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2006 Hemi motor sucks a valve

9K views 5 replies 5 participants last post by  daveovington 
#1 ·
Im a guy in his 60's, a family man and a car guy. So when i say I take good care of my cars I am hoping you all believe me. I was taught by my own Father ( long gone now) to do just that. he would say "be proud and take care of your car." He would go one to say that doing that meant you could have a car a very long time, if you take care of it.

I'm the 2nd owner of a 2006 Dodge Magnum. I bought it with just 49,000 miles on the 5.7 Hemi and have enjoyed driving it, the roominess and the nice V8 motor. It has had a few suspension problems, that I think we are all aware of from this LX platform. I upgraded at some expense the front end and have continued enjoying this car, maintaining it with care (now with 95,000 miles on it) that is until this week.

As I was leaving work I turned the key in my Magnum and it at first hesitated then started but ran rough. I thought it might be a clogged fuel injector so I put it in drive and tried to drive out of the driveway, but it coughed, sputtered and finally smoked black. I stopped, then tried to start it again, but it wouldn't go.

Long story short, I had it towed to a good mechanic and after a complete inspection, including a camera down the spark plug hole, it has sucked a valve and in that process destroyed that piston and consequently the whole engine along with it.

I'm out of luck with no warranty being the 2nd owner.

I'm seriously disappointed in Chrysler and wouldn't even know where to turn to try to get the factory involved. I have read online now, about how this has happened on so many 2006-2008 Hemi motors.

Im talking to that garage and have talked to others about a replacement engine and it seems it will come to close to $8500-9000 to install one after all is said and done. Thats more than the car is currently worth. ouch Chrysler, Ouch.

The car is sitting in my driveway right now. It is still a pretty car, good paint, has never ever been in an accident, nice interior and sadly now a blown motor. Sadder still I have to look at it and find a way to fix it. This has soured me on current Chrysler products and short of a miracle I don't know how I could ever own one again.

Just venting, sorry guys and gals, sorry.

James K.
bigevents@me.com
 
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#2 ·
It isn't that common, I have an 03 Ram with 150,000+ miles and an 06 Charger R/T with 160,000+ miles on them. If the previous owner overheated it at all (or if it was simply a Monday or Friday car) it happens. Online you tend to hear more about the bad than the good. As old as your car is, you won't get the factory involved. You're on your own for this. Options are rebuild, replace with used or replace with reman. First and last options are the most expensive, the middle being the cheapest. If you don't have the ability to do this yourself or have friends/family who can (even with just an engine swap) that's what will really drive the price up (labor). You can generally find a decent used one for around $1500-2000, reman's usually in the $2000-$3000 ballpark. Sucks your first post is a frustrated one. Welcome to what's left of this forum lol. Where are you located?
 
#3 ·
Ditto

:5191beatdeadhorse:Boy, sounds almost exactly like my problem. Also a second owner R/T. 54,00 miles when I bought her in 2013. Transmission failed on the way home from the dealer that I purchased it from. Very lucky that this dealer actually values their customers. I live over 200 miles from the dealer. They told me to take it to a Dodge dealer and call them. (they are a Chevrolet dealer. 27 days and over $3,000. later ( at no cost to me ) I got her back. Mobil 1 5w/20 oil changes @5k intervals. At 81,000 I started her up and quickly shut her off. Sounded like a bucket of bolts.Started it again and the noise was gone but had a noticeable miss. Towed it home. Pulled the first 2 plugs, #1 cylinder 5.7 . electrodes mashed closed. Camera down the plug hole. Dropped intake valve seat. Searching through the various Mopar forums and found this to be an all too common of a problem. Wondering if the later 5.7 with the VVT will be compatible with the MDS computer and harness ? Any one out there know ?
 
#4 ·
:5191beatdeadhorse:Boy, sounds almost exactly like my problem. Also a second owner R/T. 54,00 miles when I bought her in 2013. Transmission failed on the way home from the dealer that I purchased it from. Very lucky that this dealer actually values their customers. I live over 200 miles from the dealer. They told me to take it to a Dodge dealer and call them. (they are a Chevrolet dealer. 27 days and over $3,000. later ( at no cost to me ) I got her back. Mobil 1 5w/20 oil changes @5k intervals. At 81,000 I started her up and quickly shut her off. Sounded like a bucket of bolts.Started it again and the noise was gone but had a noticeable miss. Towed it home. Pulled the first 2 plugs, #1 cylinder 5.7 . electrodes mashed closed. Camera down the plug hole. Dropped intake valve seat. Searching through the various Mopar forums and found this to be an all too common of a problem. Wondering if the later 5.7 with the VVT will be compatible with the MDS computer and harness ? Any one out there know ?
I just saw this, no the eagle hemi isn't drop in compatible, it takes some harness and PCM changes as well as flash programming to make it all work. At that point you may as well get a factory 392 and drop that in lol. I think this seemed to be a common problem with the earlier heads, though I have an 03 Ram and haven't had issues with it, though the 05 Magnum I just picked up I think is.
 
#5 ·
James:
Sorry to hear of your Hemi's demise. As you have read, Dodge had bigtime issues with the 06 Hemi's heads/valve seats. They also had issues with the 04 Hemi's in the Durango platform. Both valve seat and valve spring issues.

Had you been aware of it, like some you might have done a pre-emptive repair to replace the heads.
The Hemi in my 04 Durango dropped a valve (or maybe a valve seat) on cyl 3 at 39K. The original owner got a new engine at the dealer for $100 under the then 7/70 powertrain warranty.

This type of issue is why I bought the Lifetime Maximum Care warranty on my '14 Charger. It is my opinion that for what vehicles cost these days, they ought to go 10 years or 150K without a major repair (as in powertrain) as long as it can be proven that the car was not abused or not properly serviced.

We all know what they say about opinions though............ :0)

Don
 
#6 ·
My 04 had a busted spring and by the time I found the problem and took the head off to replace it , it had been flipped side ways into the opening ( was a bitch to get out ) and the top of the piston was marked up pretty good both plugs were wrecked but I pit in the new valve replaced the plugs and away I went again. Now have the number 4 valve to do but this one the locks for the valve stem let go , however that's possible , but I need my truck so I pulled back the slightly bent valve stole a lock from another and went to work today lol babying it of course . Tomorrow parts come in and God willing she'll be good to go after that again. She's still showing a lot of her age now though almost time to retire I think ? Too fun to just give up on these hemi though ? Can't u just replace the piston that's busted ? That would be cheaper I would think but I'm just a backyard guy , not a mechanic
 
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