Should I be happy?

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jelih

jelih

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HTX
Ram Year
2014
Engine
5.7 Hemi
I have a 14 sport, with the camera, auto door locks. the big fancy radio 8.2??? I am old , knees shot as well.
No key for the tailgate, it locks with the main doors , fob or the handle sensor, If the tailgate is removed , you have to unplug that plug.
BTW ,as I retired bit ago, 75kmetere = 45000 miles, so mine is nice and clean
Talked to the dealer when I went to go pick up the plates the other day. Found out that when he bought the truck the tailgate was missing. They replaced it with one of the same color, but a lower trim package. The build sheet for my VIN just says "locking tailgate," but doesn't specify if that's just supposed to be with the valet key, or the fob. Regardless, none of the gadgetry for auto locking with the fob is present in this tailgate. That also explains why the valet key that unlocks my driver's door does not work with the tailgate. I removed the tailgate a few days after I bought is so it doesn't get stolen since I can't lock it. I'm working on at least getting the barrel rekeyed so I can put it back on and lock/unlock it manually. Also working on the camera stuff.
 
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jelih

jelih

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I think if you’re not happy you should switch into a fifth generation ram and get rid of the fourth
I absolutely love the look of the 5th gens, but the only reason I ended up with this one is because insurance totaled out the GTI I had and that paid for half of this truck. I didn't want payments at all, but I could work at McDonalds and make this note.

I love the truck more and more each time I drive it, which is convenient, because I've spent a small fortune fixing/replacing/upgrading things in an effort to get it from the 137k miles it has now to as close to 300k as possible.

Maybe by the the 6th gens will be out.
 

Hookie

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Put a Pulsar Edge computer on it and you'll like it even more. Super simple to install, big improvement IMHO...
 
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jelih

jelih

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A little update:

When I changed the oil the other week, there was a couple drops of oil on the bottom of the bell housing, so I wiped it up, and checked a few days later. Fresh drops of clean oil, so I took it in today for them to look at it. I was told it was leaking a little from the rear main seal, and from the oil pan gasket. They're going to replace the gasket for me next weekend. The rear main seal is a small leak, so I elected to just leave it because I don't want them to pull the transmission and maybe fk up something else.

I did learn a few things though. I asked if they had done any work to it since the timing cover looks brand new. Dude was hesitant to tell me, but I told him I'd already bought the damn truck and it was financed through a bank, so I'd really like to know as much as possible about it. Apparently it has new pistons and rods, cam, lifters, and all new timing components. I say apparently because they did it in-house so there's no documentation. But the dude likes and sells a lot of rams, and also apparently, this is something they do fairly regularly. They elect not to tell the customers "because then there's always lots of questions." You don't say?

I now question the condition the truck was in when he bought it from the auction, but it runs and drives great so maybe I really don't want to know. This may also explain why, according to the carfax report, there was 4 months and 1500ish miles, and according to him, two oil changes, between him buying it from the auction and selling it to me. Why else would you change the oil twice in 1500 miles on a 136k mile engine unless you just rebuilt it? They did say they've never had an engine come back, so fingers crossed I guess. I bought it with 136K, and was hoping it would last me to 300k, so maybe I'll get lucky. It does make me feel like I'm less likely to be wasting money on preventative maintenance if the stuff I'm trying to keep from failing has already been recently replaced. I just wish there was an easy way to verify all of that.
 

AwesomeLaw

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2021
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5.7 Liter V8 Hemi MDS VVT
I absolutely love the look of the 5th gens, but the only reason I ended up with this one is because insurance totaled out the GTI I had and that paid for half of this truck. I didn't want payments at all, but I could work at McDonalds and make this note.

I love the truck more and more each time I drive it, which is convenient, because I've spent a small fortune fixing/replacing/upgrading things in an effort to get it from the 137k miles it has now to as close to 300k as possible.

Maybe by the the 6th gens will be out.

good luck with that….
 
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jelih

jelih

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good luck with that….
Considering what I found out yesterday, I may make it to 300k after all. Maybe. Assuming the rest of the truck doesn't fall apart around the engine before then.
 

DJ18hemi1500

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Seems like a crapshoot trying to figure out the history of used vehicles. Mine has 4,500 miles since the last oil change (before I bought it) and I’m pulling my hair out to try and figure out what oil and filter to put in next. Appreciate the info jelih.
 

Mister Luck

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Apparently it has new pistons and rods, cam, lifters, and all new timing components. I say apparently because they did it in-house so there's no documentation. But the dude likes and sells a lot of rams, and also apparently, this is something they do fairly regularly. They elect not to tell the customers "because then there's always lots of questions." You don't say?
Did they say where the parts were sourced from ?
Most OE parts do not have oversized options, see if you can find a friendly ear with a service writer or parts counter to see whom in the shop R&R’d the piston and or rings they possibly only did on cylinder # 1
If you hear piston slap now eventually you’ll start to see blue smoke later.
 

Mister Luck

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the engine code sticker that everyone says is supposed to be on the front of the driver’s side valve cover is actually up next to the firewall on the passenger side. Are those supposed to be interchangeable from left to right? A quick google search for replacements suggests not but idk for sure.
The code sticker is not what I had read but
(EDIT)
the casting numbers on the heads even though interchangeable is for the line to ID the correct side for the EGR passage to be placed.

I’ll see if I can find the source.
There are two different casting numbers for the “Eagle” head as it’s known, but both heads are identical with an EGR pad on one end. The only reason there are two different casting numbers is to allow them to differentiate the right from the left on the assembly line when they drill the right head for EGR, and, NO, I’m not making that up.”

Just realized I just necromanced a dead thread …
Oh well
 
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Fediej

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EcoDiesel
I absolutely love the look of the 5th gens, but the only reason I ended up with this one is because insurance totaled out the GTI I had and that paid for half of this truck. I didn't want payments at all, but I could work at McDonalds and make this note.

I love the truck more and more each time I drive it, which is convenient, because I've spent a small fortune fixing/replacing/upgrading things in an effort to get it from the 137k miles it has now to as close to 300k as possible.

Maybe by the the 6th gens will be out.
4th gens are the best looking anyway. ;-)
 

GTyankee

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He last signed in March 20th

Hope that he gets the Tailgate Camera & Electric Tailgate Lights, etc.

Then returns & lets us know how everything is going
 
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jelih

jelih

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He last signed in March 20th

Hope that he gets the Tailgate Camera & Electric Tailgate Lights, etc.

Then returns & lets us know how everything is going
Camera is all hooked up and working as it should. I bought a new barrel for the tailgate lock and used the tumblers that were in the old one to rekey it to match my key, but ended up only being able to use 4 or 5 of the 7(I think, I can't remember) spaces. The only recall that hasn't been completed on the truck is the tailgate latch one that fixes the tailgate falling open while driving thing, which happened to me once, and now I can't get it open at all with the handle. I'll eventually get it into a dealer to fix, and then I found that the actuator to enable remote lock/unlock is $80~, and plugs into the jumper off the camera harness, so that'll be happening once I get everything else worked out.

Power Stop Z36 pads and rotors installed maybe 2 months ago, and I flushed the lines with dot 4 fluid.

I bought a set of Powergo Motorsport shorty headers months ago and had them ceramic coated at PolyDyn here in Houston. I finally got them installed a few weeks ago. When I bought the truck the heat shields on the stock manifolds were all bolted down tight, but by the time I finally got around to having the headers put on, two of the studs had snapped off flush with the head. I think I actually lost a bit of power based solely on butt dyno readings, but I may tune for them later. I also tossed the clutch fan for the Dorman v6 fan a few months ago which I'm happy with, but I need to tune for it too. I'm running a 192* tstat, but before I get it tuned for the fan, I'm going to go down to a 180*. I also have everything to change the trans fluid and pan, and I have the heater bypass thing that I bought from a member here that will get installed eventually.

I have an OBDLink MX+, paid for the AlfaOBD app, paid for the Chrysler PinPuller, bought a used amazon fire tablet, did all the crap to get the play store on it, only for it to not want to connect the the obdlink, so now I'm thinking of switching from iphone to an android so that I don't have to buy another device just for the truck, or maybe I'll email the alfaobd people for the discount code for the PC version so I can try with my laptop. I need to pair the new keys I also bought months ago.

New shocks are next on the to do list. I was going to wait until I'd set aside the cash for a lift/level kit, but I just can't. They're too far gone. I still want the lift, so I may just throw the cheapest shocks I can find on it, as anything would be better than how it is now.

Let's see, what else? I've changed all 16 spark plugs (didn't know about that until after I bought it!), the PCV valve, running the deeper filter element for the ecodiesel, I did the mod where the back seat folds down, but only on the drivers side. Haven't put anything behind it yet, but at least I know I can. It didn't come with floor mats, but I found a clean set for $100 on craigslist. Did the H9(?) mod, which made me all but forget about worrying about LED or HID headlights. Still want LED tails tho.

I think that's it for now.
 
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jelih

jelih

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And now here we are, the iphone I was using given to my step daughter, wife traded her big iphone for a newer smaller iphone, and I traded an old unused iphone with a busted screen for a shiny new android, and now I sit here, not only knowing the pin for my truck, but also now with 3 working key fobs instead of just the one and two (too light to be functional as) paper weights. Massive thanks to Lawsuit11 for the walkthrough with the pics.

Odd thing happened though. I programmed the first fob, and when I went to do the 2nd one, alfa gave me the "failed, already learned" message. I thought I'd switched the fobs in my excitement sitting in my truck in the dark fumbling fobs, but no. They all three work. I started it manually with them all, and then got out and remote started with them all, locking and unlocking. I'm positive I only successfully programmed the first one, as even though it's 1:30am here, I didn't pour my first drink of the night until I came back inside feeling extremely victorious.

I bought them from carandtruckremotes dot com. I'm wondering if they're all cloned with the same RFID or whatever the hell tells the truck it is the right key so that pairing one pairs them all, or maybe they're at least nice enough to only clone the keys in the same order with the same code. I'm gonna try to unlock every ram I see for the next few weeks. Maybe alfaobd erroneously gave me the message since I'd just paired a key.

What do I even do if I find one of the other people who bought the same keys I did and I can unlock their truck?

Anyway, now it's time to go back through and relearn all the cool things I can do with alfaobd since I forgot all of it already, now that I know I can make it work.
 
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