VVT question ?

[TJP440]

Being new to the Ram world and being on the cautious side i have to ask a questions I may not like the answers to.
The truck is a 2014 5.7/Auto/ 4wd with ~ 65K miles. Carfax showed 2 owners with oil changes every 3-4K miles. runs great, incredibly clean. onto the questions:
I keep hearing of camshaft/lifter failures. Many claim excess idling / lack of maintenance as the cause. But I've also read of people going 200K + with these trucks.
So,
#1. How common are these and at what mileage or when?
#2. I also see changing / cleaning the VVT filter/solenoid. Is this a recommended maintenance item or something to be done when a problem occurs?

I have done ALL the fluids except the trans which I will likely do soon. Have also done the gas tank frame repairs, sliding back window seals, drains, 3rd brake light, back seat mod and LED headlights.
I do not drive the truck a lot but really love it when I do. So am I just being a nervous Nellie or ?
TIA

 

[rzr6-4]

#1. How common are these

No one knows. Some people have had it happen to them twice while the majority of people never see it at all. I've never seen any convincing stats on the issue. It is a systemic issue, but not something to lose sleep worrying about if/when.

at what mileage

I've heard of as low as 60K miles, but most are between 100-200k. "That's a very large range" you might say. Correct, because there's really no telling if/when.

#2. I also see changing / cleaning the VVT filter/solenoid. Is this a recommended maintenance item or something to be done when a problem occurs?

It's what you do after you get the tick to determine if you can do a cam/lifter swap as a repair, or if you need a whole new motor.

am I just being a nervous Nellie

Yes.

If you are afraid of the lifters failing, you can buy a new Toyota with metal shavings already floating around in the engine, or you can buy a new Chevy/Ford where your trans will grenade. (They partnered on their trans, and now that it sux they both have massive recalls, lol.)

Buy good oil and change it every 5K miles, luck will do the rest. Schrodinger's lifters.

 

[Wild one]

Being new to the Ram world and being on the cautious side i have to ask a questions I may not like the answers to.
The truck is a 2014 5.7/Auto/ 4wd with ~ 65K miles. Carfax showed 2 owners with oil changes every 3-4K miles. runs great, incredibly clean. onto the questions:
I keep hearing of camshaft/lifter failures. Many claim excess idling / lack of maintenance as the cause. But I've also read of people going 200K + with these trucks.
So,
#1. How common are these and at what mileage or when?
#2. I also see changing / cleaning the VVT filter/solenoid. Is this a recommended maintenance item or something to be done when a problem occurs?

I have done ALL the fluids except the trans which I will likely do soon. Have also done the gas tank frame repairs, sliding back window seals, drains, 3rd brake light, back seat mod and LED headlights.
I do not drive the truck a lot but really love it when I do. So am I just being a nervous Nellie or ?
TIA

If you're pulling the intake to clean the VVT solenoid,fill it full of gas,shake the hell out of it,dispose of it properly,then spray as much engine degreaser as you can inside it,and run it through your local coin-op carwash and wash it out,while you have it apart it's a good time to do a home cleaning on the injectors.Felpro sells the intake gaskets alot cheaper then Ma Mopar.

Watch the video in the first post

Injector cleaning

Supposed to go cold and snow for the next 10 days,so i figured it was a good time to pull the injectors and give them a cleaning.Got them soaking in injector cleaner,where i'll probably leave them for a couple days before using some carb and choke cleaner to wash them out using my old homemade...

www.ramforum.com

 

[EdGs]

65k miles on an 11 year-old truck is very low mileage.

How many idle/run hours are on it?

You could check with your local dealer, have them run the VIN and see what is in the Ram system for work performed.

Sounds like a decent truck to me. If she hasn't been exposed to winter chemicals/weather, that is another plus.

Any part can fail at any time. You never know.

Sounds like you're taking great care of her. Keep on keeping on. Enjoy her.

 

[TJP440]

thanks to all that replied, I did check the idling hours but don't remember what they were. Didn't strike me as abnormal for an 11 year old truck with 65 K on it, but then again I have no idea what "normal" would be. I'll check again and repost.
Whatever exposure to winter has been extremely limited which with the low mileage, service history and when I saw the underside pic's I lost about 1/2 the teeth on my pants zipper.
thanks to all for the reassuring replies

 

[TJP440]

Well it's been a bit but, 65K miles, 1669 Driving hours and 137 idling hours . So avg. speed as been 38.9 MPH