i have a 2005 dodge ram 1500 5.7l hemi. its completely stock has 99,000 miles on it as of now. bought it with 35k ( all the ones i put on it were towing a trailer or hauling a load ). everytime i start the truck i can hear a valve tick for the first 3 minutes of driving, then it goes away. it does this anytime i turn the truck off and back on, whether it sits for 20 seconds or 3 hours. the tick goes up with the rpm's. its due for an oil change in the next 500 miles, so i figure once i change it, it should help. i was told to run a quart of marvel mystery oil in with it too. ive been using conventional oil, should i switch to synthetic? anyone have any ideas, or should i just deal with it?

thanks for all your help

 

It's the infamous "Hemi Tick" perfectly normal and does not hurt anything. However, I've found different brands of oil either make it louder or quieter. I only run synthetic, but have found it's loudest with Mobil 1 and quietest with Royal Purple. I'm currently running Valvoline Synpower and have run Castrol Syntec and they sound somewhere in the middle of the other two.

MMO is good stuff, my grandfather was a life-long mechanic and he swore by MMO. It won't hurt anything to put some in, but I don't think it'll get rid of the tick...

 

thanks for the reply, do you think it would be better to switch to synthetic or should i just stick with conventional like i have for the past 99k miles. should i change oil weight?

 

Conventional is fine provided you change it more often. The problem with conventional is people don't change it often enough and sludge builds, causing havoc with the oil pump. The '05 calls for 5w/20 (and I have no idea why, since it's identical to the '04 except for the PCM (computer) and the '04s call for 5w/30).

IMO either 5w20 or 5w30 is fine on any pre-MDS Hemi.

 

i change it every 3k miles. ive run 5w-30 since ive owned it. should i put the MMO in before the oil change for only 20 miles or put it in with the new oil and run it for the full 3k?

 

MMO is not a cleaner like SeaFoam, it won't do you much good to put it in and take it right back out.

Add it with your next oil change at a ratio of 15-20% to your regular oil and leave it in there. One full quart of MMO and six quarts of your oil is fine...

 

okay thank you for all your help, i appreciate it.

 

stick to the weight that's recommended,I was running the valvoline that Hammer stated and never had a problem,then i bought some casteroil on sale at wal-mart and got a start up tick....I only do city driving and change my oil every 3000.I'd rather save my engine than lose out.won't happen again.