Dodge’s 5.7L Hemi Engine: Never Buy These Years

In 2003, Chrysler reintroduced the legendary Hemi engine to American automotive buyers after a decades-long hiatus. The primary of the “third generation” Hemis was the 5.7-liter, gas-powered, 90-degree, pushrod V8 that replaced the older 5.9-liter Magnum V8 in 2003 Dodge Ram pickups. This recent hemi was a clean sheet design with a forged iron block, four-bolt essential bearings, forged con rods, and light-weight aluminum pistons. The heads were aluminum cross-flow units with two valves and two spark plugs for every cylinder. It was, for the time, a particularly efficient, high-tech, and powerful mill.

From the Ram, where it was the one gas-powered engine available in heavy-duty trucks for nine years, the brand new 5.7 hemi spread throughout Chrysler’s lineup. First to the Durango in 2004, then over the subsequent few years to the LX-platform cars — 300C, Charger, Magnum — and even to the Jeep family. Chrysler put the 5.7-liter in a ton of vehicles throughout the aughts and teenagers, and overall it proved to be a stout, reliable power plant.

Even probably the most reliable engine has its issues, though. Over the past twenty years, the 5.7-liter has gained notoriety for a handful of issues — some annoying, some serious — which have barely tarnished its repute. There are even whole years of production that knowing automotive nerds avoid just like the plague because of quality and construct issues. What years are those? I’m glad you asked.

Despite its general reliability, and the actual fact it was a Ward’s Top 10 Engine award winner for numerous years, the 5.7 Hemi had its share of issues. The largest problem it had was the notorious “Hemi tick,” which was attributable to failed lifters, causing the pushrods to eat away on the cam lobes, thereby ruining vital parts of the mill’s valvetrain. Other issues with the 5.7 included misfires attributable to spark plugs wearing out early, and weak exhaust manifold bolts in some early years. While these are significant problems that may result in expensive repairs, especially that lifter/camshaft ticking problem, the 5.7 did not have many more problems than some other comparable engine.

That said, there are just a few model years that somebody a used, Hemi-powered Chrysler product might need to avoid. The 2005 and 2006 Hemi-powered LX-platform cars, especially the Magnum, experienced significant issues with their 5.7s. The Magnums had a whopping seven recalls with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and had a nasty habit of stalling and hesitation after refueling. In a while within the engine’s life, the 2011 and 2012 engines utilized in Ram pickups were notorious for the Hemi tick. The 2012 trucks were particularly bad, the truth is, and may probably be avoided.

Aside from those blips — and make no mistake, those are pretty serious problems — the 5.7 Hemi was a fairly great engine. Thankfully, the rumors of its death appear to be just that. In reality, Stellantis just announced that the 5.7 would come back in 2026.