It's been a difficult week. . .

[Robster]

So, you may have seen my other thread about the failure of my wife's Santa Fe transmission. Well, at about the same time my Ram 1500 Hemi started idling rough and throwing ECM codes, and eventually a CEL.

As I write this it's at the dealer awaiting a fuel injector to be delivered, apparently on the slow boat from somewhere, as that part was ordered this past Wednesday. Really?. . . with all the hemis on the road a dealership doesn't have simple parts like that sitting around?

Burla has already given the Last Rites to my truck on another forum, saying it's likely a cam / lifter failure. The mechanic claims all the valves are moving correctly. It should be noted that the truck just rolled over to 22,000 miles the same week it started throwing ECM codes. . . and it didn't have any discernable ticks. So, is Burla correct or is my mechanic correct? OBD codes were p0307, p0300. What say the peanut gallery?

Stay tuned!

 

[MParr]

I hate to hear about all of your bad luck at one time. Does your truck have cylinder deactivation? Keep your fingers crossed.

 

[Number_35]

Sorry to hear this!

P0300 is a general misfire code.

P0307 is a misfire on Cylinder #7. I'm presuming that's the cylinder they'll replace the fuel injector on.

Yay for warranties!

 

[HemiBenny]

A 2017 with just over 22,000 miles? If the mechanic did indeed check to see if everything was moving as it should be, I would venture to guess that it's not a catastrophic problem such as a lifter wiping a cam lobe.

 

[Robster]

I hate to hear about all of your bad luck at one time. Does your truck have cylinder deactivation? Keep your fingers crossed.

It does have MDS-- for a hemi, this one runs quieter than most. . . even when I drove it to the dealer to drop it off. At highway speeds, you'd never know there was anything wrong with it. At idle it it shook pretty bad. Let's hope the mechanic is right!

 

[MParr]

It does have MDS-- for a hemi, this one runs quieter than most. . . even when I drove it to the dealer to drop it off. At highway speeds, you'd never know there was anything wrong with it. At idle it it shook pretty bad. Let's hope the mechanic is right!

I hope he’s right too.

 

[Robster]

Sorry to hear this!

P0300 is a general misfire code.

P0307 is a misfire on Cylinder #7. I'm presuming that's the cylinder they'll replace the fuel injector on.

Yay for warranties!

Oddly enough, if it's an injector, it's not covered under the power train warranty, which is still in effect. If it's an internal engine issue (cam, lifters), it's covered. So, if it's what I hope it is I'll have to pay out of pocket!

 

[Robster]

For those that care the issue was explained as follows:

The injector at cyl 7 was leaking fuel non-stop, which caused a richer than normal condition on that cylinder, which affected the mixtures of adjacent cylinders on that fuel rail. That explanation seemed plausible to me.

 

[Number_35]

Oddly enough, if it's an injector, it's not covered under the power train warranty, which is still in effect. If it's an internal engine issue (cam, lifters), it's covered. So, if it's what I hope it is I'll have to pay out of pocket!

I hear you - I'd rather pay for an injector than have internal engine work done, even if the engine work is covered.

Having said that, I messed up replacing a cam seal on our old Mazda van a few years ago. I had forgotten to tighten the one camshaft pulley, and it sheared off the Woodruff key.

I could not get access to the key, and so ultimately had to undo the camshaft to move it forward for access. I was scared as anything, but took it slowly, got the cam free and slid it forward enough to remove the shorn-off key, replaced the key, and reinstalled the camshaft. Used a torque wrench, and did several incremental passes to take it up to the specified torque. Was quite delighted when it all went back together fine. Drove it for another four years and a bit, until the tinworm finally won.

All that to say, if I can do it, I'm sure a good tech at a dealership, who sees a lot of these, could do the repair without compromising engine life at all.

Please keep us posted!

Edit: Just saw your follow-up - sounds like it was only the #7 FI, which is good news.

 

[Hall]

Don't know who Burla is but it seems like this person is diagnosing your engine over the internet ? Good luck with that....

 

[JustN89]

Don't know who Burla is but it seems like this person is diagnosing your engine over the internet ? Good luck with that....

Oh just search his name on this site. You'll learn all that you need to know.

 

[Hall]

Oh just search his name on this site. You'll learn all that you need to know.

I see posts from people referring to him but the name doesn't ring a bell at all

 

[Jetronic]

So, you may have seen my other thread about the failure of my wife's Santa Fe transmission. Well, at about the same time my Ram 1500 Hemi started idling rough and throwing ECM codes, and eventually a CEL.

As I write this it's at the dealer awaiting a fuel injector to be delivered, apparently on the slow boat from somewhere, as that part was ordered this past Wednesday. Really?. . . with all the hemis on the road a dealership doesn't have simple parts like that sitting around?

Burla has already given the Last Rites to my truck on another forum, saying it's likely a cam / lifter failure. The mechanic claims all the valves are moving correctly. It should be noted that the truck just rolled over to 22,000 miles the same week it started throwing ECM codes. . . and it didn't have any discernable ticks. So, is Burla correct or is my mechanic correct? OBD codes were p0307, p0300. What say the peanut gallery?

Stay tuned!

My experience is dealerships aim to have no parts in stock. If they have something that's not a consumable it was ordered wrong before and not returnable.

 

[Hall]

I needed an EVAP solenoid for a '12 Civic. I'm not sure if this same part is used on other models or years with Honda, but (3) local dealers didn't have it in stock. One reason that local Honda dealers may do this is one of Honda's distribution facilities is 30 minutes north of here and next day delivery is standard for them (they can order as late as 3-4pm and still get a part the following day too !). Probably spoils them...

 

[ekrampitzjr]

Dealers can hit you for freight charges for special-order parts, and yes, they do jack up the actual freight cost. Their freight cost was $10, say, but they add $20 to your bill for freight. That's why they typically don't have the part you need: they get extra $$ from you if they can special-order. Some auto parts stores do this too.

 

[Robster]

UPDATE: Good news, bad news, or "a tale of two dealerships)

Ughh. . . This may come of like a rant, but it's more a . . . how shall I say?. . . commentary, on the state of work ethics.

So, the dealership called today and declared my truck repaired and ready for pickup. So my wife drives me the10 or so miles to the dealership. I pay the bill and inspect the truck. . . . so far, so good. Truck is clean, starts right up. Under the hood, things look good.

My wife, who is following me home and talking to me on the phone, interrupts our conversation with the following startling announcement: "hey, I've never noticed your truck smoking before". We're in heavy interstate traffic. . . I scan the gauges, and everything looks good. The engine sounds good and is making good power. Once we drive the short distance further to home, it was indeed smoking from underneath as I pulled into the driveway. Upon further examination, I could see oil dripping down the lower, rear part of the engine and oil pan, and onto the exhaust pipes, creating the aforementioned smoke. Checking the dipstick, it was still reading at the full line, so the oil loss is minimal.

I called the dealer and explained the situation--they're sending the hook for it later tonight or tomorrow. The service manager was apologetic.

So in the last two weeks, both of our vehicles went down--the Hyundai for a bad transmission, and the Ram for a bad fuel injector. The Hyundai was repaired with a transmission replacement by the Hyundai dealer. It was finished before I expected it, in about a week's time--start to finish and drives like new and I have no complaints about the repair.

The Ram dealer took some time to diagnose the bad fuel injector, but I believe finally got it right--kudos for that. What I have a problem with is that they apparently didn't drive it or check for leaks after their work, resulting in more inconvenience for me and more time without my truck. Not to mention the mess on the belly of my truck and on the driveway. So they had the truck for about the same length of time as our Hyundai that got the transmission replaced, but managed to botch the repair.

It should be noted, this was NOT warranty work--I payed for this out of pocket and it was not an inconsequential amount. For what was payed, I would have expected professional work, including some quality control checks during the process that may have prevented the oil leak.

All that said, I expect that the Ram shop will take care of the leak. I'll ask them to steam clean the engine and belly and they probably will without question. I still like my Ram truck and haven't lost faith in the brand because of this. I have lost faith in the ability of people performing technical work these days. It's just not the automotive industry either. . . I've seen aviation mechanics using the "parts cannon" instead of solving the problem more and more these days. I hope we get back to a point where people take real pride in their work.

 

[Hall]

I could see oil dripping down the lower, rear part of the engine and oil pan, and onto the exhaust pipes

They replaced a single fuel injector ? I know nothing about these engines, but does this work involve enough disassembly that they have to open up oil-bathed parts of the engine ?

 

[Robster]

They replaced a single fuel injector ? I know nothing about these engines, but does this work involve enough disassembly that they have to open up oil-bathed parts of the engine ?

During the process of troubleshooting, they removed the left valve cover to inspect the valve train.

 

[sloinker]

Parts on hand are taxable as inventory so many places now do just in time deliveries to avoid that expense.

 

[TuBon_gRips]

So, you may have seen my other thread about the failure of my wife's Santa Fe transmission. Well, at about the same time my Ram 1500 Hemi started idling rough and throwing ECM codes, and eventually a CEL.

As I write this it's at the dealer awaiting a fuel injector to be delivered, apparently on the slow boat from somewhere, as that part was ordered this past Wednesday. Really?. . . with all the hemis on the road a dealership doesn't have simple parts like that sitting around?

Burla has already given the Last Rites to my truck on another forum, saying it's likely a cam / lifter failure. The mechanic claims all the valves are moving correctly. It should be noted that the truck just rolled over to 22,000 miles the same week it started throwing ECM codes. . . and it didn't have any discernable ticks. So, is Burla correct or is my mechanic correct? OBD codes were p0307, p0300. What say the peanut gallery?

Stay tuned!

Yeah, unfortunately parts are in short supply right now and a lot of common ones require that we have the vehicle present in the shop for diagnosis or a repair appointment scheduled in order to even be able to place an order. Don't be too hard on the dealership over it, it's an FCA Stellantis thing and they likely can't do anything about it.

Now, for the issues mentioned in your later posts... Yikes! Giving a vehicle back in worse condition is a HUGE issue and I've seen techs fired over it.

And with that 5.7, be glad it was an injector and not a camshaft. Recent Hemis like to eat them for no apparent reason. I can attest that it is not a neglect concern, either; I've seen 1500's in the shop for oil changes consistently on time or early on their 2nd or 3rd camshaft.