Cam Shaft/Lifter Issue with 5.7L V8 2019 Bighorn

[ShrLA23]

Hey all, I'm a relatively new Ram owner and looking for a little info from those that have had experience with the dreaded "hemi tick" Truck is a 2019 Big Horn with about 81k miles on it. No significant problems since I purchased it last year pre-owned from a dealership.

Had a check engine light come on and brought it to the mechanic for a diagnosis. Misfire in cylinder 6 code was shown. Coils and spark plugs were all relatively new, so on further diagnosis, mechanic looked into the issue at hand. He's recommending replacing the cam shaft and lifter. There were some metal shavings in the oil filter plus hearing the tick noise. I have a third party warranty who has finally agreed to cover the repair, however they are recommending a complete replacement of the engine. My warranty company says that if i just do the "simple" repair, they will not warranty the engine further, but will not pay for a complete swap out of the engine. Mechanic says that the repair would suffice and he has done it before on Ram trucks from 2008 through 2020 models. If i swap the engine, i get my warranty covered in the future. If I don't, warranty company says they won't cover the engine anymore.

For those that have had this repair done, are there any risks to just repairing the lifter problem and not a total engine swap?

 

[PurpleRT]

Metal shavings in oil.. means complete rebuilt or new motor not just a lifter/cam replacement. Those metal shavings might be everywhere in the bottom end. Sounds like your warranty company is going to give you the run around. Refer to your paperwork and reread whats covered. Obviously they just don’t willingly wanna pay for a replacement motor.


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[ShrLA23]

Warranty company is saying that they only repair/replace point of failure. So i can have the mechanic repair the lifter issue, and then would be under their warranty for 12k miles or whatever it is, and then once that is exhausted be back under the normal warranty per my contract. They just don't repair the residual damage from the cause of failure. So my hope is to get it fixed and its cleaned out and all good. Then sell it in a year or so to avoid future issues like this. I absolutely love the truck but I can't afford to continue to make 5k-8k dollar repairs.

 

[Grover70]

I agree with PurpleRT. I had my '20 Ram Big Horn engine replaced under warranty through Carvana. They covered the engine and the labor and renewed the 100k warranty on the engine all for $100 deductible. Thinking long term, the replacement of my headers, which is where the problem started and spiraled into the engine placement, you just don't know if you'll be back in there in a few months if the metal shavings have caused unseen issues.