HELP end my 2yr nightmare!

[Clcoolj]

2012 ram 2500. 5.7 hemi. 4x4
176000 miles
I purchased a motor from an engine rebuilder in Michigan two years ago. I put 20,000 miles on that engine in one year and started having issues with it misfiring. Pull the motor send it back to them, They fixed it under warranty and I reinstalled. That was a year ago this June. I’ll put around 2000 miles on that motor and it never ran correctly. I am currently having a major multi misfire under load. It is backfiring through the intake. It seems to idle fine.

New coil packs
new injectors
new intake manifold
new oil pressure solenoid for VVT
new pressure Sensor
new spark plugs (correct Champion type)

With all that being said the reason it only has 2000 miles on it is the transmission locked up while I was trying to troubleshoot the misfire. I was slowly revving the motor in my driveway and it all of a sudden just locked up the transmission. Of course I thought that the motor had catastrophically failed. That was not the case but I had to disassemble the motor so that I could rotate the block 45° to get out the last torque converter bolt. I reassembled the motor again after installing new head gaskets. I had the transmission rebuilt now and I’m starting to troubleshoot this motor again. I have had a mechanic helping me and he has put a scan tool on it and he thinks that it may be an incorrect part that was installed on the cam. Or a damaged cam phaser. Any info you could give me would be greatly appreciated as I am at my wits end with this truck that I am still making payments on.

The only codes that have shown up have been multiple misfire codes.

I have uploaded a picture of the small damage on the cam phaser. Would that be enough damage to interfere with the cam sensor?

 

[Clcoolj]

Anyone got anything?

 

[El Huapo]

"Backfiring through the intake, idling fine." Probably felt a little lumpy accelerating at highway speeds? What I had with what sounds like the same symptoms was a 1968 El Camino 327 with a "Flat Cam". With the air cleaner off and revving it, you could hear a snap-snap-snap below the carburetor. I pulled the valve covers and ran it, finding one rocker was not rocking. No lift from the pushrod. Pulled the camshaft and one lobe was absolutely round. I was told that Chevrolet had some heat-treating issues with their cam machine that year. In my case, a cam change + new lifters and all was fine. Sounds similar though your engine will be a bit tougher to swap cams. First thing to do to prove/disprove is to pull valve/cam covers and rotate the engine, closely observing the rocker/lifter action. One or more may be not moving as much as the others. Good hunting.

 

[Clcoolj]

"Backfiring through the intake, idling fine." Probably felt a little lumpy accelerating at highway speeds? What I had with what sounds like the same symptoms was a 1968 El Camino 327 with a "Flat Cam". With the air cleaner off and revving it, you could hear a snap-snap-snap below the carburetor. I pulled the valve covers and ran it, finding one rocker was not rocking. No lift from the pushrod. Pulled the camshaft and one lobe was absolutely round. I was told that Chevrolet had some heat-treating issues with their cam machine that year. In my case, a cam change + new lifters and all was fine. Sounds similar though your engine will be a bit tougher to swap cams. First thing to do to prove/disprove is to pull valve/cam covers and rotate the engine, closely observing the rocker/lifter action. One or more may be not moving as much as the others. Good hunting.

Yeah all the valve train was verified before I put the motor back in the last time. It seems more like valve timing is off.

 

[crackerjack1957]

You will have to pull oil pump to verify timing is set correctly......cannot see marks with pump on.

 

[burner71]

Sounds like the timing is off

 

[RedSRT4Me]

You're timing has to be 180 degrees out to backfire through the intake. Everything is firing in an opposite order.

 

[burner71]

A mistake people make because the timing marks are 180 degrees different from pre 09 models. Mechanics and garage builders mess that up a lot.

 

[Clcoolj]

You're timing has to be 180 degrees out to backfire through the intake. Everything is firing in an opposite order.

would it even run down the road like this? I mean I’ve driven it down the road.

 

[Wild one]

would it even run down the road like this? I mean I’ve driven it down the road.

It won't run at 180 degrees out,but it will run hot and backfire through the intake if it's one tooth retarded on the cam