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Lifter Failure? Report it here!

Ostracize said:
This has likely been mentioned before but just in case....
It is very very common for these 19+'s to start wearing the push rods... They are quite easy to get to for inspection.
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Trunions as well.
 
flan said:
25k start, 28k now
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Interesting. That seems to be around the time folks start to notice it.

I have 31k on mine now so my ears are hyper sensitive these days!

Ugh... sorry guys.
 
I received a call from the service writer this morning about my truck, I drop it back off tomorrow for who knows how long. Star is asking the dealer to remove the engine oil for sampling, remove the oil filter and cut it apart and inspect it, remove valve cover and inspect the pushrods and rockers in my truck and whatever else is needed while in there. I was almost ready to drive and trade this truck in on a 2026 3500 Mega Cab, which I still may do after the aftermath of this repair.

I don't remember when my noise started but I was in Prescott and drove past a cinderblock wall at the VA and noticed how loud my rattle really was as it bounced off the wall at 1200 rpm's, I'm currently sitting at 61400 miles.
 
Received and update today, looks like cylinder #1 and #3 intake and exhaust rockers are bad along with all 4 pushrods for those cylinders, oil filter looked clean they say after cutting it apart. They are going to replace those components along with an oil change and see what it sounds like.
 
Wagler now throwing their hat into the ring for flat tappet conversions. Email sent, I’ll relay any info.



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Trash Panda said:
Would be rad if they drove the price down.

Hamilton having a monopoly on the kit isn’t doing us any favors in that aspect.
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Yes, competition is good as long as the quality is equal. Wagler has been in the game a while, they started off with that hydraulic lifter delete slug but it didn’t address the low quality rockers, trunions and the roller lifter rotating in the bore. I’m glad to see they are making a complete kit. Install videos are supposedly going to be produced from them as well which is helpful.
 
Just now starting to get the tick on my ‘20 at just under 98k. Heading to the stealership next week before it goes out of warranty.
 
I received my truck back again today after a week in the shop after they replaced 1,2,3,6 cylinder complete rocker assemblies 68447789AA, 8 pushrods 68447792AA, 2 crosshead valve 5011477AA along with an oil change. Makes me wonder what all that metal has done to the engine internally. I still have an open star case that is still under investigation with no known fix and no more repairs as of today as it still continues to have noise with the peco.

I don't know what to do, wait it out for a new motor with Star, trade it in on a 2026 or what.

Screenshot 2025-10-09 130335.jpgScreenshot 2025-10-09 131612.jpg
 
BighornHDRam said:
I received my truck back again today after a week in the shop after they replaced 1,2,3,6 cylinder complete rocker assemblies 68447789AA, 8 pushrods 68447792AA, 2 crosshead valve 5011477AA along with an oil change. Makes me wonder what all that metal has done to the engine internally. I still have an open star case that is still under investigation with no known fix and no more repairs as of today as it still continues to have noise with the peco.

I don't know what to do, wait it out for a new motor with Star, trade it in on a 2026 or what.

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Rods are going to look fine on the lifter side because there's ample oil that sits in the lifter top cups... The top side rod wear is accelerated because....
1)the new rockers have the cup on the rocker side pointing down causing insufficient oiling.
2)the rods are supposed to rotate with each cam lobe lift... The roller lifters don't effectively/consistently enable this.

The noise they are still hearing is caused by the lifter rollers not running concentrically with their cam lobes.

They know these are issues, some(maybe most) trucks make it past warranty (their goal), some don't... And it must be enough to warrant their "investigation".
Currently there is only 1 true "fix"... flat tappet conversion which replaces the cam, lifters, rods, and rockers. Can/should run 15w40 after conversion and will have to adjust lash every ~100k mi... I went this route on my 21 and do not regret it.
 
Does ram come out with a flat tappet conversion kit to keep the customer base happy like they did with the CP4 disaster? Will they honor vehicles in/out of warranty based on age and/or mileage? It would be smart of them to do so imho!
 
flan said:
Does ram come out with a flat tappet conversion kit to keep the customer base happy like they did with the CP4 disaster? Will they honor vehicles in/out of warranty based on age and/or mileage? It would be smart of them to do so imho!
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With most of the trucks making it out of warranty, why would they?

It’s a money game. Plain and simple.
 
Trash Panda said:
With most of the trucks making it out of warranty, why would they?

It’s a money game. Plain and simple.
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They made right with the cp4 fiasco with trucks that made it out of warranty. Time will tell.
 
flan said:
They made right with the cp4 fiasco with trucks that made it out of warranty. Time will tell.
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I have a suspicion that the incidents of lifter/valvetrain failure are much lower than the CP4. No data, just a hunch.

Couple that with the fact that most owners are oblivious, and it’s a recipe for Stellantis to get away with it more often than not. It’s not like when a HPFP fails and the truck quits running entirely, and takes the entire fuel system with it.
 
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I see posts on FB with video evidence of it being a much larger problem than you may think. YouTube videos galore. A couple posts a day it would seem. Then there’s owners like me who have the issue but don’t post on FB or YT. I’m not doom and gloom here but I’m not covering for Cummins on this one. At 27k my engine shouldn’t sound like a “typewriter”.

And it may not be full on lifter problem (yet) often it’s the pushrods and rockers I think the use of the word lifter is a generic description.
 
For everyone saying the noise “is normal” Ram didn’t think so. At just over 12k miles. They threw rockers, push rods, cam, lifters, oil filter mounting head, oh and an entire reman engine at mine. Then the buy back occurred.
 
Since my repair that I received back Oct 8, 2025 my lifter/camshaft noise has been progressively getting worse. You can now hear the lifters going down the road in the cab with the windows up. The lifters sound like they are trying to swap holes on engine deceleration and the rattle is horrible at 1850 rpm's.

I stopped by my local dealer 10-24-2025 and had my SW listen to it and he tells me there is nothing more he can do for my truck as Stellantis/Star bulletin S2509000005 won't let them do any more repairs on my engine outside of it puts a window in the block with 61900 miles. I don't have confidents in driving this truck long miles to VA appointments around the state of AZ and it leaving me stranded but it's my only vehicle currently and I have a 250 mile round trip to Flagstaff to do 11-6 for my spine. Ram/Stellantis is leaving me in a situation as to want to leave the Ram product completely as I don't need a diesel truck. Hey @RamCares are you there for help on this as my truck needs a new engine installed or at least camshaft and lifters?

Rams new 10/100 warranty is a joke since they won't fix the issues that are currently happening under warranty to my truck outside of hoping I purchase a new truck.

I know members are going to say just do the flat tappet conversion but that's what a $6-8k bill min when Ram should be fixing the issue.
 
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BighornHDRam said:
Since my repair that I received back Oct 8, 2025 my lifter/camshaft noise has been progressively getting worse. You can now hear the lifters going down the road in the cab with the windows up. The lifters sound like they are trying to swap holes on engine deceleration and the rattle is horrible at 1850 rpm's.

I stopped by my local dealer 10-24-2025 and had my SW listen to it and he tells me there is nothing more he can do for my truck as Stellantis/Star bulletin S2509000005 won't let them do any more repairs on my engine outside of it puts a window in the block with 61900 miles. I don't have confidents in driving this truck long miles to VA appointments around the state of AZ and it leaving me stranded but it's my only vehicle currently and I have a 250 mile round trip to Flagstaff to do 11-6 for my spine. Ram/Stellantis is leaving me in a situation as to want to leave the Ram product completely as I don't need a diesel truck. Hey @RamCares are you there for help on this as my truck needs a new engine installed or at least camshaft and lifters?

Rams new 10/100 warranty is a joke since they won't fix the issues that are currently happening under warranty to my truck outside of hoping I purchase a new truck.

I know members are going to say just do the flat tappet conversion but that's what a $6-8k bill min when Ram should be fixing the issue.
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Do you have a video of this truck posted?
 
mbarber84 said:
Do you have a video of this truck posted?
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I do not have a video of my engine posted on YT or the such.

Ram has done Peco sound readings 3 times on my engine including post repair 10-8-2025 after they replaced 4 complete rocker assemblies, 8 push rods, and 2 crossover bridges and stated that the engine continues to have noise. No more repairs to be made at this time as it's under investigation, when a fix will be available is anyone's guess. Read my post at #369 for my latest service records.

With all those parts replaced in my engine and all those metal particles that has was worn off the pushrods that have gone through my engine what is the longevity of this engine? I had a local 20 year independent diesel mechanic look at it last week and he thinks there is a sticking valve in #6 on deceleration as well along with the lifter issue noise it is making.
 
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