My Dad recently offered me his 2015 Dodge Ram 1500 (5.7L with 6spd) for free. How could I turn down a free vehicle? However, it has 323,000 kilometer on it (200K miles). I estimate that the mileage is 80-90% highway since he has traveled across Canada (in the prairies) often for work and family visits. Maybe for 10-15K Kilometers he towed something light with it. The engine and transmission still run reasonably well...but the catch is that my Dad NEVER did any preventative maintenance on it outside of regular oil changes. Original belts, no transmission services, original sparkplugs battery/alternator and waterpump etc. etc.
I am handy with vehicles, but I don't know these trucks overly well. I would like to keep it on the road for as long as possible until a major issue happens with the drivetrain. I intend to use it to help with some home renos and backyard work. My question is what is worth replacing and what isn't? I fully understand that this vehicle could be a ticking time bomb ha! Below is a bit more info:
The Good:
- It has all weather tires with ~75% tread
- New brake pads and rotors all around
- No check engine light
- No exhaust leaks
- 4x4 WD seems to be working great
The Bad:
- Transmission has an occasional harder downshift into either 2nd/3rd occasionally...it's a small occasional clunk, but noticeable. Fluid has never been serviced. Worth doing a drain and fill and keep the old oil handy in case it starts to slip?
- The engine has an intermittent faint whirl/tick that is present ~30-40% of the time. Not too sure what it is, but I heard it's common on the 5.7L Hemi's
- I thought I smelled something sweet through the air vents. It could be burning a touch of coolant. I asked my Dad and he didn't seem to notice the smell but did say he had to add a bit of coolant occasionally.
- As far as I understand (as mentioned above), the differential fluids also haven't been changed.
Looking for any suggestions! I was thinking belts, battery, spark plugs, diff fluid and maybe water pump?
Well realize those things generally fall apart at that mileage, but since it was all highway driving realize I would drive him as equivalent to only about 10% of stop and go city driving. But that said, I would not chance changing the transmission fluid and filter cuz if you do it might start slipping. The rest of the stuff I would maintain that I would leave the transmission alone
Thanks for the advice. I thought I would update. I chatted to a couple of mechanics that have experience working on this vehicle that are friends to the family.
They suggested to check the cooling system pressure and find out if a leak is present, service the transmission (torque convertor and adjusting the bands and checking U joints) check fluid level and top up if necessary. They think that the whirling/ticking noise that sounds like weak lifters could be loose exhaust manifold bolts. At first glance they tend to agree that after some "catch up" maintenance it should have some life let in it.
I think I'll do the plugs, belts, battery (it's 8 years old), front end ball joints, and potentially the water pump on my own. Cross my fingers it's good for at least another year on the road, and then every month it stays alive after that is money in my pocket!
If anyone has any other suggestions please let me know!
If the plugs haven’t been changed, it’s probably about time (16 of them!). Looking at each one can give you clues to the health of the engine.
And yes, the dreaded “hemi tick” is very common. But it has multiple potential causes, some $, some $$$. I would start by changing the PCV valve (super easy) now and the oil and filter every 5-7000 km. If the tick gets worse you’ll need a pro, but it might not.
Id also probably clean the throttle body. It’s an easy job, although you will want to have a decent scan tool nearby to reset any trouble codes you trip from connecting and disconnecting everything. And replace the gasket with OEM.
The one thing that worries me is the coolant. May just need drain and flush, which is easy. May need new hoses or even a new radiator, but that’s not too bad a job (even DIY-able if you are handy). But it could also be an early sign of a head gasket failure. That’s maybe the one thing I would pay for a pro to check out now.
