Hey guys im new to the dodge thing and i love fourms but cannot navigate them to well. i know people get pissy when you just start a new thread so i hope this is the right place. im a cadillac guy (cars) but i needed a cheap truck (as car guys do) so i bought an 03 4.7 ram with a bad engne noise. more of a tick than a knock its there all the time. i just bought it so i dont know the history but it is very clean with 60k miles. doesnt look sludged at all.

so.... i figured it was chain slap ordered a timing chain kit c/w tensioners threw them in tonight. put the whole thing back together. still ticks (might be quieter not sure).
while i was in there i found that my right side tensioner was fully extended and siezed guides worn pretty bad. thought i had nailed it!!

so i tore it down again reset the tensioners (figured i somehow extended the ratchet) started again and it still ticks. my exhaust bolts are present and my cam and lifters look fine (nothing obvious) the noise sounds mechanical and i cant pin it down with my stethescope.

noise is there with the serp belt on or off. and at all rpm's. its not "time for a new engine" noise but its bad enough that i wont drive it.

give me a 4.6 northstar and your problems are over but i dont have any experience with this 4.7 any help would be greatly apreciated.

also i havent changed the oil yet because i was planning to drop the pan and clean the oil pick up....... but the valve covers and the oil pan have what looks like aireated oil on them (white). but to pull the dipstick oil looks fine (dirty but not white) ive heard guys trying to change their oil to fix this but i think this noise is beyond that

 

Welcome to the site. I moved your post to a new thread. I think you have done good so far trying to resolve the issue. I also used to be into Cadillac engines but I was into the big blocks like the 472/500. Anyway, about the only thing you have left is maybe the valve train components and/or lifters.