Do you guys think all Gen 3 5.7L Hemi engines are doomed for lifter/cam failure?

[2012RAM1500RT]

My .02, I have 4 5.7s. From 20k to 150k. All are 8k OCI, all are SRT filters, all are redline 5w30, 2 of 4 have tuners, 1 has a supercharger, all are daily driven in -50 to plus 110 Temps depending on location and time of year. 2 tow, 2 do not. All are driven hard, all but 1 has less than 10% idle time.
I've idled 1 for 9 straight hours in a blizzard stuck on the side of the road waiting on the national guard.

My point, lifter failure is random. It strikes when certain conditions avail themselves. Very little can be determined why they fail.

I never expect to do a lifter job on one of my 5.7s. However my odds are better than most as my exposure is higher. If it happens, I'll build the whole thing, forged internals, upgraded Cam and you can bet the ears off your head, it will get the biggest supercharger I can bolt to it. Because superchargers make power down low, and that's where I like it.

I agree, my son has an '03, I had an '08, I now have 2 '12's, a 1500 and a 2500. All have 5.7 Hemi's. I don't baby any of them, wind them for everything they have a lot cause it feels good and they sound good. They all range from 137,000 miles to 215,000 miles. Call it luck (I'll say thank God) or whatever but I haven't had an issue with anything drivetrain wise, even the weak automatic transmissions. I drive anyone of them anywhere I want to go. Something could happen to anyone of them and I wouldn't be the least bit happy about the cost of fixing it but I'll either junk it or fix it and keep going. It's not going to make me switch brands, There's something all of them has to go wrong at some point. I'll stick with what I've been driving for the past 45 years. I am brand loyal!

 

[HEMIMANN]

@2012RAM1500RT - plus we'd have to learn all the new warts unique to another truck maker. It took me a while to learn the Ram warts, and I'd still say the GM warts were worse and more pervasive. And unfixable in the case of the 5.3L V8 oil pumper engine. That pushed me over the edge to Ram in 2012.

 

[Sillygoose]

Is there any concern of metal pieces clogging the oil pickup tube screen?
Or are the shavings from a ground cam lobe fine enough to pass that screen?
Doing my cam/ lifter replacement this weekend. 2011 w/ 128k, I always limited my idle time for this very reason.

 

[MudSkipper]

check you vvt oil control valve if you see shavings on it, your bearings need replaced... ALWAYS pull the pan and clean it, and the pickup. Clean as much as you can also.

If you see this, your MOTOR is Bad. 5.7 or 6.4 392 Hemi Tick or BEARING noise. MDS OCV VVT Solenoid.

Live Stream High Performance Q & A talk link here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-WSjlBatnkQ&list=PL-em2JbvrnvzTX3pBinwiDKWaMlxx6cpBHey guys, I will have J...

youtu.be

 

[MudSkipper]

, I always limited my idle time for this very reason.

that's already been debunked as bullsh*t... the majority of people have not idled their cars during the life of the vehicle when they experience cam failure...

Fleet cars fail from lack of maintenance and people literally beating the sh*t out of them..

But most lifters fail from to hard of a hit of the lifter on the cam...(this is why 2003-2009 engines dont really have this issue, they dont have the higher vvt lift). MDS play into that alot... Non MDS engines do fail also but it can still be a piece of debris in the lifter oil galley... a manufacturing defect etc...

Engines that use roller lifters will normally always experience lifter roller failure before anything else goes... (GM Ford Aftermarket etc)... Roller lifters are inherently the weakest part of modern engines... but the efficiency is the trade off.

One thing i find interesting is the 2003-2009 engines also have "magnets" on the MDS solenoids to catch metal debris... I pulled a 2005 MDS solenoid out and it had a small sliver of metal on it like a fingernail... that size of an object trying to go through the lifter oil galley would have been bad.

 

[johnwayne]

Um.... well I don't know what to say besides most likely it will fail. Just happened to me. I am the poster child for preventative maintainance. I change oil every 4000km (2000miles) lol. Use the best synthetic filters and all fluids are always pristine. Clear as can be during change. Penzoil ultra platinum oil which is like the best of the best. Still failed at 165000 km. Over $7000 repair bill. Hemi is just crap they know it but they get that extra 7000 from everyone at some point. Nothing you can do

 

[Burla]

check you vvt oil control valve if you see shavings on it, your bearings need replaced... ALWAYS pull the pan and clean it, and the pickup. Clean as much as you can also.

If you see this, your MOTOR is Bad. 5.7 or 6.4 392 Hemi Tick or BEARING noise. MDS OCV VVT Solenoid.

Live Stream High Performance Q & A talk link here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-WSjlBatnkQ&list=PL-em2JbvrnvzTX3pBinwiDKWaMlxx6cpBHey guys, I will have J...

youtu.be

great find

 

[HEMIMANN]

video says entire engine needs to be replaced if shavings are on the valve - if there are no shavings on the valve, video says you can proceed with lifter / cam repair, and clean the oil pan.

 

[Mike Murphy]

Not sure if someone caught this in the last seven pages but Gen 3 = 2003-2008. Your 2014 is Gen 4, 2009-2018. I apologize if this has already been mentioned. In any case, my Gen 3 is 17 yrs old with 126k mi and no concerns. I have always used conventional oil, Castrol GTX high mileage and lately Pennzoil.

Edit: I see the thread is in the right place, just the title...

Regards,
Mike

 

[HEMIMANN]

Not sure if someone caught this in the last seven pages but Gen 3 = 2003-2008. Your 2014 is Gen 4, 2009-2018. I apologize if this has already been mentioned. In any case, my Gen 3 is 17 yrs old with 126k mi and no concerns. I have always used conventional oil, Castrol GTX high mileage and lately Pennzoil.

Regards,
Mike

Mike, what is your OCI (assuming consistent), and what oil filter do you use?

 

[Mike Murphy]

Mike, what is your OCI (assuming consistent), and what oil filter do you use?

My OCI is 6 to 8 months (1k - 3k mi. ish) and I use a factory mopar filter (MO-090) that I used to buy at Autozone, but they stopped carrying it. Now I get the factory filter at Orielly's.

Mike

 

[kurek]

Not sure if someone caught this in the last seven pages but Gen 3 = 2003-2008. Your 2014 is Gen 4, 2009-2018. I apologize if this has already been mentioned. In any case, my Gen 3 is 17 yrs old with 126k mi and no concerns. I have always used conventional oil, Castrol GTX high mileage and lately Pennzoil.

Edit: I see the thread is in the right place, just the title...

Regards,
Mike

The truck is a 4th gen dodge/ram truck but the engine is a 3rd gen hemi engine.

 

[Autobot81]

Hi,

I have a 2013 1500 with a 5.7L hemi. I have had it since new, and have had it serviced at the dealer for the first 90,*** miles. I then started doing them myself and used Mobil 1 oil in it. I know Mobil doesn't meet the mopar spec, but it is a better oil than the lower end Mobil oil so I used Mobil 1 in the truck with OEM filter. Truck has 109,*** miles on it now, and the lifter ate the cam and it is now getting a new motor. I daily drove the truck and never knew about the cam issue.

I pulled the codes and knew it was toast after I saw the misfire codes and did some research on the internet. Truck had a valve spring failure that was covered by Chrysler at just over 60,000 but no other issues. It started up first time, every time and I could stomp on it and had tons of power...until I got the check engine light. At that point I took it to the dealers and they charged me $450 (CDN) for diagnosis and then told me that it wasn't worth doing a cam and lifters as there was likely metal throughout it. I probably should have done an oil analysis to see how bad it was, but I need the truck to drop off my kids etc so elected to go engine swap.

Dealer quoted me $9900 (all $ figures are CDN) for a used engine with 50,000 miles on it. New motor was $10k, but none in stock and $3k for labor. I had the truck towed to an engine shop who ironically has a cache of crate motors from Chrysler, so they are doing it for $7800. Loads of money, and I could do it myself, but without a covered space and the rain that we have right now, I couldn't do it in a reasonable amount of time so I am paying them.

Thinking now I will be going with oil analysis once in a while and perhaps just preventatively changing the lifters in the engine at around 75,000 miles. At least that way the repair is planned and not as expensive as a new motor. Never thought that the lifters would go, and am usually overkill on the mechanical stuff (I enjoy it as I am a mechanical engineer) but never expected this. This is my first Mopar and might be the last...

Might sound like a sob story, but it is what it is. Just want to share my experience so others don't suffer the same fate, I thought the rest of the truck would be failing before an engine. I would definitely consider doing oil analysis and perhaps preventatively doing the lifters. I haven't looked into how practical doing the lifters would be...

My friend had a 2010, his failed at 78000 miles.

 

[Antonio Mena]

I saw that the oil pump on the Hemi is being swamped for a 6.2 Hell Cat high volume pump . Does anyone have experience on this concerning lifter and cam wear out? Thanks be safe God Bless.

 

[Sherman Bird]

I am asking because I currently have a 2014 Ram 1500 Longhorn that I really like and would like to keep a long time if possible.

Currently it's not my daily driver so it only has 60K miles but that may change because I will be giving my daily driver to my yougest when he starts driving this year.

I have been using PUP 5w20 since I got it in 2016 and on my last oil change, before it hit 60k, I started adding Lubegard. I plan to use PUP/Lubegard on all future oil changes but I have to admit I am still very paranoid about my lifters failing.

At this point my truck has been flawless and runs great. The main reason I started adding Lubegard is in hopes of preventing the lifter issues. Hopefully it will help.

I was going to do a Blackstone UOA but got distracted and forgot I had the kit the last time I changed my oil. So I will have to get it done on the next Oil change.

I would like to get over 200k miles out of this truck if possible but after reading about all the lifter failures I feel like it can happen at any time. What really got me was a coworker with a 2015 Laramie just got diagnosed with lifter failure. His truck is newer than mine but had about 10K more mileage. His truck was also flawless up until it started knocking. I know he was using PUP 5w20 as well but I do not believe he was adding Lubegard.

I am just concerned my lifters will fail once I start using my truck as daily driver. LOL

So, am I over thinking this or is it time to jump ship and trade my truck in while it's still it great working condition?

How many of the several million manufactured are going to fail? One would need a crystal ball for that answer. My crystal ball got stolen and my turban is in tatters!

 

[EdGs]

I have a 2015 1500 QC 2WD with the Hemi.

Got it in Sept. of 2017 with 28.6k miles on it. The dealership had changed the oil and it had a 5k interval written on the sticker.

I have run PP 5w-20 since it was at 33k miles, changing according to the OCI on the the display. Used PP 5w-30 on my last change, lubegard biotek on the 2 changes before that. Am trying to get my head wrapped around giving Red Line 5w-30 a go soon.

Did my own plug change, transmission service. Repaired a couple broken exhaust manifold bolts, brakes, etc. (Thank you to all who shared their expertise here).

Truck has run great for me so far, 135k miles now. I must admit, reading about cam failures since I joined RF has me a bit freaked out though.

Makes me wonder if some of these failures are due to some inferior parts. Crap can, and does, happen.

I love my Ram and if the cam/lifters fail, I will have to bite the bullet and get her fixed.

 

[Arabian2]

Hearing about Stuck lifters has me worried. Thinking I will go and get additonal insurance.

 

[Sherman Bird]

Just got a check engine light yesterday. took it to VIP Auto and says its a stuck #5 lifter issue. Never had any issues before.... now looking at this. I'm wondering if I have any grounds.... Its a 2011 with 94,500 miles. So I just past the 10 year mark I brought it December of 2011 so 4 months over, but under the 100,000 miles. Should I contact a lawyer or take it to the dealer first to see?

I've witnessed a number of my customers hire lawyers over the years for long term warranty claims. The manufacturers are past masters at dilatory tactics which sap you of energy, and bide their time til one throws up their hands in disgust. Good luck.

 

[ramffml]

Just got a check engine light yesterday. took it to VIP Auto and says its a stuck #5 lifter issue. Never had any issues before.... now looking at this. I'm wondering if I have any grounds.... Its a 2011 with 94,500 miles. So I just past the 10 year mark I brought it December of 2011 so 4 months over, but under the 100,000 miles. Should I contact a lawyer or take it to the dealer first to see? Looking at all the issues, I'm a little ticked that they have not sent anything out that this maybe an issue. Spent all day researching this, and seeing so many post about this.

Your truck is outside the warranty. Not saying I don't sympathize with you as it would upset me as well, but objectively speaking you have absolutely zero chance of getting anywhere.

 

[HEMIMANN]

Just got a check engine light yesterday. took it to VIP Auto and says its a stuck #5 lifter issue. Never had any issues before.... now looking at this. I'm wondering if I have any grounds.... Its a 2011 with 94,500 miles. So I just past the 10 year mark I brought it December of 2011 so 4 months over, but under the 100,000 miles. Should I contact a lawyer or take it to the dealer first to see? Looking at all the issues, I'm a little ticked that they have not sent anything out that this maybe an issue. Spent all day researching this, and seeing so many post about this.

Whatever you do, don't wait - if you keep running it like that it will destroy the engine. The cam / lifter replace is 1/2 cost of a new engine. Advisory came out some time back if you see metal fragments in a certain actuator (can't remember which, it's not the EGR), the engine is junk. If none yet, you can get by with new cam and lifters. Still cheaper than a new truck with no inventory and parts shortages.