Plastic Parts on the Engine

[Phillyrube]

Friend of mine with a BMW is crying the blues about his combo oil filter/ cooler/ water pump made off plastic leaking. Leads me to wonder. 2007 Ram with 5.7 . Any plastic parts anywhere I should be worried about?

 

[mikeru]

I can't say with specificity exactly which parts on your 2007 are plastic, but you can easily tell by looking. Common parts made of plastic on modern vehicles are intake manifold, valve covers, transmission pan, radiator end caps, and engine oil pan. I'm pretty sure the engine oil pans on all 5.7's are steel, but there's a good chance that the other parts I listed are plastic.

 

[HemiLonestar]

3G the only plastic you have is intake manifold, valve covers, dipstick handle & tensioner pulleys. None of which you'd have to worry about severely overcook the engine to death.

 

[Phillyrube]

Thanks gentlemen. More worried about any parts directly in contact with coolant. Heat and coolant = brittleness. Ive been over most of the wiring and tubing, and with the exception of the plastic wiring loom, which just crumbles, everything appears good. I have seen horror stories about wiring insulation crumbling and plastic fittings failing. (BMW and Mercedes come to mind).

 

[jws123]

Thanks gentlemen. More worried about any parts directly in contact with coolant. Heat and coolant = brittleness. Ive been over most of the wiring and tubing, and with the exception of the plastic wiring loom, which just crumbles, everything appears good. I have seen horror stories about wiring insulation crumbling and plastic fittings failing. (BMW and Mercedes come to mind).

the only thing plastic you need to deal with is the lower timing chain tensioner every 3rd gen 5.7 and 4.7 chain guides ONCE in its life without fail.

 

[mikeru]

Thanks gentlemen. More worried about any parts directly in contact with coolant. Heat and coolant = brittleness. Ive been over most of the wiring and tubing, and with the exception of the plastic wiring loom, which just crumbles, everything appears good. I have seen horror stories about wiring insulation crumbling and plastic fittings failing. (BMW and Mercedes come to mind).

In looking at replacement radiators for 3rd gens on Mopar websites it looks like the radiator end caps are in fact made of plastic.

https://www.bamwholesaleparts.com/oem-parts/mopar-engine-cooling-radiator-mopar-55056682ae-55056682ae

 

[Phillyrube]

I put in a non plastic radiator a couple years ago.

 

[grpht03ram]

The 4.7L has the plastic coolant expansion tank; mine developed a leak around the seams and needed to be replaced.
I also broke the tab on the electrical connector for the windshield wash fluid.

I've been keeping an eye on the plastic T that connects the heater core hoses to the coolant tank. Dorman makes a metal replacement.


And then there's the dash, but well know about that....