I have used the search button. I have seen a lot of posts where the issue of could be from an exhaust leak , broken exhaust bolt or an egr valve failure.
Short backstory; 2005 Dodge Ram 1500 Hemi 4x4 Quad Cab with 138,500 miles. I changed the oil 5 days ago.( I did notice a slight tapping/clacking sound after changing the oil last week when I drove the truck to the store. I thought nothing of it at the time.)

Anyway, I'm driving to work when a plastic bag got stuck to my antennae. I was tired of hearing the noise. So I pulled over to remove the bag. When I stopped, the bag flew off with the wind. Life was good and I went on my way. I drove on the shoulder to get up to highway speed. As the speed went up, so did the RPM's. That's when I heard this Loud Tapping noise. (It was not the infamous Hemi Tick.) It appears to be coming from the rear of the engine on the passenger side.
The faster I went , the louder it got. It got quieter when I let off the gas. I called a buddy to come with a trailer and tow me to his garage. I'm going to dig into to it tomorrow and Sunday if needed.
As soon as my buddy heard it, he said. "That's a valve problem, shut it off."
I have no problem tearing into this engine to fix the issue(s).

So, my question is:
1. If it's the exhaust bolt issue, will it make the same noises as a valve issue ?
2. Where should I start looking at ?
3. Anything else I should look into while I'm there ?
4. Should I be using a regular Oil or a Synthetic Oil ?

Any insight on this would be appreciated.

Thanks,
Greg

 

Exhaust bolt issue only causes a minor exhaust leak where the broken stud is. If you had an exhaust leak you would hear it only during a cold start and it would go away after you reach normal operating temperature, probably even sooner. You may still have a broken exhaust bolt but that is not the problem at hand. What oil did you use when you did your oil change? Did you look for any oil leaks? Is this the first time this has ever happened to you?

 

I used Castrol GTX 5W-20. Yes, this is the first time. It actually sounds like something is broke inside.

 

Well as long as you used 5W-20 then it should not be because you did an oil change. Well if it sounds that bad then just start by pulling off your valve covers and check to see if you threw a push-rod or bent one.

 

Did you have any check engine lights come on when all this was happening?

 

No, the engine light did not come on.

 

I did find this when I looked from under the front pass side.

 

Does it do it in park with engine running? If so does it change with engine RPM? If not when driving does it do it more with vehicle speed or engine RPM?

I don't think it is the exhaust manifold; your pictures could have been from my truck, even the same side and area. Mine does exactly what is described by itsuhemi.

 

It does it when you start it up and in idle. When the RPM's go up, the noise does too.
I pulled the vavle cover off today and gave it a look. I was running out of time late in the day so I will have to go back over everything tomorrow. I'm trying to set up a compression test on it also. I took a few pics with the cell phone. Not that you could really tell, but it was full of sludge too.

 

Looks like you need to replace your valve cover gaskets. If it was sludgy then you might want to switch over to a full synthetic oil. Mobil 1 or Royal Purple is your bet.
You should get a recording of your truck running before tearing it apart further.