2003 ram 2500 hemi .started fouling plugs in two cylinders , got worse pulled motor pistons are breaking off at the top ring wtf never seen anything like it .have to rebuild the whole thing . used to like this truck

 

Cracked ring lands is usually a sign of knock. It makes you wonder what kind of fuel has been run in this truck.

 

I was thinking the same thing. Sounds to me like 87 octane fuel has been run in this thing...

 

But someone saved on gas...

 

Ok, I have to ask...

I just bought my truck used about a month ago. I've personally been putting in regular gas when I fill up. The other day I was reading in the manual that the manufacturer recommends mid-grade gas in the Hemi. I haven't noticed any knocking with regular (in Utah that's 85 octane). What would I benefit from 89 octane if there's no knocking on regular?

 

85oct. OMG. Def don't use that stuff. You will have the same thing happen as the original poster if you keep using the stuff. Just because you can't hear knocking doesn't mean it's not happeneing. When it does happen, the PCM retards the timing and you slightly lose power. This can happen and go completely undetected with most people.
89oct is reccomended. It will keep the truck from having pre-detonation, keeps the cylinders and valves free of carbon and overall runs better.

Premium octane has more cleaners than cheaper gas. So, if you were to add up what you pay for cheaper gas and the cost of a cleaner, it's essentially the same price as a higher octance gas w/cleaners in it already. Most people don't realize this. Higher octane is a better fuel for your engine. It burns cleaner than cheaper gas and allows your engine to stay healthy and breathe better having less maintenance troubles.
The reason the ringlands of the Hemi pistons break is because Chrysler used racing style pistons on the engine. A racing style piston has ringlands very close to the top of the piston. While this helps in certain areas, it's rather brittle to pre-detonation which can cause cracking and breaking. This cracking and pieces breaking off can get caught in the valves and bend them on their way out the exhaust! So, then you have broken pistons, scored cylinder walls, bent valves and damaged heads. Result=cheaper to buy a used engine or a rebuilt engine.

Saving the $4 per tankful now, can cost you $4k later on.

 

Interesting. So, along those lines, is there a decent way to tell if this has been happening (examine the plugs, etc)? The engine has high miles on it and I really don't know what the previous owners ran in it.

 

Not without pulling the heads.

You only hear extreme pre-detonation. It's the long term pre-detonation you don't hear that kills a cylinder(s) over time and has you doing an over-haul or looking for an engine to drop in...

 

ok, so this is what I have brought away from this thread.

1) Use mid-grade gas to avoid pre-detonation and eventually the untimely death of the engine (though mine has over 200k on it so who knows how much life it has left).
2) There isn't really any good way to determine if there has been a problem in the past without pulling the heads, and that's a pain.
3) Conclusion is to start now and hope that whatever damage *has* possibly been done isn't severe enough to cause long-term harm.