My 2005 Dodge Ram, with 71,000 miles, was not a daily driver. It was very well maintained and had excessive sludge build up, which caused failure of engine. I had it inspected at the Bill Luke Dodge dealer and was told by service manager that they had never seen this problem in this motor. I guess they don't look on the internet, because I have found thousands of people with the exact same problem as me. The 4.7 was built with an undersized oil pump and oil journals, which leads to a sludge build up due to the uneven cooling of the oil. It's about time Dodge does something about this. This is my 5th and last Dodge that I will ever buy.

To add insult to injury, the service manage talks to you like you're an idiot and says, "If you had just changed your oil, this never would have happened."

my truck is only a 2005 my mechanic said it probably started with a oil sludge that was p/uped into the valves i just had a oil change a month earlier and this almost killed me going up the baton rouge bridge where their is alot of accidents from not bining seen from faster trucks.its a dodge1500ram truck 8 cly i made it down the bridge on only 4 clys thank god and i feel as though dodge is responsible for poorly made camshaft crank.is there a recall?somebody should be liable for this dont you think?a camshaft shouldn't just break in half.

Chrysler/Dodge needs to understand that there is absolutely, without a doubt, a design flaw with this engine. The Dodge Semi Hemi, 4.7L EFI V8 Single Over Head Cam with its Aluminum Heads - (14 Bolt, 10 M11’s and 4 M8’s) MUST have a design flaw, there is no other explanation.

Although I agree, engine oil must be replaced every 3,000 miles, unless synthetic, then every 5,000 miles and engine coolant should be replaced annually. Many engines have the same general design (Single Overhead Cam). However, the equivalent engines, produced by other manufactures have not seen the issue described below.

As an ASE / D.O.T Certified GM engine mechanic, I’ve seen a reoccurring problem with these engines. This problem involves Rocker Arms that fall away from their Lash Adjuster (or Lifter) and the valve and end up at the bottom of the valve train (i.e. under the Valve Cover/Top of Head). This problem can only be caused by five things (Faulty Lash Adjusters, Severe Heat, Severe Carbon Buildup within the Valve Guides, Loss of oil pressure, or aerated oil).

1) Faulty Lash Adjusters – A collapsed Lash Adjuster, or seized Lash Adjuster – This is what pumps oil into the upper head. 2) Severe Heat – Low coolant, engine cooling problem, water pump failure, Thermostat Failure. 3) Severe Carbon Buildup within the Valve Guides – Engine not evacuating exhaust correctly. 4) Loss of Oil pressure - Spun bearing, oil pump failure or gauge/sensor malfunction. 5) Aerated Oil – Caused by Heat / Severe thinning of the oil, Sludge.

All of the above issues can be produced by one or the other. However, I’ve seen the same signs with each 4.7L I’ve touched… Faulty Lash Adjusters (which were seized).

Faulty or seized Lash Adjusters will produce: Severe Carbon Buildup (i.e. the impacted valve, whether it’s an Intake or Exhaust valve will not open when the rocker arm is not pressing down on it – because its laying at the bottom of the valve train). When the Exhaust Valve is impacted in this way, the hot exhaust gases will be evacuated into the engine, not out the tail pipe. Please note, severe heat will also consume the engine coolant, which can ultimately force your engine oil to do more cooling than lubricating, which in turn will lead to aerated oil and sludge creation and buildup.

Solution: Have a trained engine mechanic properly replace the 16 Stock Lash Adjusters (Two per cylinder – one intake and one exhaust) with High Quality, aftermarket Lash Adjusters. This can be done with the heads attached to the engine. This job requires a special valve spring compression tool. The lash adjusters are located on top of each head and ARE SUPPOSED TO BE under the rocker arms, which are in between the lash adjuster and the valve and valve spring, directly under each overhead cam. You can request to see all of the described once your mechanic pulls the valve train covers.

Overall, I am not impressed with this engine. The entire valve train system has been over complicated within this engine. It makes use of three timing chains, 4 timing gears, and a Cam positioning sensor. A 4.7L EFI V8 with a Single Cam located in the Engine Block, controlled with durable TRIED & TESTED roller and/or Hydraulic Lifters and Push Rods would have made more since. This would have reduced the valve train to one chain, and two timing gears. Basically, More parts = More potential points of failure.

Had the throttle body cleaned and flushed at a small mechanic. Next, went to the stealership because the problem was not resolved. The truck started to surge traveling 30-35 mph then die. They replaced the TB, TBI gasket and ETC. It was good until I pulled out of the dealer and went two miles down the road. I called them and sayed that I would have to wait to bring it back. Took it back Aug. 3 09 they replaced the EGR valve, gasket and tube flang and checked the tranny??? They don't have a clue either. It ran fine for a while with the new TB. Occasionally I would have a surging problem now a year later I have more problems in idol position. It will die especially when I run the ac when its really hot. I don't know if that has anything to do worth it or not but thats when I start having most of these problems.

On many occasions since June 11, 2010 the engine in the 2005 Dodge Ram truck just cuts off and will not crank back up. It has been in the shop for 4 - 5 weeks. Main fuse panel under hood was replaced. Got it out of the shop and on the way home it cut off again going apx 55 mph. Back in shop again, mechanic states no problems indicated on the computer. Mechanic having major difficulty trying to trace problem down. Has checked all electrical wiring and sensors. So far we have spent $1500 on this problem which includes all the towing required to get vehicle to shop. Anyone with information please let me know. There certainly needs to be a recall from Dodge on this problem as I see many other Dodge owners have this complaint.

This problem started sometime in 2007. The same problems as everyone else with the engine stalling out while in drive and the transmission shifting hard into gear but I think I have a bigger problem. Once every 1-2 months starting in the beginning of 2008, I be driving and all of a sudden the engine light will start flashing and the truck has no power whatsoever. The gas pedal will be on the floor and the car will not move. I have to pull over and wait for the problem to go away (usually lasts for 10 seconds) and then start driving normally. The thing I'm worried about is if I am driving on the freeway and this problem will start to happen and then I will get in a crash. I brought it into 2 different Dodge dealerships and they both said the same thing, "The problem didn't happen while we drove it and the problem wasn't copied to the computer so we can't do anything for you. So that will be $165." If anyone has experienced this before let me know.

My check engine light came on at 49000 miles. At first it just ran rough when it first started. The truck drove okay until the second day. It didn't want to move out of the drive way. I finally got it to a mechanic who checked the codes which were 300 and 303. He replaced the spark plugs and the ignition coil and also the fuel injector. The problem still persisted. Checked the compression in one of the cylinders and it was less than half of what it was suppose to be. He said that my engine would most likely need to be rebuilt. So I took it to the dealer and upon leaving the dealership, after agreeing to bring it in on the next business day, it really didn't want to move and thats where it remains. I haven't heard from the dealer as of yet but the serviceman said that it should be covered under the powertrain warranty. I haven't had much dealings with a dealership as far as repairing a vehicle goes so I hope this wont be a miserable experience and am hoping that the dealership covers all of the cost of the repairs.