2016 1500 5.7 - Preventative measures for stopping future potential lifter trouble? (First time Hemi owner)

[lordzeus]

Hello!

I purchased a 2016 Ram 1500 Lonestar with a 5.7 in it (yesterday), with 103K miles. Engine sounds great, and everything looks good and in order.

This has probably been asked 10000x, but what are good general things to do to try to prevent lifter issues?

What I've seen so far:

* Use quality full synthetic oil, quality filter, and use 5W-30 instead of 5W-20

* Try not to idle in park as much as possible. (My engine has something like 2300hrs drive and 340 idle)

* Regular oil changes (every 3K miles since im already at 100K)

* Too expensive for me: Upgraded oil pump

* Maybe look into engine tune to have a higher idle RPM?

My particular truck looks like it has oil done every 10-12K miles according to Carfax, so the life of the oil, not necessarily for preventing lifter failure.

---

Is there anything else I'm missing?

Lastly, what should a good oil pressure look like? - if that makes any difference.

Thanks everyone! First Ram, first Hemi, although it already has 100K I would like to stretch it out as far as possible and pray to the engine God's for mercy.

 

[1999 White C5 Coupe]

Hello!

I purchased a 2016 Ram 1500 Lonestar with a 5.7 in it (yesterday), with 103K miles. Engine sounds great, and everything looks good and in order.

This has probably been asked 10000x, but what are good general things to do to try to prevent lifter issues?

What I've seen so far:

* Use quality full synthetic oil, quality filter, and use 5W-30 instead of 5W-20

* Try not to idle in park as much as possible. (My engine has something like 2300hrs drive and 340 idle)

* Regular oil changes (every 3K miles since im already at 100K)

* Too expensive for me: Upgraded oil pump

* Maybe look into engine tune to have a higher idle RPM?

My particular truck looks like it has oil done every 10-12K miles according to Carfax, so the life of the oil, not necessarily for preventing lifter failure.

---

Is there anything else I'm missing?

Lastly, what should a good oil pressure look like? - if that makes any difference.

Thanks everyone! First Ram, first Hemi, although it already has 100K I would like to stretch it out as far as possible and pray to the engine God's for mercy.

Frequent oil and filter changes: You should use the correct viscosity oil recommended by Ram, and it should meet the Ram oil specification. Use a high-quality oil filter that meets the Ram specification (such as a Mopar oil filter).

 

[Bigskyroadglide]

Thread 'Synthetic Oil' https://www.ramforum.com/threads/synthetic-oil.27664/


Thread 'Oil Filter Thread' https://www.ramforum.com/threads/oil-filter-thread.110675/

 

[HemiLonestar]

If there is going to be a lifter issue there will absolutely NOTHING you can do about it. Lubrication will only mitigate crap quality control so far. Use a good oil, change it more often than 10-20k obviously (never agreed with that.....oil is cheaper than engines). I have found that 6k miles is a good number for the 3G-4G hemis and has worked very well (for me anyway) for the 2003, 2005, 2006, 2012 & 2016 5.7 & 6.4 versions I have had over the years. All but one has run well over 100k with no issues. Honestly my 2016 is the only one I'd even be remotely concerned about and there's honestly no point in doing so. If it fails then I either throw another 5.7 in or it's a good excuse to drop a 6.4 in. Take care of it as best you can and run to fail.

 

[Burla]

Welcome to the forum and ram trucks and look around, plenty of info here. Sounds like you have a good hemi, so roll with it. The good news is usually cam fails have a canary in the coal mine and that is hemi tick. So once you get that if you get that, then we know some things. Look into valvoline restore and protect for an old engine as a one time interval. Use a high flow oil filter and keep oil level high on the stick and clean, 1/2 quart over full is a good start.

 

[Justin Stafford]

Try driving the truck with eco mode disabled this allows all 8 cylinders to run all the time and not be affected by mds.
MDS will eventually ruin your lifters and your cam lobes over time. I've got a 2012 outdoorsman 5.7 with 310k kms still going strong

 

[David James]

Hello!

I purchased a 2016 Ram 1500 Lonestar with a 5.7 in it (yesterday), with 103K miles. Engine sounds great, and everything looks good and in order.

This has probably been asked 10000x, but what are good general things to do to try to prevent lifter issues?

What I've seen so far:

* Use quality full synthetic oil, quality filter, and use 5W-30 instead of 5W-20

* Try not to idle in park as much as possible. (My engine has something like 2300hrs drive and 340 idle)

* Regular oil changes (every 3K miles since im already at 100K)

* Too expensive for me: Upgraded oil pump

* Maybe look into engine tune to have a higher idle RPM?

My particular truck looks like it has oil done every 10-12K miles according to Carfax, so the life of the oil, not necessarily for preventing lifter failure.

---

Is there anything else I'm missing?

Lastly, what should a good oil pressure look like? - if that makes any difference.

Thanks everyone! First Ram, first Hemi, although it already has 100K I would like to stretch it out as far as possible and pray to the engine God's for mercy.

My 2016 Ram 1500 4wd crew cab 5.7 has about 140k trouble free miles. Recent 13k mile trip to and from Alaska from the mid Atlantic averaged 21.5 mpg, and conducted one OCF enroute in Anchorage at about 7700 miles. Zero consumption of oil. I typically change at 5 k with whatever OEM approved 5W20 full syn that’s on sale and a good quality filter. I first serviced the transfer case at 30 k and now am on a 60 k regimen, transmission at 60 k, coolant at 90 k along with plugs, and air and cabin filters at manual recommended. No hemi tick. I drive “gently” which doesn’t mean slow but it means I’m easy on the equipment. Have yet to replace brake pads. If you pass me on the highway I’ll wave as you go by and again when I pass you down the road. Best of luck.

 

[Cruze418]

A friend just tore a junk yard 5.7 down, took the tappets apart, sludge filling in-between the tappet pistons. Hemi tick?
I'm thinking that the oil cushion was gone.

 

[Wild one]

Try driving the truck with eco mode disabled this allows all 8 cylinders to run all the time and not be affected by mds.
MDS will eventually ruin your lifters and your cam lobes over time. I've got a 2012 outdoorsman 5.7 with 310k kms still going strong

MDS will not ruin your lifters ,you've been swallowing the Kool-aid to long if you believe that There's more oil fed to the lifters when the engine is in MDS mode,the MDS solenoids actually restrict oil flow to the lifters when it's not in MDS mode

 

[Gary Fields]

My 2020 Hemi sounds quieter and smoother (my opinion) with 10W-30 or 5W-30 instead of 5W-20. Considering I live in SE Texas where it seldom gets below 25 degrees and summers are in upper 90's. I'm old enough to remember when owners manuals had charts showing what oil to use for the expected temperature and driving conditions. One size does fit all.

 

[Govtman]

My 2020 Hemi sounds quieter and smoother (my opinion) with 10W-30 or 5W-30 instead of 5W-20. Considering I live in SE Texas where it seldom gets below 25 degrees and summers are in upper 90's. I'm old enough to remember when owners manuals had charts showing what oil to use for the expected temperature and driving conditions. One size does fit all.

Exactly!
My 2019 BigHorn 5.7 gets 5w-30 now warranty is out. But I also live in SE Okla, winter gets to 30 and summer 105. If I lived in Canada or Alaska might go with 5w-20, but not in the South! And also use the larger MO-899 size filter. It takes some finagling to get that big filter in, but from underneath, there is a tunnel from the front that you can get the MO-899 or other brand size equivalent filters through to install.

Was doing 10k oil changed until watched some videos from Lake Speed Jr. and others on 10k OCI so I backed it down to 7500. Changed from PP to Valvoline Extended Protection and it runs quieter.

Have 150k just serviced trans and added a PPE aluminium pan. Trans is running 20-30 degrees cooler now.

Every 5k gets bottle of B-12 Chemtool or Chevron total fuel system cleaner in gas. You can have a sluggish vehicle due to fuel injectors and 30 miles after a can of B-12 feels like you have a new engine when those injectors are clean.

 

[Mojo88]

Use a high flow oil filter and keep oil level high on the stick and clean, 1/2 quart over full is a good start.

Interesting suggestion about overfilling a little bit. That would create a little more splashing around and that might lube cam/lifters better, is that the general idea?

 

[caulk04]

Try driving the truck with eco mode disabled this allows all 8 cylinders to run all the time and not be affected by mds.
MDS will eventually ruin your lifters and your cam lobes over time. I've got a 2012 outdoorsman 5.7 with 310k kms still going strong

The part of the lifter that fails is the roller. When active, the MDS lifters see LESS load and are less likely to wear in that manner. Your info is inaccurate.

Gm, however, has had problems with the lifter collapsing.

 

[caulk04]

Interesting suggestion about overfilling a little bit. That would create a little more splashing around and that might lube cam/lifters better, is that the general idea?

Seems sus. The crank is not hitting the oil and causing splashing, that would cause a whole new bag of trouble.

 

[Drifter667]

I bought my 2017 with about 124,000 on her with similar oil changes on the CarMax.

Since falling under my ownership she gets oil and filter changes every 2000 miles (infact I'm changing it tomorrow).

Just swapped over to 5w-30 last time and an planning to put Valvoline full synthetic restore and protect in tomorrow.

Owned my truck for a year now and am closeing in 150,000 miles, no issues other then basic maintenance.

My advice is to keep your motor swimming in clean oil

 

[Burla]

Interesting suggestion about overfilling a little bit. That would create a little more splashing around and that might lube cam/lifters better, is that the general idea?

During hemi tick testing hemi395 and u&a spearheaded adding 1/2 quart over the fill line with success. My dip stick must be off as it has taken 8 quarts to fill line since new, I highly doubt I have a different pan, it makes more sense the dip stick off, and since the dealer did the first couple changes and it worked out I kept with 8. But I would not suggest 8 quarts or higher, at some point you risk crank sitting in oil which would be bad for several reasons. From every guy doing it there was no issues 1/2 qrt over the line.

 

[HEMIMANN]

My 2016 Ram 1500 4wd crew cab 5.7 has about 140k trouble free miles. Recent 13k mile trip to and from Alaska from the mid Atlantic averaged 21.5 mpg, and conducted one OCF enroute in Anchorage at about 7700 miles. Zero consumption of oil. I typically change at 5 k with whatever OEM approved 5W20 full syn that’s on sale and a good quality filter. I first serviced the transfer case at 30 k and now am on a 60 k regimen, transmission at 60 k, coolant at 90 k along with plugs, and air and cabin filters at manual recommended. No hemi tick. I drive “gently” which doesn’t mean slow but it means I’m easy on the equipment. Have yet to replace brake pads. If you pass me on the highway I’ll wave as you go by and again when I pass you down the road. Best of luck.

sludge = crappy oil, run too long

 

[Marmay]

During hemi tick testing hemi395 and u&a spearheaded adding 1/2 quart over the fill line with success. My dip stick must be off as it has taken 8 quarts to fill line since new, I highly doubt I have a different pan, it makes more sense the dip stick off, and since the dealer did the first couple changes and it worked out I kept with 8. But I would not suggest 8 quarts or higher, at some point you risk crank sitting in oil which would be bad for several reasons. From every guy doing it there was no issues 1/2 qrt over the line.

So doing this means,the level of the oil will move up about 1/4 or 3/8 above the max hole.

 

[David James]

sludge = crappy oil, run too long

Pardon? 5k miles is a long way from being run too long, and I’ve had oil analysis performed immediately post my rare long interval changes such as the Alaska run that still showed the oil additive package was present and no unusual wear indicators were present. I agree that running a non OEM standard oil and poor quality filter for too long is a recipe for disaster.

 

[DripJust]

Any one have anything to report about using valvoline 5w20 restore and protect ? I'm on my 2nd oil change running this oil at 247400 km. How long would be sufficient to getting some results as far as renewing motor function ect..