I bought this used 2009 Dodge Ram 1500 5.7L Hemi in early 2018. It was in exceptional condition and well maintained. I also purchased an aftermarket extended warranty just in case anything major happened.

Four months later the truck developed a ticking sound coming from the engine. It wasn't just the Hemi tick I have heard about at start up. This tick was with me no matter how long the truck was warmed up. Heard it most during acceleration and cold start up. So I went online and found numerous forums, posts, and reviews from hundreds of people experiencing the same issue with ram 1500's from as early as 2004 - 2013.

Turns out that Dodge used low grade bolts to attach the header to the exhaust manifold. They break over time due to the heat produced or the rapid temperature change of the aluminum exults manifold, leading to the annoying ticking sound and a failure of the manifold gasket. The nice rich rumble of the Hemi engine has been replaced by a tinny knocking noise. Sounds absolutely terrible.

Dodge seems to be fully aware of this problem as they have fixed it as long as you are the original owner under the lifetime drivetrain warranty. Also one thing I find particularly shady is that they have the stainless steel manifold bolts in stock at every dealership because they know that it is a problem. Many of the Ram owners where able to have the bolts drilled out or extracted and replaced under their extended warranties. My particular warranty said they would not cover any part of the repair because it was the hardware that failed and a separate part from the exhaust manual or the header. which would have been covered

I am absolutely astounded that Dodge is aware of the failure and have not issued a recall. Not just a few random cases here and there, but hundreds, perhaps thousands as far as I know. Leaving their customers to foot the bill for their sub-grade hardware. My Dodge dealer charged me $140 to diagnose the issue to confirm that I did indeed have two broken bolts and a damaged exhaust gasket. They also quoted me $720 - $950 for repairs of the two bolts and the gasket.

The thing about this is if you don't replace all the bolts with stainless steel bolts, you are just going to have to do this again down the road when other bolts fail, further escalating your repair bills into the thousands of dollars. Yet Dodge will not issue a recall. I am extremely disappointed with Dodge and will not buy another if this is how they treat their customers.

I should have bought the Toyota Tundra I had my eye on for a couple thousand dollars more. They hold up a lot longer than any American made vehicle I ever had. Say what you want about Toyota, but they acknowledge their faults, issue recalls, and fix them at no cost to the customer.

I'm not really sure if the broken bolts are the problem yet, the dealer said that it is a common problem with Ram trucks. Dealer said it is part of drive train and is not covered by warranty because I didn't get the 5 year inspection. I was told by salesman when I bought truck that my truck was covered for life when I bought the extended warranty. He did not tell me that the drive train was a separate warranty and required an inspection every 5 years' I was told by Dodge that i signed a paper stating that I was aware of that.

My complaint is that when you try to read paperwork with salesman there they talk to you so you cant read it and they assure you that you are covered, But who can really read all that paperwork? We generally rely on the law to protect us from these kinds of things. Salesmen do this for a living and usually are good at what they do which is get you to buy the car now and most people don't know the laws. I am trying to get it reinstated, My truck is still like brand new condition. I think they should inspect my truck and if in normal condition reinstate Warranty.

Dodge Ram has had this problem for years with Exhaust Manifold Bolts breaking/cracking of loosening on there own. Main reason is use of inferior bolts and nuts. As far as I can see this problem goes back to at least 2004 if not longer. Dodge Ram issued a TSB on the leaky bolts, in my case not only did I have leaking bolts but my exhaust manifold was cracked and broken. Dodge Ram would not pay for the repair even knowing they have a problem and thousands and quite possibly tens of thousands of their customers have had this same issue. I bought this vehicle used in June of 2016 with only 52,000 Kilometers on it and the problem did not develop right away. But when it did I had it checked by a dealer that said it was no big deal and I could wait to have it fixed. So I did wait and $613 and change out of my pocket because Dodge Ram does not have the decency to step up to the plate and pay for a known problem. Just a note the company I have my extended warrant through would not cover it either.

Started ticking. Thought it was the usual "hemi tick". Ended up being manifold bolts. None of the local shops want to replace them cause they're such a pain, so onward to Dodge I went. $950 later they're fixed. I talked to the "service consultant" and he didn't have much to say about what a bs issue this is. WHY WON'T DODGE MAKE THIS A DAMN RECALL! I already spent 30k-ish on a used truck, I shouldn't have tone pay to fix things that they obviously know is an issue. Otherwise they wouldn't have come up with replacement bolts!