Hi, need help to solve a problem, I have a 99 v 10 perfect condition it has started to break rocker arm studs , last 10,000 miles 5 different studs have broke all different cylinders. I have re torqued all to specs then bought all new bolts. Put grade8 lock washers under new bolts all to no help, just broke another. Desperate! Truck has 100,000 miles perfect maint. record. Breaks the bolt at about 1500-2000 rpm cruising down the road. Thanks, Russ

 

My buddy is having the same problem with the V-10 in his 98 with 102,000 miles. He's broken three in the last four months and is planning on new bolts himself. Have you had any luck figuring out the problem? His buddy is a Dodge service manager and says he has NEVER seen even one... let alone three.

 

hi, THANKS FOR REPLY , HAVE NOT FIGURED IT OUT YET NEW BOLTS DID NOT HELP , WE MAY TRY HARLEN SHARP ROLLER ROCKERS WITH 3/8" STUDS BUT STILL HAVE NOT OUT WHY THIS HAPPENS AS YOU CAN SEE NOBODY KNOWS . THANKS RUSS

 

My buddy had all the studs replaced and just had ANOTHER one break. Now he has talked with some other people, and a different mechanic told him that the pressure relief valve in the oil pump may be bad allowing too much oil pressure to build up going up to the hydraulic lifters. He says that too much pressure may be allowing the hydraulic lifters to behave like a solid lifter which would apply way too much force to the rocker arms and studs. They sell the parts to rebuild this relief valve and they are trying this next.

 

I am the one that kcwvsp has been posting for me about my broken rocker arm bolts for my 98 V-10. I just broke another after replacing the relief valve for the oil pump. It did get about 1000 miles before broke this time. Anybody have any new solutions to why Rocker Arm Bolts break?
Did Harlen Sharp Roller Rockers work???

 

I am having the same problems on my '99 Dodge Ram 2500 V10 with 206,000 miles. My engine started missing and got a error code P0305 whis is cylinder #5. after removing the left valve cover I found the intake rocker arm bolt broken. The pushrod was missing and had to remove the lower intake to get to it, the pushrod was not bent and the oil passage was clear. I got the engine back together and replaced the bolt and torque it to 21 ft. pounds. I started the engine and it ran smooth but had a ticking sound. After about 12 minutes I heard a pop and the engine started missing. I removed the left valve cover and found another broken bolt on #5 but this time it was the exhaust rocker arm bolt. This time I can't get the broken bolt out and I need to drill and use an easy out.
I believe what is happing is the lifter is stuck full out (like a solid lifter) and when the pushrod compress the valve spring it compress it to coil bind and this puts excessive pressure on the bold and it snaps the bolt (the ticking sound). A bad lifter should NOT cause coil bind! The only way to stop this from happening is to 1. Get shorter push rods, 2. Shim each rocker arm. If this is what's happening then there maybe a design flaw? Now what causes the lifter to get stuck? Each lifter has a check valve and a spring. I think that there is debree in the lifter and it can't bleed the oil and causes the lifter to stick. I plan to test this when I tear down the engine and check each lifter. Each lifter can be tested by compressing it, if it won't compress the it is stuck and needs to be dissasimbled or replaced. To clean a lifter place it is deicel fule and engine oil 50% mix get an old pushrod and pump it several times, then place it in clean oil and pump it a few times. All lifters should act the same if not then dissasimble or replace them. Don't get the lifters mixed up do each lifter one at a time. Check the pushrods for clear pasage. What caused the debree..... maybe a failure in the oil filter bypass valve alowing dirty oil getting into the engine? When you dissasimble one see if that what happened.

 

Nice job resurrecting a two year old thread. The folks who participated in it haven't been seen in many moons. That said: Shorter push rods, shimmed rockers, and so on are not the solution to your problem.

The lifters are like the engine's trash cans. Fly ash gets past the piston rings and into the oil and gets into the lifters where there's relatively little flow volume. It settles out in there where the flow volume is low, like mud settling in a river delta, and gums the works.

Neglected oil changes are the number one cause of sticky lifters. That fly ash is normal, and it's what makes your oil dark. Fly ash, unburnt fuel drawn into the crankcase after shutdown, and accumulated moisture are the reasons we change engine oil so long before viscosity breakdown occurs. Neglect your oil changes and those things attack your engine.

 

So about twice now lifters seem to be the problem. Which makes perfect logical sense. Anyone tried to replace their lifters and do an oil change? I mean that should solve the problem "in theory" You could clean the lifters, but if they are filled with stuff i don't think the cleaning will get everything out. Yes a little costly, but i'd just start with all new lifters, if it solves the problem it'll be cheaper then rocker studs for the life of the truck, wouldn't it?

Just putting my opinion out, best of luck to you all!

 

I change my oil regularly, the oil had 1320 miles since I changed it and a new filter. Because of the 200,000 + miles I change my oil and filter every 3000 miles and its a V10 with the crappy gas mileage I have been using it less but I do run it at least every two weeks and drive it up to normal temp. (aprox. 40 miles) to keep everything oiled up.

 

Doing a bit of poking around, seems this issue isn't as uncommon as you would think..... general consensus appears to be that wear at the ball/arm interface causes binding, so, the stud gets a good taste of attempting to be bent back and forth while the engine is running.

If that is indeed the case, I would think that going to full roller rockers would solve the issue. As the early engines used the same parts as the 360, it shouldn't be that much of an ordeal to accomplish......