Another cylinder misfire story

[R.L.K.]

Thank you for the feedback everyone. I'm considering selling the truck in the next year or so, right before warranty runs out.

I'm also planning on driving to Denver to see in-laws in couple weeks, and that's a 3000 mile round trip from San Francisco.

So I hope I won't get stuck anywhere...

Good luck

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[69GWC]

Would love to see the bad lifters.

 

[Burla]

He stated they ordered parts before they took the truck apart.
The parts replaced under warranty are not his property, the dealer must keep the parts and return them to FCA if they request them back.
I have had lifters fail on many Hemis, if it is caught soon enough some times the cam is fine.
I have no idea if the tech working on his truck knows what he is doing or not, but you like to bash dealer techs and throw out a lot of absolute statements that simply are not always true.

His truck ticked for 70k miles and had bad rollers, and I call balls and strikes as I see them. I often comment on how great dealers have treated Ram forum members. You just have selective memory. In this case, what Kap went through and they still deny to fix the tick, then someone would have to be a ******* idiot to think he had a fair deal, and I mean a stupid bumbling idiot to believe that.

 

[Kap1]

I'm pretty sure that if I put in RedLine 5-30 now, the ticks will disappear, just like they did before. I forgot how noisy was my engine prior to RedLine which I ran for the past 3 years...

On one hand I want the other head and lifters to break soon so I can get it fixed under warranty (1 more year left), so I plan to use regular conventional oil to achieve that.

On the other hand, this truck needs to take me to Denver and back in couple weeks, and I don't want my engine to die in the middle of the desert during my holiday trip. So I'm thinking that putting RedLine 5-30 into it before my long trip will give me extra safety to make sure it won't fail during the 3000 mile trip.

 

[R.L.K.]

I'd run what they put in it ...I'd say it'll take much more than 3 to 4 k to break to the point of stranding you .
Jmho

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[yoda]

His truck ticked for 70k miles and had bad rollers, and I call balls and strikes as I see them. I often comment on how great dealers have treated Ram forum members. You just have selective memory. In this case, what Kap went through and they still deny to fix the tick, then someone would have to be a ******* idiot to think he had a fair deal, and I mean a stupid bumbling idiot to believe that.

I was simply calling you out on a stupid statement. You Guaranteed his cam was bad.

 

[Burla]

No reason to get snippy, let me be the first to agree with you that I aint perfect.

 

[Burla]

I'm pretty sure that if I put in RedLine 5-30 now, the ticks will disappear, just like they did before. I forgot how noisy was my engine prior to RedLine which I ran for the past 3 years...

On one hand I want the other head and lifters to break soon so I can get it fixed under warranty (1 more year left), so I plan to use regular conventional oil to achieve that.

On the other hand, this truck needs to take me to Denver and back in couple weeks, and I don't want my engine to die in the middle of the desert during my holiday trip. So I'm thinking that putting RedLine 5-30 into it before my long trip will give me extra safety to make sure it won't fail during the 3000 mile trip.

The one good thing about that strategy, a nice long run with good temps that will get that moly to plate. You will know one way or another when you get back. But I also see the other opinion, glad I aint making the choice. Again, sorry for your troubles.

 

[Burla]

Let us know when you get back if that truck is still ticking. At 3000 miles, if it is still ticking, redline aint the answer.

 

[Kap1]

By the way, this service advisor was honest enough to tell me that they broke an injector while removing the lifters, and installed me a new one, and also broke the fan assembly last month when working on exhaust manifold bolts, and installed me a new fan assembly holder as well.

So while he seems honest, it's probably what fca will approve for repair or not, and probably what the mechanic wants to do or not. Mechanic gets paid anyway, but get to go home early.

 

[yoda]

No reason to get snippy, let me be the first to agree with you that I aint perfect.

Fair enough, I couldn't tell if you were calling me stupid or not.
I will be the first to tell you we have a lot of problems getting competent techs at the dealer, for a lot of different reasons.
Was there stuff that I would have done different in that case? yes. But there is not enough information to call the tech lazy or incompetent.
There is currently a recall on Durango and Grand Cherokees for inspecting a brake booster shield from a previous recall to see if it was done correctly, 3 out of 4 that were done at other Dealerships that come to our Dealer are done wrong, no excuse for it. I don't know if it is a lack of pride in ones work, laziness or just the wrong people being recruited to do this work. Without a doubt some of the blame falls on FCA and warranty policy and reimbursement.

 

[Burla]

Yoda, my only issue was after all of that Kap went through, his engine still ticking and they refuse to fix it. Especially considering they were using half measures. I don't have an issue with trying to do the least to fix the problem and hoping it would work, but when it obviously didn't work, bite the bullet and throw a new cam and all lifters at it. This is a known issue, and very large problem well documented, and FCA's response is inconsistent. In what planet is buying a brand new truck at tens of thousands of dollars and having it knock is ok? I love a lot of stuff about the new rams, but the problems are starting to be worse then the benefits. Old trucks are the way to go imo, just fix them up and keep the communism out of the engine.

 

[Kap1]

Hi All,

I think that i'm starting to unwind the mystery with my truck's issues.

1. In Aug 2015, i had dealer fix passenger side exhaust manifold leak - top rear corner bolt broke and dealer had to remove right side cylinder head to drill out the bolt.

2. In Jan 2016, I had CEL P219B (bank 2 air fuel ratio imbalance) and P0302 (Cylinder 2 misfire) show up. I think that the Air Fuel ratio imbalance is related to the exhaust manifold leak (the air is leaking into through the manifold crack and causing air imbalance - according to service adviser ). Dealer found ash on spark plugs for Cylinder 2 (right side) and replaced injector

2. In Sept 2017, I got the passenger side exhaust leak again, so dealer kept the truck for 3 weeks and "claimed" that they were unable to drill out broken bolt and had to send the right cylinder head to the machine shop to have them do it. Once i got the truck back (3 weeks later), the same day the CEL P219B came on (bank 2 air fuel ratio imbalance) as well as the P0302 (Cylinder 2 misfire) .

So at this point, it seems that the issue was caused by dealer keep drilling in/out bolts of the right side cylinder head.

3. In Oct 2017, i brought truck back to dealer with same 2 CEL codes P219B and P0302. After keeping the truck for 5 weeks, they got me a brand new right side head cylinder, and did the manifold bolts replacement once again!

So - if i put 2 and 2 together, without much mechanical knowledge, i can tell that the dealer kept fixing the same right side exhaust manifold head, and eventually screwed up the right side cylinder head (where the manifold attach, right?). So in September 2017, they send the cylinder head to the machine shop hoping that they'll fix it, but their repair did not last, and it broke right away. So now in October, they had to get me a brand new cylinder head BECAUSE they're the ones who did not do exhaust manifold repairs properly on it from the beginning... and eventually broke it.

Any flaws with my hypothesis? as i said, idk much about engines, but just went through my previous receipts and seems like the issue kept reoccuring around the right side cylinder head until they got me a new head now.

 

[R.L.K.]

@ Kap 1 ,

I think you Sir are spot on , the 02 sensor information on the right side is not jiving , so it continues to throw codes .

Unfortunately I believe you will have broken exhaust manifold bolts again in the future due to the manifold warping again and poping another bolt or stud .

These manifolds warping and in turn breaking the hardware has been a known issue for years ...FCA & your dealer knows this .
For whatever reason (cost ) comes to mind [emoji848] they just keep machining the old junk manifolds or replace the old junk manifolds with new junk maifolds that are destined to warp as well , then unbelievably they keep putting back in the same week as junk bolts and studs ....
I hate that your first truck experience has been so bad !!

Please keep us updated Sir .

The only way I see to fix this is to install a set of quality headers with some quality bolts & studs .

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[Dadio]

Hello, was following the conversation regarding the misfire, cam issues.
I have a 2013 1500 5.7 that's currently at the shop (Dealership) have had all maintenance from day one, done including the notorious exhaust manifold bolt redo, both sides. Currently theirs about 170,000 miles on it. Last trip into the shop the misfire code appeared (#5) After a chat with the mechanic and service writer, they are claiming that the cam is worn and as a result I need to replace the engine because the shavings from the cam will have compromised the engine. The service writer said the swap would be $9,700 this would be a 36 month 100,000 warranty, I drive a lot 42k a year. BTW I did look under the hood at the suspect lifter and its toast, moves a fraction of the others. So the question is are they right the motor should be replaced or, is there a more cost effective alternative? Or should I have posted this some where else? I'm the nfg here ;-)

 

[Dadio]

Hello, was following the conversation regarding the misfire, cam issues.
I have a 2013 1500 5.7 that's currently at the shop (Dealership) have had all maintenance from day one, done including the notorious exhaust manifold bolt redo, both sides. Currently theirs about 170,000 miles on it. Last trip into the shop the misfire code appeared (#5) After a chat with the mechanic and service writer, they are claiming that the cam is worn and as a result I need to replace the engine because the shavings from the cam will have compromised the engine. The service writer said the swap would be $9,700 this would be a 36 month 100,000 warranty, I drive a lot 42k a year. BTW I did look under the hood at the suspect lifter and its toast, moves a fraction of the others. So the question is are they right the motor should be replaced or, is there a more cost effective alternative? Or should I have posted this some where else? I'm the nfg here ;-)

 

[Burla]

I would never have the dealer do an engine swap, it always costs double of what local reputable shops cost. In that case maybe not quite 1/2, but I would think you can save several grand. Talk to a local shop, see what they say, I would opt for a Cam lifter replacement if possible.

 

[R.L.K.]

I wouldn't let most dealership replace windshield wipers , they will undoubtedly f*** something up and charge you double for it ....jmo..

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[Kap1]

Damn, 170k miles for 2013, that's 100k more than my 2013! I wish my truck broke at 170k miles, I'd say that I had a good truck.

But yeah you shouldn't have went to the dealership to troubleshoot this after your powertrain warranty is over. Dealerships never give a crap about their customers because there's not many places to go to for warranty service, so their techs are used to such "don't give a crap" ways of doing things. Look at my post right above to see what the largest dealership in my area (and supposedly the best) put me through - caused my truck to be in the shop for two months, only because they did ****** repairs on it throughout the whole time. All of the issues were caused by them, after they fixed the manifold bolts the first time.

Try to find a reputable mechanic in your area to get a second opinion. Maybe you can get by with just doing the cam and lifters. Idk myself.

Try to go on Yelp and search for hemi car repair, and that way you'll find mechanics who may specialize in American cars and hemi... That's what I did and found a local shop that specializes in hemi engines, so I feel that they're much more experienced in hemi, manifolds, lifters and cam than others. They even carry RedLine and Royal Purple filters. They quoted me $4k for new cam and lifters job. I'm near San Francisco though, so more expensive probably.

Have you considered getting a new truck? $10k investment into a truck with 170k miles is significant. Once you replace engine, there could be other things needing repairs... Transmission etc.

Maybe there's a way to do cam and lifters and trade it in?

 

[Burla]

You on the road Kap? Still waiting to see if that tick is still there when you get back.