Looking for guidance for heads

[rmich89]

Hello Fello Rammers!

Brand new to the forum and looking for some guidance on how to proceed with some maintenance of my 2012 Ram 1500 Express V8 5.7 HEMI. My family recently drove from AZ to Galviston TX and back for vacation a few times (2 round trips in a 8mo time span). On the way home I noticed that my truck was getting ?laggier? with every start up. It would start, but you could tell it would take a smidgen more and really 'chug' when it first started up for just a second. Started to also notice a loss of power with a typical ticking (rocker tap?) sound. On the way to work yesterday, while merging onto the freeway the check engine light illuminated and started flashing, I only noticed a minor loss of acceleration during this process, then it cleared up until I started home and got onto the freeway again. Today I connected my scanner and got a P0303 (Misfire cyl 3) and a P1524 (Engine oil pressure low). Decided to take the intake manifold off and start checking some things and found an absolute mess of grime and nastiness on the heads and manifold [see imgs] Looking for advice on what to do to clean all this up as well as what would need fixed.

 

[Wild one]

Hello Fello Rammers!

Brand new to the forum and looking for some guidance on how to proceed with some maintenance of my 2012 Ram 1500 Express V8 5.7 HEMI. My family recently drove from AZ to Galviston TX and back for vacation a few times (2 round trips in a 8mo time span). On the way home I noticed that my truck was getting ?laggier? with every start up. It would start, but you could tell it would take a smidgen more and really 'chug' when it first started up for just a second. Started to also notice a loss of power with a typical ticking (rocker tap?) sound. On the way to work yesterday, while merging onto the freeway the check engine light illuminated and started flashing, I only noticed a minor loss of acceleration during this process, then it cleared up until I started home and got onto the freeway again. Today I connected my scanner and got a P0303 (Misfire cyl 3) and a P1524 (Engine oil pressure low). Decided to take the intake manifold off and start checking some things and found an absolute mess of grime and nastiness on the heads and manifold [see imgs] Looking for advice on what to do to clean all this up as well as what would need fixed.

Pull the VVT solenoid while the intakes off,and look its screen over close for metal filings.It's the one at the front of the engine,horizontal with the ground. A vaccum cleaner will suck alot of the rodent mess up,then use rags soaked in acetone to wipe out the intake ports,to clean the inside of the manifold,strip it down,remove the injectors / remove the map sensor / short runner valve on the back side of the manifold / remove throttle body and anything else that might still be attached to the manifold,then pour a bunch gas inside it,shake the hell out of it,then dispose of the used gasolene in a responsible manner,then by the looks of your intake ports,i'd give it another fill and shake,after that,buy a couple cans of engine degreaser and spray the inside of the ports with it,use lots,and spray a bunch inside the intake manifold,then take it over to your local coin-op carwash and use their high pressure soap and rinse settings to wash the living hell out of the inside and outside of the manifold,pour the water out,then when you get it back home,blow it out with compressed air,or let it sit in the sun to dty out for a couple hours.
That only gets the manifold and intake ports clean,doesn't address your misfire,which is probably a cam/lifter issue.When you pull the VVT solenoid,post some pics of it,and we'll be able to give you an idea of how bad things are.
For anybody who still thinks a catch can is a waste of money,your pics of the intake ports should turn the light bulb on for them,as that's all from the pcv system,and a catch can would help miniumize that build-up

 

[Wild one]

You might get more help if you posted your questions in this section.
Maybe one of the moderators will move your thread

Engine & Performance

Intake, exhaust, cam swaps, etc.

www.ramforum.com

 

[rmich89]

OK, so Here's an update:

- Cleaned out the intakes (soaked w/ acetone, scrubbed with soft wire brush, vacuumed particles, sprayed with brake cleaner, wiped out and allowed to air dry)
- Installed new VVT (see photo)
- Evicted little homie and cleaned up after him
- Installed 16 new iridium spark plugs (pre gapped)
- Installed 8 new coil packs
- Broke the intake manifold
- Purchased and installed new intake manifold
- Broke the Intake Manifold Flap valve actuator motor
- Purchased and installed new actuator motor
- Installed new Intake Air Temp. Sensor (IAT)
- Installed Rough Country Cold Air intake
- Cleaned out grime in Throttle body (brake cleaner and wiped out, air dry)
- Installed Catch Can

Now I'm getting a very rough idle (floating around 800 - 1K rpm), as well as the following MIL / Lights

- Check engine Light[solid]
- P0108 (x2) [Manifold Air Pressure (MAP) sensor]
- P0113 (hit and miss on this one) [Intake air temperature (IAT) sensor]

- ?ECT Light? [Red/Solid] (see google photo of the light)
- Traction Control Light [Orange/Solid]

Any additional help would be greatly appreciated.

 

[Wild one]

OK, so Here's an update:

- Cleaned out the intakes (soaked w/ acetone, scrubbed with soft wire brush, vacuumed particles, sprayed with brake cleaner, wiped out and allowed to air dry)
- Installed new VVT (see photo)
- Evicted little homie and cleaned up after him
- Installed 16 new iridium spark plugs (pre gapped)
- Installed 8 new coil packs
- Broke the intake manifold
- Purchased and installed new intake manifold
- Broke the Intake Manifold Flap valve actuator motor
- Purchased and installed new actuator motor
- Installed new Intake Air Temp. Sensor (IAT)
- Installed Rough Country Cold Air intake
- Cleaned out grime in Throttle body (brake cleaner and wiped out, air dry)
- Installed Catch Can

Now I'm getting a very rough idle (floating around 800 - 1K rpm), as well as the following MIL / Lights

- Check engine Light[solid]
- P0108 (x2) [Manifold Air Pressure (MAP) sensor]
- P0113 (hit and miss on this one) [Intake air temperature (IAT) sensor]

- ?ECT Light? [Red/Solid] (see google photo of the light)
- Traction Control Light [Orange/Solid]

Any additional help would be greatly appreciated.

Did you use OEM parts,or cheap parts off amazon/ebay. Aftermarket/slash cheap parts don't mix well with a dodge,and could be the cause of your issues.

 

[rmich89]

Did you use OEM parts,or cheap parts off amazon/ebay. Aftermarket/slash cheap parts don't mix well with a dodge,and could be the cause of your issues.

I did shop on Amazon for the parts.

 

[Wild one]

I did shop on Amazon for the parts.

That quite often can be a mistake,and cause you issues