Jasper reman questions and MDS vs Non-MDS with regards to replacing the engine and selling truck

[Victor Brill]

Hello everyone,

As the title reads, my 2011 Ram 1500 recently ran into the dreaded lifter and cam issue; I have decided to just replace the engine with a Jasper reman. The plan is to put it up for sale after that but will keep it if I don't get the price I am looking for. I am leaning towards putting the Non-MDS motor in my truck especially if I end up keeping it. My question would be, would that hurt the potential resell value of the truck or would it actually be more appealing?

Few other questions I have:

- Anyone here have experience putting in a Jasper reman and your thoughts good/bad?

- Anyone who has went Non-MDS, what was the gas mileage difference, 1-2 less MPG?

- I should use conventional oil for the break in period, correct? Should I wait a certain mileage before switching to full synthetic?

- Jasper recommends switching out the intake manifold if there is "catastrophic" damage and also the external oil cooler. Not sure I have catastrophic damage but was planning on replacing both just to be safe warranty wise even though i wouldn't mind saving the money. I have seen a decent amount of people saying I can use my old intake and engine cooler, was curious everyone's thoughts here? I assume I have an engine cooler since I have the tow package?

Does the Intake Manifold come in two separate pieces? Looking at Rock Auto, I am seeing part #68189105AB and #68194114AC as two different parts. Just curious if I need both of these parts or just one of them? Some of the sites I am seeing for #68189105AB are saying it is not a fit.


RockAuto:
https://www.rockauto.com/en/catalog/ram,2011,1500,5.7l+v8,1447844,engine,intake+manifold,5536

#68194114AC
https://www.summitracing.com/parts/mop-68194114ac/recommendedparts

#68189105AB
https://www.walmart.com/ip/Genuine-OE-Mopar-Intake-Manifold-Kit-68189105AB/219781847

Anything else I may need to replace or look out for?

Any assistance is greatly appreciated, Thanks.

 

[Burla]

Find out if you legally can put non mds hemi in a 1500 in your locale, here you cannot.

Is there a reason for not just swapping cam and lifters?

 

[Burla]

This from your locale, I doubt you pass smog w/o mds on, it is an auto fail to remove anything smog related and mds is smog related..

Additionally, your car must pass emissions inspections if you live in the city of (334) 517-2800 or one of the following counties:

• St. Louis.
• St. Charles.
• Franklin.
• Jefferson.

The good news is mds has nothing to do with cam fails, just as many non mds hemi fail. Easy to bypass mds as well.

 

[Victor Brill]

Find out if you legally can put non mds hemi in a 1500 in your locale, here you cannot.

Is there a reason for not just swapping cam and lifters?

Jasper says it is compliant in 49 states but not legal in California.

I initially thought about just swapping the cam and lifters but decided I didn't want to attempt to put them in myself. Once I started adding up the parts and labor, I got up to about 4K in cost and the motor would still have 133K miles on it. Id also run the risk of spending that 4K and then run into other issues with my motor if that isn't 100% the only problem. The reman might be double the cost but it would have "0" miles on it, improvements made, and a 3 year/100k warranty.

 

[Burla]

Just verify before you buy, call local smog center and tell them you are swapping non mds engine for an oem one that mds was original equipment. I can tell you many other places besides CA would not allow that.

 

[Ramrodd]

Why wouldn’t it pass smog? I’m in SC where there is no smog test but I thought it was just a tailpipe test at idle? I’m also pretty sure there are non mds engines too. Anyway how many miles are on your engine? How much is it going to cost to change the cam and lifters vs replacing the engine?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Victor Brill]

This from your locale, I doubt you pass smog w/o mds on, it is an auto fail to remove anything smog related and mds is smog related..

Additionally, your car must pass emissions inspections if you live in the city of (334) 517-2800 or one of the following counties:

• St. Louis.
• St. Charles.
• Franklin.
• Jefferson.

The good news is mds has nothing to do with cam fails, just as many non mds hemi fail. Easy to bypass mds as well.

Appreciate you looking into that, I would have to look into passing smog. Going Non-MDS isn't absolutely crucial and would actually save me about $700 to just replace it with an MDS motor. That could be an option even though I am leaning towards going Non-MDS.

Luckily, I don't live in any of those counties listed or the area code of the number listed. I live in Jackson County.

 

[Burla]

He has an emissions test specific area, it is a second test beyond a regular smog test. I hate mds, hope it works out.

 

[Burla]

Living in ******-ville has guys on edge all the time, glad to see there are still reasonable places to live....

 

[Victor Brill]

Why wouldn’t it pass smog? I’m in SC where there is no smog test but I thought it was just a tailpipe test at idle? I’m also pretty sure there are non mds engines too. Anyway how many miles are on your engine? How much is it going to cost to change the cam and lifters vs replacing the engine?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I have 133K miles on my engine. With having a shop do the work on both, I am looking at about 4K for the cam and lifter swap and 9K when it is all said and done for the Jasper swap. 5k seems like a big jump but my concern is that I replace the cam and lifters and then find out there are other issues that could cost me a few grand plus I would still have 133K on the motor. With the engine swap, I get a reman with improvements and a 3 year/100K warranty. I have definitely contemplated buying the parts and doing the work myself but I wouldn't consider myself super mechanically inclined and my dad who is getting older, didn't seem too excited at the thought of helping me even though I know he would.

 

[Sandevino]

Unless I’ve misunderstood MDS, it is NOT ENGAGED at idle not when traveling at low speed. Why would MDS even be an issue for the EPA sniff test up the tail pipe?

1995 and older vehicles have an at speed dyno test but that’s not applicable here.

Help me understand why the absence of MDS would matter?

Are you also suggesting locking out 8th gear, effectively disabling MDS, would fail the vehicle?

 

[Burla]

They don't even do tail pipe emissions tests here on vehicles past 1996, they simply look to make sure every smog device is hooked up and give you a pass or fail. You delete anything, you wont be getting reg'd.

 

[GsRAM]

They don't even do tail pipe emissions tests here on vehicles past 1996, they simply look to make sure every smog device is hooked up and give you a pass or fail. You delete anything, you wont be getting reg'd.

Ok, how are they going to know it's a non mds engine then? Yes, typically they look for obvious stuff like removed cats, smog pumps and such, but visually, externally there would be no difference. So long as the CEL is off and all systems show as ready, I dont think they'd look twice at it.

But I dont live in the OPs area so maybe they do things differently.

 

[Ramrodd]

Ok, how are they going to know it's a non mds engine then? Yes, typically they look for obvious stuff like removed cats, smog pumps and such, but visually, externally there would be no difference. So long as the CEL is off and all systems show as ready, I dont think they'd look twice at it.

But I dont live in the OPs area so maybe they do things differently.

That’s what I’m thinking. But I really don’t know anything about it.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[RedSRT4Me]

Why wouldn’t it pass smog? I’m in SC where there is no smog test but I thought it was just a tailpipe test at idle? I’m also pretty sure there are non mds engines too. Anyway how many miles are on your engine? How much is it going to cost to change the cam and lifters vs replacing the engine?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

The engine build year cannot be older than the build date of the vehicle by law.

The non-mds engine was produced from 03-08?

His truck is 2011?

 

[RedSRT4Me]

Ok, how are they going to know it's a non mds engine then? Yes, typically they look for obvious stuff like removed cats, smog pumps and such, but visually, externally there would be no difference. So long as the CEL is off and all systems show as ready, I dont think they'd look twice at it.

But I dont live in the OPs area so maybe they do things differently.

This is true however I don't know how the older gen pcm will react in a newer truck to run that engine. I'm not sure the 2011 PCM will run the 03-08 motor without error and software tuning.

 

[Victor Brill]

This is true however I don't know how the older gen pcm will react in a newer truck to run that engine. I'm not sure the 2011 PCM will run the 03-08 motor without error and software tuning.

It is a 2011 engine but they use a non-mds cam and lifters, MDS delete plugs, and a tuner to turn it off.

 

[Victor Brill]

Anyone with thoughts on replacing the Intake Manifold and external oil cooler. Getting close to pulling the trigger on a new intake manifold and was just curious if the general consensus on if it is necessary or not. Of course, I don't want to run the risk of messing up anything with the warranty.

 

[yoda]

I wouldn't change the intake, by catastrophic failure they are worried about debris in the old manifold that could be drawn into the new engine.
Piece of a Piston, valve, valve seat, etc. being stuck in the old manifold.

 

[yoda]

The oil cooler I would replace with the failure your engine had. If you have one.