Hey guys, I am the 3rd owner of my 04 hemi ram. I bought it with 111,000 miles on it. The older guy I bought it from bought it at a dealership with about 70,000 miles on it. He used 5w30 castrol GTX conventional oil. The truck does have the infamous hemi tick BUT, I just changed the oil in it and put in mobil 1 5w30 high mileage. Well, the tick got louder. After reading through the forums I have read that it is common that the tick gets louder with mobil 1 (go figure). I want the truck to last a long time so I wanted to put the better synthetic oil in it but what do I do know? Next oil change could I put mobil 1 10w30 high mileage? It doesn't get below zero where I live so would it be ok to run the 10w30, plus I don't have that MDS or whatever. Could I use that Lucas oil synthetic additive with the 5w30 maybe? I used one of the better fram oil filters this change but next oil change I'll prolly go with the mopar filter (the store I was at didn't have the mopar filters or I would have bought one for this change lol)

 

there was a guy on here that used amsoil and he said his tick went away, thats what i will try next. i also use mobil 1, i still hear the tick but idk if it got louder or not. i have my next oil change in about a month, i'll post the results of what i hear on the forum. good luck with the ram!

 

My friend used royal purple and that worked but gets expensive

 

Ditto on the above responses. I've read here that both Royal Purple and Amsoil have diminished or even eliminated the tick. Haven't tried either myself, yet, mainly because I live in a small town where nobody carries either brand in motor oil. Amsoil products are sold here, as well as Royal Purple (I put RP in my diffs at the last change) but they don't carry motor oil. I assume, but haven't asked yet, that if they carry other products, perhaps they can order me some oil.

When I had my Harley, I switched to Amsoil in the crank case, tranny, and primary, and the noises the bike's drivetrain made (similar to what I'd call a hemi tick) went away drastically. So, I wouldn't be surprised if it does the same thing in a hemi.

 

I run RP in mine but please also check your exh manifold bolts for any that are loose or broken.

 

I've tried a few synthetics and found my tick is loudest with Mobil 1 and quietest with either RP or Valvoline SynPower. Castrol Edge is somewhere in the middle.

But good mention by 'Weed, loose exhaust bolts or ones with broken heads (both common) can also make the same sound as the "Hemi Tick"...