I have a very similiar problem but it goes away after the truck warms up but right at start you can hear what sounds to be the valves clicking and after it gets warm the clicking goes away

 

I am pretty sure it's 5w-30 they have always put in there but I will confirm it. Now, talking about the MDS, I am thinking that by the comments others have made that it works off of oil pressure and if the wrong oil is in the engine the MDS won't work right, correct? This actualy kind of falls in line because for quite a while now I have had this clunk in the driveline that I feel more than hear and it does it at times when there is pretty much no load on the drivetrain, just cruising. I took it to a dealer for that a long time ago and he actualy told me that what I was feeling was the MDS going in and out. But it always seemed to me that that should be a fairly smooth function and you shouldn't really notice it. If they have been putting the wrong oil in the engine for all this time then that would make sense, am I right or am I way off base?

 

I caught the 'mechanical fuel pump' sentace right away. Dodge hasnt used mech fuel pumps in the rams for MANY years. ~20 years


Oil weight and brand is probably the most debated topic for cars/trucks.

It boils down to personal preference for brand. I dont care who says what. Spending $60 on an oil change wont make your motor last 1,000,000 miles. Changing it frequently will help but still wont get you to a million miles. A bearing will fail, a ring will break, it will be driven hard...it doesnt matter. A few hundred thousand miles and its gonna need a rebuild.

For weight I like to stick to MFG recommended weight and stick with it.

I use NAPA brand oil and NAPA filters. It cost me $20 for oil and filter and I have ZERO problems (60k miles). Usual frequency is 2300-2700 miles. Occasionally I wont have time and it will go 3500 miles.


If your concerned try and capture the noise on vid and post it here...

 

attention read this please - anyone with this type of issue thinking about using thicker oils and or adding lucas, etc. To cure ticking or similar noises in these particular hemi engines. I did this exact thing your speaking of to my 2007 ram with 30 k miles.. 1st i tried switching to 5-20 royal purp. , then tried 5-20 amsoil . These offered only a slight noise improvement . So then i drained 2 qts. Of amsoil & added 2 qts lucas regular stabilizer additive , and drove 500 miles with no noise improvement. Then drained all changed filter and refilled using 4 qts amsoil 5-20 and 3 qts of lucas full synth stabilizer and drove 100 miles . I noticed a noise improvement initially - then suddenly sounded like a old beat up diesel engine and quickly got worse as loud rod knock sound was apparent. I knew i fu**ed it up. In a pannic i drained it all out- did a engine flush using amsoil eng flush- then refilled with my original drained oil that wasnt old from the beginning. Then drove to dodge dealer complaining of a terrible engine sound. ((the official dealership diagnosis was #5 cyl. Spun bearing with gouged crankshaft)) they asked if i ever used anything other than 5-20 & i said no. I had to prove all ontime oil changes with receipts and i was able to do this . ((dont ask how)) dodge covered the repair in full and replaced my engine. Lesson learned with mega embarrassment to myself . Dont deviate from the 5-20. Unless your only going to add a small amount but that wont help the tick noise anyway. Perhaps swapping in 1 qt of 5-30 into the mix may assist but i doubt it. The lead tech was explaining how some customers use thicker oil but the oil passages along with the m.d.s system are designed for a certain oil viscosity, meaning thicker oil will not pass through these passages. Dodge will send your oil sample to verify if you use a diff weight. If they detect it expect no warranty ..no fixing unless your paying bcus they aint playing

 

I have a 2012 Dodge Ram 1500 ST and ever since I’ve had it I’ve always heard this ticking sound loud specially when I’m first turning it on. I am currently using 5-20 fully synthetic oil. I Live in Las Vegas Nevada, it get stupid hot here, so that’s what my mechanic recommended me to use. BUT how can I get rid of this freaking Hemi Tick! I hear it when I’m idling waiting in a red light. Is there any solution to this?