I have a 2006 dodge dakota slt quad cab. She has 37,000 miles on her and now it sounds like an exhaust leak. I checked and tighten all the exhaust bolts. On the driver side rear, there is an extra port on the exhaust manifold. I see carbon discoloration. I'm going to change the exhaust manifold gaskets and see if that fixes the problem. I hope it is not my vavle train

 

if it is a loud popping noise then most likely a crack in the manifold, but if it is a loud clicking noise it may very well be an injector. these tend to run loud for some reason. nothing to worry about.

 

i have what i think is the same noise in my truck. i thought maybe it was a bearing in the pulley or something. im not worried about it...

 

My 05 had an exhaust leak last year. I took it to the dealer (it was still under warranty) and they said it had a broken bolt in the exhaust manifold which they replaced and it solved the leak.

 

I have heard the broken manifold bolts thing before. It has to be the massive torque doing it[8D]

 

Broken manifold bolts are a big problem with Dodge . I did have a leak on the lower right manifold at the heat riser. It was repaired under warrant 2005 4.7L.

 

I had broken maniofld bolts on the paseenger side of my 2006 Dakota TRX4 with a 4.7 and the dealer replaced them. Now the drivers side is making the same noise. HAs anyone had looking swapping them out for ceramic coated headers? I am looking atGibsons that are supposed to bolt up to the OEM exhaust system? I think its ridiculous, I never had these problems on my 1991 Dakota sport with the 318 and I owned that truck for 18 years.

 

Only person I know that has Gibson headers is member - Trucky (no idea if he had issues. A lot of people have installed JBA with no issues.

 

I have the JBA headers, no issues. I had a broken bolt (Drivers' side, back bottom, most common one to break!).

The other "odd" noises on these 4.7l are:
1. Valve lash adjusters ("lifters") - this noise tends to go away once oil pressure /temp goes up (once the truck is warmed up)

2. Timing chain slack adjusters - these are hydraulic, noise goes away once truck is warmed up

If the chain tension guides are worn, the noise will pretty much always be heard (same thing with the lifters).

Also, my exhaust leak would go away once the truck was running for a few minutes!

I have heard of having a noisy injector, but this should be easy to isolate by either unplugging the injector wires one at a time, or using a hand held that can turn them off electronically one at a time.

My bet is on the exhaust manifold bolt

 

Valve lash adjuster is a common defect with the 4.7 and some 3.7s also. Some Hemi also had reported a problem with the same thing. Dodge had this problem for a very long time but as usual they hide their head in the bean counter sand and do nothing about it. The problem still exists right up to the last 2011 Dakotas, Rams and Jeeps. It is a toss of the dice if you get a engine with this from the get-go or it will develop later. It will most likely not result in the engine failure or even its performance but it is never the less a defect and it is wrong. Anything that was not in the design by its engineering of design/build is a defect and should be corrected.