Rickmartin2nd
Junior Member
Any advice is appreciated!!! I purchased my first Ram 2018 1500 crew cab 2X4 5.7 Hemi about two years ago used with 80K miles on it. I loved everything about the truck with the exception it could use more braking power. But I figured I’d eventually get there. So about 6 months after purchasing I installed a cold air intake system and did the E.Fan swap. Removed the active shutters, and installed a 180 thermostat Then a tuner by Diablo Sport to control the fan ( prior to me learning about alphaOBD) After considerable conversations with their Team I was finally convinced that installing this tuner using only the pre-programmed tunes on my stock engine was safe to do. I ordered and installed the unlocked ECU, programmed the truck , and absolutely loved it. Tried all the tunes (always use 93 octane and occasionally would run 5 gallons of Sunoco 110 to a full tank) and found the truck really responded well to the middle aggressive tune (think it’s the 91 octane tune) So I kept this tune installed and continued to drive and enjoy my truck. I later installed flowmasters and everything was great for awhile. Then right about 100k miles it threw a misfire code on cylinder number 8 so before I inspected it was getting close to service time and I was planning a trip that following week to Charlotte NC (about 225 miles from Charleston SC ) so I went ahead and purchased all new plugs, oil, filter, antifreeze, new cotton air filter everything needed to perform 100K mile service. When I pulled the plugs from number 8 they were both tapped closed. Very concerning I checked everything I knew to check and couldn’t find anything out of spec. Replaced the plugs with new plugs and finished the service. Now when I cleared the error code for the misfire it didnt return, I went on to dive the truck and everything seemed great. After driving the truck for a couple days before my trip out of town I pulled the plugs out of number 8 just to check it , it went closed and gap was stil where I had gapped it a few days prior. Very strange I thought but continued on with my trip. One of the pre programmed tunes Was a miles per gallon efficiency tune designed for 87 octane fuel. So loaded up and filled up with th low grade gas , programmed the truck right here at the pump, and put my wife in the driver’s seat to make the four hour drive. Turned the MDS back on, and everything went smoothly without a hitch. After the trip once we got off of the highway we stopped to refuel and so I put the high grade fuel back in the tank and put my favorite 91 tune back in the truck as we had about 12-15 more miles to get to our destination, MDS back off and myself back in the drivers seat. I took it easy for about 2-3 miles to let the gas circulate and stopped at a light. Pulled off a little aggressively everything felt normal, ran it on up like a normally do hit the shift point right before the rev limiter I had set at 5,550 and ran it on through the gears. When I got stopped at the next couple of lights the check engine light was flashing , the truck was smoking, clearly burning oil, skipping, misfiring, it was an absolute mess. I limped it on the rest of the trip until we arrived at my brothers laws house where I was then ready to check it out to see what was going on. I immediately pulled number 8 plugs and to my surprise they were wet with oil however still gapped properly. When it time to return home 225 miles away I began calling U-Haul, and all the major rental companies I could tow the truck back home with no body had any trailer or dolly or truck matched to tow my rig home with. The tow companies wanted $1500-$2000 to tow it home for me. I still had good oil pressure , so I made the decision to try and limp it home stopping frequently to add oil as it was burning A lot of oil through number 8 cylinder. We made it to Columbia about 80 miles from home and I stopped and shut it down right there and called for a tow from there it was still $500 but I couldn’t stand another mile of forced damage. I went ahead and just purchased a salvage engine with 34K Miles out of a 2019 classic work truck, put my tune into that engine after I was comfortable everything was good. And I drove this for about 6500 miles when it threw a misfire code on cylinder number 1 I pulled plugs were tapped closed. This brought up all kinds of memories for me. So I kept the original engine with intentions of rebuilding it one day. But after this was starting to happen again I started tearing down the original engine and to my surprise the only thing I could see from carefully inspecting was the piston in cylinder number 8 broke exposing the top ring explaining the oil burning and of course the fragments would’ve shut the gap in the plugs but once the debris was all imbedded into the top of the piston or intake sucked what it wanted and whatever amount my have gone through the exhaust would have gone the plugs wouldn’t have Ben physically effected anylonger. I get it , but now my salvage engine is starting to repeat this pattern, it throwing a multiple cylinder misfire and started to burn oil. I went ahead and pulled the right side he’d off because it indicated misfire in cylinder number 7 and to my surprise the top of piston 7 is broken just like the original motor in cylinder 8. I called the tuning company and they indicate they have never hear of this or had any related issues with their tuning program. I’ve looked across all the forums and you tube outlets I frequent and I just can’t figure out what’s going on with my truck that’s eating piston tops up. Please advise is greatly appreciated. I apologize for being so long I just wanted to make sure I covered all the major details. Thanks
