It's been a difficult week. . .

Good luck from here on out.
Have you considered selling the Ram with these record prices.

I sold a truck with less than 5k miles on it. The price was right and the story very long....lol
 
Ya we have done a few injectors lately for some reason....not sure why. And the left VC is a ***** to get around the brake booster,,,,I myself have rolled one VC gasket out of place.....took a bit of a drive to see the leak.
 
Ya we have done a few injectors lately for some reason....not sure why. And the left VC is a ***** to get around the brake booster,,,,I myself have rolled one VC gasket out of place.....took a bit of a drive to see the leak.
You win the contest--rolled VC gasket occurred during the repair. See my update below.
 
Well I figured as much after reading the diagnoses you posted at the beginning , but I'm pleased to hear that Burla's last rites were premature.
 
UPDATE:

OK. . . the hook arrived this morning and took the truck back to the dealer. About four hours later they call and tell me the truck is done, but they were sending it to the detail shop to get the belly and engine bay cleaned up.

When I arrived to pick it up, the truck looked great, inside and out. I gave it a good walk-around and looked underneath and there was no visible oil. The drive home was uneventful, but I did notice that the truck was running great. . . probably better than ever. . . good power, no vibrations. I considered how long I may have actually had the bad injector?--the thing with a large displacement 8-cylinder is that the sheer size of the rotating parts can easily mask an issue--the day I dropped it at the dealer, I knew there was something wrong with the engine, but I swear it was as smooth as ever going highway speeds up the interstate.

I never thought the Hemi could be this smooth. At red lights, you literally can't feel the engine running. In retrospect, I probably had the bad injector for longer than I originally thought. Over the last few months I checked for codes with the ODBII reader a few times because of the random, sporadic, weird idle--I guess that the ECM has some tolerance built in to it's logic because it never threw any codes until the day things got stupid with it.

The Dealer Experience

So, went to a Ram dealer I'd never heard of because they had an appointment available before anyone else in the area. I did check online reviews prior to the appointment and they had above-average reviews for their service department. My initial impressions were good--the service writer asked detailed and appropriate questions on my initial call-up and seemed to know the business.

Because of the breadth of possible causes of engine misfires in the Hemi engine, dropping your truck off at a dealer with that problem is more stressful than it ought to be. I tend to research things on the internet--and when you look for reasons why a Hemi may misfire, a fuel injector failure is isn't among the top reasons you see on your usual Google search. You get A LOT of hits for valvetrain / cam failures.

Anyway, if you've read this thread thus far, you know about the the initial pick up of the truck yesterday which resulted in the belly of the truck and exhaust headers being slathered in a coat of Valvoline synthetic oil--with an accompanying smoke show. That incident didn't inspire confidence.

Today, the dealership got it right--valve cover gasket replaced, engine and belly degreased, and a nice-running truck again. The service manager was apologetic and explained the nature of the oil leak that brought the truck back to the dealer. The explanation was plausible and understandable. I'm happy with the dealer, and happy that I didn't have a bad cam and lifters. The end. . . . hopefully!
 
Last edited:
Good luck from here on out.
Have you considered selling the Ram with these record prices.

I sold a truck with less than 5k miles on it. The price was right and the story very long....lol
I have considered selling. . . I was offered a stupid amount of money for it a few weeks ago (cash from a dealer), but what would I pay for a replacement?. . .even if I could finds something I want. I'll keep my Ram.
 
Addendum:
I just returned from a two-week, 5500 mile road trip in the Ram--the truck ran perfectly, didn't burn a drop of oil and it proved to be a very good road-trip vehicle for two people. Our trip took us through several days of 95F+ temps in desert areas, with extended 80+ MPH highway runs. I averaged 22.3 MPG over the whole trip (as measured by the dashboard computer), using mostly mid-grade fuel. The attached pic was taken in Badlands National Park in S.D.
IMG_20210623_113428.jpg
 
Awesome that both vehicles are back on the road and running like new. Here's to many years of reliable transportation ahead.
 
You know, people just don’t realize the piles of issues and problems that come with car ownership (my wife being the biggest offender). What you had to go through really is a royal pain. And to have to pay out of pocket for it, take time away from your life, have to do it again when they screwed up the repair. It’s not fun.

I work in this industry and of course I get to service all of my family’s vehicles. And they have no idea. When I get home they’re like, how did it go? And I say, well let’s see...I ran into 10 different problems while trying to fix your one problem. So, I ended up fighting my way through this thing my entire day, but I saved the family $1,500, easy. And they’re always like...that’s nice, thanks. 🤔😁🤔😁
 
I forgot to post it here (I did on a Ram forum), but I contacted RamCares (Ram customer care) and explained my situation and the amount I had to pay for the repair on my low-mileage truck. After about a week, they called me back and told me that they'd be reimbursing me the total amount of the repair, less $100. I've already received the check for $648. Ram could have easily denied my request. . . and they didn't. I can't complain--this is good customer service, and makes me feel better about the brand.
 
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!
Parts are a nightmare right now. We have a peterbilt down with a failed def level sensor. None available in Peterbilts system. I have a f350 at work that needs an oxygen sensor which I can't get either.
 
Back
Top