MDS confusion

[Cautioncones]

If this is somewhere I apologize as I have searched and I am a little confused.

I recently picked up a 2018 Dodge Ram 1500 SLT, 5.7L. It’s more of the Tradesman look with the front bench seat and turn dial gear selector.

My understanding is ALL 5.7 Hemi’s have MDS. However, I am confused because I hear people talk about MDS and lights on the dash or Eco modes yet I’ve never seen any of these come on while I’ve been driving?

I know the possible disable is through manually selecting the gear/tow mode. My question is, does anything change on the dash or lights when MDS is engaged? Because I feel like I’m going crazy that I can’t tell if it’s in MDS or not.

Thank you in advance!

 

[RamHemi18]

You will not get in indicator that MDS is active. There is a setting in the radio that will enable the "ECO" light if you so choose. All this light does is show ECO when you're driving in a economical way. It does not indicate that MDS is active. The only way to tell if it is active is by the sound of the exhaust or being a bit sluggish if you hit the pedal.

 

[crazykid1994]

The eco light is only on when you drive ECOnomically. The mds does not have a light. On a stock truck it is extremely hard to tell if mds is active or not. Only way I knew was the exhaust note had a slight resonance change and the truck had a mild hesitation on acceleration to pass.

 

[Cautioncones]

Thank you both! That clarifies it perfectly. On a side note, without changing Cams/Lifters, is there any known tuner that disables the MDS? Or is the manual gear selection/tow my best option for keeping the engine out of that mode?

Just trying to get the most out of the engine and hopefully avoid the dreadful “tick” that I have heard of.

 

[RamHemi18]

MDS isn't the cause of the tick. You have an 18 which should have the larger needle bearings in the lifters. Your main tick is from manifold bolts breaking/ warped manifolds (cant do much to prevent this). If you follow a strict lubrication strategy and don't excessively idle you should protect the lifters. Enjoy your truck and try not to worry about something that isn't guaranteed to effect you. As far as tuners I'm sure others will chime in.

 

[JHoward]

Tuners, oil, oil filters oh my, tuners, oil, oil filters oh my ...

 

[Cautioncones]

Manifolds and bolts I’m okay with as I’ve worked on some PITA vehicles replacing those, so no sweat there. Thank you though as that clarifies some of the back and forth I was having regarding those issues!

 

[Daily Driver44]

So to further clarify, or at least what I have found anyway, the "HEMI Tick" is from the lifter bearing in the lifter roller wearing out. This is in lieu of no lubrication. (conspiracy theorists unite). Ultimately comes from sludge build up even in the smallest way and/or low oil. if oil cant get to the lifters to lubricate then the lifter will ultimately wear out which takes the cam with it.
Stay up on your maintenance and that should protect you. However, that is not all inclusive as stuff always happens!!

 

[DILLIGAF]

MDS isn't the cause of the tick.

Still the most useless thing on this truck

 

[Randy Grant]

Still the most useless thing on this truck

Opinion

 

[ThunderMug95]

MDS isn't the cause of the tick. You have an 18 which should have the larger needle bearings in the lifters. Your main tick is from manifold bolts breaking/ warped manifolds (cant do much to prevent this). If you follow a strict lubrication strategy and don't excessively idle you should protect the lifters. Enjoy your truck and try not to worry about something that isn't guaranteed to effect you. As far as tuners I'm sure others will chime in.

What year was the lifter bearing change?

 

[ThunderMug95]

Thank you both! That clarifies it perfectly. On a side note, without changing Cams/Lifters, is there any known tuner that disables the MDS? Or is the manual gear selection/tow my best option for keeping the engine out of that mode?

Just trying to get the most out of the engine and hopefully avoid the dreadful “tick” that I have heard of.

I’d say every current tuner has the ability to turn off MDS. My diablosport has it built in. When I got my custom tune, it was a question I was asked, off or on.

 

[Wild one]

What year was the lifter bearing change?

Supposedly 2016

 

[ThunderMug95]

Supposedly 2016

Okay cool. Thanks for the info

 

[JHoward]

So to further clarify, or at least what I have found anyway, the "HEMI Tick" is from the lifter bearing in the lifter roller wearing out.

Prematurely, yes.

This is in lieu of no lubrication. (conspiracy theorists unite). Ultimately comes from sludge build up even in the smallest way and/or low oil. if oil cant get to the lifters to lubricate then the lifter will ultimately wear out which takes the cam with it.
Stay up on your maintenance and that should protect you. However, that is not all inclusive as stuff always happens!!

My 2017 HEMI @ 45,000 miles doesn't have the famous tick, but had a occasional dry start and engine valve train noise.

I've learned here from a lot knowledgeable members here in the RAMforum that the HEMI engine has a design flaw with poor oil circulation /lubrication with excessive idleing causing premature wear on the lifters/cam.

So, to help remedy the possibility of that happening, folks have opted to bump up the idle speed with a tuner and developed an oil strategy using high quality synthetic motor oils with a lot of molybdenum and a high quality oil filter.

(just an example: Red Line 5w/30, 0w/30, 0w/40 depending on the climate where they live/drive and use a high quality oil filter such as Royal Purple 20-820).

That is is the oil/filter strategy (Red Line 5w/30 and Royal Purple 20-820) that I recently started using with the exception my current oil/filter combo is using an AMSOIL EAO11 oil filter due to the recent supply shortage of the Royal Purple oil filter for my HEMI and it is operating smooth and very quiet.

As far as MDS goes, my opinion is it is useless. My HEMI doesn't get any better fuel mileage with it engaged for that to really matter to me. I am in the habit of simply manually turning it off each time I drive it.

I hope this note helps and Happy Motoring ...

 

[Daily Driver44]

so not going to lie, i havent looked into the oil research so i will deffinately take that in mind.
I did notice however that part of the problem with the MDS is that it uses oil to operate which in turn robs the lifter by design in order to operate. just removing the MDS solenoids presented a ton of oil waiting to lubricate the lifters. i suppose this is why there is less problems after the deletion in that event. controversy over it being flawed - i say that it is not a design flaw suggesting they did something wrong in production rather it is a flawed design meaning it works exactly how designed. another interesting fact is that only daily commuters have the MDS system, which ONLY includes the RAM 1500s. the 2500 and above that ran the hemi were factory deleted when sold!!

Thank you for the reply. i am starting to follow the forum pretty regular now. A lot of knowledge here!

 

[Wild one]

so not going to lie, i havent looked into the oil research so i will deffinately take that in mind.
I did notice however that part of the problem with the MDS is that it uses oil to operate which in turn robs the lifter by design in order to operate. just removing the MDS solenoids presented a ton of oil waiting to lubricate the lifters. i suppose this is why there is less problems after the deletion in that event. controversy over it being flawed - i say that it is not a design flaw suggesting they did something wrong in production rather it is a flawed design meaning it works exactly how designed. another interesting fact is that only daily commuters have the MDS system, which ONLY includes the RAM 1500s. the 2500 and above that ran the hemi were factory deleted when sold!!

Thank you for the reply. i am starting to follow the forum pretty regular now. A lot of knowledge here!

The manual transmission Challengers with either the 5.7 or 6.4's are MDS deleted,and they still have lifter problems