Cylinder #1 misfire (P0301) and CEL, but only at 4500/5000 rpm and above

[SoCalLuke]

Thanks as always @Tach_tech !

Two more questions.
1. When you have replaced cam and lifters, with OEM parts - Have you had any clients get another 80-120k miles yet? If so, are the replacement parts holding up? (or is this an every 100k miles thing?)

2. While the heads come out for the cam / lifter replacement have you had luck replacing exhaust manifold bolts with Grade 8 or Grade 10 bolts? (Thinking about a preventative mod now. Since both driver and passenger had broken/stuck in bolts in the past.) Thinking I'd rather do that now, then potentially deal with it later.

 

[Tach_tech]

I haven’t seen any come back yet after having the repair done, yet.

We’ve always just used the factory bolts for the manifolds. They have been upgraded by FCA a few times. I don’t know if we’ve ever had any come back after repairing them. We also replace the manifolds because they’re always warped, a lot of shops don’t which is just asking for a repeat failure.

 

[Musky Mike]

Could you please take pictures of the cam & lifter and post them here as a follow up.

 

[SoCalLuke]

Could you please take pictures of the cam & lifter and post them here as a follow up.

Yes I will. How does one post picture here? I only see the option to point to a URL? Ahah just noticed you can upload a file....That should work.

 

[SoCalLuke]

Lifter in cylinder 1 collapsed and is missing a few needle bearings.

 

[SoCalLuke]

UPDATE:
Drove it home today, good to be back in the PW!! New cam, lifters, and all exhaust manifold bolts replaced, while heads were out, plus all the other misc for $5k. (only $1500, for 15hours of labor. Thought that was pretty good for LA.)

And found out I am still within my 3rd party extended warranty (84 month /100k miles) Which the dealer never saw, (they are supposed to look on a different screen then were they see the Chrysler warranty.) And I had forgotten about it. So hopefully I'll get re-imbursed for this cam/lifter issue and the drivers side exhaust bolt, head resurfacing fix, which I paid out of pocket for.

And next up if I need a new actuator ring, hopefully they'll pay for that too....Then I can move on to the retired's locker and nanny bypass.

 

[MileHighRam11]

Blows my mind how many of these trucks have this problem. Depending on how long mine lasts (hopefully 200k+ miles), it may steer me away from getting another Ram...Anyway cheers to you getting yours back.

 

[Kap1]

UPDATE:
Drove it home today, good to be back in the PW!! New cam, lifters, and all exhaust manifold bolts replaced, while heads were out, plus all the other misc for $5k. (only $1500, for 15hours of labor. Thought that was pretty good for LA.)

And found out I am still within my 3rd party extended warranty (84 month /100k miles) Which the dealer never saw, (they are supposed to look on a different screen then were they see the Chrysler warranty.) And I had forgotten about it. So hopefully I'll get re-imbursed for this cam/lifter issue and the drivers side exhaust bolt, head resurfacing fix, which I paid out of pocket for.

And next up if I need a new actuator ring, hopefully they'll pay for that too....Then I can move on to the retired's locker and nanny bypass.

Glad to hear it's fixed.

Please let us know what kind of 3rd party warranty did you have? Is it Chrystal factory extended warranty, or a 3rd party warranty? Let us know what is the name of it and if it covered the repair.

Thank you!

 

[scott lass 18]

New here, and of course need some help. My searches haven't popped up with the same scenario. So I thought I'd ask the experts here:

Have 2012 RAM Power Wagon with 5.7 Hemi in it, with 92k miles and have owned it since 8k miles.

Late Dec. While towing, I had a blow out (going up hill) on one of the 4 trailler tires and dragging the blown tire cause an increased load on the engine, and the RPM went sky high until I was able to pull over, less than a mile. (I was in Tow/Haul mode.)

As this was happening the check engine light came on, was flashing, and began beeping. The radio, was on, but I also think the engine died when I came to a stop, (but not 100% sure.)

Changed the trailer tire, popped the hood. Oil level was fine and all temps (coolant, oil, transmission) were all fine. So I limped along without straining the engine and checked the code at the next AutoZone. It was P0301.

Ended up finishing the trip and as long as I kep the rpm under 4500 rpm the truck drove fine. Even wheeled it a bit. Then drove home. It was only when downshifting or going up an incline, and going over 4500 rpm which would cause the CEL to flash and beep. Then once the rpm's dropped the light would go solid.

Got home (whether with a trailer or not, whenever I hit 4500rpm would cause the CEL to flash.) Mechanic verified the same code P0301 and replaced all spark plugs, coils, and air cleaner. No CEL light and it ran fine.

One week later, I was playing around with the tow haul mode, while driving on the freeway to see where it shifted. (I just moved from 34x11.5 tires to 35x12.5 and was curious.) Well this spirited driving in tow/haul mode caused the CEL to flash and beep. Slowed down, took it out of tow haul mode and then the light went solid. Kept the rpms down and it drives fine. Mechanic checked and the code was again P0301 and U1449. It was Friday afternoon, he looked at a few things but didn't take anything apart. And reset things.

Today I put it on the floor and watched the rpm climb, when it hit 5000rpm, sure enough the CEL began beeping and flashing. Drove normally, it went solid. Stopped and it went out didn't come back on.

Any guidance? or Suggestions?

mine turn out to be fuel injector they say was noisey other cold morning guess find out this summer long drive hate to have to wounder if it will make it ! the new california emissions suck went from 11 to 8.5 mpg hopping new plugs well help so my mpg is going off all over 3.6 4.1 once 8.5 thanks to california crap had not one bit of problem, pas dec snog and they just put it in at dodge I told them it pass what is california now playing God what they think we need !

 

[Cokiso]

Just bought a used 09 ram 1500 5.7 hemi. Drove great for about 800 miles. But now it will misfire on cylinder #3 when I hit 4000 rpms. Sometimes I can let off the gas and it stops. Other times I have to pull over and put it in park to make it stop. I have replaced the spark plugs and the rubber boots off the coil packs, swapped coil packs around and fuel injectors. The miss stays in that cylinder. I feel like a valve is sticky at high rpms. I put a quart of marvel mystery oil in the crankcase hoping it would clean any gunk out if the heads. This is very similar to the issue you are having. Just curious if yours also that the same symptoms as mine.

 

[burner71]

When my cam wiped, I would only misfire at exactly 4K rpms. Letting off the gas a bit would stop the cel from flashing and it would drive normal.

 

[Ludville1]

Just bought a used 09 ram 1500 5.7 hemi. Drove great for about 800 miles. But now it will misfire on cylinder #3 when I hit 4000 rpms. Sometimes I can let off the gas and it stops. Other times I have to pull over and put it in park to make it stop. I have replaced the spark plugs and the rubber boots off the coil packs, swapped coil packs around and fuel injectors. The miss stays in that cylinder. I feel like a valve is sticky at high rpms. I put a quart of marvel mystery oil in the crankcase hoping it would clean any gunk out if the heads. This is very similar to the issue you are having. Just curious if yours also that the same symptoms as mine.

How many miles on your truck when this happened?

 

[BigM4x4sc]

Ok, I have a '11 1500, 5.7Hemi 163k miles, and am having very similar issues with P0301 at 4k-4500 rpm. Then it goes away and drives fine. The truck is my daily driver ~60mile trip 5days/week. I have had the truck for a year, and granted it has only done this to me 4-5 times, only at these RPMs during "interstate maneuvers" will call it. I am thinking i might try and pull the valve cover tomorrow and start there. I guess my first question is that with the amount of miles on my truck is it possible this may be a replacement set of cam/lifter already? Or did i stumble onto the longest lasting set in the bad batch?

I'm concerned mostly because I have only towed the family's little 2500lbs pop-up plus gear, so maybe a 3000lb load twice, and never with any need to push the engine with the load. Now we are looking to upgrade said camper to a travel trailer, hopefully nothing heavier than 7000lbs. I like the truck, but am starting to think it might not be worth keeping. Cam/lifter, replaced falling off factory steps, couple of electrical gremlins also now have rear driver-side brake caliper dragging.

Had my last truck ('05 Titan) for 10yrs & 262K miles, put a starter, a coil and a radiator in it. Pulled several heavy loads behind it, and loved it. I like Ram, but am starting to think it might be time to start looking around again...

All that being said, its just the mileage with the bad lifter/cam that is nagging at me. Is it worth keeping...

 

[broken arrow]

ok so what did you find out i have same issue but on a diff cycl i think it is the computer the one shop i went to reset the computer by touching the battery cables together said it was a hard reset this is why i dont like any1 touching my stuff lol

 

[Funkychateau]

Was this ever resolved?

 

[indept]

Was this ever resolved?

I was wondering the same thing.
Since there hasn't been any comments since June from the OP the assumption has to be that's it's fixed an everyone lived happily ever after.

 

[fitzdicksn]

New here, and of course need some help. My searches haven't popped up with the same scenario. So I thought I'd ask the experts here:

Have 2012 RAM Power Wagon with 5.7 Hemi in it, with 92k miles and have owned it since 8k miles.

Late Dec. While towing, I had a blow out (going up hill) on one of the 4 trailler tires and dragging the blown tire cause an increased load on the engine, and the RPM went sky high until I was able to pull over, less than a mile. (I was in Tow/Haul mode.)

As this was happening the check engine light came on, was flashing, and began beeping. The radio, was on, but I also think the engine died when I came to a stop, (but not 100% sure.)

Changed the trailer tire, popped the hood. Oil level was fine and all temps (coolant, oil, transmission) were all fine. So I limped along without straining the engine and checked the code at the next AutoZone. It was P0301.

Ended up finishing the trip and as long as I kep the rpm under 4500 rpm the truck drove fine. Even wheeled it a bit. Then drove home. It was only when downshifting or going up an incline, and going over 4500 rpm which would cause the CEL to flash and beep. Then once the rpm's dropped the light would go solid.

Got home (whether with a trailer or not, whenever I hit 4500rpm would cause the CEL to flash.) Mechanic verified the same code P0301 and replaced all spark plugs, coils, and air cleaner. No CEL light and it ran fine.

One week later, I was playing around with the tow haul mode, while driving on the freeway to see where it shifted. (I just moved from 34x11.5 tires to 35x12.5 and was curious.) Well this spirited driving in tow/haul mode caused the CEL to flash and beep. Slowed down, took it out of tow haul mode and then the light went solid. Kept the rpms down and it drives fine. Mechanic checked and the code was again P0301 and U1449. It was Friday afternoon, he looked at a few things but didn't take anything apart. And reset things.

Today I put it on the floor and watched the rpm climb, when it hit 5000rpm, sure enough the CEL began beeping and flashing. Drove normally, it went solid. Stopped and it went out didn't come back on.

Any guidance? or Suggestions?

I have the same problem with my 2011 Ram 1500 Crew Cab 4 x 4 with the 5.7 Hemi. The truck has 220,000 miles (354,000 kms) on it. My problem with the misfire and the heavy engine vibration only occurs above 4,000 rpm under rapid acceleration. AT an idle you do not know the truck is even running as it dead quiet and smooth. Performance is normal up to just over 4,000 rpm and then the **** hits the fan, the check engine light is flashing and a warning gong is sounding off. I slow down to about 1900 rpm and keep driving for about 60 seconds and the warning sound quits, the check engine light stops flashing and the vibration is then gone until the next time I accerate over 4,000 rpm. We have swapped coils, plugs etc and the problem stays with the same cylinder. It can not be the cam or the MDS system as it runs perfectly right up to 4,000 rpm. I have also been using a Lucas zinc phosphate additive for several years (and no idling) in the hopes these two items may delay the cam wear problem.

I am not losing any coolant that I have noticed unless my dealership has been topping it up and not telling me. But I wondered if there could be a small crack in the cylinder head (or bad head gasket) that only opens up under the added heat of rapid acceleration and it lets a tiny amount of antifreeze into the combustion chamber. Then once rpm decreases to 1900 rpm, the head cools down after a few seconds and the crack closes. My only other thought is a bad fuel injector that just can not fire that rapidly any longer. I have the original 11 year old injectors in the engine but I do regularily run fuel injection cleaner in the fuel.

All help is appreciated as my dealership is likely hoping to sell me a rebuild.

 

[Tach_tech]

If you’ve already swapped plugs/coils then I’d swap the injector.

After that, you could do compression/leak down tests.

The idea that the head gasket/crack is only an issue at higher rpm’s is reaching quite a bit. Not saying it’s not possible but quite unlikely. A cam/lifter issue is much more likely. I’ve seen some cans worn but only causing heavy load misfires.
Do you have access to a scan tool that can monitor real time misfire data. it’s quite possible that cylinder has intermittent misfires at idle/low load but not enough to trip a CEL.

 

[ctwalton15]

I have pretty similar problems to most of the users posting here. I have a 09 ram 1500 5.7l 4x4 sitting at 149k miles on it currently. I first got this truck actually bought it from my parents at 132k miles. Started misfiring at 133k only at 4k+ rpms on cylinder number 1. Checked the usual suspects; swapped coils, replaced spark plugs, replaced fuel injector and replaced mds solenloid, no change. I've been driving it ever since and problem never got worse and never got better of course. But still pretty strong and runs and drives decent until I hit 4k rpms it'll misfire for about 1-2 minutes shuddering and you can definitely tell its down on power and I can still be on the gas and I can feel all of the difference from when its down a cylinder and suddenly the cylinder comes back. I have done quite a bit of research and bit the bullet that its most likely my cam. Anyways, I've purchased an mds delete cam kit from modern muscle xtreme. I ordered it saturday and it isn't here yet. But my plans are to do the cam, lifters, head gaskets, timing chain and gears etc, oil pump, going to purchase a water pump while i've got it torn apart. Trying to think of other things off the top of my head but can't remember at this moment, I'm sure there is more but I'll keep posted and take plenty of pictures and what not of the "journey".