Hey everyone,
So when I am driving my truck there is this ticking noise that I hear from the motor. It only occurs when I accelerate in drive (i assume its cause in reverse i never hit higher rpms). I took it to a mechanic and he jumped in with me and road with me. He seems to think its just a computer/timing belt issue where the timing belt has stretched and the computer has either not adjusted for it like it should, has adjusted for it but not enough or too much. Other than that he said he had no other ideas. He said it should be as easy as reprogamming the computer or something to fix it and that it isn't really a problem. Everything else he thought of he said would also happen when in idle so this was the only thing he could come up with that would cause it only while accelerating.

Any thoughts?

Also, while I'm at, my check engine light is on. I checked the codes and 4 of them are misfire codes. There was an issue recently where i managed to get water in the motor and it was obviosuly misfiring. Once we got the water out engine was fine. When I saw the codes later i figured they were there because of what had happened and would either go away eventually or would need to be turned off by a mechanic. Eventually the light went off. But the light came back on and when i checked the codes they were the same. I'm not sure if that means the computer is just glitching or I am really misfiring and am just not noticing it for some reason. Any ideas? Is it possible for misfiring to occur and not notice it?

Whatever advice you guys can give me would be great.

 

It would help to know how many miles are on your engine ?, but assuming you have a 100.000 miles on it, your timing chain is needing to be replaced. The computer can not adjust for that. Also the plenum gasket needs to be replaced if it hasn`t already been done, that by it self will cause the misfire codes that your getting. If your description of what your mechanic said is correct, get a new mechanic, because he doesn`t know what he is talking about and he obviously doesn`t know anything about dodge trucks.

 

Easy stuff first. Pull the plugs on cylinders that are misfiring, see what they look like..when is last time you changed plug wires? Move on to a compression test if a good tune up doesn't help.
Misfiring will be noticeable if it's bad enough to get a CEL. Just remove negative battery cable for 10-15 minutes..reattach and CEL will go out. And yes get another opinion.

 

The mileage on my truck is almost 68k... So it's not really close to 100k yet. Is it possible it still needs replacing or is the ticking noise a different issue? The only other thing I thought the noise could be was an oil lifter, but that ticking noise would be heard regardless of whether it was idling or I was accelerating from my understanding.


I plan on getting a tune up done next week. Hopefully if it's misfiring that will fix it.

 

To continue with the easy stuff, I had a similar issue a little bit ago. I changed my plugs and wires first. Then did the compression test. Cylinder 5 came back low, before having the head and valve replaced I ran the truck harder than it had been running (im down here doing the stupid city life crap in florida for college). My truck normally stayed below 2 grand.. These big engines need to be run, they need to get up to temp and be driven there to not allow for carbon to build up on the valve or other fun places. My advice is to run your truck hard for a couple of days, might just knock loose and be alright.

 

Yeh a lifter tick would be heard at idle. I know the 4 wheeler guys have talked about ticking, not motor related, but heck if I can remember. Your truck is like almost new. Wouldn't hurt to take it on the highway, leave OD off and run at 3000 rpms for 20-30 miles. Lugging around at low rpm's will net ya more carbon buildup

 

exactly. Run the truck man!

 

You didn't say if you have a fourwheeler or not. But front u=joints can make a ticking on acceleration and exhaust manifold leak. At 68,000 I wouldn't worry about timing chain. Get another mechanic/shop.

 

Ticking on acceleration is probably spark knock. How's your plenum?

 

I have no idea how my plenum, how to check it, or what to look for when checking it.


Someone I work with suggested the u-joints as well. Thing is, I doubt its those cause it sounds like it is coming from the motor. I'll try checking that when I get the chance though.


Recently I crushed the exhaust on my truck when I spun out driving through Canada. I got the exhaust replaced. If there was an exhaust manifold leak before (cause I did have the ticking noise before then) would it not have been fixed when they replaced my exhaust?