Who's got a V6 Ram 1500 5th Gen

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Boxman

Member
Joined
Nov 19, 2019
Posts
45
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43
Location
Southern California
Ram Year
2022
Engine
3.6 v6; Etorque , 4x4 crew cab, Night Edition
Just bought my 2nd Ram v6. My previous 2013 Bighorn ran well. No complaints about power, but I don't tow much. Traded for a 2022 v6 after 110,000 trouble free miles. I couldn't believe that the hemi has a $2300 price on window stickers. Do they really cost that much more to build than v6? Or is that due to a demand for it?
 

stormcom

Senior Member
Joined
Jun 16, 2014
Posts
231
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118
Location
Wichita Falls Texas
Ram Year
2019 Big Horn
Engine
V6
I had a 21 Limited with the hemi. Awful gas mileage. Took a ridiculous offer and bought a 2019 BH with 7k on it and a check. Do not miss the hemi especially with gas prices.
 

Elvira

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Somewhere
Luckily for myself, being retired...I don't drive as much now as when i worked. I had a couple of v-6's and a couple v-8's. The v-6 in the charger was great and it was okay in the truck too. I always went back to a v-8 though, the available power and the torque it had was a great option. i also love the sound of a hemi. I know fuel prices are crazy, I drive sensible and the couple miles per gallon i loose with a v-8 is worth everything. Like some one mentioned, if you wish for fuel mileage, buy a pruis. I find my truck gets very good mileage for a hemi, low to mid 20's hwy and still high teens city.
 

wpollitt

Junior Member
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Jan 24, 2022
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4
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Location
Cincinnati, Hamilton, Ohio, USA
Ram Year
2001
Engine
360
having just purchased the v6 to be a road warrior vehicle, i am impressed everytime i get in it and drive somewhere. Im coming from a 2020 laramie level 2 with the hemi, which i didnt like as much as the 2017 laramie hemi which proceeded that one. I do miss a few bells and whistles, but overall it is perfect for what i need. Of course its not what i WANT, but thats for my personal vehicle.
So, it hauls all my tools (mechanical, electrical, and PLC specific) and even with a big job site tool box in the bed, i still pull 20.5mpg @ 80mph/86% highway time (im at low miles still, the math is easy:gr_grin:) seats are more comfortable than the 'upgraded' ones.
I give it a 9\10, would buy again.
 

TPar

Junior Member
Joined
Jan 4, 2023
Posts
2
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Location
Kansas
Ram Year
2019
Engine
3.6 L
I see this thread is a little older, but I'll post my experience for anyone who googles to find others experiences with the 5th gen 3.6 L, just like I did. I have a 2019, big horn, crew cab, 4wd, with the 3.6 L pentastar. I have 75,000 miles on it now. I do lots of driving for my job (mostly highway/paved driving, never towing, on relatively flat Kansas roads). My initial experience with the pickup had been generally positive. I get an average of 20-21 mpg (hand calculated), the ride is nice, handles well, and the engine performs sufficient for my driving. A few cons with this drivetrain I've noticed have been an annoying lag/dead zone with the accelerator pedal. The first 1/4 of range of the pedal does nothing, and then if you don't have a feel for it, the pickup will jerk when response finally is found. A pain when trying to inch back to a trailer or move a little when parking. The other thing to note is this thing struggles to utilize that 8th gear at interstate speeds of 75 mph+. Even on flat Kansas roads, I rarely can get it to use the 8th gear, leading to reduction of mpg to apprx 18 mpg. I had a couple quality control things that were taken care of early on in its life. A support bar in the passenger seat broke, despite no one of significant weight sitting in it, which led to a replacement of the whole seat, had some squealing factory break pads/calibers swapped out, and even had some rust appearing under the hood that was required to be addressed. All covered under warranty, but defects for sure. Despite those defects, I was generally pleased with the pickup, until recent events. About 8 weeks ago the pickup began throwing cylinder misfire codes. It was at 75k miles so I figured I'd change out the spark plugs and possibly ignition coils and see if it remedied (note, this is a pain in the rear on this pickup and engine due to the placement). In the process, I found milky oil in the throttle body and noticed a low coolant reservoir. Put it back together due to my suspicion of head gasket problems and scheduled it for a repair shop. Got it into the shop 11/22/22, they confirmed they thought head gasket. Through a lot of shop delay, waiting on parts, the holiday etc, they finally tore the thing down a few weeks later, only to find 2 cracked cylinders as well. This created weeks more delay of repair and waiting for parts, to the point where I cross my fingers that I'll finally have the pickup back 1/6/23. I wrote Ram regarding the issue, as it's obviously ridiculous to have that kind of breakdown in 3 years, that few of miles, when it was well taken care of and never worked pulling/off-roading etc. The customer care response I received was essentially this "we are sorry this happened, but you are out of your 60,000 mile power train warranty and we aren't going to do anything. Have a nice day". This breakdown has cost thousands of dollars, been a major inconvenience to me, and cost me time with clients/work, and that's all I get from customer care? For crying out loud, even Applebees gives you a free appetizer if you wait 5 minutes longer than expected for some food to be cooked, without you asking, just to keep you a happy customer. Not to mention, with just a repair of those 2 cylinders and head gasket, I'm not left with great confidence that the rest of the engine won't have further problems down. I hope others do well if they already have a ram, but this experience and response by Ram is enough for me to say see ya to the pickup and brand.
 

ramffml

Senior Member
Joined
Jul 12, 2019
Posts
2,772
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5,017
Location
ramforum
Ram Year
2019
Engine
hemi 5.7
^^ I'd love to read that, but not without those things we call "paragraphs" which aid in the communication of the written word.
 

turkeybird56

Military Vet 1976-1996 Retired US Army
Military
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Aug 2, 2018
Posts
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Location
Central Texas
Ram Year
2019 Bighorn, 4 X 4, 3.21 rear, Bright Flame Red Pearl Coat, Mopar tonneau cover,Westin Bed rug
Engine
Hemi 5.7
Not sure myself? Just assumed it was a 5th gen since it was a 2020, need to research now...


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro
4th Gen truck, as RAM still building 4th Gen's and 5th Gens
 

RamDiver

Senior Member
Joined
Jan 23, 2022
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Location
Marlborough, Ontario, Canada
Ram Year
2021
Engine
Hemi 5.7
^^ I'd love to read that, but not without those things we call "paragraphs" which aid in the communication of the written word.
I see this thread is a little older, but I'll post my experience for anyone who googles to find others experiences with the 5th gen 3.6 L, just like I did.

I have a 2019, big horn, crew cab, 4wd, with the 3.6 L pentastar. I have 75,000 miles on it now. I do lots of driving for my job (mostly highway/paved driving, never towing, on relatively flat Kansas roads).

My initial experience with the pickup had been generally positive. I get an average of 20-21 mpg (hand calculated), the ride is nice, handles well, and the engine performs sufficient for my driving.

A few cons with this drivetrain I've noticed have been an annoying lag/dead zone with the accelerator pedal. The first 1/4 of range of the pedal does nothing, and then if you don't have a feel for it, the pickup will jerk when response finally is found.

A pain when trying to inch back to a trailer or move a little when parking. The other thing to note is this thing struggles to utilize that 8th gear at interstate speeds of 75 mph+. Even on flat Kansas roads, I rarely can get it to use the 8th gear, leading to reduction of mpg to apprx 18 mpg.

I had a couple quality control things that were taken care of early on in its life. A support bar in the passenger seat broke, despite no one of significant weight sitting in it, which led to a replacement of the whole seat, had some squealing factory break pads/calibers swapped out, and even had some rust appearing under the hood that was required to be addressed.

All covered under warranty, but defects for sure. Despite those defects, I was generally pleased with the pickup, until recent events.

About 8 weeks ago the pickup began throwing cylinder misfire codes. It was at 75k miles so I figured I'd change out the spark plugs and possibly ignition coils and see if it remedied (note, this is a pain in the rear on this pickup and engine due to the placement).

In the process, I found milky oil in the throttle body and noticed a low coolant reservoir. Put it back together due to my suspicion of head gasket problems and scheduled it for a repair shop.

Got it into the shop 11/22/22, they confirmed they thought head gasket. Through a lot of shop delay, waiting on parts, the holiday etc, they finally tore the thing down a few weeks later, only to find 2 cracked cylinders as well.

This created weeks more delay of repair and waiting for parts, to the point where I cross my fingers that I'll finally have the pickup back 1/6/23.

I wrote Ram regarding the issue, as it's obviously ridiculous to have that kind of breakdown in 3 years, that few of miles, when it was well taken care of and never worked pulling/off-roading etc.

The customer care response I received was essentially this "we are sorry this happened, but you are out of your 60,000 mile power train warranty and we aren't going to do anything. Have a nice day".

This breakdown has cost thousands of dollars, been a major inconvenience to me, and cost me time with clients/work, and that's all I get from customer care? For crying out loud, even Applebees gives you a free appetizer if you wait 5 minutes longer than expected for some food to be cooked, without you asking, just to keep you a happy customer.

Not to mention, with just a repair of those 2 cylinders and head gasket, I'm not left with great confidence that the rest of the engine won't have further problems down.

I hope others do well if they already have a ram, but this experience and response by Ram is enough for me to say see ya to the pickup and brand.

:cool: It's still a long read!
.
 

clay282

Black Betty had a child... named Betty White
Joined
Feb 6, 2018
Posts
461
Reaction score
453
Location
Arkansas
Ram Year
2019
Engine
3.6 Pentastar
@TPar This is my 2nd and both have been great engines. Not sure what happened to yours, but can safely say, there's a reason why the Pentastar stays around. It's been put in more vehicles, driven more miles and earned its record of durability more than any other engine they make... around the world. It's been in more than 10 million vehicles and has a proven track record of durability. The early ones had issues, but they were all corrected.

Your 8th gear issue, that's you're axle gearing. My 4th Gen didn't like 8th gear any more than your 5th Gen. My 5th Gen has the 3:55 gears and it makes a HUGE difference. She's in 8th gear all day long in the same conditions the 3:21 gears didn't have the extra grunt to get to 8th gear. The 3:55's also move better off the line. The dead peddle you're describing, was my 4th Gen 3:21's. If it matters... you aren't missing anything. At 80mph, the 3:21 in 7th and the 3:55 in 8th are pretty much the same 2000 RPM, 20-ish MPG.

As far as RAM is concerned with your warranty. You rolled the dice. There's a time and mileage and that's it, no matter who you are. If they cover you at 75,000, then they should cover everyone else. And if they did that, the warranty would say 75,000 and not 60k. At 60k I got an extended warranty that covers bumper to bumper until 100k because my fear was the Etorque system. $2200.00 for 100k bumper to bumper was worth every penny to me.

As for you saying "Goodbye" to the truck and brand = GOOD LUCK! Pretty much ANYTHING made during the pandemic years is a quality and reliability NIGHTMARE. Ford CEO had to explain to shareholders why they lost their ass on warranty repairs and buybacks. GM, just leavin folks for dead LOL! But that's what they've always done = deny, deny, deny, litigate!

@TPar you've only had 1 post... so it's clear you aren't a contributing member... you just came to complain about the issue you had with some questionable back story. Your mileage was "never towing" but you complained about throttle response "A pain when trying to inch back to a trailer". You can either drive the fixed engine and enjoy it, or you can pay those high interest rates and get robbed on your trade in because they don't want more stock than they have. Bring a snorkel to the dealership when you buy another one, because you'll be underwater before you sign on the dotted line.

I call BS!
 

TPar

Junior Member
Joined
Jan 4, 2023
Posts
2
Reaction score
0
Location
Kansas
Ram Year
2019
Engine
3.6 L
@clay282 I suppose peoples opinions on anything are very much influenced by our personal experiences. I have read reviews on the engine saying just what you pointed out, that it has been around and reliable for a while. Which definitely led me to purchase it. Maybe it is indeed dumb luck, but this happened to me at 3 yrs/75k miles and I have a friend with a '17 wrangler who had a head gasket issue as well.

You are right on about the gearing as well, as I neglected to mention that mine was indeed a 3.21.

As for my 1 post, true, I did sign up for an account to share my experience (I wouldn't say just to complain), but I can assure you there is no "BS" to my story. If it's the trailer thing that throws you off, I'm simply explaining how the throttle response can effect things in peoples daily use. Same as the parking or pulling up to a precise spot comment. This pickup has had a light trailer on it just twice ever that I can think of, but I've towed tons with my other vehicles and a jerking response like that can be a bit annoying. I, like thousands of others in the world, like to research these forums (even if not a member) to see what others real world experiences are. I find reading them valuable, and simply thought I'd share my experience for anyone like me. I found this thread "Who's got a V6 Ram 1500 5th Gen" when trying to research if this was a common problem others were having, and thought it was a fitting place to share. Just sharing an experience, nothing more or less.

As for the format, I appologize. I wrote it on my iphone, primarily talk-text while I was waiting for a client to show up.

 

PoMansRam

Senior Member
Joined
Apr 30, 2018
Posts
2,089
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Location
East Aurora NY
Ram Year
2019
Engine
Hemi
...with just a repair of those 2 cylinders and head gasket, I'm not left with great confidence that the rest of the engine won't have further problems down. I hope others do well if they already have a ram, but this experience and response by Ram is enough for me to say see ya to the pickup and brand.

On a 2019 with only ~75K miles that does suck. Anyone would be ticked off.

There have been some cylinder head issues with the Pentastar over the years, but you don't hear of it often anymore. At least I haven't.

Sorry if I missed it, but were the cracks both on one head or are both cylinder heads shot? This is a lot of work on a Pentastar either way. You might want to have a new oil filter/cooler housing installed while they are in there as well. I'd have them install the all aluminum Doorman replacement if you can.

I have a co-worker with a newer Chrysler Pacifica minivan w/ the pentastar and he was recently changing all plugs and coils due to some random misfire. I didn't have the heart to mention what he was doing was probably not going to solve the issue.
 
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