First CEL on the SRT-8

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OVERKILL

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Taking a few guys to the airport yesterday, the car was acting strange, down on power and the MDS wasn't working. It had felt a bit doggy for a few days however this was definitely different. Got it home, shut it off, fired it up a few hours later and was greeted with a CEL. Plugged into AutoEnginuity which greeted me with two codes:

P0520 - Oil pressure sensor out of range
P2098 - Post cat fuel trim too lean on bank two

A quick Google yielded TSB 18-034-14 which listed a defective oil pressure sensor on cars manufactured before March, 2014 (mine was built November, 2013) that would result in this issue.

Dropped the car off at around 10:30AM, they gave me a loaner, and I was back in my car by around 2:30PM with the updated oil pressure sensor installed and the car behaving like it should.

All-in-all a pretty painless experience.

I'm thinking that since that pressure sensor controls the MDS operation, that this was causing some sporadic operation which in turn resulted in the lean code, as that's gone and has not come back.

Note: gas mileage with the MDS disabled (it didn't work all the way to Toronto and back) is significantly worse than with it operating. I burned 1/2 a tank going there and back
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Good to hear it was painless. The engine may have "de-tuned" in other ways than just MDS, so that might also contribute to the bad mileage.

So far, I've had zero CELs or other gripes on my '12. I did get its first recall last week: the passenger's side airbag is apparently a Takata. :-( Parts not yet available.

I went through almost a year of "parts not available" for the DRIVER's side airbag on my 08 Ram, since the parts were sent first to damp climate areas where the propellant is most likely to degrade and to hot/dry areas last. Got it done a few weeks back, and then got notices in the mail that both it and the SRT need the passenger's side airbag. Absolutely unbelievable how many vehicles are affected by one manufacturer's very bad design choice. Apparently Honda was the hardest-hit manufacturer as they used Takata exclusively, but almost every manufacturer has at least a few affected vehicles.
 
Originally Posted By: Vikas
what is MDS ?


The system that shuts down 4 cylinders in order to save fuel.
 
Originally Posted By: 440Magnum
Good to hear it was painless. The engine may have "de-tuned" in other ways than just MDS, so that might also contribute to the bad mileage.

So far, I've had zero CELs or other gripes on my '12. I did get its first recall last week: the passenger's side airbag is apparently a Takata. :-( Parts not yet available.

I went through almost a year of "parts not available" for the DRIVER's side airbag on my 08 Ram, since the parts were sent first to damp climate areas where the propellant is most likely to degrade and to hot/dry areas last. Got it done a few weeks back, and then got notices in the mail that both it and the SRT need the passenger's side airbag. Absolutely unbelievable how many vehicles are affected by one manufacturer's very bad design choice. Apparently Honda was the hardest-hit manufacturer as they used Takata exclusively, but almost every manufacturer has at least a few affected vehicles.


Yeah, this issue only affects 2013-2014 cars, I am guessing they changed suppliers and something got borked.

I've had my airbag replaced already (Takata), it was done shortly after I bought the car. No other recalls on it other than that one. My wife's was done too around the same time.
 
Originally Posted By: KrisZ
I'm pretty sure it's time to trade it in and buy something, you know, more reliable...
lol.gif



LOL!
 
Originally Posted By: 2015_PSD
How sensitive is it to oil viscosity?


I don't believe it is sensitive at all. It is essentially the same system as used in the 5w-20 spec 5.7's, but this engine specs 0w-40. I think the issue is that it uses oil pressure to control the MDS (MDS is disabled when the oil is cold) and having a proper oil pressure reading is subsequently very important for the proper operation of the system. When the sensor starts to go haywire, things start getting weird, activation/deactivation doesn't work right (I think it was lagging between turning the MDS on and off due to improper readings, making the car doggy) and eventually it realizes the readings it is getting aren't right because things aren't working the way they are supposed to and then you get the code and CEL.
 
I don't think oil temp figures in on MDS operation. I had a 2012 RAM Hemi 5.7, it always went into MDS 2 blocks from my driveway, 0° or 90°. I even ran 5W30 oil(full syn & dino) in it.
 
Im rather surprised that an oil sensor would go bad in a 2014 car, but worse things have happened! Glad its back and running like normal.
 
Originally Posted By: JHZR2
Im rather surprised that an oil sensor would go bad in a 2014 car, but worse things have happened! Glad its back and running like normal.


Well, in its defence, it is a defective part. The mechanic said they had replaced a lot of them, so this wasn't news. There's a revised (updated) part that is supposed to eliminate the issue. Given that it only seems to affect 2013-2014 (as per the TSB) I am guessing a supplier change and subsequent defective part.
 
Originally Posted By: oldhp
I don't think oil temp figures in on MDS operation. I had a 2012 RAM Hemi 5.7, it always went into MDS 2 blocks from my driveway, 0° or 90°. I even ran 5W30 oil(full syn & dino) in it.


Perhaps it is temp by proxy? It uses the pressure sensor.
 
Originally Posted By: OVERKILL
Originally Posted By: JHZR2
Im rather surprised that an oil sensor would go bad in a 2014 car, but worse things have happened! Glad its back and running like normal.


Well, in its defence, it is a defective part. The mechanic said they had replaced a lot of them, so this wasn't news. There's a revised (updated) part that is supposed to eliminate the issue. Given that it only seems to affect 2013-2014 (as per the TSB) I am guessing a supplier change and subsequent defective part.


Sure, those things happen. Perhaps it has a more dynamic range or some other functionality than the sensors and transducers that have been in service in most any car in the last 30 years... Does it act as an OLM input or something else too?
 
Originally Posted By: JHZR2
Originally Posted By: OVERKILL
Originally Posted By: JHZR2
Im rather surprised that an oil sensor would go bad in a 2014 car, but worse things have happened! Glad its back and running like normal.


Well, in its defence, it is a defective part. The mechanic said they had replaced a lot of them, so this wasn't news. There's a revised (updated) part that is supposed to eliminate the issue. Given that it only seems to affect 2013-2014 (as per the TSB) I am guessing a supplier change and subsequent defective part.


Sure, those things happen. Perhaps it has a more dynamic range or some other functionality than the sensors and transducers that have been in service in most any car in the last 30 years... Does it act as an OLM input or something else too?


No idea. Seems it is an input used by the PCM for MDS operation primarily. For the oil pressure displayed through the screen and in the cluster, it uses a completely different sensor.
 
Originally Posted By: OVERKILL
Originally Posted By: oldhp
I don't think oil temp figures in on MDS operation. I had a 2012 RAM Hemi 5.7, it always went into MDS 2 blocks from my driveway, 0° or 90°. I even ran 5W30 oil(full syn & dino) in it.


Perhaps it is temp by proxy? It uses the pressure sensor.


Pressure sensor, maybe. I know when it was cold, 40° and below it still went into MDS(4 cylinder)mode and sounded even more 4-banger'ish stupid than when fully warmed up.
 
All of these oil control valves and sensors are farmed out to the lowest bidder..........no biggie. Replace it and move on. If there are several sensors you might want to locate them all and shop for cheaper ones and replace them all.

Remember the old "cracked distributor cap" ?? This is the modern version.
 
Originally Posted By: JHZR2
Originally Posted By: OVERKILL
Originally Posted By: JHZR2
Im rather surprised that an oil sensor would go bad in a 2014 car, but worse things have happened! Glad its back and running like normal.


Well, in its defence, it is a defective part. The mechanic said they had replaced a lot of them, so this wasn't news. There's a revised (updated) part that is supposed to eliminate the issue. Given that it only seems to affect 2013-2014 (as per the TSB) I am guessing a supplier change and subsequent defective part.


Sure, those things happen. Perhaps it has a more dynamic range or some other functionality than the sensors and transducers that have been in service in most any car in the last 30 years... Does it act as an OLM input or something else too?


Given that focus I had and how many issues it had that nobody had ever seen trust me it being a common problem is much more comforting. Hearing we've never seen that before now makes my skin crawl.
 
Last edited:
Originally Posted By: oldhp
Originally Posted By: OVERKILL
Originally Posted By: oldhp
I don't think oil temp figures in on MDS operation. I had a 2012 RAM Hemi 5.7, it always went into MDS 2 blocks from my driveway, 0° or 90°. I even ran 5W30 oil(full syn & dino) in it.


Perhaps it is temp by proxy? It uses the pressure sensor.


Pressure sensor, maybe. I know when it was cold, 40° and below it still went into MDS(4 cylinder)mode and sounded even more 4-banger'ish stupid than when fully warmed up.


Oh yes, my wife's '06, which I drive all winter, still enables the MDS too, but takes longer to start functioning in those months than it does in the summer from what I recall. I don't remember it sounding any different though
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I run 0w-20 in it year round.
 
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