Picking up a 2014 5.7 in a few days...

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MopaR&D

MopaR&D

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I got a tip from a local car-enthusiast friend that a late-model Hemi was up for sale close by... I went to check it out, turns out it's a 2014 out of a truck with 134k miles and was pulled because it had a lifter tick and the owner of the truck just wanted a new engine swapped instead (???). I can only imagine that it saw a lot of highway use to be able to rack up that kind of mileage in 3 years, which maybe explains why the truck owner wanted a new one. Price is $600, shop owner wants it gone or he's gonna scrap it :eek:

I think this is a pretty great deal for a running engine? Once I get it I want to probably take it apart down to the short block mainly because I've never gotten my hands on one of these babies. My mom had a 2009 300C Hemi AWD which was a blast to drive but I didn't do much besides change the oil, then it got totaled and she now has a 2014 300C AWD with the V-6 and 8-speed.

Anyway... doesn't come with the harness or any accessories unfortunately, just the complete bare engine itself. So it will probably take some time before I figure out A) what exactly I'm going to do with it and B) how much all of that extra stuff will cost lol.
 
So I know there are already a lot of threads discussing this but just in my particular case since it's the bare engine with no harness or computer, what are my options regarding those parts to get the engine running? I know MP just came out with the "plug & play" type kit that includes everything for $1800, not sure if that's a good deal though (and is it tuneable since it uses factory ECU???). I definitely want to put a T-56 manual behind this thing so no need to have a trans controller and I'm not wasting my time hooking it up to an old non-OD automatic. Also probably want to eliminate MDS and for sure VCT, unless there might be a way to program the MDS "manually"? Would be neat feature to have but totally not necessary. And then doesn't this 2014 truck 5.7 also come with the active-runner intake manifold which I would need to swap?
 
MOPEkidD-3 said:
So I know there are already a lot of threads discussing this but just in my particular case since it's the bare engine with no harness or computer, what are my options regarding those parts to get the engine running? I know MP just came out with the "plug & play" type kit that includes everything for $1800, not sure if that's a good deal though (and is it tuneable since it uses factory ECU???). I definitely want to put a T-56 manual behind this thing so no need to have a trans controller and I'm not wasting my time hooking it up to an old non-OD automatic. Also probably want to eliminate MDS and for sure VCT, unless there might be a way to program the MDS "manually"? Would be neat feature to have but totally not necessary. And then doesn't this 2014 truck 5.7 also come with the active-runner intake manifold which I would need to swap?
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Hotwire I believe has a harness and ecu. @Riddler would know more, I believe he's using their setup
 
Yes, if auto trans, would have MDS, VVT, and v-intake. At that mileage, the noise was very likely more than the "Hemi tick". Pull that engine down to the short block and look for a bad lifter with frozen roller that has worn a wide groove into the cam lobe. Doesn't make huge noise when they do this, but enough to know there something not right and should be brought in to a shop. Likely what happened here. Nice score on 5.7 with the Eagle heads. Do yourself a favor and replace the mds lifters with non mds if you don't plan to use it. Also, offer the guy $500. I'll bet he'll take it.

BTW, I suggest the lifter problem because this is a bigger problem with the eagle 5.7 than most people know about. Have had five cars in my fleet do this, including twice with one of the cars. Luckily covered under 100k warranty.
 
Cuda SRT8 said:
Yes, if auto trans, would have MDS, VVT, and v-intake. At that mileage, the noise was very likely more than the "Hemi tick". Pull that engine down to the short block and look for a bad lifter with frozen roller that has worn a wide groove into the cam lobe. Doesn't make huge noise when they do this, but enough to know there something not right and should be brought in to a shop. Likely what happened here. Nice score on 5.7 with the Eagle heads. Do yourself a favor and replace the mds lifters with non mds if you don't plan to use it. Also, offer the guy $500. I'll bet he'll take it.

BTW, I suggest the lifter problem because this is a bigger problem with the eagle 5.7 than most people know about. Have had five cars in my fleet do this, including twice with one of the cars. Luckily covered under 100k warranty.
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So if it is a frozen roller which wore the cam lobe would that mean I need a new cam? I'll probably replace the timing set with a non-VVT one as well, I've heard the factory chains on those tend to fail? Ugh so much stuff to look into lol I need to make a list...
 
Yes, absolutely would need a new cam. The mds engines have two types of lifters. 1/2 are made to operate the mods and the other half are the standard style. Just put standard style throughout and special plugs to replace the mds solenoids and you're good to go. The vvt timing setup takes a special lock out kit to eliminate the vvt. There were some bad timing sets out there in certain years, but they've corrected that. If that engine were part of the recall, it's probably been fixed or wouldn't have made to that high of mileage.

Personally, I think that engine would just be a good core (hopefully) to rebuild or build a stroker. A more simple gen3 to start with is a 6.1 They've been coming down in price and are a great and simple engine.
 
Also check out what Pace Performance has for you. I think they have good set-up at a good price to make this work in a retro fit.
 
Well this is probably going to be a very long-term project anyway so I have plenty of time to do research and tear down and inspect the engine. My '70 Duster is currently out of commission, 360 broke a piston so now I'm just trying to get it back on the road by rebuilding the original 318 that it came with. So basically after I pick up this Hemi it's probably going to sit in my garage the next couple months while I build that 318. I thought about "shifting gears" and starting the Hemi swap now since it's apart but... there's sooo much stuff I need for the conversion and it'll be a while till I accumulate all that I just want the car back on the road. I'm kind of in-between jobs at the moment too so income isn't really solid.
 
If it makes you feel any better, my dealer just replaced the lifters in my 2012 5.7 at 16,000 miles, it had been doing it since 3,000 miles.
 
Resurrecting an old thread here, time sure does fly. I finally got around to pulling one of the heads on this 5.7 I picked up, lo and behold it's the exact issue @Cuda SRT8 guessed it would be. The #4 intake lifter roller wheel failed (looks like some needle bearings came out), trashing the lifter and the corresponding cam lobe as well as bending a pushrod. I looked closely at the piston and head for that cylinder and there is no evidence of valve-to-piston contact. Looks like I'll be getting a new cam and lifters.

On the bright side the cylinder bores look great for 130,000 miles, they all still have the crosshatching visible except for around the thrust areas about the size of a quarter coin about 1/3 of the way down and there's no ridge at the tops to speak of. I'll get some pics up in a bit...
 
Here are some pics, 3rd one is the bad cam lobe (on the left) and last pic is the trashed lifter next to a good one.

bores1.jpg


bores2.jpg


cam lobe.jpg


head1.jpg


lifters.jpg
 
So my original plan was to swap in a Comp 270 or 274 VCT cam but the $600+ price point is a bit discouraging. Then I found out that factory replacement cams are really cheap, like $80-200 depending on the model (there are like 5 or 6 different cam profiles depending on application). So now I'm thinking of buying a replacement cam for a 6.4L SRT engine without MDS (stick-shift cars) with a phaser-limiting plate from Comp and some new non-MDS lifters and calling it good... anyone here done a similar cam swap on their '09-up 5.7?
 
Go over to moparts. There has been recent discussion on this very subject.
 
408 swinger said:
Go over to moparts. There has been recent discussion on this very subject.
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Just read the thread about it, seems a few guys did it successfully with their trucks... if it works that well in a heavy truck it should be lots of fun in a 3300-lb A-body, and I'll be getting it tuned as well. I'm also looking at intake manifold options, it came with the dual-runner truck intake which is not only huge but this one has a busted flapper-actuator module. Something that's an upgrade not just a regular car 5.7 intake, like a 6.1 piece (?)
 
So what does everyone think about having the heads cleaned up and a valve job done? I've heard the earlier Hemis had valve seat failures, what did they do to fix them on the newer ones? Will I need new valve seats if I want a valve job? Or is it even worth it on a 140k-mile engine in the first place? I plan to get these heads washed anyway there was a lot of dirt that fell into the rocker area when it was being taken apart and as you can see in the pics the chambers and ports are pretty carbon'd up.

Also trying to decide on intakes... I'm thinking I want to stick with one of the OEM 'plastic' ones since they work really well (and the plastic insulates against heat soak) and I'm keeping it EFI. Would it be worth it to repair the dual-runner actuator on this 5.7 Eagle truck manifold I have? Otherwise I'd like to use a 6.4 SRT intake but those seem hard to find. I've also read that the 5.7 Eagle car intakes are basically a plastic version of the 6.1 intake (??) so that might be an option as well?

Lastly what about checking the bearings? I recently found out the main cap bolts are TTY so should I just leave them alone? Are the rod bolts the same or can I pop a few of those off to check and then re-torque them?
 
I would do the valve job. Unless it has been extremely over heated, I wouldn't worry too much about the seats. I haven't checked fastener prices for the eagle engines. I rebuilt an early 5.7, and the total for all the rod and main bolts was like 88 bucks. Pretty reasonable I thought.
 
Just a FYI, it's the cam that fails and destroys the lifters, but doesn't matter now! There is a reason the roller cam is 80.00 new from chrysler..... it's garbage, extremely common issue
 
replicaracer43 said:
Just a FYI, it's the cam that fails and destroys the lifters, but doesn't matter now! There is a reason the roller cam is 80.00 new from chrysler..... it's garbage, extremely common issue
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OK so the lifters aren't the problem... can this be prevented by using high-quality oil? Would there be any benefit to running higher-end stuff like Brad Penn or is something like Valvoline Synthetic enough? Guess I should look at what the factory recommends...
 
MOPEkidD-3 said:
OK so the lifters aren't the problem... can this be prevented by using high-quality oil? Would there be any benefit to running higher-end stuff like Brad Penn or is something like Valvoline Synthetic enough? Guess I should look at what the factory recommends...
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I believe it's a issue with the material the camshaft is made of.....I have torn them down, and noticed the metal starts to "flake" off the lobes in little peices, then it's only a matter of time. The cams also appear to be cast iron, not steel
 
I just bought a ram 2014 vvt 5.7 with 80k... Had a broken valve spring, inspected it and replaced it. Will be selling it soon
 
replicaracer43 said:
I believe it's a issue with the material the camshaft is made of.....I have torn them down, and noticed the metal starts to "flake" off the lobes in little peices, then it's only a matter of time. The cams also appear to be cast iron, not steel
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Dang that sucks, so it's a matter of "when" not "if"... When I get the camshaft out of this engine I'm gonna look for that "flaking" of the lobes. Anyway it's not like I'm going to put another 50k miles on this thing once it's in my Duster lol, that would take a decade or more.
 
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