Cam failures or not. How many miles have you gone?

[MudSkipper]

a simple oil test on 5k oil will tell you if your having issues... blackstone labs is your friend.

 

[Bombdigitty]

2010 Ram. Bought used at 23,000 km. Cam/lifter failure at 164,000 km.
Oil changed at 5,000 km interval since purchase at dealer.

 

[1SLwLS1]

2013 and I had lifter failure at 160K. It now has a 392 with an MMX NSR cam.

 

[Dennis Flannery]

I have an 06 5.7 Hemi with 333500 miles on original drivetrain and just started to hear something, could be an exhaust leak, valve tapping or hemi tick-having it checked this week. 5w-20 full synthetic every 6k and don’t idle much-mostly hwy miles

 

[Tater8Salad]

I’m nearing 80k miles on my 2014 Ram Hemi and the cam/lifter failures I have read about concern me going forward.

Please list your mileage currently, failure mileage if you had it and mfg year. I’m hoping to read some no issues responses over 100k miles!

Is this blown out of proportion about the cam/lifter failures?

I have a 2011 1500 5.7 Hemi.
#4 cam lobe failed at 77K miles and covered under warranty.
I now have 138,000 miles with no further issues other than the ticking at start-up.
Oil changed every 5K miles religiously with a synthetic blend.
When the cam failed, I was a manager in the oil fields of ND so a lot of idling.

 

[Dusty]

2010 5.7 Hemi Ram 1500 went 110K, no failure, used dealer supplied 5W20 semi-synthetic oil and Mopar filter and changed oil when oil change warning message appeared (roughly 9.1K miles).

2014 5.7 Hemi Ram 1500 went 98K miles, no failure, used dealer supplied 5W30 semi-synthetic oil and Mopar filter for first 50-60K miles, then full synthetic after. Changed oil when oil change warning message appeared (roughly 9.2K miles).

2019 5.7 Hemi Ram 1500 currently at 52K miles, no failure. Use Pennzoil 5W30 full synthetic and Mopar oil filters. Changed oil when oil change warning message appears (9.5K miles).

Mostly around town driving, probably normal idling time on all three.

Regards,
Dusty
2019 Ram 1500 Billet Silver Laramie Quad Cab 2WD, 5.7 Hemi, 8HP75, 3.21 axle, 33 gallon fuel tank, factory dual exhaust, 18” wheels. Build date: 03 June 2018. Now at: 052243 miles.

 

[Dusty]

"I can tell you as a Dodge person my entire life, if something happens to a Dodge, the whole world hears it. If it happens to any other brand no one hears about it! Always been that way."

Now there's a bit of truth!

Regards,
Dusty
2019 Ram 1500 Billet Silver Laramie Quad Cab 2WD, 5.7 Hemi, 8HP75, 3.21 axle, 33 gallon fuel tank, factory dual exhaust, 18” wheels. Build date: 03 June 2018. Now at: 052243 miles.

 

[AJNY]

I had a 2018 Ram Rebel with the 5.7. Drove about 5k a year changed oil at dealer every six months. At about 9k lifter noise. Let the dealer keep the truck for three weeks during the winter. The dealer didn’t hear the lifters tap. The lifters made noise a few more times.
Dealer said there was a TSP on the lifters and 6.4 was worse.
Truck had 17,000 and traded it in for a 2021 5.7 1500 E Torque. I hate this truck. Has a dead spot no tappet noise. It’s four months old has 500 miles on it.
I will change the oil in two months regardless of mileage.
Tappet noise was a problem with Fords.
First time ever have I had any issues with tappers and I had hundreds of MOPARS, FORDS AND GM.

 

[Rocketjam]

Like most here oil change at 5000 miles, full synthetic. My 2010 had just over 100,000 miles when traded with zero noise my 2014 has 110,000 miles and does have the startup tick and when sitting for over a week it’s a little louder than a tick. Keeping this one but all these threads scare me…so does the price of a new truck

 

[kaptainkindbud]

Granted mines a 2005 but I have 249k on the engine. Still runs perfectly. Never had the valve covers off. Only maintenance I've done is new spark plugs and oil changes.

 

[2012RAM1500RT]

Granted mines a 2005 but I have 249k on the engine. Still runs perfectly. Never had the valve covers off. Only maintenance I've done is new spark plugs and oil changes.

My son has a 2003, bought new, 200,000 miles, did have a valve spring to break and changed them all.

 

[ric3xrt]

A lot of it is blown out of proportion, when you look at it from a Per/100 warranty claim , Dodge averages .71 units for every 1 GM..... a good friend of mine is very high up on the Ford Corporate food chain , and says they are starting to see a few of the same type cam failures with the all mighty 7.3 gas engine.

1st , one of the videos I made was on G3 oiling and I go in to the actual cause, not the Internet opinion.

some of the pre2015 issues were two fold, Long idle periods and inconsistent valve spring pressures, back in 2012/2013 the place I worked for did testing on 1000 different sets of new "eagle" Valves springs........open loads could be off by as much as 50lbs in 4 or 5 springs in a set of 16. closed loads were worse ......open load too strong, when the MDS is in a upward travel the pressure forces oil out of the bleed oil, lifter collapses, no more oil cushioning the pushrod, and now you have direct spring pressure on the cam surface and roller....too weak opening load lifter bounces, engines with bad springs eat cams in 30k miles(49k Kilometers)

Now the high mileage issue.

When the Hemi goes in to MDS, the only oiling the lifters see is from the rockers down to the lifters, the MDS lifter's bleed hole in the lifter oil galley, so it empties right on to the cam, now what happens to the NON MDS lifter is , the excess oil comes out the top of the lifter and runs down into the block passage between the head surface and the block....soooooooooo when the MDS lifter fails it's root cause is due to sh!TY valve springs, when the Non MDS lifter wipes out the came it's do to long periods of Idling which starves the cam lobe surface of oil

the post 2015 issues is Idle time, or when ever your Engine goes in to ECO mode for extended time periods., whether it's at a traffic light or Cruise control highway driving. Tow/haul is your friend if you are not going to disable the MDS system.


My 2014 has 81k on it now, 1st engine had 44k on it when I swapped it for a 428CI G3 Hemi back in Feb of 2016. engine was fine I'm just that guy who can't leave stuff alone, that 5.7 spent 2 years off and on being a dyno mule, as a stock short block, it's had a LOT of different cams in it....so it really doesn't count, pulled the 428 out back in may of 2018, put a 190k mile 2012 5.7 in the truck put another 20k on it , so at 210k on the org cam and lifters it's still fine..ticks once in a while.....I change the oil every January when the truck gets it's pa Inspection......
My 2016 "company truck" bought new drove it till 2019 put 60k on it, change the oil twice....YES TWICE , once at 25k the other at 57k (I ONLY CHANGE OIL REGEIOUSLY in my race/heavy street use engines) gave the 2016 truck to the in-laws , they put about 25k on it still going strong...oil gets a changed every 5k now.

My Daughter's 2009 1500 has 180k, runs strong , two 545 trannies , no cam or lifter. her a-hole Bf couldn't go 48k before his 2013 ate a cam.

 

[Skycopper]

I just sold my 2003 QC LB 1500 5.7 with 127000 on the clock. Only ticked at idle with certain oil filter combos and not others. Used Syn oil and conventional, high end filters and cheapos, and never went past 3500-4000 miles between oil/filter changes, most between 2500-3000. She never burned a drop between changes and never made a sound on quality 5W-30 but always ticked in the summer when I ran 10W-30. So I quit using 10W-30 in summer. (So. Fl Summers). New owner plans to drive her another 100,000, just keep the oil fresh, don't idle for hours, and you should be fine from what I have gathered.

 

[shootershiloh]

I have a 2011 Sport quad cab that I bought new. Lifters failed around 186,000 miles. Had it fixed at a dealer along with a leaking radiator cost me $7,000. Oil has always been changed at 5,000 mile intervals no matter what the computer says. She now has just over 239,000 miles. With the prices of trucks nowadays I'm most likely going to replace the engine when it fully quits. Body wise, she looks as good as the day I got her.

 

[Kong]

I’m nearing 80k miles on my 2014 Ram Hemi and the cam/lifter failures I have read about concern me going forward.

Please list your mileage currently, failure mileage if you had it and mfg year. I’m hoping to read some no issues responses over 100k miles!

Is this blown out of proportion about the cam/lifter failures?

I have a 2013 HEMI with 140K on it purchased new. I have never had any issues with lifter noise. Changed over from the PITA copper 30K plugs to Iridium plugs with upgraded Coil pack and nary an issue

 

[Teligence]

Mine is a 2003 Hemi 1500 Quad-Cab Laramie 4x4 Off-Road and I have 226K on it. I bought it used at 199K over 4 years ago and it cam with a "tic" - a possible indicator of the all-too-common lifter failure. I've been an AMSOIL fan for over a decade so I started off with a flush and put their Signature Series oil and filter in it. Since then, I haven't noticed any change in the "tic". I haven't noticed any operational issues such as a cylinder imbalance, so either my "tic" is something else or I caught it early enough with a quality synthetic oil to stave off further degradation.

That said, I also have a 2006 Hemi Charger (Police) that had a barely perceptible "tic". On a hot summer day it blew a hose at 175K miles, overheated, and dropped 1/2 the intake valve seats. During the rebuild (I do my own) I noticed that there was zero
wear on any of the cam lobes - only a slight "polishing" from the lifter rollers. I also noticed no wear on any of the lifters except for similar polishing on the sides from the lifter bores.

So, all that said, I'm convinced that a quality synthetic helps to prevent or reduce the failure of the lifters.

And now in closing... since it seems that the cause of the common lifter failure is inadequate oil pressure to maintain proper lifter height at idle, then it stands to reason that if you proactively install a higher pressure oil pump before failure, then it would help prevent future failure due to this issue. Also, better oil reduces friction/wear during these low pressure idle times. And last - but not least - if the trouble is only caused by low oil pressure during idle, then DON'T IDLE!!! Pedal to the Metal, Baby!!!

 

[Alex38]

I had around 137k miles on my 2012 when I sold it. No issues thus far, though I did occasionally have some ticking at idle. I always ran synthetic oil (mostly 5w20) and changed when the maintenance minder said to. Usually around 8k miles. It never used any oil. Truck has now been replaced by a new Tundra, which I love. Nothing against Ram, and I'd consider another in the future, but I honestly wasn't aware of all of the cam issues when I owned it.

 

[2012RAM1500RT]

I have a 2013 HEMI with 140K on it purchased new. I have never had any issues with lifter noise. Changed over from the PITA copper 30K plugs to Iridium plugs with upgraded Coil pack and nary an issue

Mines a 2012 and I changed mine over to Iridium plugs and kept the factory coils with no issues. I know that's supposed to be a no no but I have no intentions of changing these plugs every 30,000 miles. Only time will tell and if it ends up not working I'll change the coils if necessary.

 

[Jeff Courtney]

Had 2011 2500 5.7 that had lifter/cam failure at 135,000. Used when I got it so don't know maintenance history for it. Fixed it then traded it for new 18 3500 6.4 and currently have 66,000 with no problems. Oil changed when computer says to. Tow with it everyday. Always use penzoil and mopar filter. Could use better I know, but thats what its got.

 

[knightjp]

2014 Ram 1500, 5.7 V8 with currently over 160,000 kms on the clock.

I have had the dreaded "HEMI tick" at just before 150,000 kms.. It is discussed here.

I will be fair and say that what I experienced was merely an issue due to following advice from the manufacturer; who didn't take the weather in my region into account when recommending the oil in the manual.
My region is constantly hit with +50.C and above temperatures in the Summer. As a result, the recommended 5W20 Mopar oil was not up to the task and pretty much caused an issue with the lifters.

If you use a good oil, recommendation from me being Redline 5W30, and you do proper maintenance, you should not have any issues.
Ever since it was put back, I have been running Redline 5W30 and it has been so smooth; like the day I picked it up brand new from the showroom.

I'm hoping that with careful and regular maintenance, I could see a million kms with this engine.