2011 5.7L Cam and lifter replacement

[OilMan2011]

Hello everyone! I'm doing the Ram owner initiation ritual by replacing my cam and lifters after eliminating all the possibilities for a misfire on Cylinder 5 and rough Idle. Spark plugs, coil, injector, wiring and connection check. No improvement same code. I ordered the stage 1 Comp Cam kit with new higher grade Hellcat bolts, full gasket kit, new chain and tensioner, Melling high volume oil pump, OEM MDS lifters (I do a lot of highway miles, and I want the extra MPGs was getting 17 during my long trips) and I'll get the valve seals and pan gasket at the local parts store. By the looks of the cam profile numbers in the picture it looks like I might pick up maybe 10 to 30 more horses without a tune? Any other things I should replace while I'm in there?

 

[Brandon-w]

I just Wana say why replace a known problem with the same parts? You're already that deep why not make it last another 150k not 60k? Buy once cry once. Mds delete and done. I noticed zero loss in mpg when I did my mds delete and a cam. What I did notice is it didnt have that *** 4 cylinder drone. And does that cam need a phaser lock? I also recommend a tune! What's the point in performance parts without performance tuning????
The whole thing doesn't make sense and I'm not trying to pick on you just saying spend the money once and be happy with your finished product.
Also side note: 90% of the time horsepower and economy don't go hand in hand.
I got lucky with my 6.4 swap I gained mpg but yeah. Most of the time no performance won't make mpg.

 

[OilMan2011]

Update#1: I'm on day 2. Taking a break. I have to lower the front diff and drop the oil pan and pickup tube next. The cylinders look pretty good, the cross hatch looks undisturbed as far as the pistons go down. I see where the right bank cylinder head may have been seeping coolant by the front, see rust under missing paint and evidence on head gasket. I will definitely need to check for warpage in that head. The front seal looks dry but could use a new one. The lifters on cylinder 5 or any of the other cylinders didn't look bad. I found that one of the spark plugs on cylinder 5 was messed up. The gap was closed on it. Could 1 bad spark plug on a cylinder cause a misfire? I may have dropped it . I don't think my work is a waste. I'm upgrading the cam, springs, oil pump, replacing a leaky head gasket, putting new valve seals in, getting heads inspected, and the leaking exhaust manifold(s) are getting machined. I'm also gaining experience, never done this on a hemi. And hopefully this work can make the Ram last me 300K+.

 

[OilMan2011]

I just Wana say why replace a known problem with the same parts? You're already that deep why not make it last another 150k not 60k? Buy once cry once. Mds delete and done. I noticed zero loss in mpg when I did my mds delete and a cam. What I did notice is it didnt have that *** 4 cylinder drone. And does that cam need a phaser lock? I also recommend a tune! What's the point in performance parts without performance tuning????
The whole thing doesn't make sense and I'm not trying to pick on you just saying spend the money once and be happy with your finished product.
Also side note: 90% of the time horsepower and economy don't go hand in hand.
I got lucky with my 6.4 swap I gained mpg but yeah. Most of the time no performance won't make mpg.

I appreciate your advice, I found no issues with the lifters. Looks like the previous owners did good on maintenance. I made a huge mistake by not pulling the plugs I installed on cylinder 5. I dropped one of the plugs apparently and didn't see the damage as I was in a hurry and drinking a bit. But lesson learned. Also the camshaft I purchased from Comp Cams states specifically no tune required and old cam phaser can be used. And I really don't care much for performance. If I wanted that I'd get something with a better power to weight ratio. I just need a reliable rig to get me down the highway and tow equipment occasionally.

 

[OilMan2011]

Update#2 I battled the front diff for 2 hours and finally won when I got the last bolt out ha ha. I dropped the oil pan, oil pick up tube, pulled the oil pump, phaser, timing gears. Yanked out the camshaft and it looked like it could've probably lasted another 50,000 miles. Took some pics and called it a night. I'll have to wait until Monday to take the heads to the machine shop. I don't like the leakage I saw or the indentions the head gaskets etched around the combustion chambers on the head. They look like weak spots that can form a leak later.

 

[OilMan2011]

Update#3 I got everything back together now. Added 7 qts of oil and topped off the antifreeze. I pulled the fuel pump fuse and cranked it over a few times holding the gas pedal down for nearly a minute to prime the oil galleys. It sounded normal. I did make a pretty big mistake where I wasted a lot of my time when I finished double checking the timing that I had set on the wrong mark of the phaser . I put the oil pump, pick up tube, oil pan gasket, and oil pan on. Then the front cover and last the pushrods and rocker arms. I went ahead and turned the engine with my 1/2" ratchet and I hit resistance. I had to remove just about everything I just put on. I left the oil pump on, took the cam phaser off and discovered there were two timing lines on the phaser. The correct one had a hole identifying the mark. I reset it correctly this time. Torqued the phaser and put all the rockers back on. I spun it over 20 times at least lol. Never hit resistance but a pushrod popped out on cylinder 6 intake. I fixed that. Put the rest of the parts on that I took off and waiting for the morning to start it so I don't wake up my neighbors. But lesson learned, leave the oil pump off until after you get all the rockers on and check engine rotation, and verify the correct timing mark on the phaser. I'm just glad I caught this before I cranked it over.

 

[Wild one]

Update#3 I got everything back together now. Added 7 qts of oil and topped off the antifreeze. I pulled the fuel pump fuse and cranked it over a few times holding the gas pedal down for nearly a minute to prime the oil galleys. It sounded normal. I did make a pretty big mistake where I wasted a lot of my time when I finished double checking the timing that I had set on the wrong mark of the phaser . I put the oil pump, pick up tube, oil pan gasket, and oil pan on. Then the front cover and last the pushrods and rocker arms. I went ahead and turned the engine with my 1/2" ratchet and I hit resistance. I had to remove just about everything I just put on. I left the oil pump on, took the cam phaser off and discovered there were two timing lines on the phaser. The correct one had a hole identifying the mark. I reset it correctly this time. Torqued the phaser and put all the rockers back on. I spun it over 20 times at least lol. Never hit resistance but a pushrod popped out on cylinder 6 intake. I fixed that. Put the rest of the parts on that I took off and waiting for the morning to start it so I don't wake up my neighbors. But lesson learned, leave the oil pump off until after you get all the rockers on and check engine rotation, and verify the correct timing mark on the phaser. I'm just glad I caught this before I cranked it over.

What did you torque the cam bolt to?

 

[OilMan2011]

72 ft lbs

 

[Wild one]

72 ft lbs

It should be 90,and if you had the cam bolt in and out once or twice,i'd take it back apart and torque it to 90 lb-ft,last thing you want is the cam dowel shearing off,and the pistons smacking the valves.If you hadn't had that bolt in and out a couple times,you'd probably be okay,but if you've torqued it a couple times already,i'd take it up to the reconmended 90 lb-ft

 

[OilMan2011]

That sucks. Good thing I put red loctite. I'm going to decommission the truck for a couple weeks and tear back into it. Thanks for the warning!

 

[Wild one]

That sucks. Good thing I put red loctite. I'm going to decommission the truck for a couple weeks and tear back into it. Thanks for the warning!

There's 3 differant torque specs for the cam bolt 60 /72 and 90,but if you look the bolt up it's got a torque spec rating of 95 to 98 lb-ft,so i always use the 90 lb-ft spec,which is what the majority of after market cams also use.I have no idea why FCA/Stellentis has 3 differant specs for the exact same cam bolt in a 5.7.
It sucks if the phazor spins and shears the cam dowel which has been known to happen when using the lower torque specs