In my opinion 10W-30 is perfectly fine oil... 5W-20 will get you maybe 1/2 more MPG out of the engine, which is the only reason it is specified by RAM... for increased mileage. If you are in HOT HOT Texas as your name implies I would go back to the 10W-30 personally. 10W oil will start a little thicker in the heat of the day when, according to many observers "It is said that 90 percent of engine wear occurs at startup. If we are interested in engine longevity then we should concentrate our attention at reducing engine wear at startup." The 30 part of the oil says the oil will be a little thicker after engine warm-up. I quote this info from Chap 1 and 2 at this site... https://www.bobistheoilguy.com/motor-oil-101/

I like the full synthetic... any brand will do for me personally. Like I said in previous post, take a 4 oz sample of oil and send it to the lab at Blackstone Labs. Go online and order a free test kit, then put it in the prepaid mailer they send you. In 7-10 days they will charge your credit card $28 and email your test results to you along with their commentary about what they found. Look for high levels of metals in your analysis.that tells you the cam lobes are being ground down like in the youtube video shows. I think the Lucas Oil stabilizer will not fix that noise. Again I point you to MotorKote Hyper lube, available at any national chain truck-stop or online. This stuff works; I have been using it for 20 years in all my engines. It is NOT an oil thickener like the LUCAS stabilizer, Check out this test result... https://motorkote.com/pages/test-results

Usually the rear Hemi manifold bolts break... it is a design flaw in this engine. Replacing all of them does not make them last longer, you just paid more to fix something that was not a problem. And if the new bolts were not OEM or were torqued down to incorrect specs, ( only your mechanic knows what bolts he used and if he torqued them correctly) then they will not do the job either and may strip out your aluminum heads creating another big problem. Only replace the broken ones... BUT the rear broken manifold bolt(s) noise DOES go away after a minute of running as the headers heat up and close the gap. This manifold noise is not really a mechanical tick, more like a high-pressure air leak. The tick that I hear, the intermittent one in your video needs some detective work using the stethoscope to try and isolate where the noise is coming from.

I like your persistence at trying to solve this mystery in your engine. I have a 2014 1500 5.7 with 84,000 miles right now. I am more afraid of the engine electronics going out and leaving me stranded then the cam/lifter problem the Hemi has. I had to junk a perfectly fine 2001 Dodge van, 5.9 engine after an intermittent electrical problem left me stranded 800 miles from home.

 

Thank you for that reply. Lots of good information and I may do what you suggested about testing the oil. There is a place here in Houston that does performance work on Dodge Hemi’s. I’m going to call them on Monday and talk to them. See what they say. Also if I can’t resolve this, at least to where I have some kind of peace of mind about driving this truck on long trips, I may sell it and get something else. My husband and I are going to retire in 2 years and move back to where I can from (Missouri). Until we retire we will be making trips up there. We are looking for property to buy and will be towing a UTV at times. I don’t want any issues on the road. Thanks again. I truly appreciate all the information. Will look into everything you suggested. 😁

 

I used the valvoline synth blend one time and noticed more engine noise than normal. I switched back to conventional valvoline and it quieted back to how it normally sounded. 2 cents.
Wes

 

Since my truck came from the factory with a synthetic blend, I kinda feel like I need to use either a synthetic blend or full synthetic. I didn’t know people used conventional oil if it came from the factory with a synthetic blend. But... maybe I’m wrong.

 

With the MDS and VVT, (and a few other acronyms.....) I think the PCM will be annoyed at the heavier weight oil........ and whine about it.

 

Pretty sure my 09 came with conventional 5-20 and have been using the valvoline ever since. I noticed more noise with the valvoline synthetic blend so I went back to the regular oil and It was quieter. I have ran mobile for years in previous vehicles. I wonder if I would hurt the Hemi going to a mobile 0-20.

 

Yeah maybe the 09’s came with conventional oil. My 2012 didn’t. When. I drove it off the lot they told me never run anything but synthetic blend. Then when o had 75-80k miles I called the dealer and asked them if running full synthetic would be okay. They said yes, since it had higher miles on it.

 

I know when I was running the 10w-30 oil, I took it to a place and they told me I had the wrong oil in it. I didn’t know the guy that had been changing my oil all along was using 10w-30 in it. I switched back to 5w-20 because that’s what the manufacturer said to run. Come to think of it, it was shortly there after I noticed ticking in the engine. HMMM. Interesting. I hadn’t thought of that until just now.

 

Maybe sounded internal. But hard to say. Get a long screw driver or something you can use like a stethoscope. Try to pinpoint where noise is emanating from.

 

So I drove the truck about 200 miles this weekend. The tick is still there. Also got a mechanics stethoscope and determined the noise is coming from the top of the motor. There is this one small silver box that is under the plastic piece on top of the engine. It almost looks like some kind of a module. My husband and I both have no idea what it is. But when we put the stethoscope on that metal box we could hear the ticking BIG TIME! I don’t even know how to explain where it is or what it is. My husband said the noise is definitely where the lifters would be. The box thing is hard to describe where it is.

We would put the stethoscope all over the engine and we could hear the ticking, but when it was put on that box thing, it was like the ticking was coming through the stethoscope right into our ears. When one of us got in the truck and stepped on the gas, the ticking would just be faster. I thought about taking a picture of it, but it was under the shroud thing on the top of the engine. Anyone have any idea what I’m trying to describe?

Tomorrow i I am going to call the place that does performance upgrades to vehicles. I want to see if they have any idea on what I can do to fix this or make it better. I’m also seriously thinking about getting rid of the truck and getting another truck. If I go that route, it sure won’t be anything with a Hemi. I actually saw one truck on line that is a RAM and it has a V6. It’s actually a Laramie model. Has 20,000miles on it.

Is there anything that I need to think about with getting a RAM V6 Flex Fuel. Are there engine issues with them? The Laramie I’m looking at is a 2017. I did a search but can’t find much on this forum about it. Isn’t that the Pentastar engine?