AZRickD
Member
A change of hobby priorities (no towing) led me to sell my 2005 Duramax with 280,000 miles.
The 6.6L diesel, 5-speed Allison transmission, and turbo charger were still functioning well. But the rest of the truck was showing the wear. Lots of annual money keeping the machine running. I thought the chance of a major issue happening in the next five years on an $8000 truck was too much. So I sold it to a Duramax mechanic who is going to convert it to a flat-bed work truck (he digs and services wells in the desert).
I found a 2014 RAM 1500 2-wheel drive (my first non 4x4 since 1985) Express crew cab with only 54,000 miles and no dings. The crew cab shortens the bed to only 5.5 feet, so I have to angle the dirt bike in if I want to close the gate. Probably going to get a camper shell and do a hitch mount carrier for the bike at some point.
I did a CarFax. Put a wooden dowl rod to my ear and decided the tick-tick-tick is an exhaust leak rather than a lifter/cam horror story. (valve train sounded quiet).
So, now the adventure begins.
I did an oil change with Pennzoil Platinum and half expected the tick to stop due to spontaneous re-welding of the exhaust manifold bolts, but, no luck.
I'm enjoying reading the hundreds of threads on cams and oil.
Odd that, although asked many times, nobody seems to know what percentage of 2009+ 5.7L have the cam/roller problem.
The 6.6L diesel, 5-speed Allison transmission, and turbo charger were still functioning well. But the rest of the truck was showing the wear. Lots of annual money keeping the machine running. I thought the chance of a major issue happening in the next five years on an $8000 truck was too much. So I sold it to a Duramax mechanic who is going to convert it to a flat-bed work truck (he digs and services wells in the desert).
I found a 2014 RAM 1500 2-wheel drive (my first non 4x4 since 1985) Express crew cab with only 54,000 miles and no dings. The crew cab shortens the bed to only 5.5 feet, so I have to angle the dirt bike in if I want to close the gate. Probably going to get a camper shell and do a hitch mount carrier for the bike at some point.
I did a CarFax. Put a wooden dowl rod to my ear and decided the tick-tick-tick is an exhaust leak rather than a lifter/cam horror story. (valve train sounded quiet).
So, now the adventure begins.
I did an oil change with Pennzoil Platinum and half expected the tick to stop due to spontaneous re-welding of the exhaust manifold bolts, but, no luck.
I'm enjoying reading the hundreds of threads on cams and oil.
Odd that, although asked many times, nobody seems to know what percentage of 2009+ 5.7L have the cam/roller problem.
