Uncle Tony says Gen III hemi has inherent lifter lubrication problems. Agree?

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Bill Crowell

Bill Crowell

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I would like to know if you guys agree or disagree with "WhitePunkOnNitro" Tony's opinion that the block design of the new hemi has deficient lifter lubrication, and why. Here's the video:



Thanks for your opinions.
 
My opinion of this guy is Zilch. His talent tank is relying on YT to make a couple of bucks. That's it. As for a potential oiling problem, you want to go to the end users and research if there is a problem and how they are getting around it. Most things Manufactured have flaws. That's what I have learned in life anways.....

JW
 
Slopar72, I also find Tony to be irritating sometimes. For example, he seems to feel that he needs to post a new youtube video every day. I guess that's how he makes a substantial part of his income. Unfortunately when you feel you've got to upload a video every day, the quality inevitably suffers.

Also, I wonder why the guy doesn't realize he is killing himself with his chain smoking. Once he said he was going to quit, and that it was going to be easy. Apparently he had never tried quitting smoking before*. He quit for about a day, at the most, before he was back to puffing the cancer sticks.

However, Tony does have a lot of experience with Mopars, and he is definitely smarter than I am about them, so I'd better not badmouth him too much. I do learn things from his videos.

*As noted youtube car guy Jonathan Winans (Jonathan W) has remarked, even though he did successfully quit smoking a couple of years ago, he still craves cigarettes every day. Nicotine is incredibly addictive.
 
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Since this has been hijacked already I disagree with opinions on UTG. I have learned plenty. He doesnt push products, takes an old school low buck approach and has tons of pro race, street and build experience. I find him entertaining and very knowledgeable in Mopars. So what if he makes money from yoo toob. My opinion.
 
It's a problem with extended idle cars, maybe use oil with a higher zddp package? I would guess there are more engines that have lived than died with this issue.
 
I have not watched that video but i do enjoy his stuff.

Just so you know he is a active member here.

He is a very nice guy, knows what he is talking about and is a great provider of hard to find parts. (I got my front end parts from him.)
 
I watched the video when he posted it. I'll say what we know, and that is the 5.7 hemi has had substantial cam/lifter failure. Did UTG nail the issue?? Not sure, but it's the best explanation I've heard yet....
 
I would think the Police Depts. with their hemi chargers would have the biggest problem because they idle them the most. I know the P.D. vehicles have a longer warranty so if it was a major problem, I would think they might try a fix like they did with the timing chain problem.
 
I just don't know. Let's remember that many? most? modern engines live an average of at least TWICE as many miles as "the old days." And they do that---with 200+K on the clock---without too much noise, often, and without a trail of oil smoke behind. I'm old enough to remember, that in the 50's and 60's growing up, in our small town, about 3500 then, you COULD NOT go through town on an errand, without seeing a "smoker."
 
My 03 Ram has had a tick since new .
When I asked about it early on the service dept said they all do that . I said that is all fine and dandy but I want to know if its a lifter / rocker or exhaust leak noise ! No response...
 
67Dart273 said:
I just don't know. Let's remember that many? most? modern engines live an average of at least TWICE as many miles as "the old days." And they do that---with 200+K on the clock---without too much noise, often, and without a trail of oil smoke behind. I'm old enough to remember, that in the 50's and 60's growing up, in our small town, about 3500 then, you COULD NOT go through town on an errand, without seeing a "smoker."
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You may be partially right, but the smokers that I remember were usually not very well cared for and owners probably dumped whatever oil they could get cheap enough in their cars. (I pumped gas as a kid and remember the cheap oil on the outdoor racks lol) That, mixed with the technology = smoker
 
My 70 Chargers 383 magnum ran flawlessly up thru 185k . I rebuilt it then just for the hell of it .
 
mbaird said:
My 03 Ram has had a tick since new .
When I asked about it early on the service dept said they all do that . I said that is all fine and dandy but I want to know if its a lifter / rocker or exhaust leak noise ! No response...
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My 02 Ram which isn't a hemi (it's a 360 or 5.9 as they like to refer to them as) did that since new. Now has 182,*** miles on it. I asked the same question and was told it was a check valve in the emissions system. ?? Still does it.
 
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Mine is a hemi with 165k now but this tick is definitely in the engine .
 
He has some valid points, but he is incorrect about the cause of the cam failure. The cams fail because of a metallurgy problem, research camshaft "delamination"... The lifters fail AFTER the lobes start to flake. THATS the real answer. A brand new camshaft from CHRYSLER cost roughly 80.00 bucks brand new...they are cheap for a reason. He totally got that part wrong.
 
I said make that suspect 'oil blocking galley' an inverted spray bar to squirt oil the cams underside and the rollers to boot. Problem solved? Wouldn't stop the 'galling' of the dry lifter bores but it couldnt hurt.

New roller cam cost $80 from MP? Why are LA rollers still >$280?
 
pishta said:
I said make that suspect 'oil blocking galley' an inverted spray bar to squirt oil the cams underside and the rollers to boot. Problem solved? Wouldn't stop the 'galling' of the dry lifter bores but it couldnt hurt.

New roller cam cost $80 from MP? Why are LA rollers still >$280?
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Because they are made from a poor grade of metal, hence the failure. It wouldn't matter if you had all the oil in the world, the FACTORY cam will fail. Its NOT a oiling issue
 
I remember ..........back in the day.........quite a few flat cams in Chivvies.
 
so pop in an aftermarket cam (probably do that anyways on a performance build) and your poor metallurgy troubles will be gone? Sounds like a 'simple' (relative) fix, not a design redesign.
 
replicaracer43 said:
Because they are made from a poor grade of metal, hence the failure. It wouldn't matter if you had all the oil in the world, the FACTORY cam will fail. Its NOT a oiling issue
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370 Hemi on ChargerForums.com has had the hardness of the camshaft and lifters assayed by Stephen Walsh, who appears to be an engine lubrication expert, and who informed 370 Hemi that the metallurgy of the cam and lifters was just fine:

Answers: 5.7L Hemi Camshaft Professional Failure Assay
 
pishta said:
so pop in an aftermarket cam (probably do that anyways on a performance build) and your poor metallurgy troubles will be gone? Sounds like a 'simple' (relative) fix, not a design redesign.
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That is correct. If it were some fatal "design flaw" places like comp cams wouldn't even sell you a cam, because it would be a warranty nightmare. Sorry, but Tony missed his diagnosis by a mile on this one.
 
pishta said:
I said make that suspect 'oil blocking galley' an inverted spray bar to squirt oil the cams underside and the rollers to boot. Problem solved? Wouldn't stop the 'galling' of the dry lifter bores but it couldnt hurt.

New roller cam cost $80 from MP? Why are LA rollers still >$280?
Click to expand...

Pishta, the "old" Chrysler corporation would have voluntarily incorporated some additional form of camshaft oiling into the engine and made it available as a retrofit or new engine for a really reasonable price. They did that to me a couple of times over the years, the last time being the upgraded Ultramatic electronic transmission they installed in my '92 Dodge Dynasty.
 
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