Results of cam/ lifter upgrade

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Allen Epperson

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Interested in information..... if after the cam/ lifter replacement or upgrade, due to cam/lifter failure and misfire code, how many mile has your hemi lasted before loss of oil pressure due to crank or other bearing failure or cam/lifter failure again.............. 1.Please list mileage of first sign of tick and length of time before repair. 2.Oil and filter used before and after replacement. 3. Length of time and mileage 2nd failure happened, or if no problem with upgrade.....Trying to decide between cam/lifter replacement or engine replacement........ Thanks in advance.
 

James OBrien

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Hey Allen, you may want to rephrase your question, I have no idea what you're trying to ask here. I think you're assuming that most folks end up eventually losing an engine due to metal shavings/debris from a lifter failure and cam lobe wipe. I don't think you're going to get much data here if that's the case, I think by and large once a repair is done 'most' engines keep on going for a long time.
 

huntergreen

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Sounds like he’s asking how long a replaced cam and lifter replacement has lasted or did the problem re-occurr. If so, how long did the repair last. He’s also asking if there were bearing issues later on down the road. Guess his cam and lifter need replacing and he’s trying to decide between repair or replace engine.
 

Dirty D

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well my tick started around prob 60-70k miles...however i can attest the previous owner (family...) was dog **** with oil changes and when it did get done was at a jiffy lube or some other kmart bs service center...im at about 115k miles now and just had my first misfire pop up. trucks been parked ever since. just got the ac system evaced this morning and started tearing it down. i should have the cam out tomorrow and if its chunked at all...it will be strapped to a pallet and send to MMX to become a nice 392. the cost and time to replace a cam/lifters while the rest of your block has metal flowing and effectively turned itself into a self chipping woodchipper isnt worth it...eventually that metals going to catch up to ya and you will be doing an engine anyways. imo you might as well get er done right the first time...u dont want to mess with that fan clutch twice :893Chainsaw-Smilie-
 

CunningStunt

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well my tick started around prob 60-70k miles...however i can attest the previous owner (family...) was dog **** with oil changes and when it did get done was at a jiffy lube or some other kmart bs service center...im at about 115k miles now and just had my first misfire pop up. trucks been parked ever since. just got the ac system evaced this morning and started tearing it down. i should have the cam out tomorrow and if its chunked at all...it will be strapped to a pallet and send to MMX to become a nice 392. the cost and time to replace a cam/lifters while the rest of your block has metal flowing and effectively turned itself into a self chipping woodchipper isnt worth it...eventually that metals going to catch up to ya and you will be doing an engine anyways. imo you might as well get er done right the first time...u dont want to mess with that fan clutch twice :893Chainsaw-Smilie-
There isn't much out there about cam/lifter jobs being done and then failures due to metal shavings. Most metal should be caught and filtered out...unless the lifter came apart in chunks...

I have only seen one incident that had catastrophic damage. Cam/lifter swap should easily give another 100k, especially if the lifter failure rate on the newer oem lifters are better. The bottom end of these engines are tanks and the 8sp tranny is a marvel of engineering.
 

Dirty D

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There isn't much out there about cam/lifter jobs being done and then failures due to metal shavings. Most metal should be caught and filtered out...unless the lifter came apart in chunks...

I have only seen one incident that had catastrophic damage. Cam/lifter swap should easily give another 100k, especially if the lifter failure rate on the newer oem lifters are better. The bottom end of these engines are tanks and the 8sp tranny is a marvel of engineering.
interesting, most of the time the response ive been seeing from the more knowledgeable guys on here is, if its gone your blocks just waiting to go out. in my own case, i may be clinging to that idea so i can justify sending my block off to get stroked lolol...i got bit hard.
 

CunningStunt

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interesting, most of the time the response ive been seeing from the more knowledgeable guys on here is, if its gone your blocks just waiting to go out. in my own case, i may be clinging to that idea so i can justify sending my block off to get stroked lolol...i got bit hard.
I rarely see senior members jumping to engineswap over cam/lifter replacement. But, if you got the dough, definitely send it off and stroke it lol
 

2012RAMsportHEMI

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My 2012 Sport had the lifters/ camshaft replaced at 91k after check engine light and code P0305. I bought it used in ‘16 & 30k. PO’s records showed oil changed every 3-4k with synthetic. I have done same. So, dealership here could not tell me if new parts are better or same as OEM. Thus, I bought an extended warranty since I dropped $4000 on this issue that FCA refused to acknowledge or help repair. At this time, it has 135k and runs really good. I run it hard so if it breaks again under warranty. I have had not any lower engine debris or metal shavings. Oil pan bolt is magnetic and always clean. I love this truck but very disappointed. Not sure I will buy another Ram.
 

Black1500Ram

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The way I'm looking at it, cam replacement is <$2k and a new engine is >$5k. (I wouldn't buy used since there's no way to know how it was maintained, and I can perform labor myself).

My lifter tick just start at 112k. I'll have the cam and lifters swapped out before Thanksgiving, so not more than 119k and I've switched to Redline in the meantime. I figure with the switch to non MDS, and some improvements to the oiling system, the engine (so long as there's no major metal chunks as others have said) should last at least as long again. Anything past 250/300k IMO is a bonus.
 
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