High Mileage Rams & How You Got There

[indept]

There are a lot of thoughts on what causes cam / lifter failure so it would be good to have some details on maintenance and driving habits from the high mileage owners.

Those of you with over 150k miles( past when a lot of cams & lifters initially fail) give us your stats:
- how many miles
-Oil: brand, weight, Synthetic or Dino, filter used
-Oil change miles interval
- Idling hours and Driving hours as read off the dash data
- Do you have a catch can
- has your Cam and / or lifters ever been replaced, if so at what mileage
-Foot details: eggshell friendly or solid lead

 

[Hemi832]

151678 miles
Mobile 1 full synthetic 5 w20
Oil change every 3k
6 hrs a day on average driving/ city
No catch
Never been replaced until now
City friendly on the foot.

 

[indept]

151678 miles
Mobile 1 full synthetic 5 w20
Oil change every 3k
6 hrs a day on average driving/ city
No catch
Never been replaced until now
City friendly on the foot.

On the hours I am looking for how many idling hours -vs- driving hours. There is some opinion out there that excessive idling is causing the cam / lifter failures. Including the service manager where I bought my truck.

 

[chris52010trx4]

256740km (159560 miles)
now using penz platinum 5W30 for the past 56 k km prior was using 5w20 mobil 1,quaker and or penz plat depending what was on sale
fram ultra guard,mobil 1 and napa gold filters used since ive owned the truck at 70k km
also now run a trans dapt filter relocation kit which uses a much larger than stock filter
oil change every 5k km
engine hours as read on my truck 6530 total (doesnt show idle vs driving)
catch can since about 120 k km
original cam and lifters
and combo between solid lead and eggshell depending on the day and how im feeling

 

[Fitz-0518]

03 1500 5.7 QC 2wd. 230k miles. Rebuilt heads at 150k to address the valve spring problem in that year. Prefer preventive maintenance rather than major repairs. First oil Penz conv 10-30, Baldwin filter every 3000k. Trans service every 25k. Coolant change every spring. At 60k went to Royal Purple synthetic 10-40. 5000 OCI At 150k went to Amsoil SS synthetic. 5000 OCI. At 226k went to Redline 5-30 and Royal Purple filter. Went to RL in all my vehicles. Went back to conv Penz 10-40 HM to address and stop normal wear noise associated with 230k miles. Truck runs drives and handles like new. Putting in a cold air kit today. Best 16 year old RAM truck we have had and we have had 6 of them.

 

[indept]

256740km (159560 miles)
now using penz platinum 5W30 for the past 56 k km prior was using 5w20 mobil 1,quaker and or penz plat depending what was on sale
fram ultra guard,mobil 1 and napa gold filters used since ive owned the truck at 70k km
also now run a trans dapt filter relocation kit which uses a much larger than stock filter
oil change every 5k km
engine hours as read on my truck 6530 total (doesnt show idle vs driving)
catch can since about 120 k km
original cam and lifters
and combo between solid lead and eggshell depending on the day and how im feeling

I was thinking about relocating my filter, glad to hear no issues on your end.

 

[onemc4you]

I have 101,000 miles on a 2012 ram 5.7. No clattering except one time idling waiting for friend in store i accedently reved it up in park and it tapped really loud. It scared me at first. I tried to recreate it by reving it up again 10 seconds later but no success. I guess thats good.
Checked oil level and its fine. Last oil change i used titanium Pennzoil yellow 5 gallon from auto zone using recommended oil 5w/20. Every 7,000 miles or less. Time before it was Napa 5w20 synthetic made by shell in gray bottle.



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[chris52010trx4]

I was thinking about relocating my filter, glad to hear no issues on your end.

Been one of the best things I've done to the truck no mess no steering rack covered in oil and a larger filter which can only be a good thing... pressure has stayed the same, temp may be slightly lower used. I used -10AN fittings to braided line instead of the barb fittings and air brake hose they supply ( this was my first time building braided and AN fitted lines also

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[huntergreen]

On the hours I am looking for how many idling hours -vs- driving hours. There is some opinion out there that excessive idling is causing the cam / lifter failures. Including the service manager where I bought my truck.

Someone posted awhile back, that Chrysler considers if idle time is 20 % of engine hours, it is considered excessive.

 

[chris52010trx4]

Been one of the best things I've done to the truck no mess no steering rack covered in oil and a larger filter which can only be a good thing... pressure has stayed the same, temp may be slightly lower used. I used -10AN fittings to braided line instead of the barb fittings and air brake hose they supply ( this was my first time building braided and AN fitted lines also

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In regards here are some pics

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[indept]

In regards here are some pics

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Nice job

 

[indept]

Someone posted awhile back, that Chrysler considers if idle time is 20 % of engine hours, it is considered excessive.

I'm curious on what percent of time has been spent idling on these high mileage hemis.

 

[huntergreen]

I'm curious on what percent of time has been spent idling on these high mileage hemis.

Would be nice to know.

 

[indept]

So none of you high mileage guys have any data on your trucks? While all of the data I asked for counts I was hoping for percentage of Idle -vs- drive time. There are opinions out there that cam / lifter failures are due to long idle times so it would be good to confirm this.

 

[Fitz-0518]

If the HM vehicles that are reporting are 02-05 you don't have that information in display. Maybe able to see it with a tech scan if factory programing held that data. I don't think our trucks started getting I phone smart until some time after 03. Then each year logic and coding advanced to where we are today.

 

[16RamHemi]

from my understanding, most of the issues from idling is due to the low pressure of the low idle rpm. when i tune my truck ill have them bump the low idle up. but im not high mileage. 14 sport with 70k miles. just switched to 5w30 redline and bigger rp filter.

 

[Floyd1979]

2009 hemi , with 411,375 around 11,000 hrs . Mine does not give you the idle time
Lifetime power train warranty, Maxcare lifetime warranty
Around 325,000 the MDS went out and while in there they replaced replaced the cam and lifters
Oil- regular 5w-20 Castrol
In the DFW area driving city and highway
5,000 change oil
No catch can
Run K & N air filter

 

[FXLRRAM]

200K when I traded it in for my new one.
Regularly scheduled 3000 mile conventional oil changes. 1 Fuel pump at 180k. Change wear down parts when needed right away. Wash it regularly.
I've always kept it simple.
I've always said that if you take care of it, it'll take care of you.
I didn't overthink it.

 

[indept]

2009 hemi , with 411,375 around 11,000 hrs . Mine does not give you the idle time
Lifetime power train warranty, Maxcare lifetime warranty
Around 325,000 the MDS went out and while in there they replaced replaced the cam and lifters
Oil- regular 5w-20 Castrol
In the DFW area driving city and highway
5,000 change oil
No catch can
Run K & N air filter

Damn, that is a lot of miles ( or even kilometers if thats what it is). Do you drive in your sleep?

 

[MoparX]

2003 Ram 1500 ST 5.7 Hemi (Original Owner)

250,341 Miles, Original Heads, cam, lifters--no major engine work needed so far. (Replaced water pump at 220,000 miles. Replaced Harmonic Balancer at 160,000.)

- K&N Air filter after purchase, Taylor long wires at 60,000, performance tune
- Currently: Air Raid CAI, Flow masters, Taylor long wires
- First 60,000 conventional or synthetic blend at 3000 miles intervals
- From 60,000 to present: full synthetic: Royal Purple, Mobile 1 or Valvoline at 5000 mile intervals
- I performed all oil changes except for maybe one or two at the most.
- Some long distance towing between 2003-2006; on average, though, driven aggressively where possible

Estimates based on recollection without reviewing records:

- About 180,000 miles have been commuting on a combination of surface streets, highways, and dirt roads with regular moderate hill climbing.
- 8 years of over 30 minutes or more (one way) commutes on surface streets, highways, and dirt roads.
- About four years were commuting with one way being on heavily congested roads
- 17 months of this was particularly bad. Not LA traffic bad, but sitting in traffic bad, nonetheless.
- 10-20 percent of this commute time on average was stopped in traffic, at street lights, or at a drive thru.
- Other than this 17 month period, I wouldn't say the vehicle was subjected to excessive idling.