Looking at getting myself a work truck and seeing a fair amount of Rams with 6.4L Hemis in them for sale. Kinda nervous about this "Hemi tick" I keep reading about. Something to be concerned about or is that an overblown issue? I want something dependable. Zero interest in owning a diesel at this point in time.
Deboss garage, utube, just posted a video about them I believe. Have not watched. Previous videos I have watched seemed reasonable.
Good man, smart.
I'm a little hesitant to trust a Ram. I had a total lemon of a 2nd Gen and I've steered clear of anything related to Chrysler since. They're just getting too covered up in emissions junk and crammed into ever tighter engine bays. Not interested in having to take the truck to a shop that can remove the cab for something that shouldn't require a cab removal if it were built by people with common sense. Besides, could care less about being the first to the top of the hill.
The biggest issue I see with gas engines are the long service intervals they say are ok. I don’t go past 5k miles. I use good oil. I had several escort trucks with the 5.7 that were close to 300k miles when we got rid of them. Serviced them religiously at 5k. One had a bit of a tick, one didn’t. The latest V6 they have now is prone to that, its biggest issue is a dry start due to the oil filter being upside down on top of the engine. They make an adapter so you can put a spin-on with a check valve. Also, they’ve come a loooong way from the second gen to now. A good bit of the issues have been solved. At the drilling company we had a bunch of them with Cummins. Almost all of them went in at some point for blend doors or temp control actuator. Anything modern is gonna have issues. Have a 23’ F-150 that’s had AC issues from day 1. 24’ F-450 that’s on its third screen. Knock on wood my 21’ hasn’t missed a beat in 120k mi.
A contractor I know has a 6.4 in a 4500. The guy that drives it loves it, but he says it really likes its fuel. They have a enclosed work box on the back and never tow.
6.4L=392 cu.in.. There is a threshold that once approached it's hard to contain a thirsty engine, 360 cu.in. is the magic number, even with todays engineering/machining/EFI & total computer control. The more cubes the more fuel/air to make power. * I remember a customer with a 1976 F150 4x4, had a 360 in it and wanted it turned into a 390. That's easy, crank, rods & pistons. But he asked if it was possible to get 18 mpg out of it. I just looked at him for a second then replied with a line from JAW's. {this engines only job as designed is to eat gas and more gas, and if it were possible to mate with another 390--make a whole bunch more 390's}.
I couldn't even get a consistent 18 mpg out of a 4.8L Vortec lol.
I'll ask Truck Shop, did all 70s Chevy 350s get 10MPG? Or just mine? Up hill, down hill, off a cliff 10MPG. Joe H
I would imagine most did, the compression was dropped, camshaft profiles were terrible, cam timing timing was retarded 3*, egr that didn't work very well, all trying to meet emissions. A 1969 350 on average in a sedan got 17 plus, as with most in late 60's. Even some big blocks like a 290 hp Chrysler 383 with a two barrel in a 4 dr got 17 to 18. Emission standards of 1972 put the bite on just about everything, a 454 was detuned to 245 hp with a 4 barrel and lucky to get 9 to 10. Compression ratios dropped from 10.1 to 8.2 on average.
Biggest thing with them is change the oil on time with them not going by the book says. I replaced cam and lifters in one back in March from the owner going by the book on the oil changes. Finding out letting them idle is not good and the camshafts were not heat treated right too
A friend here in town coverts late 5.7/6.4's to non MDS. Understanding the elaborate system of Chrysler & Chevys 8 to 4 cylinder design is well explained in this link. * What Is Hemi MDS? We explain how Chrysler Hemi MDS cylinder deactivation works, what goes wrong, and how to fix it when it breaks. www.hotrod.com
I had a ‘94 Chevy K3500 single rear wheel w/5.7 / automatic that was pretty consistent at 10mpg. Up or down hill; towing and plowing snow. Kinda what I expected, since I ordered it with 4.56 gears. Traded it at about 145k miles for an ’02 F350 with a 7.3 diesel and thought I was in heaven. I kept a running record of fuel use and it was just under 18 mpg over 320,0000 miles doing even more work. The tin worms were what did it in finally.
Those screens in Ford trucks are junk. I have the Sync 3 in my daily and it never worked right from brand new. Trouble is it never acted up long enough for the dealer to see it so it never got fixed. Nearly 9 years later and I just live with it. A quirk of the truck.
Does the transmission have a bunch of gears?