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5.7 Hemi Lifter Failure?

TiTRD

TiTRD

Red Skull Member
Joined
May 19, 2020
Member Number
87
Messages
1,270
Loc
Wilmington, VT
2016 Ram 1500. 166k.

All seemed well. I went to pull into traffic and got on to it a bit. Nothing I've never done. Motor loses power and CEL starts flashing at me. Makes an odd noise. Almost like a flutter. Back off and its running fine, but CEL stays on. I pick up dinner and head towards my destination. Long uphill grade. Starts shaking and low on power. I limp it to my destination where it still sits. Driving a borrowed JK for the weekend (GFs).

Simple as plugs and or coils? Or as my research finds the dreaded lifter failure, which wiped out the cam? I haven't had the code read, but I assume it's showing a misfire on the 2,4,6,8 bank as that's the side it was shaking and making noise on.

I'm limping it to Ram on Sunday, they'll look at it Tuesday. I don't have time to dig into it between weather, work, and upcoming vacation.

I've owned the truck for 86k. Never have touched anything to do with the motor besides routine oil changes. I'm not sure if the plugs or coils have been touched.
 
Redwagon

What were the symptoms in your situation?

Trying to plan ahead a bit, but with the used truck market fucked up I'm not sure what to do if the cam has in fact ate itself. Try to dump this thing or fix it?
 
I was 100% convinced this is what happened to my dodge, exactly what it felt like.


Ended up being a failed catalytic converter :homer:

As much as I hate to say it, check the exhaust or unhook the exhaust or toss a pressure gage where the o2 sensor goes
 
Provience said:
I was 100% convinced this is what happened to my dodge, exactly what it felt like.


Ended up being a failed catalytic converter :homer:

As much as I hate to say it, check the exhaust or unhook the exhaust or toss a pressure gage where the o2 sensor goes
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What year Dodge?

Same symptoms as described above?
 
TiTRD said:
What year Dodge?

Same symptoms as described above?
Click to expand...
It was a 97, so yeah sure not exactly a hemi, but a magnum at 300k miles.

Symptoms as above, idle smooth, cruise was fine, anything low power you'd never know. Give it a load, accelerate or find a hill and it was dogged low on power.

Compression test was even giving me weird results showing low cylinder and now I know why, it would start off good, then as the exhaust filled around the destroyed converter it wouldn't drain fast enough, so it couldn't fill the cylinders to draw a breathe, so it was acting the same as if the valves were very low opening
 
Provience said:
It was a 97, so yeah sure not exactly a hemi, but a magnum at 300k miles.

Symptoms as above, idle smooth, cruise was fine, anything low power you'd never know. Give it a load, accelerate or find a hill and it was dogged low on power.

Compression test was even giving me weird results showing low cylinder and now I know why, it would start off good, then as the exhaust filled around the destroyed converter it wouldn't drain fast enough, so it couldn't fill the cylinders to draw a breathe, so it was acting the same as if the valves were very low opening
Click to expand...
Yeah the magnums liked to blow the intake plenum gasket, suck in engine oil, foul the plugs and clog converters.
 
granitestatedestroyer said:
Yeah the magnums liked to blow the intake plenum gasket, suck in engine oil, foul the plugs and clog converters.
Click to expand...
the magic honeycomb inside detached and caused blockage, it wasn't due to drinking oil.

to be fair, it is basically NEVER a blocked exhaust. This is why i say "i hate to be that guy" because all my life people have always said very early on for any engine problem "oh, i bet it's a clogged exhaust" and it, inevtitably, never is.

except for the one time it was, and checking it would have saved me thousands of dollars :laughing:
 
TiTRD said:
Redwagon

What were the symptoms in your situation?

Trying to plan ahead a bit, but with the used truck market fucked up I'm not sure what to do if the cam has in fact ate itself. Try to dump this thing or fix it?
Click to expand...
Truck died then had a real rough idle kept throwing a misfire code
 
In my experience, you would hear an audible tick, like a typewriter at idle. Very similar to when a LS drops a lifter. Local shop I deal with does a lot, swear by the mopar kit over Wang-Chung amazon special though.

Do the later Hemi have MDS solenoid failures?

Just pissing in the wind trying to diag without codes and not putting hands on it.
 
TRINDU said:
In my experience, you would hear an audible tick, like a typewriter at idle. Very similar to when a LS drops a lifter. Local shop I deal with does a lot, swear by the mopar kit over Wang-Chung amazon special though.

Do the later Hemi have MDS solenoid failures?

Just pissing in the wind trying to diag without codes and not putting hands on it.
Click to expand...
Mines a 16. Reading the internets, things seemed have changed on the lifter/MDS side in 14.

I do not drive it with MDS on. Never have since I've owned it. I turn it off the second it goes in drive as I can't stand the sound of it.
 
Drove it to the dealer with the CEL light on Sunday night. I didn't get on it. Babied it. Drove fine.

Code is misfire cylinder #2. They checked plug and coil, which are fine. They are keeping it to drive more.

Still thinking it's lifter failure. Leaning on trying to get it somewhere to trade.

I did buy a scan tool as well.
 
They "found nothing wrong with it". The checked plugs and coils. I suspect it's deeper in the lifter/cam.

I'm going to look at trading it after I get back from vacation.
 
Codes???

Usually when I see them toss lifters and cams they run like trash all the time.

Toss a back pressure gauge in it and make sure it's not a cat blocked up. It sounds a good bit like a blocked up cat on 1 bank. It wouldn't be the first one I've seen, also wouldn't be the first one I've seen after a dealer couldn't confirm a issue.
 
94toytruck said:
Codes???

Usually when I see them toss lifters and cams they run like trash all the time.

Toss a back pressure gauge in it and make sure it's not a cat blocked up. It sounds a good bit like a blocked up cat on 1 bank. It wouldn't be the first one I've seen, also wouldn't be the first one I've seen after a dealer couldn't confirm a issue.
Click to expand...
Misfire cylinder 2.
 
And then? Doing research on 2017ish 5.7 MDS issues and this thread came up.
 
Jbevs said:
And then? Doing research on 2017ish 5.7 MDS issues and this thread came up.
Click to expand...
2 coworkers have had this issue with dodges, one ran it till it stopped running, then replaced the cam (and lifters, etc) and "fixed" it, the other one stopped driving his and traded it in on a Tundra as soon as he saw the first sign of a problem.

Aaron Z
 
TRINDU said:
Which had the phasers replaced, more than once?

The juice isn't worth the squeeze on all this valvetrain nonsense.
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Yes. Replaced under warranty once.

You're not wrong. Unfortunately all the good old stuff doesn't exist here anymore.
 
TiTRD said:
Yes. Replaced under warranty once.

You're not wrong. Unfortunately I fancy myself too high class to figure out just how rusty of a truck you can actually get away with running.
Click to expand...
Fixed. :flipoff2:
 
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