Problems with Gladiator V8's (5.7 or 6.8)

[NC_Overland]

The 5.7l hemis are fine if you eliminate the cylinder deactivation and change the oil regularly. Most of the 6.4l issues are because of lack of oil changes and lots of abuse. Abuse doesn’t even begin to describe the hat. A lot of those poor cars go through.

My dad put 224k miles on his 5.7l Ram 1500 and never had the exhaust manifold issue. I guess he got lucky. That truck ran and drove great when he sold it. It was starting to get a slight knock at cold start up that went away pretty quickly and it burned close to 1 qt of oil per 5k mile oil changes. He ran nothing but mobile one in it. He tuned it to eliminate the cylinder deactivation and had an intake and exhaust. It sounded good and it was pretty quick. 2wd though. He loved his 2wd trucks. They never had 4wd when he was growing up in MI and he thought it was completely unnecessary.

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[ChrisNLA]

The 5.7l hemis are fine if you eliminate the cylinder deactivation and change the oil regularly. Most of the 6.4l issues are because of lack of oil changes and lots of abuse. Abuse doesn’t even begin to describe the hat. A lot of those poor cars go through.

My dad put 224k miles on his 5.7l Ram 1500 and never had the exhaust manifold issue. I guess he got lucky. That truck ran and drove great when he sold it. It was starting to get a slight knock at cold start up that went away pretty quickly and it burned close to 1 qt of oil per 5k mile oil changes. He ran nothing but mobile one in it. He tuned it to eliminate the cylinder deactivation and had an intake and exhaust. It sounded good and it was pretty quick. 2wd though. He loved his 2wd trucks. They never had 4wd when he was growing up in MI and he thought it was completely unnecessary.

I hear a lot of similar claims on LS motors with AFM. It's not the sole cause, but people really wearing out oil on a system that relies on it so heavily not just for lube, but for operating valves and lifters and stuff - just doesn't go well.

The regular / excessive maintenance goes a long way

 

[NC_Overland]

Those LS based GMT-800s last forever. The 4.8ls in the 900s. The common denominator is no cylinder deactivation. That and no 0w-20 oil. lol. That’s not completely fair though because a lot of people think the LS engines were better designed for longevity than the LT engines.

 

[ChrisNLA]

Those LS based GMT-800s last forever. The 4.8ls in the 900s. The common denominator is no cylinder deactivation. That and no 0w-20 oil. lol. That’s not completely fair though because a lot of people think the LS engines were better designed for longevity than the LT engines.

Exactly!

A fella I know, his dad passed away and left him a GMT-900 Silverado (I don't remember exact year, but it was a year that the 5.3L/6 speed was available). Pretty clean truck overall.

Anyway, he's not a gear head at all, but a couple of us were like hey man, if that's a 5.3L/6L80E truck we want to do a few things for you to help it last longer - like at minimum tune out the AFM and the torque converter slip in the transmission.

So I go to look at it closer - it was a 4.8L/4L60E truck

I said I got good news and bad news. The bad news is, this truck can't get out of it's own way.

The good news is, the engine is literally never going to die, and if the transmission does go - it's gonna cost 'pennies' to get another good one.

I drove a truck identical to it in New Jersey for a couple weeks. A GMT900, 4.8/4L60 2WD. Had like 230K miles on it (was our shop truck). It wasn't gonna win any races but man, it ran and drove so nice.

 

[ChrisNLA]

Those LS based GMT-800s last forever. The 4.8ls in the 900s. The common denominator is no cylinder deactivation. That and no 0w-20 oil. lol. That’s not completely fair though because a lot of people think the LS engines were better designed for longevity than the LT engines.

Side note, reminds me of an article (maybe Hot Rod Magazine?) several years ago. They were doing a cheap turbo build on a junkyard LS engine.

So - they picked up an LS literally from the wrecking yard, put together a turbo kit and stuck it on the dyno. Well, they were making 1,000HP pulls over and over before the dyno started having problems and they had to take a break.

While looking at the data closer, they were like man these curves look a little weird for a 5.3L (what they were told they had bought).

They pulled the motor down while the dyno was broken.

It was a 4.8L they were pounding four digits out of

 

[Capt.]

Those LS based GMT-800s last forever. The 4.8ls in the 900s. The common denominator is no cylinder deactivation. That and no 0w-20 oil. lol. That’s not completely fair though because a lot of people think the LS engines were better designed for longevity than the LT engines.

For the 2022 3.7L Pentastar.....if not OW-20, what then? On my other vehicles, in hot climate with high miles I ran 10W-40. But the manual and other reading seems to be adamant about the 0W-20 for the Pentastar. Reading also shows that sludge build up is a common denominator even when keeping to scheduled oil changes. Appreciate your comments.

 

[NC_Overland]

For the 2022 3.7L Pentastar.....if not OW-20, what then? On my other vehicles, in hot climate with high miles I ran 10W-40. But the manual and other reading seems to be adamant about the 0W-20 for the Pentastar. Reading also shows that sludge build up is a common denominator even when keeping to scheduled oil changes. Appreciate your comments.

I was talking about GM switching from 0W-20 to 0W-40 oil last year.

 

[NC_Overland]

I hear a lot of similar claims on LS motors with AFM.

If you don’t eliminate it, they almost all need lifters around 120k. At that point, you might as well eliminate it and put a cam and tune in it. The engine is usually totally fine after.

 

[Thunderspud]

For the 2022 3.7L Pentastar....

Similar to the OEM V8 Gladiator.......There is also no 3.7l Pentastar.

Regarding your oil question, you will not receive a consensus here or anywhere else. Everyone will have an opinion. Mine is use what the manual says to use, when it says to use it, and enjoy your truck.

 

[Mojave2021]

It may be obvious but those that are swapping in new crate LS3s aren’t going to have AFM enabled. That’s 1 reason I felt comfortable with it in my 77 Trans Am. Not a huge amount of miles on it but it’s been great for the past 7 years.

 

[NC_Overland]

It may be obvious but those that are swapping in new crate LS3s aren’t going to have AFM enabled. That’s 1 reason I felt comfortable with it in my 77 Trans Am. Not a huge amount of miles on it but it’s been great for the past 7 years.

You’re right. I was just pointing out that they’re great engines. Just hobbled by a stupid crutch for EPA BS.

 

[4-Low]

The manual is not "adamant" about 0W20. It clearly says "recommended". Both the 3.6 and 5.7 were built many many years ago when 0W20 wasn't even on the shelf.

I have never seen cam/lifter issues on a 3.6 or 5.7 engine that has run 5W30 from new. And in my personal experience with 6-digit mileage on both engines, I've never had a single issue with either.

I have heard the exhaust manifold leaks on 5.7s around town, but that's easily cured with aftermarket stainless options so I don't consider it a big deal.

Unfortunately, I don't think a FACTORY installed V8 will ever happen in the Gladiator for reasons we've discussed many times before, largely SAE J2807 targets, and so I'm not sure why this section of the forum exists. But, if pigs start flying and the Detroit Lions win a Super Bowl and Jeep decides to drop a V8 in the Gladiator I will be in line ahead of everybody else, so bring a tent.

 

[ChrisNLA]

It may be obvious but those that are swapping in new crate LS3s aren’t going to have AFM enabled. That’s 1 reason I felt comfortable with it in my 77 Trans Am. Not a huge amount of miles on it but it’s been great for the past 7 years.

The LS3 didn't even have the parts for AFM to be enabled. The equivalent with the AFM junk would have been the L99 in cars or I believe the L92 in trucks.

I trust the L99 in my Camaro SS fully, though. AFM is turned off in the tune. Good enough for now.

Just getting into useless details - don't mind me

 

[ChrisNLA]

If you don’t eliminate it, they almost all need lifters around 120k. At that point, you might as well eliminate it and put a cam and tune in it. The engine is usually totally fine after.

If it ever becomes an issue in my car I might send it to Arkansas to get Gwaltney to put their SS1 VVT cam in it. Small enough to run a stock converter, but has a little chop.

And no AFM I want to keep the VVT though. So many folks junk that part, but it's great for low end performance / drivability.

 

[NC_Overland]

They’re great cars. I don’t care for the autos, they drive completely different from the manuals, but I love that 2016 body style. Especially, in black. Same with C5-C7 corvettes. They drive completely different in manual vs auto.

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