Well this is one of the lower milege cam failures

[nlambert182]

I firmly believe it's more in HOW someone takes care of something than anything else. I am more than meticulous in how I maintain and operate my vehicles. The wife hates it, but it sure does seem to keep us out of the shop more times than not.

Granted there are times where it can't be avoided, but the issues sure never seem to be as bad as some make them out to be. I think people read forums, then start actively looking for problems that theirs may not have.

 

[Sherman Bird]

When I was a dealer Automatic Transmission specialist, I always approached a vehicle and the stated problem on the work order with an open mind, and constantly reminded myself that folks are busy. They do not sit around, dreaming of taking their vehicle to the dealer for a "phantom" problem stemming from an over active imagination.

Although I was written up and cashiered for it, I'd pick up the phone and call the customer and get their perspective on the problem/ reason the vehicles was in my hands.

THAT cut through tons of dilatory red tape! Y'all have no idea how often a "slipping transmission" turned out to be a drivability issue; often a clogged fuel filter!

Yet, the sometimes snide Service Writer would make disparaging remarks about the customer as being "crazy" and were just wasting time! Yeah! Go figure!!!

 

[nlambert182]

Or.... in the diesel world... what comes in as a slipping transmission was really a busted injector. Saw that one a thousand times!

 

[Barr2255]

Glad yours are treating you well. I've not had the same experience. My prior employer had a fleet of 3.6 Pentastars and the list of failures were LONG. Most of them were the same type of failures, so it presented a pattern. I have good friend that has had similar experiences within his fleet of service vehicles. They don't get pampered, but they aren't abused. Oil changes on the 5's and 10's, national brand oil (obviously they aren't putting high end oils in fleet vehicles) and cam/lifter failures pre-100K (usually around the 75-85k mile mark). I've studied quite a bit of info on them and it just seems to be a design flaw in the lubrication distribution in combination with poor metallurgy in the moving parts. MOPAR redesigned them and they continued to fail, just at a slower rate. Seems we have a vehicle down every week with cam/lifter replacements. Enough so that we had a couple of spare vehicles on standby to rotate into play when one was down. Again, I don't have personal knowledge of the Hemi issues, but it seems they are plenty. Again, glad yours are doing well.

It is unfortunate a lot of the newer vehicles have so many issues. My wife’s work has a fleet of rams almost all of them have been in for the cam and lifter issue. One could argue those trucks get beat on but they do have regular PM done at reasonable intervals. The other part of her fleet are fords I think most of those have had transmission issues. Extremely reliable 150k mile care free vehicles seem to be the way of the past. I had a 2000 Chevy tracker as my first vehicle I beat the **** out of it put 300k miles on it and put cheap Wally World oil and filter in it. Its still runs!

 

[Scottly]

I grew up in the 80's...cars were worn out at 100K. Now I see guys post in here how they found something for sale and it "only has 120K on it". To me, that **** is worn out. I guess the standards have changed. It's really the reason I make so many jokes about the cam/lifter issue, because I see that happening on engines with less than 100K on them...and it shouldn't happen. The other big issue I see is the complexity required for some of these repairs....So many times, the cab has to come off a truck to do a repair. Just seems crazy to me.

 

[nlambert182]

I grew up in the 80s/90s and we didn't buy a vehicle with under 100k miles. Most of ours routinely went well over 200k before we moved on to something else. I sold my 91 Ford Ranger with 298k miles on it. It was still running perfectly with nothing but a clutch and fuel pump change. I did the same thing with a late 80s Honda prelude, Toyota Celica, and two F150s. My grandparents had a 1986 Buick Electra that they were still driving when they passed in the mid 2000s. That battle tank had close to 220k on it.

Dad still puts the miles on his. His 05 GMC 2500 has almost 240k on it today. He did have to get the Allison trans reworked last year, but aside from some small nitnoid things on it, the truck has held up fairly well.

My wife's family is of the mindset that when a vehicle gets close to 100k, dump it and get something else. It's taken me a long time to break her of that. I usually take her vehicle and make it a spare and keep driving it.

We've got a 2013 Acura TL sitting in the driveway right now with 170k on it and that thing still looks and drives like new. It's our son's car.

 

[ConqueringFools]

Take it for what it's worth. I have a 2013 Grand Cherokee Laredo with a 5.7 L Hemi. I'm about to rollover 240K miles. Can't praise this damn thing enough. I bought it with 75K miles on it. Has been one of the most reliable vehicles I've ever owned. The interior is leather and it's such a solidly built and well driving vehicle. And I know GC's do not have the best reputations. I must have gotten lucky. My doors on my GC feel like they weigh twice as much as the ones on my Ram. It's pathetic really.

Fast forward, last night I just bought my first Ram 1500. Big Horn, 52K miles. Night Edition 5.7 L Etorque. Not too keen on the etorque but it's required. I did get a lifetime powertrain warranty on it but watch, something electrical or tech goes out on it lol. ALL the full size trucks are having big problems. Ford, Chevy, Ram, etc. quality control has gone to shyt. Probably a lot of it having to do with moving so much manufacturing to Mexico I bet. There should be studies done tracing all these problems back. I guess the car companies have this information.