Hi All I am a newbie so be gentle with me. I bought a 2011 Dakota little bighorn (Ram) I bought it used with only38k on the odometer. I had a mechanic check it out and it passed with flying colors. I immediately changed the oil and replaced it with full synthetic. 5w 20 per the filler cap. right away it started to get a valve tap. It runs great and I have put quite a few miles on it but still taps. I posted something on another forum and the response was "The dodge v-6 is sensitive to oil changes." So if that is the problem what do I do about it? Any ideas?

Thanks in advance
Andy Sinkleris

 

Haven't really heard of that, but these hydraulic lifters definitely get lazy with time. Mine is a 2005 and makes a slight lifter noise at idle, but once it warms up, totally quiets down. You sure it's a valve tap? Smoked PCV valve sounds pretty similar.

 

The other thing to consider is broken exhaust manifold bolts. These are prone to that problem. They tick at cold start (actually a small exhaust leak that can sound similar) and then it goes away as parts heat up and expand to close the gaps. Unless, of course you don't fix it because you can't find bolts for a 2007+ 4.7l flex-fuel and then it just gets louder!