6.4 Hemi - 8 Year Report

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mtofell

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So, I just passed 8 years of owning my 2014 6.4 Hemi Outdoorsman 4X4. Last week I took a little road trip from Portland down to Reno/Tahoe, back up to central Oregon and back to Portland It was about 1300 miles in 4 days and got me thinking of some highs/lows of this truck.

Overall, it's been pretty good and I'd recommend the truck. My biggest problem (as many of you who are familiar with me here) has been the tranny - two failures (38K miles and 90K miles). I'm now at 118K and things are okay I guess. The tranny still shifts in an annoying manner and is by far my least favorite part of the truck.

The 6.4 Hemi is a total beast. This is really the first time I got out on some open roads in Nevada with high speed limits and this baby really flies when you hammer it. I passed a lot of slower trucks on two lane roads and this truck goes from 60 to 90 in the blink of an eye. I think I even saw 97 on the speedo once (I keep meaning to check the speed rating on my tires....LOL).

8 years and nearly 120K in, I'm impressed with the overall build quality. Everything works, the tires wear evenly and the truck drives straight as an arrow down the highway (and I've whacked a few curbs here and there). In contrast, my last truck was a 2006 Chevy Silverado Duramax and by this age I was constantly going through hubs and various front end parts and there were a lot more rattles and little things like interior lights that didn't work.

Other than the tranny I've had a few things come up but they've been pretty minimal - exhaust manifold bolts were the biggest but I'd never have done that if not for my lifetime warranty. I didn't even hear the noise but my dealer told me they needed to be done so for $100 deductible I played along. I'm now living between Oregon and Maui so the truck sits for weeks at a time but always fires right up and runs great. Some of the interior parts are wearing but really not too bad after 8 years.

I've done every oil change and other service/repair at the dealer if for no other reason to keep my warranty intact and avoid hassle if (when) the tranny blows again. If not for my warranty I'd undoubtedly have unloaded the truck since I don't have a spare 5K lying around but maybe the tranny will hang on for a while. I've more or less kept the truck bone stock just due to being busy and cheap... and the warranty thing again I suppose.

Lastly, I've been impressed at the value retention (of course, that's any truck these days). I paid 39K in the spring of 2014 and I'm pretty sure I could still get 25K+ if I wanted to sell. Maybe even more with all the shortages, etc. these days.

Edit: Just checked NADA and "average trade-in" is $26,350. I have to think I could grab a few more bucks private party. Even better than I thought.
 

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MADDOG

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Nice write up. I miss my 2014 Big Horn with the 6.4L HEMI.

Too bad some dipstick tore the front end off it with his Phord Ph-150.

You ever get yours sideways on a wet road and drift it a bit? It does well. Ask me, and some other motorists in Hillsboro, how I know. :D
 

HEMIMANN

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Yeah, the guys saying how wonderful the 8 sp ZF trans is were getting to me, I'd love to get a 5th gen but except for the 66RFE I really love my 4th gen. And it's paid for.
 

2003F350

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Pretty much the same boat here - there have been a few annoyances but nothing serious enough for me to dislike the truck. I'm at almost 84k on a 2017 and really the only issues I've had have either been recalls or those stupid park assist sensors...Salt and electronics don't get along, and letting them sit in salt for 3-4 months due to winter takes its toll on them.
 

quickster2

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Yeah, the guys saying how wonderful the 8 sp ZF trans is were getting to me, I'd love to get a 5th gen but except for the 66RFE I really love my 4th gen. And it's paid for.
Mine will go past 63K with Thursday's 1000 mile round trip. The 8 speed would be nice but not worth a new truck. Might have to do the tranny valve bypass but not totally convinced of the need. Everything on mine works as it should including the rear air suspension. Just had a 3rd party check everything over including suspension and brakes all still good OE.
 

HEMIMANN

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Mine will go past 63K with Thursday's 1000 mile round trip. The 8 speed would be nice but not worth a new truck. Might have to do the tranny valve bypass but not totally convinced of the need. Everything on mine works as it should including the rear air suspension. Just had a 3rd party check everything over including suspension and brakes all still good OE.

Yes - the issue is the flimsy valve body and solenoid, not the torque converter and drivetrain (unless you're doing a power uprate). But to put an upgraded valve body and solenoid in, you have to be able to re-learn the PCM, and I already custom tuned mine, so not doing the whole thing over again. I'll just live with it and upgrade trans ATF oil from MOPAR ATF+4 (Group III quasi-synthetic) to Red Line ATF+C (Group IV/V) next oil change.
 

MN-Ram

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I just rolled over 129,000 miles on my 2015 3500 6.4L. I just had the valve body replaced, but I’m pretty sure that was due to the dealership only filling my transmission up half way when they did the tranny service. (I drove 1200 miles like that before a problem presented itself and I had to check the fluid.) The warranty covered the fix and I got it back last week. Other than that, 1 set of front ball joints, and one set of axle seals. I did have a sticking lifter at 40,000 miles. Also under warranty.

I have to say, I’m pretty happy with the truck overall as well.
 

quickster2

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Yes - the issue is the flimsy valve body and solenoid, not the torque converter and drivetrain (unless you're doing a power uprate). But to put an upgraded valve body and solenoid in, you have to be able to re-learn the PCM, and I already custom tuned mine, so not doing the whole thing over again. I'll just live with it and upgrade trans ATF oil from MOPAR ATF+4 (Group III quasi-synthetic) to Red Line ATF+C (Group IV/V) next oil change.
What is the Amsoil ATF-4 please? I did not know the Redline "upgrade". Thx
 

HEMIMANN

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RLJ10X

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There are two things I really like about the 6.4 heavy duty. One is the eight speed transmission and 410 rear end.

The other is, there is a monster lurking under that hood.
If you add forged pistons and rods, forced induction, and a few other goodies, you’re looking at hellcat type power with total reliability.
 
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reek

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I'm at 7 years with no trans problems. would agree, its been a pretty good truck. For a while, I really wanted to trade in for an 8 speed. then I just stopped reading about the 8 speed and my annoying 6 speed was livable again. Will keep the truck a bit longer. especially with the prices right now.
 

GsRAM

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I concur with the other posts. This 17 ram 2500HD is my favorite truck I've ever owned. The 6 speed isn't perfect, but isn't junk either and is far better than the pos 15 Silverado it replaced. That truck had the worst shifting transmission I've ever owned, yes the 66rfe is way better. Thst pos had extremely lazy throttle response also....I could go on and on about that tu*d.

The 6.4 pulls like a freight train and has tons of power, even fully loaded in the mountains on a camping trip. Unloaded it's a heck of a lot quicker than a 7,000lb truck has any right to be, yet will still pull 17 mpg average highway fuel economy, extremely impressive given its size, weight and engine making over 400 HP.

It's a great truck I have just over 16k miles on now and no plans to sell for many years yet..at least 5 more, perhaps 10.
 

HEMIMANN

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I concur with the other posts. This 17 ram 2500HD is my favorite truck I've ever owned. The 6 speed isn't perfect, but isn't junk either and is far better than the pos 15 Silverado it replaced. That truck had the worst shifting transmission I've ever owned, yes the 66rfe is way better. Thst pos had extremely lazy throttle response also....I could go on and on about that tu*d.

The 6.4 pulls like a freight train and has tons of power, even fully loaded in the mountains on a camping trip. Unloaded it's a heck of a lot quicker than a 7,000lb truck has any right to be, yet will still pull 17 mpg average highway fuel economy, extremely impressive given its size, weight and engine making over 400 HP.

It's a great truck I have just over 16k miles on now and no plans to sell for many years yet..at least 5 more, perhaps 10.

Yup.

I installed the Edge Pulsar in-line canned tune ECM, and the tow mode is really a beast. Makes all the difference - it tows a 7,000 lb trailer like my son's Ford diesel. My son tried it and says the same. I only tow part time, so don't think this mode will fry the trans. At any rate, I got rid of the dumb trans oil thermostat so trans oil temp is down to where it should be anyway.
 

GsRAM

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Yup.

I installed the Edge Pulsar in-line canned tune ECM, and the tow mode is really a beast. Makes all the difference - it tows a 7,000 lb trailer like my son's Ford diesel. My son tried it and says the same. I only tow part time, so don't think this mode will fry the trans. At any rate, I got rid of the dumb trans oil thermostat so trans oil temp is down to where it should be anyway.
Yes, I installed one last year as well with no adverse effects on the transmission and perhaps just slightly lower fuel economy, maybe a half to one mpg average less, no big deal

To me well worth the sacrifice for increased likelihood of transmission longevity, but that's just me. It's well known that heat is one of an automatic transmissions biggest enemies and they run these things so hot these days to eek out every last mpg they can. Even with advanced synthetics, they still run too hot in my opinion. That doesn't even touch on how easily that thermostat, with age can fail, get gunked up with debris and stick closed. When that happens....bye bye 6k transmission.

To each their own though....just my .02.
 

quickster2

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HemiMann? My 6 speed rarely deviates from around 172 trans temp. The 8 speed I've had in 3 other vehicles always runs right at 195 to 205 when towing. Any opinions on the 8 speed trans temps? Those 3 vehicles were all Durango's 2 Hemi's and 1 Pentastar. Thx
 

HEMIMANN

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HemiMann? My 6 speed rarely deviates from around 172 trans temp. The 8 speed I've had in 3 other vehicles always runs right at 195 to 205 when towing. Any opinions on the 8 speed trans temps? Those 3 vehicles were all Durango's 2 Hemi's and 1 Pentastar. Thx
Yes, too hot for long change intervals. I posted elsewhere on trans oil oci's.

Think of it this way - that trans oil is running as hot as engine oil. Even Amsoil caps their best synthetic oil change interval @ 20,000 miles for oxidation stability. You wanna change a difficult ZF trans every 20k miles? Not me.
 

theviking

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Don't know how much it's helped but I put a Mag-Hytec pan (2 more quarts) on along with a better torque converter. Also change the fluid out every 25k or so. So mar the trans is holding. Other then the lifter issue I l have no complaints about the motor. Considering the crappy trans gearing the truck does move out.
 

HEMIMANN

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Followup to my post above, let's use Amsoil limits for their best synthetic engine oil life to extrapolate minimum oil change intervals for transmissions running hot bulk oil (above 200 degrees F). Elsewhere on the Synthetic Oil thread, I posted the well-accepted industry oxidation oil life curve of 1/2 life for every 20 degrees F above 140 degrees F.

In other words, Amsoil's longest recommended oil change interval of 20,000 miles applies at an engine oil temperature average 220 degrees F for their best Signature Series Engine Oil. With transmission oil running almost as hot as engine oil, the same oxidation life curve will apply. I put the minimum OCI's in a table. Then I added a 2nd table for a "lesser" synthetic oil, with advertised 15,000 mile minimum OCI. There are a number of these oil brands on the market.

The results speak for themselves....change no later than 50,000 miles if running hot, 100,000 miles if running cool.

Trans Oil Change Intervals.png
 
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quickster2

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Followup to my post above, let's use Amsoil limits for their best synthetic engine oil life to extrapolate minimum oil change intervals for transmissions running hot bulk oil (above 200 degrees F). Elsewhere on the Synthetic Oil thread, I posted the well-accepted industry oxidation oil life curve of 1/2 life for every 20 degrees F above 140 degrees F.

In other words, Amsoil's longest recommended oil change interval of 20,000 miles applies at an engine oil temperature average 220 degrees F for their best Signature Series Engine Oil. With transmission oil running almost as hot as engine oil, the same oxidation life curve will apply. I put the minimum OCI's in a table. Then I added a 2nd table for a "lesser" synthetic oil, with advertised 15,000 mile minimum OCI. There are a number of these oil brands on the market.

The results speak for themselves....change no later than 50,000 miles if running hot, 100,000 miles if running cool.

View attachment 491222
I've read your posts for some time now. Hence my question. Your answer verified my thoughts. When I get back from this trip I'll add a PML trans pan, change both filters, and add Redline or Amsoil ATF fluid. I did the same at 60K with my 2003 V10 with good results especially considering that trans was known to fail. I already have the PML diff covers and had the full PML suite when I had the V10 as well. Thx
 
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