DaveLKN
Junior Member
- Joined
- Feb 25, 2024
- Posts
- 1
- Reaction score
- 1
- Location
- ISA
- Ram Year
- 2013, 2016, 2022
- Engine
- 2013: 5.7 2016: 3.6. 2022: 5.7
I have a 3.6 in a 16 Ram. We now have over 410,000 miles on it. It's been a decent truck, considering how much we drive it.... Biggest problem is valvetrain failures. Thankfully we've caught them before causing catastrophic damage. Both cams have gone flat and been replaced (one of them twice), and roller lifters continue to fail. The bearings in the roller fail, or they go flat and start ticking. I just got it back yesterday for the 4th or 5th time having valvetrain repairs made, bad rocker/lifter again, along with cam sensor. There's no such thing as 'upgraded parts' when it comes to this stuff. Once its out of warranty CJDR isn't worried about somebody's lifter/cam failures.....its all about reducing the cost going into that engine. Here's how I know:
The podcast Autoline After Hours had a show entitled "The Affordability Crisis and How the Industry is Dealing With It", number 685, dated 3.8.24. Start listening at the 32:20 mark. At the 36:20 mark Chris Thomas, who was on the Pentastar design team, explains why they spec'd a cast iron camshaft vs a steel alloy one. Cost. A cast iron cam (I'm told it can't handle the load imposed on the top dead center of the cam lobe normally in such an application- and this ain't a lawnmower motor....), per his words, cost $10-12 each to produce vs $40-50 for a steel alloy one, times 2. So, by way of "good engineering" of the valvetrain design and geometry, they feel the cast iron cam is suitable, and they've save $150 per engine overall, by way of parts cost (& quality) reductions.
Listen for yourselves and see if you get the same vibe from it that I did. I've got 3 Rams, 2 Hemis and one Pentastar, and wonder when the next lifter will croak....
The podcast Autoline After Hours had a show entitled "The Affordability Crisis and How the Industry is Dealing With It", number 685, dated 3.8.24. Start listening at the 32:20 mark. At the 36:20 mark Chris Thomas, who was on the Pentastar design team, explains why they spec'd a cast iron camshaft vs a steel alloy one. Cost. A cast iron cam (I'm told it can't handle the load imposed on the top dead center of the cam lobe normally in such an application- and this ain't a lawnmower motor....), per his words, cost $10-12 each to produce vs $40-50 for a steel alloy one, times 2. So, by way of "good engineering" of the valvetrain design and geometry, they feel the cast iron cam is suitable, and they've save $150 per engine overall, by way of parts cost (& quality) reductions.
Listen for yourselves and see if you get the same vibe from it that I did. I've got 3 Rams, 2 Hemis and one Pentastar, and wonder when the next lifter will croak....
