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2007 Ram 1500 closing in on 400,000 miles!

Kern Dog

Kern Dog

Well-Known Member
Joined
Nov 14, 2014
Messages
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Location
Granite Bay CA
I've been the original owner of this truck since just before Thanksgiving 2007:

Ram Jam 2.JPG


It is an SLT model in the short bed, regular cab configuration. It has the 5.7, the 545 trans and 3.92 gears in the original 9 1/4" axle.
It has been a great truck and I intend to keep it.

For a few months, I've been dealing with the MIL coming on and staying on.
In Mopar terms, the MIL stands for Malfunction Indicator Light/Lamp. This is the same as what is often called the "Check Engine" light but the CE started with Chevrolet and GM.
I don't own any GM products so I'll refer to the proper terms that Ma Mopar used for their cars and trucks.
Anyway.... I have a parts store code reader that can read and clear codes. What I've been getting is cylinder 6 misfire, random misfire, bank running too rich, bank running too lean. Each condition had a different code number.
In short, the engine has at least one head gasket leaking small amounts of coolant into the cylinders upon shutdown. At a cold start, it will blow a little steam, run slightly rough but clear up in less than a minute and idle like new.
Up until a little while ago, the MIL could be cleared and stay off until another cold start. Lately, I clear the code and it pops back on in a few minutes.
Last week I pulled the # 6 coil pack, then the # 6 spark plugs. The plugs looked fine, the coil pack did too.
I put in a different coil pack from my spare 5.7 I have in the shop out back. It started fine, idled fine, no MIL either. A restart a few minutes later gave the same results.
I did not do anything except replace the coil pack. The old one was original. Can you believe it was going bad after only 397,000 miles ???
Yesterday, the rough idle cam back. It smooths out over 1000 rpm but the 600 rpm idle in gear is no longer smooth.
I'm going to try changing the injectors. I have a spare set from the replacement 5.7 I bought a few months back. I had those injectors serviced by a friend in Rancho Cordova that cleans and repairs fuel injectors. His name? Doctor Injector.
I know that this engine is on borrowed time but it still runs great. Power seems decent, oil pressure is good, fuel economy isn't much different from when it was new.
Hopefully the cleaner injectors will get it running smooth again and allow that MIL to go out.
 
Replacing the injectors is a not that hard except for one part. The 2468 side is easy. The fuel rail swings up and away from the manifold easy enough to get the old injectors out and new ones in. The drivers side though....
#7 injector at the back is a full length arms reach. It is next to the brake booster so be aware that it is sort of a tight space to work. I first thought I could just slip the injectors into the intake then put the fuel rail in second. That would be great except then there is no room to get the injector retaining clips on. You have to slip them into the rail first, install the clip then put it all into place as a unit.
It was a 2 hour job for me only because of the frustrating 1357 side but also.....
It was hot. It was not bright enough to see. I had a drop light and one of those headlamps. The headlamp also had the great feature of adding heat to my already intolerant and sweaty face. The arms length working distance is a gray area for perfect sight. I can almost see good with just my contact lenses and almost see okay with my reading glasses . Neither was good enough to clearly see the recesses in the injectors where the retaining clips need to attach.
It started right up and ran great......THEN kicked the same code again. Right bank too lean. To me, the right bank would be the 2468 side but I'm not sure what it means to this code reader. I disconnected the battery to clear everything and let it reset with the next start and drive.
It seemed that "Right bank too lean" would have meant bad injectors. If that code persists, what the heck else could it be?
 
A short drive and the MIL stayed off. I went into a convenience store for a Big Gulp and upon restart, the light came back on. TWO codes again.
P0151 and P0174.
151 is for right bank upstream O2 sensor low voltage.
174 is right bank too lean.
Hmmm....Could it be that the O2 sensor is failing, causing the PCM to think it is running rich so it LEANS out the RH bank, causing the lean code?

The O2 sensors are not too expensive. Maybe I should replace all 4 and be done with it.
 
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400k is pretty cool. I hope I get long service from my 2019. Probably an O2 but, how's the battery voltage? Also, check the battery connected on the alternator for corrosion. Bad plug? That's all I have. Craig
 
I'll do more digging around. The battery isn't new but I'm getting no other battery related symptoms. It starts fine in all conditions. I keep the terminals clean too.
 
I went to the local NAPA store today to get some O2 sensors.
According to them, the 4 in the system are all identical. I thought that this was weird so I just bought 2. I intend to install one in each down pipe forward of the converters.
The RH side manifold has some white residue on the flange from what I suspect is coolant....I've suspected leaky head gaskets on both sides since the radiator and cap aren't that old but the truck does go through some coolant over time. I'm wondering if the coolant has maybe corroded the upstream O2 sensors and made them ineffective.....

01 think 1.png
 
My line of thinking has been that I'd prefer to run this original engine as long as I can before swapping it out. What has kept me in this line of thinking is how well it has been running all this time.
It seems silly to pull and swap when this engine still ran great, had adequate oil pressure and decent fuel economy.
Once it started running rough, I wondered if time was running out. The dash lights... the MIL posting codes and all had me thinking that anything that I do is a band aid on a hatchet wound.
The fuel injector swap seemed like it would have helped but it didn't. The recent codes of P0151 and P0174 had me thinking that I need to address them since they would possibly still exist even if I changed the engine.
I was either lucky or good with that one. I was right!
The upstream O2 sensors looked pretty crappy. Here is the LEFT side next to a new one.

MIL 3.JPG


Closer.....

MIL 4.JPG


Note how the "barrel" at the end was blown apart and mushroomed. The white discoloration is strange too.
Now the right side:


MIL 7.JPG


Same condition of the "barrel" but the housing is sooty black, indicating a rich mixture going through.

Finally. original LEFT, RIGHT then a new one for comparison.

MIL 5.JPG


The truck idles like new. 500 rpms in drive with the A/C off, 600 with the A/C on.
NO codes. NO lights. Smooth acceleration.
I know the time is coming to replace the engine but I am glad that day is not today.
 
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I went on a 300+ mile drive today towing an empty trailer one way and with a 68 Plymouth Satellite coming back.
NO codes. It ran great!

DB 4.JPG


DB 7.JPG
 
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The car is a 1968 Sport Satellite. It belongs to a friend that needed my help with a few things on it.
Nice car, very clean and it performs nice.
 
I knew that at this high mile number that my troubles were still lurking.

The truck still runs great but sometimes puts up a "Cyl 6 misfire" code. I replaced all of the fuel injectors and the #6 coil pack.
It will run slightly rough sometimes on a cold start. It sometimes runs the same way on a hot restart.
I really think it is water in the chamber from a leaky head gasket. The water interferes with the spark plugs firing but after a short time, the engine runs great. I suspect the water leaves the cylinder and the spark plugs work normally afterwards.
 
I'm not an expert, but if the computer is throwing a lean code, then I think it would be trying to compensate by maxing out the LT trim and that could lead to the sooty 02 sensor. Not always, but in a LOT of cases, a lean code indicates a vacuum leak if it's affecting both sides, or sometimes an exhaust leak if it's affecting only one side. If you already suspect a head gasket is starting to fail due to other symptoms, I would take the lean code on one bank as supporting evidence for that diagnosis. It could well be that the head gasket is at the root of all your problems. You could also have broken exhaust manifold studs. I had broken studs on my passenger side manifold that caused a really hard to figure out lean code. I didn't hear the exhaust leak so it never dawned on me to check. Apparently it's sort of a thing with these engines to break their studs. The good news is that if you do have broken studs, you can probably replace them by just pulling the wheel and wheel well liner.

On the bright side, at least it's not on the side with the brake booster and steering gear! whether it's exhaust studs or a head gasket, passenger side will be WAY easier to handle. I hear you on the pain of that #7 cylinder. When I do spark plugs it takes me five minutes to do the first 14 plugs and an hour to do the last 2. I'm due to throw new injectors in soon and from what you're saying, it sounds like I'm in for more of the same.

Congrats on the longevity of your truck! I have an '05 SLT short bed hemi with 367K miles on all the original kit that I've owned since new. I think the most invasive surgery mine has ever needed was for a water pump and a power steering pump. I have a few more problems than you with mine, but then it started life in Indiana where salting the roads is the national pastime.

Hope you get it solved.
 
Thanks.
I just hit 398,000 two days ago. I did change the injectors and the 02 sensors. Since then, it rarely runs rough. It does sometimes still post a MIL code for a random misfire so I clear the code and it is fine again for awhile.
I'm so tied up with other things, I just haven't set aside the time to swap in the replacement engine I have here. On that 5.7, I need to bolt on the heads and change the oil pan gasket. I also want to paint the engine in GoManGo like this 440 I built for my Charger:

310 R.JPG
313 R.JPG
314 R.JPG


It is a real vibrant, tangy color.
 
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