greetings and a note about hemi tick :-)

[BigDave]

Hi group, new member from Houston here... while I'm thinking about it --
When I started looking into hemi tick and trashed cam/lifters, I realized the likely chain of failure began with the needle bearings in the lifter rollers. One little weakness in one little needle bearing, and the roller gets sloppy or freezes... then it wallows out the cam because it's not rolling anymore. The beginning of the issue is a tiny little needle bearing, and that leads to the rest of it.
Then I read a post by someone who said Dodge had identified a quality failure, a substandard needle bearing in the lifters. Four or five years ago, they redesigned the lifters with BIGGER NEEDLE BEARINGS (fewer of them), and that the lifter failures werent happening with the newer design.
You can't see the needle bearings, they're sealed inside that roller. Someone cut apart two lifters, one old and one new, and the needles are definitely bigger in the newer one. I have a snap of it and I'll try to get it onto this post.
I believe the cam/lifter failures are over. The newer hemis, getting past 100k as they wil eventually do, are not going to manifest this failure as the older ones are now doing. Dodge did a double fix, getting the supply line under control so the quality of the metal in the needles was not substandard... AND redesigning the lifter with larger needle bearings.
I think that's it. I think we're done. And I'm betting on it, as I've just bought the hemi in my 2023 Ram 2500 ...
I realize you're all sick of talking about it, but I have not seen this information anywhere here yet. Just trying to help.

 

[theblet]

Welcome!

 

[Slutzk]

Welcome man! I read the caption and IMMEDIATLEY said "here we go" and almost grabbed some popcorn. BUT... not the case. some good info here. thank you sir. cheers!

 

[JBarry]

Welcome to the group!

 

[SD Rebel]

That matches up with what a lot of engine builders stated, it's not the oil or if you have MDS (the 6.4L should attest to that), but simply that the needle bearings have about a 10% failure rate.

However, I heard that the 10% is with the current crop of engines, so even the larger needle bearings are still open to that happening. Though not sure, maybe you have some better insight on that? 4-5 years ago would mean 2019 and newer engines should have the bigger bearings, but there are examples of this issue in the DT line of Hemi engines.

 

[BigDave]

That matches up with what a lot of engine builders stated, it's not the oil or if you have MDS (the 6.4L should attest to that), but simply that the needle bearings have about a 10% failure rate.

However, I heard that the 10% is with the current crop of engines, so even the larger needle bearings are still open to that happening. Though not sure, maybe you have some better insight on that? 4-5 years ago would mean 2019 and newer engines should have the bigger bearings, but there are examples of this issue in the DT line of Hemi engines.

there is also an issue with oil pressure. I've seen people report that their idle pressure is below TEN psi. Mine is over30 at idle and over 50 when cruising. I think between my newer needle bearings and my higher oil pressure, my hemi should be fairly immune to the lifter/lobe wear. But I'll be keeping track of the issue for sure. I'm also going to do the first couple of oil changes about 50% sooner than the manual or the dashboard computer says. I mighjt even get in the habit of premature oil changes. Cheaper than new cam and lifters, and especially cheaper than a whole rebuild.