucks do not get pulled off the line for defect correction. The sad fact is. If that truck starts, steers and brakes, it goes on the train. Let the dealer deal with any defects. It is much cheaper. Evidence of this brands attitude is found in the number of these failures. Too high for those that experience it. But many owners have 300k+ miles on their 5.7 and 6.4. If only 1-5% of the engines installed result in factory repairs, then the piece meal nickle and dime cost is just operating expense.
Second, high idle time in high heat climates is a known problem by FCA because of the variable PSI oil pumps. When a 5.7 police cruiser comes in with this problem, FCA ships a new engine. (they shuffle the deck)
I do believe that Penz and Red Line oil, changed at 3-5k miles is smart preventive maintenance.
Unlike GM and Ford who have their own engine and quality control issues. Ram is not addressing the oil system design or vendor parts quality. No corrections are being made in the next year. When GM had the short piston skirt knock in one of their new cheaper design engines, they corrected it the next year. "No economic justification" to address this. Only costing them small dollars relative to sales and profit.
I do believe that a class action suit will continue to gain momentum. At some point there will be enough trucks to justify a common failure claim. Enough consumer suffering, lost time and cost will justify taking them on. They clearly do not care about their brand reputation. I suspect that the type of suit for settlement will be, replace the engine in documented repair vehicles. Remember, FCA knows us well. They study our buying habits carefully. On average we trade out every 2-3 years or just before the warranty is up. Truck only needs to last that long. Fitz

 

[Doug Ram]

2019 3500 cc 4x4 6.4 shot at 17,434 miles pup0w40 and 93 octane everytime . Sure wish I'd knew about hemi tick before I bought this *************.

Is it still under warranty?

 

[Bigskyroadglide]

I can make a guess that it's random:

We do know that lifter is the one that breaks (gets stuck) stops rotating and then grinds down the cam - so lifter is at fault here.

Sounds like it's random batches of defective lifters that just get stuck...

Can anyone provide a counter argument to my theory?

The only comment I might add as a additional point not a counter point. I was watching a YT video and a guy was changing a cam in a 1500. His comment was. Lifters were fine, but the cam was flaking off. Which he indicated would containate the oil and wreck the lifters by getting in the roller and cause it to lock up.

Would still be a lifter problem but caused by material flaking off the cam

 

[Wild one]

The only comment I might add as a additional point not a counter point. I was watching a YT video and a guy was changing a cam in a 1500. His comment was. Lifters were fine, but the cam was flaking off. Which he indicated would containate the oil and wreck the lifters by getting in the roller and cause it to lock up.

Would still be a lifter problem but caused by material flaking off the cam

That would be Johns video ,lol.

(1) DRIVING THE RAM 1500 ACROSS THE COUNTRY PART 2 - YouTube

 

[Bigskyroadglide]

That would be Johns video ,lol.

(1) DRIVING THE RAM 1500 ACROSS THE COUNTRY PART 2 - YouTube

Yup that's it, don't know if it's true but plausible

 

[StoneDude76]

2019 3500 cc 4x4 6.4 shot at 17,434 miles pup0w40 and 93 octane everytime . Sure wish I'd knew about hemi tick before I bought this *************.

I guess you should buy a Tesla. Every truck maker has issues. GM has lifter failures as well. Ford gas engines have their issues. I'm sure your warranty took care of the problem.

Sent from my VS988 using Tapatalk

 

[HEMIMANN]

Wow - this thread really bums me out. I've been on the other site a while, member directed me here for deeper oil discussion.

This is my 2nd Ram. My first was 2012 Ram 1500 Quad Cab 4x4 w/Hemi 5.7L engine. Ran it near 100,000 miles, all PUP 5W-20 @ 5k miles, no issues.

This one is 2017 Ram 2500 Crew Cab 4x4 w/Hemi 6.4L engine. Now has 36k miles, no issues yet. Running PUP 0W-40 @ 5k miles.

And to think I dumped Chevy's in 2012 because their MDS stuck piston rings and pumped oil. Wtf is going on with these people? I think a poster above nailed it with planned unacceptable quality for X% of sales, with enough profit baked in to pay for it all. They don't give a rip anymore.

 

[EdGs]

@Amos Moses, you posted in another thread that dealer is replacing your engine. That's fantastic! You got the best possible outcome from a bad situation.

If you still truly feel you've made a big mistake, then dump the Ram. Go buy that Ford, Chevy, Honda, Toyota, Nissan. Or, buy the Tesla (they do make a truck, right?).

Oops, guess you will have to wait 'til late '21 on the cybertruck.

 

[dmillar74]

FCA Replaced all lifters in Feb 2020 at 46,000 miles on my 2016 Ram 2500 6.4. Today, December 17, 2020 and only 10,000 miles later, my truck is in the shop again with the same noisy lifters. Dealer currently says they have it apart and are waiting on FCA engineers to tell them what to do next.

 

[EdGs]

That sucks, but great that you have a warranty still.

Sure hope my 5.7 doesnt have this happen, as I will be S.O.L. since I am over 100k.

I wish you the best on your situation.

 

[theviking]

I finally pulled my lifters/cam after 75k miles. Last year at around 60k the lifters noise started, but much more prominent on colder days even when the engine was fully warm. Now replacing the lifters with non-MDS (Hellcat) parts. MMX claims they are much more reliable. Pulled the cam today and thankfully there were no obvious issues with the rollers and at a quick glance the cam looks fine. Not that it matters since I'm changing it anyway One thing I have consistently heard is any metal in a 6.4 will quickly wipe out the bearings due to the tight tolerances. In my case I assume some of the lifters were collapsing causing the tick.

Some pictures of the cam I pulled earlier today.

 

[dmillar74]

Update: Ram dealer said 4 lifters collapsed and they are replacing only the 4 lifters. They claim the cam is ok. Back in February 2020, the dealer replaced all the lifters at only 46,000 miles due to failed lifters. Now just 10,000 miles and less than a year later, 4 collapsed lifters on the newly installed lifters? This has to be a fricken joke. I expressed my anger that my truck will be out of warranty in just 4,000 miles. I can guarantee I will be there again at the dealer with the same issues in the near future. My truck is a 2016 Ram 2500 with the 6.4 Hemi. I change oil every 3-5,000 miles with PUP. Do some very occasionally towing. That’s it. It’s just absurd that they keep putting bandaids on my issue by replacing with the same garbage lifters. I really don’t want to sell the truck and I just don’t know which modern gas motor to trust anymore.