I appreciate the reply; but if the filter is too restrictive, then that would show up as too high(?) psi under the oil pressure gauge, would it not?
Losing lifters is somewhat common with the hemi, this is the first time I've heard someone link that to a "too small" filter, most theories believe it being either oil too dirty (which might be the real problem WRT to small filters and long oil change intervals), or oil too thin, poor quality control on the lifters themselves, or excessive idling.
Not saying your wrong, I just don't know how oil PSI can be unchanged when swapping in a smaller filter and yet be considered "too restrictive".
If you want to run the small filter, then run it. It's you're engine, your money.
For one, it depends where oil pressure is measured in the engine. Oil pressure is affected by bearing / bushing clearance, and other factors, including the oil filter. The oil pressure in the 5.7 HEMI increases once you switch to a bigger filter. The increase is also amplified if you use a slightly thicker oil. I know this because I used both 5w-20 and 0w-40 width the small and big filter.
The bottom line is that with my current setup, which is in my signature, I don't have any issues. I can literally let the truck sit for a month and it starts up like I just turned it off. So take that for what it's worth.
In two days my warranty is up. Knock on wood, I made it for 5 years without issues. I thought about it and I am switching to Red Line Oil, I think it's worth the cost as added insurance. With two young kids and a bunch of other problems, the last thing I need to do is a lifter job.
Why Chrysler is allowing this insanity to continue is beyond me. The only explanation that makes sense is that they don't want these trucks to last for too long because that eats into their profits. SRT Chargers and Challengers, and R/T vehicles running the big filter don't really run into lifter issues.
A few months ago I met a guy who owned a 2015 Charger R/T. He got it new, and at the time I met him he had 145,000 miles on it and the engine sounded like new. We got to talking about maintenance and he told me that he ran the big Mopar filter and Castrol 5W-40 since he got the car.
Go to BITOG and look for Overkill. He's a long time bitoger and a pretty cool guy, though he doesn't think much about Red Line or the Moly plating theory. He runs 0W-20 in his HEMI and uses a big filter, the FRAM XG2. He tows heavy loads with it, and never has any issues. And while you will never catch me running 0W-20 in a HEMI, I am convinced that the small oil filter has a lot to do with lifter failures. Couple that with thin fuel economy oil that polimerizes at high temperatures creating dirt, sludge, and lakes on to dust about anything it can, and the fact that the HEMI is set to run too hot from the factory (it's a hot running engine to begin with), and wonder not why the lifters go bye-bye taking out your cam in the process.
