[AHBGuru]

Valve seat issues were permanently resolved by 2012, and the timing chain/sprocket problems by 2014. Valve train/lifter concerns were alleviated by mid - 2016. The transmissions have been virtually flawless since 2012,, drivetrains since 2011.

 

[wtxiceman]

Valve seat issues were permanently resolved by 2012, and the timing chain/sprocket problems by 2014. Valve train/lifter concerns were alleviated by mid - 2016. The transmissions have been virtually flawless since 2012,, drivetrains since 2011.

I have a 15 ram. What valvetrain issues have they had?

 

[Genaro Mejia]

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.

You're probably right. At the very least I hope it brings awareness to those in similar circumstances and those who are looking to buy used

 

[Doug D]

You're probably right. At the very least I hope it brings awareness to those in similar circumstances and those who are looking to buy used

It would be interesting to know the percentage of these engines that are "failing". I doubt it's very high. If it were, I would think it would be posted all over the 'net. I'm not seeing that. The 2005-2007 engines are getting up in age and, yes, some parts may begin to fail. At any rate, if there is a failure, it is well past the warranty.

 

[valiant67]

I had both a 2005 300C and a 2007 Magnum AHB.
Both were Hemis. I'm sure the Magnum saw severe use as a county police car. I've been impressed how well both were running at the 150k mile mark when I sold them. Never a drop of oil use. I've read that the big reason for valve seats dropping is overheating.

 

[Meester Beeg]

A coworker ventilated the bottom of 2 (semi) hemis in his Ram. Both at low mileage.

 

[bguy]

A coworker ventilated the bottom of 2 (semi) hemis in his Ram. Both at low mileage.

There's a common denominator between those two engines.
Nobody is saying there's no failures but it's nowhere near the level as is being implied. Does anyone think Chrysler having those many failures and the media not jumping up and down all over the place is really happening? As if it was being swept under the rug? A company like Toyota may be able to usher it quietly aside but we all know how the media loves Chrysler/FCA.

 

[Mike72]

February of 17 bought the wife an 07' charger for $8,500 we drive it till June (4 months) and it broke down on her, sounded like hammers under the hood.
Towed it home and pulled the plugs out of the cylinders that the noise came from and they was smashed flat.
I chose to buy a complete rebuild kit, EVERYTHING even bought all new bolts, began taking engine apart (I knew I would be buying SOMTHING once the problem was found) and when we pulled the head from the passenger side we saw 2 pistons beat all to hell around the edges and the head beat up as well.
Upon further inspection found that the 2 valve seats associated with those cylinders failed and pieces of metal was all on top of the pistons.
Researching (today) found that several people has had this happen.
Now to my question for you guys (and gals) after I find a head and put the engine together what about the driver side head? Should I expect it to happen again? Or the head I replace it with should I expect it to happen with it as well?
I am trying to figure if I should just trade it in (or sell it) when I get it fixed considering (excluding the design flaw) is a brand new engine, should be able to make a proffit, or at least get a higher trade in value....
HELP!!!! what are your thoughts?

 

[AHBGuru]

February of 17 bought the wife an 07' charger for $8,500 we drive it till June (4 months) and it broke down on her, sounded like hammers under the hood.
Towed it home and pulled the plugs out of the cylinders that the noise came from and they was smashed flat.
I chose to buy a complete rebuild kit, EVERYTHING even bought all new bolts, began taking engine apart (I knew I would be buying SOMTHING once the problem was found) and when we pulled the head from the passenger side we saw 2 pistons beat all to hell around the edges and the head beat up as well.
Upon further inspection found that the 2 valve seats associated with those cylinders failed and pieces of metal was all on top of the pistons.
Researching (today) found that several people has had this happen.
Now to my question for you guys (and gals) after I find a head and put the engine together what about the driver side head? Should I expect it to happen again? Or the head I replace it with should I expect it to happen with it as well?
I am trying to figure if I should just trade it in (or sell it) when I get it fixed considering (excluding the design flaw) is a brand new engine, should be able to make a proffit, or at least get a higher trade in value....
HELP!!!! what are your thoughts?

Sell it and buy one made after March of 2016.

No more engine problems, no more suspension problems.

 

[Backorder]

February of 17 bought the wife an 07' charger for $8,500 we drive it till June (4 months) and it broke down on her, sounded like hammers under the hood.

I am trying to figure if I should just trade it in (or sell it) when I get it fixed considering (excluding the design flaw) is a brand new engine, should be able to make a proffit, or at least get a higher trade in value....
HELP!!!! what are your thoughts?

My thought is that the engine had 10 years of use before you got it, and someone else sold at exactly the right time.

 

[Christopher]

I don't want to seem unsympathetic because that does suck, but the car was 10 years old. There is not mention of the mileage. Was it a high mileage engine? Low? Average? Was this a private sale? Corner lot? Reputable dealer? My thought is, if you buy a 10 year old car, you're taking a risk. Especially if you buy from the first 2.

Also, the poster hasn't been back since this post. Seems like he only came here to complain/relate his experience.

 

[Mastertech63]

February of 17 bought the wife an 07' charger for $8,500 we drive it till June (4 months) and it broke down on her, sounded like hammers under the hood.
Towed it home and pulled the plugs out of the cylinders that the noise came from and they was smashed flat.
I chose to buy a complete rebuild kit, EVERYTHING even bought all new bolts, began taking engine apart (I knew I would be buying SOMTHING once the problem was found) and when we pulled the head from the passenger side we saw 2 pistons beat all to hell around the edges and the head beat up as well.
Upon further inspection found that the 2 valve seats associated with those cylinders failed and pieces of metal was all on top of the pistons.
Researching (today) found that several people has had this happen.
Now to my question for you guys (and gals) after I find a head and put the engine together what about the driver side head? Should I expect it to happen again? Or the head I replace it with should I expect it to happen with it as well?
I am trying to figure if I should just trade it in (or sell it) when I get it fixed considering (excluding the design flaw) is a brand new engine, should be able to make a proffit, or at least get a higher trade in value....
HELP!!!! what are your thoughts?

It is advisable to change the intake manifold also when there is catastrophic engine failure. Bits of metal get up in there and you can't get it out. But when you fire it up for the first time it'll let you know. Pulling the heads again! (Don't ask me how I know this).

 

[valiant67]

Most common consensus is this type of failure is more likely to happen if the car has been overheated. The Hemi is a robust engine, but this was one of the weaknesses of the engine.

 

[HemiJeepMagnum]

It is advisable to change the intake manifold also when there is catastrophic engine failure. Bits of metal get up in there and you can't get it out. But when you fire it up for the first time it'll let you know. Pulling the heads again! (Don't ask me how I know this).

I know this thread is 5 months old, but thought I'd throw in my 2 cents worth. Yes, if you drop a valve seat (most all of the ones that drop on the early 5.7 Hemi's are intake seats), it is best to replace the intake manifold for the reason cited above. The problem is the interference clearance between the aluminum cylinder head and the metal valve seat.....it's too loose. I have two early Hemi's that fall into the years that most of these occur on. ..05-06 and a few early 07's. A typical scenario (not all though) is your vehicle is fully warmed up and you stop for gas or at a convenience store for about 5-15 minutes and then go out and try to start the vehicle. It either won't start, or it starts and makes all kinds of horrific noises. Unfortunately, some folks continue to try and start the vehicle and/or try to drive it home....if it'll run. All that is happening is more engine damage. Costs on some of the forums that I've seen run from as little as $1500 to as much as $10000 for a complete rebuild and R and R. One thing for sure, IMO, is if it happens to one head, it could happen to the other. Some folks have only fixed the "bad" head and put it back together only to have the other head fail soon thereafter. I've seen this twice on the forums. DON'T cheap this repair out....DO BOTH HEADS COMPLETE..

Since we travel quite a bit, I opted to pull both of mine apart and have all the valve seats replaced. Since they were off, I also had them ported and polished, new 6.1 valve springs, and .030 in. milled off them to raise the compression ratio by about a half point. When the shop began cutting the intake seats out on my Hemi LX with only 83K on it, 2 of them started spinning in their bores when they were only half way through the cuts. He said this was because the press fits were too loose and COULD have been candidates for dropping if overheated. All the rest, both intake and exhaust, were cut out without any spinning. For me, this was cheap insurance, as I would not care to be stranded somewhere with this problem and be at the mercy of some unknown to me shop. I've also switched to lower temperature thermostats (190*F) and reset the cooling fan start temperatures.....low, 197*; medium, 203*; high, 207*. Now the hottest I have ever seen the temperature is 215*. The stock thermostat is 203* and the fans don't start coming on until about 225-230*.

Most common consensus is this type of failure is more likely to happen if the car has been overheated. The Hemi is a robust engine, but this was one of the weaknesses of the engine.

Yes, this is very true, and the older these vehicles get and start needing cooling system maintenance, I am sure we'll start seeing more of this, because a lot of folks don't mess with the cooling systems until they have a problem. IMO, especially on the early Hemi's, cooling system maintenance should be right near the top of the list to keep and eye on. Also, install a cooler thermostat and reset the cooling fan start temperatures to, hopefully reduce the chance of this happening with vehicles that may have marginal interference clearances on one or both heads......no way of knowing though unless you tear it down to have it fixed for good. It's for sure way cheaper than a new engine.

 

[LouJC]

I know this thread is 5 months old, but thought I'd throw in my 2 cents worth. Yes, if you drop a valve seat (most all of the ones that drop on the early 5.7 Hemi's are intake seats), it is best to replace the intake manifold for the reason cited above. The problem is the interference clearance between the aluminum cylinder head and the metal valve seat.....it's too loose. I have two early Hemi's that fall into the years that most of these occur on. ..05-06 and a few early 07's. A typical scenario (not all though) is your vehicle is fully warmed up and you stop for gas or at a convenience store for about 5-15 minutes and then go out and try to start the vehicle. It either won't start, or it starts and makes all kinds of horrific noises. Unfortunately, some folks continue to try and start the vehicle and/or try to drive it home....if it'll run. All that is happening is more engine damage. Costs on some of the forums that I've seen run from as little as $1500 to as much as $10000 for a complete rebuild and R and R. One thing for sure, IMO, is if it happens to one head, it could happen to the other. Some folks have only fixed the "bad" head and put it back together only to have the other head fail soon thereafter. I've seen this twice on the forums. DON'T cheap this repair out....DO BOTH HEADS COMPLETE..

Since we travel quite a bit, I opted to pull both of mine apart and have all the valve seats replaced. Since they were off, I also had them ported and polished, new 6.1 valve springs, and .030 in. milled off them to raise the compression ratio by about a half point. When the shop began cutting the intake seats out on my Hemi LX with only 83K on it, 2 of them started spinning in their bores when they were only half way through the cuts. He said this was because the press fits were too loose and COULD have been candidates for dropping if overheated. All the rest, both intake and exhaust, were cut out without any spinning. For me, this was cheap insurance, as I would not care to be stranded somewhere with this problem and be at the mercy of some unknown to me shop. I've also switched to lower temperature thermostats (190*F) and reset the cooling fan start temperatures.....low, 197*; medium, 203*; high, 207*. Now the hottest I have ever seen the temperature is 215*. The stock thermostat is 203* and the fans don't start coming on until about 225-230*.



Yes, this is very true, and the older these vehicles get and start needing cooling system maintenance, I am sure we'll start seeing more of this, because a lot of folks don't mess with the cooling systems until they have a problem. IMO, especially on the early Hemi's, cooling system maintenance should be right near the top of the list to keep and eye on. Also, install a cooler thermostat and reset the cooling fan start temperatures to, hopefully reduce the chance of this happening with vehicles that may have marginal interference clearances on one or both heads......no way of knowing though unless you tear it down to have it fixed for good. It's for sure way cheaper than a new engine.

Is that you 90wag?
Lou C here !

 

[HemiJeepMagnum]

Yes, indeed it is, Lou!! What are you doing over here with the LX/LY'ers??

 

[LouJC]

There's a fair amount of Jeep action here, and also I like classic Mopars a lot, having grown up with them!
Glad to see you here!