Engine replacement ideas for the 2007 Ram 1500

[Detective D]

I've made it almost 400,000 miles on conventional oil.



With the 50 HP and 35 ft/lb difference between the 07 and the Eagle engine, how much of that is the cylinder heads? How much is the increase in compression, active intake and Variable Valve Timing?
By not utilizing the VVT and the active intake, I wonder what one would be left with.

For this truck, a stock replacement will be good enough for me. I already bought the replacement engine.
When I pull this engine, it can be rebuilt using some upgrades.

No no, the oil I was replying to moparedtn about his '12 Charger. Sorry.

 

[Kern Dog]

No no, the oil I was replying to moparedtn about his '12 Charger. Sorry.

I understand that. I was simply commenting on how I have made it this long without synthetic oil. Maybe a mild climate is more forgiving to the oil?

 

[Richard Cranium]

For those of us with short attention spans, how about less talking and more pictures please.

 

[Kern Dog]

A short recap....

Engine bought last week. $2250 for a 2007 5.7 with approximately 100,000 miles.

Air box removed, next comes the intake.

Intake is off.

Valve covers off.

Rocker arms and pushrods come out, then the head bolts....

 

[Kern Dog]

Heads off. Some carbon is visible on the pistons.

Combustion chambers look good. Tan color on the exhaust valves indicates proper burn.

I cleaned the tops of the pistons.

Some numbers are visible.

 

[Kern Dog]

There is still some cross hatch in each cylinder.

The short block and heads are at the machine shop. I'm having the man go through the heads and stake the intake seats. I'm letting him determine if the short block is good enough to run as is without a teardown.

 

[moparedtn]

My '13 is AWD. Talk about going from a dig
NEVER move away from Mobil 1. I did that for one oil change, could tell immediately(yes it was that noticeable) and then dumped and changed back to Mobil after 1200 miles on the house brand stuff. Back to happy quiet engine.

I've been using it since Mr. Shelby insisted on it in the little turbo cars in the mid-80's.
The first time I partially tore down the 5.0 in my '89 Mustang at 200k miles, I saw literally
zero wear and zero deposits - anywhere, even looking with the borescope.
That was good enough for me.

 

[moparedtn]

For those of us with short attention spans, how about less talking and more pictures please.

 

[Detective D]

I understand that. I was simply commenting on how I have made it this long without synthetic oil. Maybe a mild climate is more forgiving to the oil?

Oh it's not even the climate or anything else, I think it is the difference in the early 5.7 and the VVT version later.
I don't put Mobil 1 in everything I have. But I will never stray with the Charger, once was enough to learn my lesson

 

[RemCharger]

I understand that. I was simply commenting on how I have made it this long without synthetic oil. Maybe a mild climate is more forgiving to the oil?

Spot on. Up here in - 40 with short trips the oil picks up enough moisture you think you have a HG leak. Absolutely no reason to use synthetic oil. Waste of hyped up money.

Now down there? I could see the use of synthetic a good thing for long extended oil changes... if anything is actually beneficial about it.
But really if everyone changed their oil proper, conventional is the way to go.

 

[5.7 hemi]

For a naturally aspirated engine, sure. Now if ya got a positive displacement thingamabob, especially a turbo, synthetic is the way to go.

 

[Kern Dog]

I have yet to hear from anyone that has logged more miles on their original gas engine. I'd sure like to though!
Yesterday I rolled over 395,000 miles.
Each cold start brings a MIL. That is Dodge/Mopar speak for Malfunction Indicator Light.
Everyone else calls it a Check Engine light but I try to follow what the Dodge owners manual dictates.
The MIL is always a random misfire or a cylinder 6 misfire. Once the engine is running a couple of minutes, the idle smooths out and it idles great. You'd never know that the engine has this many miles on it. I don't know if that is from dirty injectors unable to increase the flow for a cold start or what it is. I did take the injectors from the replacement engine to Doctor Injector, a buddy that I know that professionally cleans fuel injectors.

It does blow a little steam if it has been ran, shut down and restarted a bit later. I suspect the head gaskets are leaking a minute amount of coolant into the chambers. I smell the sweet tang of coolant from the exhaust pipes even if it isn't pushing any steam. It does drip some water from the tailpipes sometimes.
Power seems on par with what it has been for years but it may have incrementally slowed down a bit. I'm tempted to run it on a dyno before I pull it for the swap, just to have a before and after comparison.
The machinist has had the replacement engine for almost 3 weeks. I don't know if he has done anything yet. I'm going to check in with him tomorrow. I don't like to be a pain in the *** to people but I also don't want this to drag out 3 months. I want to have the engine here before THIS one craps out.

 

[5.7 hemi]

Usually if a misfire stays on a particular cylinder when the coil is swapped from another cylinder, it’s the cam lobe or the lifter or both.

 

[1 Wild R/T]

Usually if a misfire stays on a particular cylinder when the coil is swapped from another cylinder, it’s the cam lobe or the lifter or both.

Actually with his description of

"It does blow a little steam if it has been ran, shut down and restarted a bit later. I suspect the head gaskets are leaking a minute amount of coolant into the chambers. I smell the sweet tang of coolant from the exhaust pipes"

I tend to think after a hot shutdown then a cold restart coolant could be fouling the plug & after a brief run it will clear up & run on eight...

 

[5.7 hemi]

It’s dual plugs. Hard to see both plugs fouling out.

 

[71Beeper]

I have yet to hear from anyone that has logged more miles on their original gas engine. I'd sure like to though!
Yesterday I rolled over 395,000 miles.

Kern, Im not anywhere near that many miles, but my 1996 Pontiac Sunfire is up there.

My wife bought this brand new in 1996. Its an SE not a GT (I have the rims tho).
2.2 engine - only time it was opened was for a head gasket change at the dealership back in 1998.

Here she is in her winter garb....14" snow tires and wheel covers.

Anyway, the engine has 415,000 kms which works out to 258,000 miles.
I only drive her in the winter.
Here's a shot with the valve cover off.

After the 3 year warranty ended in 1999, I started putting 5W-30 Mobil 1 synthetic in her and changed it every 5000 kms (3100 miles)
For a non-Mopar I have no bad things to say about her.

 

[Kern Dog]

It’s dual plugs. Hard to see both plugs fouling out.

I wonder if water vapor temporarily disrupts the spark.
Good news: The machinist is almost done. The bores in the block were all within 1/2 of a thousandth of taper from top to bottom so I won’t need to bore it and put in new pistons. SCORE!
I need to bring him the valve stem seals so he can button it all up.
I got a sticker shock at the dealer when I priced the parts to reassemble it all.
$1160 for lifters???
$250 for head bolts?
$280 for valve stem seals?
$828 for 4 MDS solenoids?

I paid $2400 for the running engine.
Their prices were a butt rape.
I went to the local NAPA store and ordered a “Head Set” for $176.
It has the head gaskets along with gaskets for the valve covers, intake and exhaust, throttle body, EGR, PCV, and the valve stem seals. The set beats the dealer prices by a mile.
I got the oil pan gasket/windage tray too.
New head bolts and exhaust manifold bolts are on order along with ONE of those MDS solenoids. I broke one trying to remove it and left the other three in place.
I have seen ads for “remanufactured” 5.7 engines for under $3000 and wonder where they cut corners to do it so cheap. No way those are built with new pistons and lifters at that cost.
Regarding the lifters….
All the ones I pulled out of this engine look great. The roller wheels are fine. This engine had a slight tick when cold but stopped once it warmed up, just like mine does. Both engines had broken exhaust manifold bolts so I blame the tick on that. Both engines sounded quiet once they warm up. I’m strongly leaning toward cleaning and reinstalling the lifters in the same positions.

 

[1 Wild R/T]

They are roller lifters, you can move them around & not hurt a thing... Reuse the coils, it was running on eight before, it'll run on eight again.... Head bolts are probably torque to yield & must be replaced...

 

[Kern Dog]

The head bolts are TTY as you wrote. I am going to have to find that adapter that fits on the torque wrench that displays degrees to get that right.
I have a little anxiety about this only because it is my first time with several things. Randy (thank you) has walked me through several classic car projects. Mark/ElDubb440 helped me through the front structure swap in my Jigsaw Charger. 5.7 Hemi/Zack has been helpful with knowledge on these 5.7 Hemi engines.
The roller lifter deal…. I figured that since my original engine has gone 395,000 miles and still idles like new, the stock lifters in this next engine should be fine.
This engine will basically be a regasketed mill with staked intake seats. I’m going to call Mahle tomorrow to see if they know what these markings mean:

It seems to me that the .015 would mean a .015 overbore even though that seems like an odd number.

 

[1 Wild R/T]

I'm sure your machinist has measured them & should know the current bore vs stock...
Being Mahle it could be metric 1.5mm is almost a perfect .060.. Actually .05905