Thinking of purchasing a 2016 5.7 with 100k ( Tradesman ) What to check First.?

[Bill Cats]

Thinking of purchasing a 2016 5.7 woth 100k ( Tradesman ) What to check First.?

Car fax looks ok ,
Shows it was a fleet for the first 80k of its life ( commercial Vehicle )
- then to the current owner for the last 20k miles -
-Only thing I can see its he said it ticks for the first 7 - 10 seconds when cold -
- Showed me receipts for the Royal Purple he used 3 times at oil chances -
- says it will be coming up on a transmission flush and a coolant flush -

- it looks very clean, u can tell he really cares for it -
I will not sweat tires and breaks and simple things - but is there anything specifically I should be checking for -
- I have Torque app and the ODBII adaptor -
- is there any codes or anything specific I should be seeing exactly -- ???

ask was 15,000

 

[kurek]

The start up tick is normal and expected as the hydraulic lifters build pressure.

Does it have a column shifter or knob shifter ? (6 speed or 8 speed transmission) - either way there's no such thing as too much fluid maintenance but the 6 speed should have its transmission service more frequently than 100k miles and it's a pan drop procedure. Easy to do but necessary if you want to enjoy a long life from it.

 

[ScrubsR1]

-Only thing I can see its he said it ticks for the first 7 - 10 seconds when cold -

RUN.LIKE.HELL.

Seriously, until Ram addresses their lifter issues avoid their hemi powered vehicles. I know I'll catch flak for saying it, but it's the truth...zero brand loyalty here.

 

[kurek]

Good thing there hasn't been any contradictory advice offered so far!

 

[392DevilDog]

This is what made me decide to buy my 2015 with 100k. That price. Mine was 17k and I searched long and hard.

I wanted to get another 2nd Gen V10 or a 2003 3rd Gen with V10...well, for one that wasn't abused....looking at $15k.

Most every truck I looked at was $25k or more with most hitting the $33k mark.

So a truck with 60k miles for 32k or mine with 100k miles for 17k. That is alot of issues you can fix for that amount of money.

So that sold me. Then you come to the internet and see all the people with a new 2018/19 they paid 50 to 60k for and are having issues...I bought it with a simple test drive and a common problem check.

Very happy with the decision 30k miles into it.

But, I am RAM loyal. They always treat me well.

 

[indept]

First off make sure the tick isn't broken exhaust manifold bolts, that can get expensive to fix if they need to replace a head or 2 which has happened. Also if it's the 8 speed trans, that can run quite a bit. Trans fluid is around 40 a quart.

 

[Ribtipram]

First off make sure the tick isn't broken exhaust manifold bolts, that can get expensive to fix if they need to replace a head or 2 which has happened. Also if it's the 8 speed trans, that can run quite a bit. Trans fluid is around 40 a quart.

This. My exhaust man's were fixed under warranty but it did cost fca a new head. Now with that being said i traded it in at 100k and the truck ran flawless i just wanted a bigger truck. Look at some videos around here you can tell the difference between exhaust tick and lifter tick.

 

[kurek]

I'm 5 years and only 32k miles into my 1500 4x4 Tradesman . This is my first Ram, first full size pickup and the last product I'll ever buy from FCA (for other reasons) but if the Ram brand gets bought by a good company I'd buy another Ram in a heartbeat. My beef is with the company not this machine in particular.

As for what to look at, I'm guessing the truck doesn't have its window sticker neatly rolled in the glove box, you can see the full buildout online by loading up Mopar.com and hitting Owners. Just pretend you own it, log in and enter the VIN and then you can check the window sticker as well as the total build info, tons of stuff you won't really care about (which dome light it was equipped with, what dealer destination zone it was prepped for) but also info that might be more valuable to you like whether it has the oem anti-spin differential (that's Ram's way of saying posi or limited slip) and what differential gear ratio it has, any optional upgrades that aren't immediately obvious like the larger fuel tank, skid plates and recovery hooks, etc.

If the machine is clean and just runs well and you reasonably suspect the fluid maintenance has been done, and the carfax doesn't show a significant loss in its history then just go for it there's not much that's really going to go wrong in the first 100k and 4 years of the vehicle's life. Unlikely to be much rust in just 4 year, if you live somewhere that rust is a concern.

The 5.7 has sixteen spark plugs and those will need to be replaced at 100k miles. If you're a DIY sort you're looking at about $130 for OEM plugs, there are cheaper options too but considering it's once per hundred thousand miles... well, I'd just buy the OE ones and not think about it for another 100k miles. I don't know what it would cost to have a shop/dealer do them.

Regarding my own 2015 Tradesman it has the 5.7L engine and 6 speed transmission and it's done everything I have asked it to do. I don't really have any emotions toward it but I can't point at any particular thing and call it a fault either.

 

[indept]

If it's a used dealer, get them to do the plugs, if private, offer them less to cover a shop doing the plugs & tran fluid. But make sour the manifold bolts are ok. I haven't checked mine yet but I read that you can just check to see if the heatshields are loose & that you can see the hexheads of bolts still there and not broken.

 

[Puba08]

IMO I Would never buy a fleet vehicle.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

 

[Jrod]

I had the same tick on my 16. It was broken manifold bolts. Plugs are also due between 90-100k, so I’d make sure those were done. Both can be expensive if you go to a dealer.

 

[Bill Cats]

It's an 8 speed ))
Plugs were changed

And the current owner said that it text for about 7 to 10 seconds, I have not seen it cold yet, I fear the first time I get to see it cold will be when I own it, but are you saying that I can check the heat shields and see the bolts and actually see if they're spinning around and snapped or?
also I've heard that a fleet vehicle can be really good because it was probably all highway at a hundred thousand miles and bought in late 2016, also most flavor vehicles now have devices that let them GPS and monitor if they're speeding or doing anything else wacky in the vehicle but I'm open to learn

 

[Bill Cats]

Does anyone have a good like I can used to run the VIN number, I do know for sure it is a 5.7 hemi, I do know for sure that he's been using Royal purple oil, I do know for sure it's rustic lean and sounds really good, single exhaust, no tune,

 

[kurek]

Does anyone have a good like I can used to run the VIN number, I do know for sure it is a 5.7 hemi, I do know for sure that he's been using Royal purple oil, I do know for sure it's rustic lean and sounds really good, single exhaust, no tune,

Like I said before if you go to mopar.com and find the owners' section, enter the vin (pretend you already own it) you'll be able to see everything about how it left the factory. It will also show any dealer service history. Between that and the Carfax you already said you did, that's as much as you'll be able to get about it. There's no website on Earth that's going to be able to tell you what octane of fuel they put in every tank or what brand of oil they put in the crankcase.

Advice on the 8 speed... Ram says it's "lifetime" fluid but the company that manufactures the transmission says the transmission fluid should be changed at 80k intervals. If it was my truck I'd be following whichever recommendation is shorter. I do the same with any vehicle, if it has 2 maintenance schedules for normal vs. rough service I always follow the rough service intervals. Oil's cheaper than new transmissions simple as that.

One of the reasons I did a Tradesman actually had to do with the single side exhaust - if you tow or go off road the side exhaust isn't going to echo off your trailer or blast hot exhaust at your trailer, and if you're on really rough terrain the side exit exhaust is out of the way from departure scraping. Side and dual exhaust are both rated the same horsepower... I guess it's possible the dual exhaust makes a bit more but I'll never miss those 3 ponies if they're there.

 

[Bill Cats]

The reason ticking when it first starts is he said the Eco mode only lets it run on 4 cylinders at first and then it starts on all 8, is that true? Of course it ticks for about 7 to 10 seconds tops

 

[kurek]

The reason ticking when it first starts is he said the Eco mode only lets it run on 4 cylinders at first and then it starts on all 8, is that true? Of course it ticks for about 7 to 10 seconds tops

No. When it's idling all 8 cylinders are firing, they wouldn't put it in 4 cylinder mode for idling because even though there's no problem going into 4 cyl mode periodically, some applications have trucks idling 10+ hours at a time and the lack of normal fuel wash/combustion/heat in the same 4 cylinders for extreme durations would almost definitely lead to weird wear patterns.

Start up tick is common for the first few seconds on any vehicle that uses hydraulic pressure to set valve lash. It can be minimized by making sure to run the viscosity of oil specified by the manufacturer (NOT thicker oil) so oil flow can get up to the lifters as fast as possible and evacuate air as fast as possible, and run a quality oil filter that presumably has a better anti-drainback valve.

The eco mode, or MDS, deactivates four cylinders only under specific conditions. I don't remember the exact numbers but it's something like, after the engine has reached operating temperature and you're traveling between 15 and 80mph when the engine is between 1000 and 2000 rpm and torque demands are less than some specific % and the ERS button hasn't been selected... any other time it's on all 8 cylinders.

 

[Jrod]

The reason ticking when it first starts is he said the Eco mode only lets it run on 4 cylinders at first and then it starts on all 8, is that true? Of course it ticks for about 7 to 10 seconds tops

Not true. These are the symptoms of broken manifold bolts. On a cold start, you'll hear a pift, which is commonly confused as a tick. The reason it only lasts a few seconds is because the manifold heats up, expands quick, and seals the exhaust leak. People who've had lifter problems can expand more as well because the tick is similar, but can last longer than just a few seconds.

 

[JoeCo]

Does anyone have a good like I can used to run the VIN number, I do know for sure it is a 5.7 hemi, I do know for sure that he's been using Royal purple oil, I do know for sure it's rustic lean and sounds really good, single exhaust, no tune,

If you're having trouble getting the build sheet the other way that was described, you can also click this link and then go to the address bar and remove the vin#, and replace it with the vin # of the truck you are looking at and press enter.

https://www.dodge.com/webselfservice/BuildSheetServlet?vin=3C6JR7CT6DG548523

 

[Bill Cats]

Okay guys so is it definitely worth a day delay or waiting to the weekend to get to drive to his house and started up cold, because he has driven it to my house and it's already been hot ,so everything I'm relaying is exactly what he's told me when I asked him about a tick, I'm guessing that I can visually inspect the manifolds to see if there's a bolt dangling around in there?, Tomorrow he's to come over to my place again at 10 for us to make a decision but if I wait to start it cold I will go to his place on Saturday morning, when I see the truck hot it's running perfectly, if I started cold and it's in 4 cylinder mold just sitting there warming up something's definitely broken correct? how will I be able to tell if it's in four cylinder motor not when I first started cold,?

 

[Jrod]

Read what Kurek posted.

At this point your best option is to line up a mechanic and pay them to inspect the truck against your concerns. $100 could save you in the long run.

Okay guys so is it definitely worth a day delay or waiting to the weekend to get to drive to his house and started up cold, because he has driven it to my house and it's already been hot ,so everything I'm relaying is exactly what he's told me when I asked him about a tick, I'm guessing that I can visually inspect the manifolds to see if there's a bolt dangling around in there?, Tomorrow he's to come over to my place again at 10 for us to make a decision but if I wait to start it cold I will go to his place on Saturday morning, when I see the truck hot it's running perfectly, if I started cold and it's in 4 cylinder mold just sitting there warming up something's definitely broken correct? how will I be able to tell if it's in four cylinder motor not when I first started cold,?