There were petitions a few years ago, there may be one now but I haven't heard of anything. Last time it didn't do anything except for waste peoples time. I wish that wasn't the case because I'm always worried about getting lifter/cam failure even though It hasn't happened to me yet...

 

From what I’ve read, out of all the reported cam and lifters failures, it’s still only less than 5% of engines produced so as far as Chrysler is concerned, that’s not really a big enough percentage to where they would feel like they’d have to do something or spend a whole bunch of money in research and development to correct that problem.

Best thing you can do is don’t skimp out on your oil changes. Use a good quality full synthetic with a good quality synthetic media oil filter and don’t let that oil stay in your engine any longer than 6000 miles. If you don’t have any warranty, you might even consider doing what I told the OP and switch over to a 5W30 weight oil.

Just despite the fact of whether or not it truly comes down to a lubrication issue with not enough oil getting up there keeping the lifters well lubed but also with the fact that the lifters really aren’t good quality, I heavily believe that a lot of these problems is from using 5W20 engine oil because if you think about it, look at what oil the manufacturer recommends for the heavy duty 6.4L hemi‘s that’s in the 2500s and in the 3500s; it’s a 0W40 weight and not only that, read up on what the third GEN heavy duty ram pick ups that had the same engine as what your truck has- it was 5W30. Granted, a lot of those older 5.7‘s didn’t have MDS but that’s just it, a lot of people have said that even mine and your engine will work just fine on 5W30 engine oil even though it does have MDS and variable valve timing.


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Heard there was a petition to sign on 2014 rams with lifter and cam shft issues. Just got mine out of the shop after almost 6k spent. My buddies truck was there already of the lift, same yr,model everything with the same problem. Thanks for all the help. Blessings and great health to you all

How many miles was on your original engine when this happened? And if you don’t mind me asking, what engine oil were you using, what weight and what filter? How often were you changing it? But being that it sounds like you don’t have warranty, if I were you I’d switch over to 5W30 engine oil. I’ve read it way too many times where people say it doesn’t screw with the MDS. I mean, it could mess with it in the winter time if you live somewhere where it’s really cold but if that were the case then just use 5W20 or even a 0W30 in the winter time and then a 5W30 in the summer.


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The 2014 Ram 1500 owner’s manual states the recommended oil is 5W-20 meeting FCA spec MS-6395. It then goes on to say that 5W-30 meeting the same spec may be used if 5W-20 MS-6385 is not available.

 

Very true...that doesn't mean it's OK to use on a regular basis all of the time though.

 

Considering the cost of a new vehicle and the inflated used vehicle prices recently, $4-6K to make my current vehicle run for another 150k miles seems minor in the grand scheme of things.

Extended warranty for those who aren't capable of fixing this known issue themself seems logical, just make sure the terms include cam/lifter replacement without(exclusions) hidden nickel and dime costs.

This is a problem for all 2009+ VVT Hemi 5.7/6.4L engines.

 

I have the 6.4 in a 2500 and religiously use the 0w40 which is a PITA to get so I get PUP off of Amazon, but rarely without leakage from shipping . I also run an oil analysis every 30k just in case. I get the SRT oil filters too. Can you tell I am a little wary? 😆

 

Is it true that those high flow filters don't actually filter as well? I was thinking of trying a K&N but I'm kind of weary of them...

 

Ah I would be interested to know. I chose them to prevent that epic hemi startup tick.

 

It's not just the 2014 hemi's that are having lifter/cam issues. Many years were included with those component failures. Has anyone really been able to determine the exact cause of the failure? Is it the MDS lifters that failed, the bearings in the cam followers, poor lubrication of components or poor surface harness on the cam lobes? I have yet to hear the true cause of failure.
5W-20 oil or 5W-30 oil or 5W- anything is 5 grade oil rated cold (w stands for winter). All 5W oil flows the same at the same cold engine temp. The 20 weight oil will handle engine heat like a 20 weight oil and 30 weight oil has a different viscosity (thicker) when hot and will handle the engine loads like a 30 weight oil. The higher a fluids viscosity, the higher loads it can handle at operating temps. Motor oil is designed to keep two metal objects separated. The oils are rated differently because of the amount of "viscosity index improvers" that are added to the oil. 5W-20 oil can be the correct oil for an engine just as 5W-30 can be the correct oil for the same engine depending on the ambient temp and amount of load on internal parts.
All critical oil cooled and lubricated components are basically the same on hemi engines. It is the load at cold and at normal operating temps that is presented to those components that would determine the best oil grade to protect those critical moving parts along with the climate the engine is expected to operate in. Running an engine hard, high internal temps or hauling heavy loads in a climate that stays above 90 degrees day and night, I would want an oil that will keep the metal components separated based on the load and ambient temps. If the daily temps never get out of the freezing range, perhaps a lighter viscosity would be best.

 

It's not just the 2014 hemi's that are having lifter/cam issues. Many years were included with those component failures. Has anyone really been able to determine the exact cause of the failure? Is it the MDS lifters that failed, the bearings in the cam followers, poor lubrication of components or poor surface harness on the cam lobes? I have yet to hear the true cause of failure.
5W-20 oil or 5W-30 oil or 5W- anything is 5 grade oil rated cold (w stands for winter). All 5W oil flows the same at the same cold engine temp. The 20 weight oil will handle engine heat like a 20 weight oil and 30 weight oil has a different viscosity (thicker) when hot and will handle the engine loads like a 30 weight oil. The higher a fluids viscosity, the higher loads it can handle at operating temps. Motor oil is designed to keep two metal objects separated. The oils are rated differently because of the amount of "viscosity index improvers" that are added to the oil. 5W-20 oil can be the correct oil for an engine just as 5W-30 can be the correct oil for the same engine depending on the ambient temp and amount of load on internal parts.
All critical oil cooled and lubricated components are basically the same on hemi engines. It is the load at cold and at normal operating temps that is presented to those components that would determine the best oil grade to protect those critical moving parts along with the climate the engine is expected to operate in. Running an engine hard, high internal temps or hauling heavy loads in a climate that stays above 90 degrees day and night, I would want an oil that will keep the metal components separated based on the load and ambient temps. If the daily temps never get out of the freezing range, perhaps a lighter viscosity would be best.

It’s not that 5w30 is thicker. Well, a little bit but primarily the reason to use 5w30 over 5w20 is because of the additive package. 5w30 will have a lot more zinc, moly and all those other anti-wear additives.

But from all the info I’ve gathered, the cam and lifter failure is attributed to poor lubrication and cheap Chinese lifters.


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Stick with stock oil filters. They are better for the engines than the aftermarket ones from everything I’ve e heard. Not to mention helps with warranty issues if god forbid you have to make a claim. Be happy you don’t have a Chevy LS, most of those DOD systems fail in the 60k range. My 5.7 has 115k with no issues knock on wood. If mine fails I will just buy a rebuilt long block from Powertrain specialists. it cost 4K and comes with a warranty with upgraded timing chain and lifters. I’m not spending all that money just to get a new cam and lifters. I’ll spend a little more and get everything new.

 

Stick with stock oil filters. They are better for the engines than the aftermarket ones from everything I’ve e heard. Not to mention helps with warranty issues if god forbid you have to make a claim. Be happy you don’t have a Chevy LS, most of those DOD systems fail in the 60k range. My 5.7 has 115k with no issues knock on wood. If mine fails I will just buy a rebuilt long block from Powertrain specialists. it cost 4K and comes with a warranty with upgraded timing chain and lifters. I’m not spending all that money just to get a new cam and lifters. I’ll spend a little more and get everything new.

The stock oil filters suck. They’re not even a synthetic-media filter material that’s designed to go for long OCI’s. Pretty much any aftermarket OE-equivalent oil filter is worlds better than that cheap black Mopar one.


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I just did a quick look up in the 2019 classic and DT manuals. They show only 5W-20 for the Hemi and no mention of 5W-30 that was included in the 2014 owner’s manual.

In the 2022 1500 manual Ram now specifies 0W-20 and a spec for the oil filter:

 

I just did a quick look up in the 2019 classic and DT manuals. They show only 5W-20 for the Hemi and no mention of 5W-30 that was included in the 2014 owner’s manual.

In the 2022 1500 manual Ram now specifies 0W-20 and a spec for the oil filter:

View attachment 145051

I don’t remember when it was when they stopped saying that you could substitute 5W-30 for 5W-20. Maybe it was in 2014 or possibly 2015, I don’t know but I do know that in my 2018, there is no mention of it either.

But I don’t know, I’m no oil expert so I don’t know how I should feel about them going from 5W20 to 0W20 But that just seems way too late to me…lol.

But you know, something else I should point out when I looked at your screenshot and noticed how it said that whatever oil you use must not only be Chrysler MS 6395 compliant but that it also must bear the API certified starburst label on the bottle; a very interesting thing about an oil that’s API certified- when you look at oils that a lot of people like to refer to as boutique oils like, redline performance, Amsoil signature series or even that HPI oil to name a few- those three oils actually exceed API standards and Chryslers standards as far as engine oil goes but the reason why you won’t find that API starburst anywhere on those containers is because when they make their product, they don’t stop at what API says in order to be an API certified oil; they go much further beyond that which is why those three oils are three of the most expensive engine oil‘s out there because they go above and beyond API’s “requirements” and because they go above and beyond and don’t stop at what API says and oil has to be in order to have the label, that’s why they essentially can’t put the label on the bottle and even though those three oils are some of the best oils around, you still have to be careful using them because if you’re under any kind of warranty and if anything ever happens, they can still try to deny your claim because the oil you chose, isn’t “API certified”. It’s almost like they expect you to use the lesser quality stuff than the good stuff.


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You guys and your oil/filter hypothesis.... 😂

I've run RP 10-48 filters for 15k miles and had superb Blackstone Oil analysis on both 7500 mile Amazon $2 quart full synthetic oil. And my cast iron camshaft induction hardening shell still failed at 100k miles just like FCA designed it to last... Do what you want with your time and money, that's all that matters. You're driving a high volume production motor, expect to pay for a little top end maintenance after warranty.

How many hellcat cams have failed, I'll answer ZERO because they're billet steel core and thru hardened. That engine was pre-production for 300,000 mile durability tested @ 6200 RPM...

There's a reason the 6.2L Hemi Long block alone(no blower) is twice the price vs a 5.7/6.4L.

 

You guys and your oil/filter hypothesis.... [emoji23]

I've run RP 10-48 filters for 15k miles and had superb Blackstone Oil analysis on both 7500 mile Amazon $2 quart full synthetic oil. And my cast iron camshaft induction hardening sheel still failed at 100k miles just like FCA designed it to last... Do what you want with your time and money, that's all that matters.

How many hellcat cams have failed, I'll answer ZERO because they're billet steel core and thru hardened $$$

Laugh all you want but I guess it’s just primarily your luck of the draw. At this point it doesn’t really sound like there’s a 100% sure fire way to maintain these engines and never have a problem considering that yes, there are people out there that still had the cam and lifter failure while using a better quality oil, filter and shorter OCI’s and there are some that have just let the dealer put in whatever they want and run close to 100,000 miles before they ever have a problem so, it’s just all a matter of how much of a chance do you want to take and how bad do you wanna do what feels comfortable to you.

Take my last truck for example; 2008 ram 1500 that had the hemi V-8 in it. I bought it in 2012 with 29,000 miles on the odometer, not really knowing what kind of maintenance was performed on it. For the next almost 5 years that I had it, I put close to 40,000 miles on it and when I sold it in the spring of 2018, it had 70,000 miles and it was 10 years old. The only tick that it had was the exhaust manifold tick and every time I did an oil change, for the most part of the time that I had the truck, I ran the plain Mobil 5W20 full-synthetic with primarily the OE-spec’d K&N oil filter that I would change every 4500 miles. I think one time I might’ve used a Wix XP filter and one other time I might’ve used the OE Mobil 1 oil filter but for the most part it was the K&N. Never had an issue and at one point. At one point I thought those people were full of crap when they said 5W20 was too light of an engine oil but now I understand that it’s not the heavier weight of the 5W30, it’s the extra additives that 5W-30 has over 5W20.

I don’t know, I don’t know anything about that Amazon engine oil as well as far as who makes it for Amazon and what it really is but you ran that oil for 15,000 miles? I guess if your oil analysis reports said you were OK doing that, I still don’t think I would’ve ran any motor oil that long unless it was that Amsoil signature series. But on the other hand, it just seems to me that these engines are just not the right engines to be going that long of oil change intervals. I’ve even had a couple dealers tell me that if I plan to keep the truck for a long time that I should only run a full synthetic engine oil and change it every 5000 miles.

So I don’t know, I can’t really say I agree with you when you say FCA designed these engines to fail at 100,000 miles and that even though I wasn’t around when your motor ate up a camshaft, I have no idea what the true cause of that was. I can only take your word for what you think happened but to me, 15,000 mile oil changes just despite what blackstone said just doesn’t set right.

But I have no idea how many hellcat engines have had this problem but you’re right, I’m sure most of the parts in those engines are way stronger than anything in any 5.7-powered hemi. And the problem is not the camshaft, it’s the cheap Chinese lifters that usually end up losing the little bitty needle bearings for the rollers and then the rollers start to stick which starts eating away at the lobes of the cam that eventually starts causing cylinder misfires.

And I will keep doing what I think is right even though I do have a lifetime warranty. Oil is cheap insurance. Changing it a lot more often is cheap insurance and after all that I’ve read, if there’s anything I could do that would at least minimize the chances of me having to wait for two months while my trucks in the shop getting a new motor then as far as I’m concerned, it’s all worth it.


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Camshaft and lifter review after 115,000 miles

*Disclaimer- this video is not meant to state misinformation from any other opinions out there regarding this issue or “non-issue”. Only reviewing findings with my specific application. Prior to this I’ve had the last 20k miles worth of used oil analyzed which Blackstone chemistry reports were...

www.ramforumz.com

FYI I sold my OEM lifters on EBay, they were 100% still functional after 115k miles. I would've ran all non-MDS but wasn't sure if my 2013 built engine had Lifter Rev C or D so ordered and replaced all.

edit- that’s why you have your oil analyzed for interval length. Otherwise you’re just throwing $100 worth of high additive fluid down the drain when you could be running Dino oil or cheap full synthetic 5-7500 miles with light duty. Makes zero sense but like I said, not my money and I sleep even better now with an extra 100 ft-lbs of torque and wheel horsepower in custom camshaft/ported cylinder heads….

 

It’s not specific to a year. I had a 2012 with only 100000km

 

The reason for the 5-20 oil is that the engine tolerances are so much tighter than they used to be. So you need the thinner oil to lubricate the tighter clearances.

 

The reason for 5w20 is all in the name of appeasing the EPA gods in terms of fuel mileage. That’s why they made these engines run so hot at over 200 degrees in order to thin that oil out even more.

But these motors practically haven’t changed in over the last decade and at one point, 5w20 could be substituted for 5w30 if 5w20 wasn’t readily available. Even back before the 392 replaced the 5.7 in the heavy duty’s, those engines were running with 5w30. Even the HD’s with the 392 runs a 0w40 in practically the same engine so no, it ain’t about tighter clearances when 5w30 gets almost as thin as 5w20 does when it’s up to temperature.

Trust me, this is all in the name of fuel mileage and being that the half-ton pick ups have been so domesticated as pretty much full-size SUVs with truck beds, the number of people that I actually do buy half-tons for real pick up truck stuff is a lot smaller than the people who really don’t even need a truck.


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Show me an engine that has had every unit produced have zero problems for 300,000 miles and I'll show you a group of engineers who suddenly find themselves drinking the wrong kind of Kool-Aid..

 

I bought into the dealers "3 for $XX.XX" oil change/rotation/fluid check deal on my 2019. Vowed never again after checking my antifreeze level 500 miles after getting it changed and it took a gallon to get it to the correct level. and it never dropped after that..

Speaking of... that's tomorrows job.. get a oil bath from the filter..