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2019 Ram 1500 Head Gasket Failure

chuck1221

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I've owned my 2019 Ram 1500 Bighorn since new and haven't had many issues other than having to have both of the exhaust manifolds replaced under warranty. I am nearing 80,000 miles now and have been smelling coolant off and on at shutdown for years and have never noticed a leak of any nature. About a month ago I noticed a small drip on the floor of my garage and looked at it closer and saw a very small leak coming from the drivers side rear of the motor, I couldn't pin point it as it was very small and hard to see in there from the bottom or top. I took it in to my mechanic and he gave it good once over and couldn't pin point the issue as well. He guessed potentially a head gasket or somewhere near there. He said to wait a little while and see if it got any worse. About 2 weeks later it started dripping more, enough to the point to see where it was coming from for sure anyway so I brought it back in. He pressure tested it and sure enough it was dripping from the driver side rear corner of the head. I had him replace both head gaskets. Upon removal he told me a layer of the metal gasket had a crack all the way through it and that he had never seen anything like it before. He figured it had to be a defective gasket from the factory at time of assembly. He checked the head and block with a straight edge for flatness and said it all checked out. The truck has never been overheated at all either so I thought it was weird. Has anyone else seen anything of this nature? It's a bummer it wasn't under warranty still because it seems like a defect in the manufacturing/assembly process at the factory to me. I attached a picture of the gasket. He also said it didn't look like any coolant had gotten into the oil or cylinder as well, which I was happy to hear.

Chuck
 

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That's a pretty rare thing to happen and not at all common on the 5.7. You're lucky it was just the gasket and you caught it as early as you did.
 
Had similar. Drivers side head gasket failed where water was getting into the oil. Noticed oil/water mix in the coolant reservoir. Had mechanic replace on both heads, and he showed me where there was an area were there wasn't much gasket between oil passage and water passage.
Happened at about the same mileage.
 
Yeah I researched it a bunch and couldn't find too much about failures. Hopefully it will continue to be a good truck. I was debating to trade it in but trade in prices seem low and I am not seeing much for rebates in my area. Also debating going to a 3/4 ton.
 

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