I got a 2003 Ram with a Hemi. Everytime the truck gets warm it "ticks". It does not make a sound when i first start it up. Only after it warms up. Last year I changed all valve springs and pushrods. The springs looked ok, but the pushrods were wore pretty bad. so was the rocker arms. But i didnt change the rockers. I lost the tick for a few months and it came back. Now I seem to think that the pushrods are wore out again since i didnt change the rocker arms. I have been researching this alot lately and alot of people seem to think its the valve springs. So is it the springs or pushrods and rockers???? Any help would be greatly appreciated as I will ordering all new pushrods and rockers.

 

The "hemi tick" is caused by the valve clearance being too loose. It isn't a loud ticking, just a noticeable noise, especially in the drive thru next to a building. The rocker arms could be worn enough to cause some clearance which will make it tick some as the oil thins out when hot or you could just have a bad lifter.

 

Mine has the drive through one lol. Thats the only time I hear it other than the garage. If that were the case.. New roller rocker arms? and I have an 05, but I've heard about doing new retainers because they're prone to failure.. is that true?

 

Al.

 

My friends 03 hemi ticked thru 352k miles before a lady hit him. No telling how much longer it would have lasted. Let er tick!!! IMO going back inside the thing too much is worse than just lettin it be. All it takes is 1 screw up and ur hemi is done.

 

im going to try changing the oil over to something alittle heavier like 10w or even 15w. what do you guys think???

 

According to what I've read on this forum and personal experience, putting synthetic oil in will make the tick go away, or at least get much less noticeable.

 

It is actually the clearance from the valve stem to valve guide. Rockers won't fix it. It is a minute amount of side play in the valves. Annoying, but harmless.