How-To: 4th gen hemi cam installation

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Geico

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2011
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Hemi 5.7
I copied and pasted this from another site that is keeping track of the number of Hemi cam / lifter failures. Year 2011 looks like the worst year.
I hope it is okay to do this.


Another periodic update; this includes trucks whose owners said it was a confirmed cam/lifter failure, and does not include those who posted that they had a misfire but did not confirm it was a cam/lifter issue. This also only includes reports from owners here and not people who heard from their buddies mechanic, etc... or whatever. Pulling data from other sites as well can result in double counting if a person reports it on both sites whether they have the same username or not.

2009: 4
2010: 5
2011: 25
2012: 11
2013: 4
2014: 1
2015: 1
2016: -
2017: -
2018: -
Total: 51

 
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charonblk07

charonblk07

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2009
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F1-A forged 349ci
I am leaving the engine completely stock, I need a reliable daily driver and quite frankly the Hemi is plenty of power for playing around also. My ram boxes are full of work tools and junk so I carry 100+ pounds anyway.
My question is using a tuner to turn the MDS off. What are the advantages of doing that? I can turn it off with just a click of the shift handle or turn on the Tow / Haul. Is there a benefit to disabling the MDS with a tuner?
I lost the #1 intake lifter and cam lobe which is an MDS cylinder so I'm curious if that failure is related to the MDS or just luck?

Thank you in advance for your input and comments. :favorites13:
The difference is having it permanently disabled vs having to do it every time, plus the tow/haul changes the shift points of the trans which some people don't like in daily driving.

We have been trying to compile information about the cylinders that lifters failed on as they come up but the consensus so far is that it doesn't matter if it's MDS or not. Most failures I've seen are the needle bearing wearing out, seizing, and grinding down the cam, and that part of the lifter is independent of the MDS plunger system and common to both lifter types. The 6.2L lifters have a larger needle bearing from what I measured and so far are holding up better than the 5.7L ones.
 

RAMTRPR

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So can you use 6.2 lifters in the 5.7?


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crazykid1994

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Sure can, same external dimensions for everything.



Whenever I get around to my cam swap (in a few years...) maybe I’ll swap in the 6.2 lifters too if they end up being more reliable


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Geico

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Whenever I get around to my cam swap (in a few years...) maybe I’ll swap in the 6.2 lifters too if they end up being more reliable


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6.1L or 6.2L?
 

RAMTRPR

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The lifters are the same in the 5.7L, 6.1L, and 6.4L. The Hellcat 6.2L lifters are the only ones different and were redesigned to handle the higher rpm and force of the supercharged application.



Different, but still can be used in the 5.7?


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Geico

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Just a couple of issues I found with the instructions. They are amazing BTW!
1. The link in this section is no longer good.

With the phaser complete you can start reassembling the timing set. The timing chain has 2 sets of markings, one link has a line on it, and the other end has 2 marked links. Here’s a decent link for some information


HEMI® 5.7L Engine Timing Chain Replacement


2. Need torque specs for the cam shaft thrust plate torx screws.

Again, than you for the best cam shaft installation instruction I have found anywhere on the internet.
 

Wild one

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As stated earlier, yes, 100% drop-in. I will be doing another cam in a '13 with the 6.2L lifters next month.

And another in a 14 sometime in Jan or Feb hopefully,lol. Hmm I haven't grabbed the cam bolt or crank bolt yet,have to get your brother working on them soon,lol
 

Wild one

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I owe a big thank-you to Kurtis for all his help on my cam swap this week-end.We did everything in his heated shop. I sprung for ARP head bolts, the Stanke rocker arm locking collars and their beautiful high priced billet aluminium mds block off solenoids,if I was doing it again,i'd save money and buy the plastic factory 2500 mds block off plugs though. I went for one of jay greenes 1.5 HL cams with the Hellcat lifters.
 

Wild one

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Post #4 has been updated with head and lifter removal and re-installation.

About time,we only did the cam a little over a month ago,lol. Thanks again for all your help and expertise Kurtis,between you and Dylan,you guys had the cam/lifter swap done faster then I could unbolt and rebolt the headers back on,lol.
Rick
 

CarKnockerJim

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This is gonna have to happen....now to pick a cam that sounds nasty but is super drivable with out a higher stall
 

Wild one

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This is gonna have to happen....now to pick a cam that sounds nasty but is super drivable with out a higher stall
Check out Jay greenes cams,he'll make what's called a thump cam to give you that nasty idle if that's what you're after,and still work with a stock convertor for the 8 sp
 

sunlite99

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Post #4 has been updated with head and lifter removal and re-installation.

I attempted to inspect my engine this weekend. The truck is a 2012 Ram 2500 HD SLT, Hemi 5.7L VVT (no MDS) - . I saw the following differences:

1) There are 2 fans - a clutch fan and an electric fan
2) The radiatore does NOT have a petcock - I drained it from the lower pipe
3) The throttle body faces upwards and not forwards as in the engine shown above.

Has anyone seen this type of setup/hemi engine before? Any other surprises lying in wait ?
 
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charonblk07

charonblk07

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I attempted to inspect my engine this weekend. The truck is a 2012 Ram 2500 HD SLT, Hemi 5.7L VVT (no MDS) - . I saw the following differences:

1) There are 2 fans - a clutch fan and an electric fan
2) The radiatore does NOT have a petcock - I drained it from the lower pipe
3) The throttle body faces upwards and not forwards as in the engine shown above.

Has anyone seen this type of setup/hemi engine before? Any other surprises lying in wait ?

1) The 2 fans would be part of the clutch-fan removal step that I linked to, the one that has broken links in it and wasn't mine so I can't fix it; I also can't edit the posts anymore because it's been too long.
2) The radiator will be different between the 1500 and 2500HD, I can't speak to the differences outside of the engine because I've never worked on a 2500 HD with the 5.7L. The engine is the same as mine though even down to the MDS delete.
3) As stated in post #1, I am running a 6.1L intake manifold and that would be different from anyone running a factory 5.7L variable runner intake manifold and why I didn't cover much for the disassembly of the intake manifold.
 

sunlite99

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1) The 2 fans would be part of the clutch-fan removal step that I linked to, the one that has broken links in it and wasn't mine so I can't fix it; I also can't edit the posts anymore because it's been too long.
2) The radiator will be different between the 1500 and 2500HD, I can't speak to the differences outside of the engine because I've never worked on a 2500 HD with the 5.7L. The engine is the same as mine though even down to the MDS delete.
3) As stated in post #1, I am running a 6.1L intake manifold and that would be different from anyone running a factory 5.7L variable runner intake manifold and why I didn't cover much for the disassembly of the intake manifold.

Thanks for the update. I will try again in the next few weeks.
 
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