If you guys remember at all, recently I blew a head gasket and had to have my engine torn apart and practically rebuilt. After all that crap and a few thousand later, my engine just started making a knocking or tapping sound. I think it is a riser, and a few friends agree. I had the mechanic who did my engine repair look at it, but he pretty much told me all cars do that and added some oil additive. No idea what it was. I recently put seafoam in the gas, hoping that will fix it. The sound is similar to what I remember a tappy valve sounding like. The intensity of the tap varies, but it pretty much always is the worst right before I turn off the truck, after driving for a while (around 30 miles), or pretty much when the engine is fully heated up.

Need input, do I accuse the mechanic of a sh*tty job, or just hope the seafoam works? I also read that if this doesn't work I should add seafoam to the engine oil, but I don't want to add seafoam with the other stuff he put in there as well.

 

Bump.........

 

The tick is extremely common if it's a hemi. If you seafoam the crankcase you drive about 30 miles and change the oil and filter. It shouldn't matter if there's an additive because it will all be replaced anyways.

 

what engine do you have? the 4.7 has issues with the rocker arms and will start throwing them.

 

Some guys have reported that using royal purple stopped the tick. I use Mobil 1 and it ticks but runs strong and it's "normal" supposedly.

 

Well this tick is louder than any normal tick, and unlike most ticks, it gets worse or stays the same over time. I do have the 4.7. I would prefer not to throw any rocker arms, but if I do, I hope it is still covered by the ****ty mechanic who rebuilt my head gaskets.......will Royal purple do the trick? I read I should use a different Mobil 1 than what the manual says, can't remember which though.

 

I hope it is still covered by the ****ty mechanic who rebuilt my head gaskets...

I hope he didn't rebuild the gaskets...that would qualify as pretty ****ty of him let alone impossible.
If this is a result of an engine overheat I would check for loose or broken manifold bolts and would bet that is the source of your tick.

 

Sorry, I worded that incorrectly. I overheated the engine and then took it to this mechanic, who disassembled the engine, sent off the parts to be remachined, fixed some other stuff, and put it back together.

Also, I mentioned the manifold bolts to a friend, who said that this would mean the tick is a heat problem on the manifolds? Is there a tick that is related to the manifolds not involving heat expansion?

 

Could be he messed up and it's the top end, could also be he overtorqued those manifold bolts and vibration took a bolt head or two off. Common on 4.7s. Before adding anything to the oil or jumping to conclusions take a loom at the manifold bolts, especially the rear two and make sure the bolts are intact...

 

I am helping a friend who has a 97 ram 1500 5.2 liter. I replaced the water pump, the truck ran yesterday, but wont start now. I had to loosen the ac bracket and the alternator to get to the small hose that goes from the pump to the block. the only thing I unhooked was the ground wire from the alternator which I re-grounded. When you crank the truck now it backfires out the throttle body and the fan will spin backwards when you let go of the key. Any Ideas?