Hello, I am new to these forums and I have had this 2003 Dodge Ram 1500 5.7 8 cylinder for a number of years and this truck has been very reliable and always ran very smooth and currently has 232,500 miles on the odometer. Recently when I was doing an oil change on the truck I noticed this noise when I first started it up, I wouldn't say it's a tick or a knock but it's more of a rattling noise? The noise doesn't immediately start as soon as the engine is running but comes about after about 5 seconds of idling, and then goes away after idling for about 30 seconds and then the engine is running perfectly normal, however sometimes this noise can go on for as long as a minute or two. If I rev up the engine a little bit the noise will speed up with the engine RPMS, and when I let off it'll go away for a few seconds and then slowly come back, and go away as usual after it's idled and warmed up for a little bit. I've checked oil levels over and over and confirmed that oil levels are good, and I keep up with oil changes every 3,000 to 3,500 miles. The noise is rather loud sometimes when it is going on and you can sometimes even hear it standing several feet away from the truck, but you can really hear it by ducking down by the front tires on either side of the truck. I wasn't sure if I was crazy but I confirmed with some family members that they do indeed hear it as well when it is happening. Hoping to get some clues as to what it might be, thanks everyone.

I grabbed a video of it on my phone but I'm not sure how to share it, sorry!

 

From your description it sounds to me like lifters. Review some videos on Hemi lifter noise and see if that's what you're hearing.

 

Agreed. Hydraulic lifters tend to bleed down and lose prime, then clatter before they prime up again. They tend to chatter right at startup though, then go silent after a minute or two. You might have a lifter with a more severe issue. I had one freeze up on me and eject the rocker in my 4.7L last year. Well they all had over 300K on them, so I went ahead and replaced them all.

Post the video on youtube, then paste the link here.

 

I managed to grab a video of it this morning. It wasn't particularly loud this morning but it does exactly how I described it before: Quiet first 5 or so seconds, noise starts, then goes away after idling for about a minute. Here:
I got a video of it last night as well and it's much louder then, but the video is just pitch black, sorry!
Seems like I got a lifter job on my hands then, perhaps? From what I've seen people describe and showing for failing lifters in these 5.7 V8's, it's more of a ticking sound, I'm not 100% sure if that's what mine sounds like? Although my hearing sucks...

Thanks!

 

Rumbles nice.

Yep, that's sounds like lifter tick.

 

You asked about having a lifter job on your hands. The way I would handle this:
- Try to isolate the noise. Which side and cylinder is it coming from? A two foot length of garden hose with one end to your ear and other to valve cover is one way.
- Add some oil stabilizer and see if that helps. Liqui Moly has an additive especially for lifter noise.
- Hopefully this will clean your lifter bores and the noise will go away. If not, I would remove the valve cover and take a look at general cleanliness of the head, and condition of valve springs.
- Wiggle the rockers by hand to see if they have lash
- Rotate the engine by hand and observe travel of the valves and see if one valve is not moving as far as the others. That'll be the bad one, then you'll need to determine if it's lifter or cam lobe.
But I'm getting ahead. Let us know what you decide to do next and what happens.

 

Thanks HeyYou, and thank you for the advice jrsick!

I've started running Redline 5w-30 oil a couple changes ago because I heard it was one of the best oils you can run for this motor, and that it has a high moly content, do you think a Liqui Moly additive would help at that point? I like to run a little Marvel Mystery Oil in the crank case every other oil change and in the fuel, I could give the Liqui Moly a shot. This truck used to belong to my late stepfather who replaced all of the valve springs around 198k miles, so they should still be good? Can't hurt to pop off the valve cover and take a look at the components I suppose. If one lifter is going bad I'd like to replace all of them given the mileage on them, if I were to do that would I need to replace the camshaft as well? How would I determine if it's a lifter or a cam lobe or both beginning to go? I'm planning on keeping this truck for as long as I can, and I would like to do a good job right in order to fix any issues. Thanks guys!

 

I don't think you can even SEE the cam, until you have the lifters out of the way, and rumor has it, to change the lifters, you need to pull the heads..... (**** poor design so far as I am concerned....) You could measure rocker movement on all the valves. Time consuming, but, would give you a good idea of which cylinders are the problem. But, I think to see if it's *just* lifters, or the cam, you would need to pull the lifters to see.

 

So it's gonna be a pretty decently big undertaking, pretty much stripping the engine down to the head surface. What is everything I'll possibly be needing? Head gasket, all the lifters, valve cover gaskets, plenum gaskets, potentially a cam if the cam seems to be worn, etc. I appreciate all the knowledge and tips and info, I wasn't expecting to get this positive of a response so quickly from this forum to some noobie like me. Thanks guys!

 

I recommend you check all around the exhaust manifold for leaks. Exhaust leak can cause ticking also. Your engine doesn't sound terrible to me but I'm not there and you are certainly better judge. You don't have a misfire light so that is a good sign.
You may also want to send your used oil out for analysis. That will give you good indication of abnormal wear in the cam or lifters.
But to add to your list of things you need; timing cover gasket, and, front main seal if you're going to replace that. New exhaust bolts. Assembly lube and maybe break in oil additive if required. New spark plugs, and you might as well replace the radiator hoses since you'll have the rad off. Cleaner/cleaning tool for cleaning valve area and top of pistons.
Look into upgraded lifters, I've heard the SRT lifters drop right in and eliminate hemi tick.