[Guest]

Dear Gang,
Joined this space to let everyone know what happened to me recently:
Just after 87000 miles was driving home from working out of town for the week. Cruising along in 'cruise control mode' everything seemed fine. Got on the gas a little to go around a car and the engine 'shook'. Never did that before. Back in cruise control and everything again seemed fine. In the gas a little and no power and engine shake. Limped it home. Had it towed to a shop. Did not have any 'check engine' lights and no warning that this was coming.

I am not easy on the car. Drive it fairly strong (I love my hemi). But I do not hammer it all the time and it has never been on a track. Lots of cruising on the highway.

To make a long story short, one shop pulled the plugs from the front drivers side cylinder and both electrodes were bent in and looked beat up. View inside with a borescope revealed broken piston rings and the shop pulled out 3 small pieces of something off the top of the piston.

Extended warranty company agreed engine replacement was needed, but would not pay for any inspection work. Ordered a Jasper long block and it has been running well the last few weeks.

We did not have a broken valve spring. Mechanics said when draining the oil there was a lot of debris that fell out of the pan. Was a hard core mechanical failure of some kind, but do not know what. And I was not in a position to pay for a bunch of inspection work to figure it out.

 

[kzooman83]

I have never heard of that happening to a Chrysler motor before.....A friend of mine has had it happen to two GM trucks he has had, though. The first was an early '90s GMC Sierra 1500 with the 4.3 V6. He was towing a trailer, not accelerating but rather just cruising along with it and the engine started shaking and losing power like you described. He called me and we looked it over. There was no compression in the number two cylinder, so we pulled the head and found a big hole in the piston. Also as you said, no bent valve spring or broken valves. The other was a late '80s Chevy van that the same friend and his band bought to haul their equipment. Again, no warning, and then the engine went. And again, no apparent valvetrain breakage. I wonder what causes things like this to happen spontaneously like that?

 

[ImperialCrown]

Those '3 small pieces of something' bother me, almost like the motor sucked them in from the outside or something fell off of the throttle body?

 

[Jeff2KPatriotBlue]

Glad your warranty company is covering it!

 

[Chatt69chgr]

Glad your warranty company is covering it!

Your warranty company is supplying you a Jasper engine. I've heard that to speed the assembly process on their rebuilds that that set the machines to bore and turn everything to the max spec. So once that engine gets to the point of needing rebuilding it would have to be replaced instead----probably with another jasper engine.

I wonder what Chrysler would give you on THEIR warranty. New engine? Rebuilt engine? Jasper engine?

I found out at Ford that they do not offer new engines for a warranty replacement. Only remanufacturered and then, since it's a "part", only 12 months or 12,000 miles on it. Also heard somewhere that Toyota has no new engines for warranty replacement. Your old one has to be rebuilt or a engine sourced from a junkyard.

 

[electjohn]

If you could see the piston rings detonation was the most probable cause. The engine control managment shoud have taken care of that.

 

[awyseguy]

Your warranty company is supplying you a Jasper engine. I've heard that to speed the assembly process on their rebuilds that that set the machines to bore and turn everything to the max spec. So once that engine gets to the point of needing rebuilding it would have to be replaced instead----probably with another jasper engine.

I wonder what Chrysler would give you on THEIR warranty. New engine? Rebuilt engine? Jasper engine?

I found out at Ford that they do not offer new engines for a warranty replacement. Only remanufacturered and then, since it's a "part", only 12 months or 12,000 miles on it. Also heard somewhere that Toyota has no new engines for warranty replacement. Your old one has to be rebuilt or a engine sourced from a junkyard.

That was incorrect.. I have seen either new/ or reman engines come direct from Toyota for the service department.

 

[Dr. Righteous]

Where have you guys been??
The 5.7L Hemi has a history of catastrophic failures for no good reason.
Our '04 Hemi Durango slung a rod September last year. 130K miles, with by the book maintenance. We BABIED this vehicle because we expected needed it to last us a very long time.

Here is my blog on the matter:

https://sites.google.com/site/blownuphemi/


Check out the MANY people that babied their Hemi Durango only to have it sling a rod:

http://townhall-talk.edmunds.com/[email protected]@.f1dd4b2/0

I have posted in other forum concerning how weak the internals are on these engines. Most people totally deny the fact it happens for no reason (not caused by the owner). They take the same tact as Chrysler and the dealerships, blame the owner. "you didn't change the oil" "you were racing it" "you were revving the engine" BULL CRAP!

 

[Doug D]

Where have you guys been??
The 5.7L Hemi has a history of catastrophic failures for no good reason.
Our '04 Hemi Durango slung a rod September last year. 130K miles, with by the book maintenance. We BABIED this vehicle because we expected needed it to last us a very long time.

Here is my blog on the matter:

https://sites.google.com/site/blownuphemi/


Check out the MANY people that babied their Hemi Durango only to have it sling a rod:

http://townhall-talk.edmunds.com/[email protected]@.f1dd4b2/0

I have posted in other forum concerning how weak the internals are on these engines. Most people totally deny the fact it happens for no reason (not caused by the owner). They take the same tact as Chrysler and the dealerships, blame the owner. "you didn't change the oil" "you were racing it" "you were revving the engine" BULL CRAP!

Been here all along.

Anyway, yes, the early Hemi's (2003-2004) did have a problem which has since been CORRECTED. It had to do with the valve stems as I recall.

"The 5.7L Hemi has a history of catastrophic failures for no good reason."

Ummmm....not "ALL" Hemi's have had catastrophic failures. 139K on my '06 and still running. Let's not blow this completely out of proportion.

I visit DodgeTalk.com and Hemi failure postings are rare. And half of these posters have modified their Hemi engines with SuperChips, run them hard and I rarely read of Hemi engine failures.

I am sorry that yours failed. I truely am.

 

[valiant67]

Yes, even on the LX car forums, failures are rare both for engines or transmissions, and some of those people have a lot more miles than me or Doug on them. Doesn't mean every one is perfect, but I'm convinced it's a pretty stout engine especially after the first year or two.

 

[Doug D]

On the Ram's you see more issues with the LSD differentials than engine/transmission issues.

One of these days when I get some $$$ together, I want to install an Auburn or Detroit TruTacker rear end - probably a 3.92 or a 4.10. I don't tow/haul enough to justify a 4.56. Mine currently has the 3.55.

 

[Dr. Righteous]

Been here all along.

Anyway, yes, the early Hemi's (2003-2004) did have a problem which has since been CORRECTED. It had to do with the valve stems as I recall.

"The 5.7L Hemi has a history of catastrophic failures for no good reason."

Ummmm....not "ALL" Hemi's have had catastrophic failures. 139K on my '06 and still running. Let's not blow this completely out of proportion.

I visit DodgeTalk.com and Hemi failure postings are rare. And half of these posters have modified their Hemi engines with SuperChips, run them hard and I rarely read of Hemi engine failures.

I am sorry that yours failed. I truely am.

Apparently you didn't read the thread on Edmund or just scanned through it.
Everyone has the same experience. Literally the hemi slings a rod for NO GOOD REASON. This isn't a lack of maintenance. It isn't during a drag race, it isn't towing 20k lbs uphill. Some sling a rod starting the engine in the morning or just driving down the road at 55 MPH (as it happened to us). If you looked at my blog, you can the rod is TWISTED and BROKE. That is metal fatigue because of bad metallurgy. You can see the internals are absolutely CLEAN. You can see there WAS NO valve train failure that caused this. A rod just BROKE.
The dozens of people that added posts to the Edmunds thread are just those who are apt to get on the internet and do a search for an issue. Most people aren't the internet savvy. So that thread represents a small sample.
A healthy engine to suddenly sling a rod should be super, super RARE. That is NOT the case here. Chrysler dealers are not going to address this issue if they can blame the owners; and when they have their Durango dragged to the dealership; the owners are accused of drag racing, not changing the oil, etc, etc and over all have insult added to injury.
I have filed a complain with the NHTSA and as most of them have. Many of them are screaming about a class action lawsuit which I am not in favor of. That will only enrich lawyers and get the defunct Dodge owners a check for $12, their part of the settlement after the lawyers take the lion's share.

 

[Doug D]

No, I don't read Edmunds much anymore. In fact, I haven't visited their site or forums in quite some time - probably a few years since I did. Got tired of reading the same old arguments over and over.

Regardless of what is posted on forums or at the NHTSA, statistically speaking, it's still a small number of engine failures (%) compared to how many were produced. Is it just isolated to the Durango's or is it across all models that used the Hemi? I know the Hemi in the Ram was tuned differently (345 hp) vs the Hemi initially installed in the Chargers and 300C's (340 hp). Not sure of the Hemi used in the Durango was any different than those.

I don't know if it will help, but did you ever contact Chrysler Customer Service? Even though you are well out of warranty at 130K, if you had a dealer service it at regular intervals, they might bend the rules and offer some coverage. Might not be possible since your Durango was produced by Daimler and what's left of Chrysler has seen two different owners (Cerberus & now Fiat) and has survived BK (barely).

I agree a class action lawsuit would only enrich the lawyers and vehicle owners would be lucky to net anything.

I still stand by what I posted earlier. I still see plenty of '03 & '04 Hemi Ram's. Maybe the issue was isolated to the Durango's.

 

[Mrblvedere]

There have also been reports of the valve seats falling out on higher mileage engines as well as the occasional broken spring. Both of these circumstances will cause the owner some inconvenience.

 

[GuidoFL]

Where have you guys been??
The 5.7L Hemi has a history of catastrophic failures for no good reason.
Our '04 Hemi Durango slung a rod September last year. 130K miles, with by the book maintenance. We BABIED this vehicle because we expected needed it to last us a very long time.

Here is my blog on the matter:

https://sites.google...te/blownuphemi/


Check out the MANY people that babied their Hemi Durango only to have it sling a rod:

http://[email protected]@.f1dd4b2/0

I have posted in other forum concerning how weak the internals are on these engines. Most people totally deny the fact it happens for no reason (not caused by the owner). They take the same tact as Chrysler and the dealerships, blame the owner. "you didn't change the oil" "you were racing it" "you were revving the engine" BULL CRAP!

I've been hearing stories about the Hemi blowing head gaskets. A head gasket failure would let water into the combustion chamber and then; there she blows. On one of my engines, the motor leaned out, caused piston ring failure as shown here.. Rods will break if water gets into the combustion chamber. And Chrysler has been infamous for out sourcing engine components like connecting rods and pistons. The Hemi is built in Mexico as we all know, makes you wonder.

 

[Genaro Mejia]

This has been an ongoing issue that needs to be resolved. This is happening with any older models with a 5.7L V8 Hemi engine. The valve seat falls damaging pistons around 100k miles.

Sign the Petition (at https://www.change.org/p/chrysler-group-customer-care-dodge-recall-the-motors-with-the-dropping-valve-seat-issues )

 

[Doug D]

This has been an ongoing issue that needs to be resolved. This is happening with any older models with a 5.7L V8 Hemi engine. The valve seat falls damaging pistons around 100k miles.

Sign the Petition (at https://www.change.org/p/chrysler-group-customer-care-dodge-recall-the-motors-with-the-dropping-valve-seat-issues )

You really think FCA is going to repair (at their cost) engines that are 11-13 years old and were built when Daimler owned Chrysler? No doubt these engines are well past warranty (unless the original owner purchased a lifetime maxcare warranty).

FWIW - I have a 2006 Dodge Ram 1500 SLT QC with 5.7L Hemi which just rolled over 250,000 miles. No engine problems to date, except replacing the EGR.

 

[Muther]

I had an 08 Ram 2500. Four door. 8 foot bed. 5.7Hemi.

I sold it at 120k miles in 2010.

For 75% of it driven miles, it had at least 2500 pounds in the bed.

For 100% of its miles, it was driven hard. I rode it hard as hard can be 100% of the time.


I know the guy that bought it. Now it has over 250k. He just pulled the engine to rebuild it. He mic’d the mains, the crank, the rods, everything was so far inside spec, that he just cleaned it all up, and put in a rebuild kit (rings, bearings, gaskets, etc.).

I am not saying these problems don’t happen, but my experiences are the complete opposite. I literally tried to beat mine to death, and it more than stood up to the abuse.

 

[2012srtchallenger]

I work on many vehicles of this vintage in various cars and trucks with 180,000 to 300,000 miles on the hemis.they don't leak or use oil.all manufactors will have engines or other componants fail from time to time

 

[wtxiceman]

You really think FCA is going to repair (at their cost) engines that are 11-13 years old and were built when Daimler owned Chrysler? No doubt these engines are well past warranty (unless the original owner purchased a lifetime maxcare warranty).

FWIW - I have a 2006 Dodge Ram 1500 SLT QC with 5.7L Hemi which just rolled over 250,000 miles. No engine problems to date, except replacing the EGR.

My daughter has our 06 durango that is at 340k now.
She calls it a trooper.
All original.