Broken valve spring! 2012 5.7

[T_Unit114]

220k on my half ton and she shat a valve spring conveniently enough while I was having a poo in the house.

The victims: valve spring, intake valve and guide, a push rod and valve cover. I consider myself extremely lucky, the piston got a couple pecks on the face but is not deformed and can be saved from the multiple "experts" I have consulted with.

I'm hunting for a set of valve springs, a new valve, cover and guide as well as a set of push rods, head, intake,exhaust and valve cover gaskets. I was able to retrieve the two spring halves, retainer and both locks and there was no shrapnel to circulate through the oil system.

I need some help sourcing these parts and info. Done a little googling and I'm finding springs for "modified" cams, and all the related valve bits have specs that I don't have the instrumentation to get accurate measurements of the valve stems and guides at home. The engine is bone stock, original, and I intend to keep it that way. I am mechanically inclined so I will be doing as much of the work myself as possible.

If anyone has the technical information I'm looking for, please reply here or send me a DM. I did notice that all the new stock valve spring sets I have found utilize a 1mm seat vs the current 2mm, but I don't really trust the websites selling the parts. The sites I do trust don't have the parts listed which further concerns me and I would like to avoid the stealership markup if possible.

Thanks in advance!

Mild carnage pics below.

 

[Burla]

That will buff right out, lol. Happened under idle while you were dropping a deuce?

 

[Bigskyroadglide]

Op, I just put valve cover gaskets on my 14. The mopar valve cover with gasket is available from rockauto for approx $201 dollars, a Dorman part with out the valve cover gasket is available for $103 dollars & valve cover gaskets will add another $25 dollars

Rock auto has most of your list at reasonable prices.

Being that far apart given your mileage I consider other wear parts like lifters and even a cam replacement.

 

[Wild one]

220k on my half ton and she shat a valve spring conveniently enough while I was having a poo in the house.

The victims: valve spring, intake valve and guide, a push rod and valve cover. I consider myself extremely lucky, the piston got a couple pecks on the face but is not deformed and can be saved from the multiple "experts" I have consulted with.

I'm hunting for a set of valve springs, a new valve, cover and guide as well as a set of push rods, head, intake,exhaust and valve cover gaskets. I was able to retrieve the two spring halves, retainer and both locks and there was no shrapnel to circulate through the oil system.

I need some help sourcing these parts and info. Done a little googling and I'm finding springs for "modified" cams, and all the related valve bits have specs that I don't have the instrumentation to get accurate measurements of the valve stems and guides at home. The engine is bone stock, original, and I intend to keep it that way. I am mechanically inclined so I will be doing as much of the work myself as possible.

If anyone has the technical information I'm looking for, please reply here or send me a DM. I did notice that all the new stock valve spring sets I have found utilize a 1mm seat vs the current 2mm, but I don't really trust the websites selling the parts. The sites I do trust don't have the parts listed which further concerns me and I would like to avoid the stealership markup if possible.

Thanks in advance!

Mild carnage pics below. View attachment 544079View attachment 544080View attachment 544081

Why not try sourcing a complete lower milege head.

 

[T_Unit114]

That will buff right out, lol. Happened under idle while you were dropping a deuce?

Yep. Went inside to poop, engine decided to take one as well. Came back out to a not running truck. Shxt.

Op, I just put valve cover gaskets on my 14. The mopar valve cover with gasket is available from rockauto for approx $201 dollars, a Dorman part with out the valve cover gasket is available for $103 dollars & valve cover gaskets will add another $25 dollars

Rock auto has most of your list at reasonable prices.

Being that far apart given your mileage I consider other wear parts like lifters and even a cam replacement.

Jesus. The valve cover might just end up being a junkyard excursion tbh.

Why not try sourcing a complete lower milege head.

Considering a valve, and guide combined are less than $50 and the head isn't damaged, I don't see any reason to replace a head to the tune of a few hundred. The seat is still firmly in place, the truck has never gotten hot, and the hits to the piston are very light. A lower mileage head still has miles and unknown condition. I know my head is still good, and all the new stuff I'm getting will basically be a full head refresh as it is. I don't see any benefit in spending hundreds more on a "good" used head when I already have a used head that's still good.

 

[T_Unit114]

I should also note I'm going to pull the other head as well to replace the springs and inspect the head as well as clean the piston tops and combustion chambers of the heads. A head gasket set comes with both anyways and I want to get all my exhaust bolts out and replaced as those are an extremely common failure on hemis. That'll also get me new exhaust manifold gaskets. All the driver side bolts were perfect and popped loose with a 1/4" drive ratchet. I was surprised.

I only intend to keep the truck for another 5ish years and 50-70k miles so I'm trying not to spend a ton of money on it, but at the same time I also don't want to cut corners and just replace the one broken spring and associated parts as the fatigue on all the springs is roughly the same and if one popped, I imagine the rest are probably not long for this world and the law of averages is not in my favor anymore

I do have a build thread posted for the truck as well.

 

[jws123]

Yep. Went inside to poop, engine decided to take one as well. Came back out to a not running truck. Shxt.

Jesus. The valve cover might just end up being a junkyard excursion tbh.

Considering a valve, and guide combined are less than $50 and the head isn't damaged, I don't see any reason to replace a head to the time of a few hundred. The seat is still firmly in place, the truck has never gotten hot, and the hits to the piston are very light.

just remember when you install the new valve re lap it plenty of vids on it. Also take a look at the lifters while your in there make sure none of the rollers are falling apart.

 

[T_Unit114]

just remember when you install the new valve re lap it plenty of vids on it. Also take a look at the lifters while your in there make sure none of the rollers are falling apart.

Ooooh good catch! That completely slipped my mind. Adding that to the check list now!

 

[Atcer2018]

I’m no expert but I think your approach to the issue is solid especially doing both banks and replacing the head gaskets. On your first pic, right side, some crusties around the water passage looks like that head gasket may have been on its way out. Since you’re already in there doing what needs to be done so you don’t have to do it again is a smart approach without breaking the bank.

 

[T_Unit114]

All the left bank lifters checked out. Cleaned the block gasket surface and the dinked piston. Will be cleaning the others as well before doing the head work and sticking it back on. The other side will be tackled after.

 

[Wild one]

All the left bank lifters checked out. Cleaned the block gasket surface and the dinked piston. Will be cleaning the others as well before doing the head work and sticking it back on. The other side will be tackled after. View attachment 545268

I would pull the head and lifters before bolting anything back together.If you end up with a bad lifter/cam on the other bank,it just means you're tearing it all apart again. How are you checking the cam lobes for wear? At least run a borescope in each lifter hole and look the lobe over close for scuffing,while somebody is on the end of the crank turning the engine over.

 

[T_Unit114]

I would pull the head and lifters before bolting anything back together.If you end up with a bad lifter/cam on the other bank,it just means you're tearing it all apart again. How are you checking the cam lobes for wear? At least run a borescope in each lifter hole and look the lobe over close for scuffing,while somebody is on the end of the crank turning the engine over.

You make an excellent point. I currently have limited bench space. I don't have a borescope. The lifters are an excellent indicator for how the cam is holding up. I don't see anything concerning on the left side. I might just set one head off to the side and then pull the other one just so I don't have to repeat the work if the right bank has an issue.

 

[Black1500Ram]

ah that piston would scare me to keep in. Any sharp edges like on that gouge are excellent areas for detonation to occur.

 

[Wild one]

You make an excellent point. I currently have limited bench space. I don't have a borescope. The lifters are an excellent indicator for how the cam is holding up. I don't see anything concerning on the left side. I might just set one head off to the side and then pull the other one just so I don't have to repeat the work if the right bank has an issue.

At the very least,i'd be looking at the lobes with a small flashlight when you have them all out.A cam can be going south,and not show up on the lifter wheel till you have a few miles on the bad lobe.There's a good chance the broken spring was getting weak,before it finally let go,and a weak spring can allow the lifter to skid on the lobe.

 

[T_Unit114]

ah that piston would scare me to keep in. Any sharp edges like on that gouge are excellent areas for detonation to occur.

I was able to knock down the small ridges. The low spots are still there but it's very minor and smoothed out nicely. See below image

At the very least,i'd be looking at the lobes with a small flashlight when you have them all out.A cam can be going south,and not show up on the lifter wheel till you have a few miles on the bad lobe.There's a good chance the broken spring was getting weak,before it finally let go,and a weak spring can allow the lifter to skid on the lobe.

I took your advice and pulled the lifters again on both sides. I used a mirror to get a good visual on the cam through the lifter bores and aside from varnish I don't see anything of significant concern

 

[Dodge 1500 4X4]

Is the cylinder wall scratched, indicating the piston ring could be damaged, I see a dimple on the block surface, indicating the valve edge did that damage, do you have a pic of the valve?

 

[T_Unit114]

Is the cylinder wall scratched, indicating the piston ring could be damaged, I see a dimple on the block surface, indicating the valve edge did that damage, do you have a pic of the valve?

Other than a bent stem, the valve didn't even show witness marks indicating contact with anything. Even looking at it right now I see no indication of contact with anything so the hits were very light. I did check clearance around the piston with a feeler gauge and it's the same or greater than the rest of the cylinders on that bank which convinced me that the piston and it's bore are not deformed. I got it all back together today. Next post will have the update

 

[T_Unit114]

It's back together and it fired right up. I have an oil leak from the right valve cover, lean codes and no injector pulse on number 7. I'm gonna have to do some troubleshooting on that tomorrow but everything else checks out!

 

[T_Unit114]

Tore the valve cover gasket. Replaced with another new one and that fixed my oil leak.

Diagnostics showed #7 fuel injector having no pulse. Noid light showed good signal, swapped #5&7 and the problem followed the injector so a brand used injector replaced it. Got all 8 injectors functioning but I still had lean codes and significant vacuum leak throwing codes and the truck was running like crap. I decided to pull the intake plenum to make sure none of the seals had rolled and discovered I had way more problems than I thought.

The hung open intake valve resulted in fire shooting back up through the intake runner, melting 5 holes in the plenum! I guess that would cause a significant vacuum leak. I went the sloppy route and packed all the breaches with grey rtv. Gonna let it harden for a day or two and I hope that'll get me by until I can source a brand used plenum to replace my ***** one.

 

[Sherman Bird]

You make an excellent point. I currently have limited bench space. I don't have a borescope. The lifters are an excellent indicator for how the cam is holding up. I don't see anything concerning on the left side. I might just set one head off to the side and then pull the other one just so I don't have to repeat the work if the right bank has an issue.

Good Boroscopes are cheap. Get one. Under or about 100 dollars.