So now that I know the noise (ticking) I'm hearing is coming from the #1 and #3 cylinders, can I just replace the lifters or do I also need to replace the cams as well? I'm sure it probably depends on if the cam has been damaged and I won't know that until they go in and see what's going on. But, since I don't have lifter failure (yet) and I'm not getting any codes and the engine light isn't on, I don't think there is a lot of damage done at this point. What are the chances of the cam being damaged if the lifters are just making noise?

I've toyed with getting rid of the truck, but I really love my truck. Just not the ticking noise. So what I'm trying to decide is if I keep it, I want to fix the issue with the lifter noise. I don't really want to sink a bunch of money into the truck, but at the same time, I do want to fix it. Is there a better lifter out there rather than what you get from the factory and if there is, I would assume other things need to be upgraded to match an after market lifter. I have no idea what all is involved. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

 

With the hemi camshaft history I would definitely be replacing camshaft. A new Cam gear bolt is a must here as well.
Lifters ...there are some high performance lifters available which have larger roller bearings. I believe they use these in the hp hemis like in the hellcat. I dont know if they will easily interchange without additional parts.
It is always a toss up when you have an engine torn down on how far to go.
In your other thread I mentioned the parts I changed because "we were there".
Camshaft and bolt
lifters
Oil pump
timing chain
gaskets


If your going to sell or trade in your truck how much can you get with it making engine noise? How much could you get with no engine noise? Is it worth it to fix it and drive for possibly many more years? Or would you rather buy another vehicle ? Good luck

 

This whole thing is a crap shoot. Kinda like playing the lottery. But after going back and forth about selling it and getting back into payments.....At this point in time, I'm going to proceed with fixing it. My step dad, my brother, nd I all have Dodge trucks with the Hemi 5.7. Mine is a 2012, my step dad's is a 2013, and my brother has a 2016 (I think). My brother has had 3 dodge trucks. His first one was a 2003 and he told me it had 167k miles on it when someone hit him and totaled the truck. My husband actually has a 2009 Ram with the 6 cyclinder. His truck right now has 165k on it and is running great. He bought his truck before we got married and he loves his 6 cylinder.

I do believe that over all the Hemi engines are good engines. Just wish Dodge would resolve this Hemi tick thing. And after really researching this whole ting with my truck, I'm not so sure mine is the "Hemi Tick" that Dodge says is normal. For me, if the "Hemi Tick" was normal, then to me every truck coming off the showroom floor should have it. Not just some of them. My truck didn't have the ticking until this past year and I've had it almost 7 years. Anyhow...bottom line, I have an issue now with lifters. Or at least it appears that it's lifters. My mechanic yesterday (after I told them they needed to locate where the noise was coming from), went over the engine with the mechanic's stethoscope and figured out the noise was most prevalent in cylinder 1 and 3. They said all the other cylinders sounded great and didn't have any noises coming from them.

I'm also debating where to take the truck and have all this work done. I could go to the dealer, but I'm not so sure they wouldn't try to screw me over and have me do more than I need to. My mechanic.. I don't trust to do it because he's just an arrogant jerk sometimes. It took me 5 months to get him to even check the manifold bolts when they were broken. I kept telling him I thought it was the manifold bolts. He kept telling me no, it's lifters and that's normal for the hemi. Finally when he decided he would check the bolts, he acted like he was the one that figured it out.

If I go with aftermarket stuff, then I would assume I would need other things to make the aftermarket stuff work with the factory stuff. There is a place here in Houston that will replace the lifters with Non MDS lifters. They replace quite a few things as well at the time. Then they dyno-tune it all. Think the cost is around $4500 to do that. I tried to call them yesterday, and had to leave a message. No one called me back.

I'm also thinking about adding a cold air intake to it and doing some kind of exhaust as well. My husband said he can do the cold air intake and exhaust. Then I have to figure out what cold air system to get and what exhaust. I don't want it to be super loud, but I would like a little bit of a rumble when I'm driving it. I'm kinda thinking of the Borla Touring exhaust.

Wish there was some kind of a club or something in Houston that I could join and talk to people about what worked and doesn't work for them. If anyone here is in Houston and knows a place that could do the work on my truck, that would be great!

Until I figure out where to take the truck to get all this done, we are going to change the oil. Put Royal Purple 5w-30 in it with the Lucas Oil Treatment. Just to see if it quiets the noise down a bit. We are also going on a trip to MO next month (750 miles one way) . I would really like to get it all fixed before we go, but I doubt that happens. Hopefully driving it for a while longer won't do any more damage to it. I know I can't wait too long. Hoping to at least have it all fixed no later than November.

 

Aftermarket 'stock' parts can actually be better design than the factory stuff. You can get better quality lifters, to go with your new cam, and not have to worry about that issue ever again. AND you can keep the MDS.......

CAI is pretty much a waste of money. The truck is already drawing cold air with the stock system. You might get a bit better airflow with a CAI, but, that will only benefit you in the upper RPM range, where your truck spends very little time. Spend the money on something else. (like headers, and a custom exhaust. )

 

Well, now I'm not so sure about replacing anything on the truck. I went by and talked to a guy that used to work on my vehicles for years. He retired a few years back and sold his shop to the guy I've been using lately (whom I don't really care for at all). Anyhow, my old friend, told me that if it were him, he would not do the lifters or cam. He said in his 40 years of working on vehicles (all makes and models) listening to the sound my truck is making....there is no way to tell exactly where it's coming from. He said he would hate to see me spend thousands of dollars on lifters and a cam only to find out that it was piston slap or something deeper in the engine. He said that the only true way to know exactly what is going on is to completely tear the whole engine down and look everything over. He also said, that all these new vehicles come out wanting you to use synthetic or a synthetic blend oil (5w-20). He said its way to thin. Especially when the engine has as many miles on it that mine has (107,900 miles). Everything he said made perfect sense to me. He listened to my truck and looked at what the oil pressure was reading when it was idling. He was wanting to make sure the oil pressure was good and pumping the oil the way it should. It was perfect! We let my truck run for about 30 minutes. The longer it ran, the louder the noise got. The noise is the loudest when you put your head by the front tire in the tire well. You can hear it slightly from the top of the engine. He said that just because they used the stethoscope and could hear it from the top of the engine doesn't necessarily mean the issue is coming from the top of the engine. He said the noise could in fact be coming from the bottom of the engine and just resinating to the top of the engine. Since we can hear it louder at the bottom of the engine, he said he thinks it's possible that the issue may be deeper in the engine. His suggestion was to put 20w-50 Valvoline racing oil in it.. He said it has zinc in it and its perfect for metal rubbing against metal to lubricate the internal parts. He also said that when I bought my truck new, everything was tighter. Now that it's older, the parts have worn down and there is more space between the moving parts which would mean I need a thicker oil to lubricate the parts better. He said the zinc in the racing oil is what I need to lubricate those moving parts. Made sense to me.

I questioned him on the MDS and running that thick of oil with the MDS. He said it won't hurt it. He said since we live in Houston and it gets so hot down here, it's not too thick for my engine. He said if I lived up North where it's cooler, he said it would NOT be good to run that thick of oil. I was concerned that it might throw something off in the computer with the MDS. He said it shouldn't hurt it at all. He said he runs this oil in everything he has. He has a Nissan Maxima which is a 2015 or 2016. He bought it new and he said when he got it, he immediately put the 20w-50 racing oil in it as soon as he brought it home. He says his Maxima also says to run synthetic blend 5w-20 and he's never had issues with the 20w-50. He said he even runs the same oil in his riding mower.

He told me to try it and if the noise went away, then it would mean the noise I'm hearing is in fact the lifters. He also said, if the noise goes away, he would just drive it because if the noise goes away and it is the lifters, it just means they aren't getting lubricated enough and are making noise. He said if it doesn't go away or gets worse, then it's deeper into the engine. . After talking with him, I am going to try the thicker oil. I will say that with my truck, the noise I'm hearing is much worse since I had them de-sludge it. He also told me if it were him, he would take it to the dealer and let them tell me what they think it is. He said they deal with these trucks every day and have records of other trucks that are doing the same thing mine is, which would mean they could probably give me a more accurate diagnosis as to what is really going on with the truck. Running the heavier weight oil, does make me a bit nervous as I don't want to do anything that would damage the truck. But I do trust him because he has a lot of knowledge on working on vehicles. My dad, brother and I used to always have him work on our vehicles for years and years. Never once has he ever given us any bad information or advice on our vehicles. So for now....I think I will try the heavier weight oil and see what happens.

 

Hi,

Can you share your experience when you put heavier oil? I have 2016 dodge grand caravan with a 3.6 pentastar engine and 92K miles on it. This ticking sound is very annoying and drives me crazy. The mechanic suggested me use 5-30 instead of 5-20. I did that but nothing has changed. I also live in the south (Louisiana) where we have hot weather. I wonder heavier oil than 5-30 or 10-30 would work.
Btw I used several oil additives which were suggested on youtube such as rislone or lucas oil stabilzer. They didn't work either.

Anyway, all the best

 

I did try the 20W-50 havoline racing oil. With my RAM, I had the 5.7 Hemi. It didn’t help the ticking at all. Since you have the 3.7, I don’t know if it will help or not. Personally I think if the thicker oil and oil treatments don’t help, it has to be something major going on in the engine. The only way to know what it is would be to tear the engine down and look. I didn’t want to go to that expense on a vehicle that was as old as mine was. Engines should last at least 150k if you change oil regularly. Which I did. Never went over 4500 between oil changes. Maybe it’s the luck of the draw for some. I don’t know. For me, I got rid of my RAM. Hated to do it because I bought it bran new. Loved the truck. Just hated the issues with the Hemi.

 

Replace the cam, timing set, bolts and lifters. Go with a set of Melling lifters.

https://www.jegs.com/webapp/wcs/stor...ersistYmm=true

 

Thanks for the prompt reply.

Best,

 

I actually took it to a Dodge Dealer and traded it. Yes it was making the ticking noise. They gave me a good price for the trade. They said nothing about the ticking. Neither did I. I figured if any dealer would know about the hemi engine and the issues they have....it should be Dodge. My RAM only had 108k miles on it. In my humble opinion, 108k miles on a vehicle that was well maintained, should last longer than that. I ended up trading the RAM for a Tundra (2015) with 38k miles on it. We have 3 guys that work for us and they all have toyota trucks. One has a 2004 tacoma (4 cylinder) with 230k miles on it. It's still running great. The other two guys have tundra's. One with a 6 cylinder and he has 183k miles on his. It's a 2008. He says he got it when it was newer and has never done anything other than regular maintenance and changed an alternator at 78k miles. The last guy has a tundra (5.7 V-8) It's a 2013 and he has 180k on his. He says he's never had any trouble with it. So...for me I decided to buy a Toyota only because they seem to last longer than the RAM. My step dad also has a Ram. His is a 2013 and he recently replaced the exhaust manifold bolts on his. RAM trucks are awesome trucks. I absolutely hated to get rid of my truck. I bought it bran new and took very good care of it. In fact, I could probably kick myself because I got 13,500 on the trade. Then 3 days later the dealer had my RAM up for sale priced at 19,700. Then about 4 days after that, it wasn't on their website anymore. So I assume they sold it. I doubt very seriously they sold it for their asking price. But bottom line, if they sold it, they sold it with the tick.

After I did the trade (13,500) , and with the amount of money I was looking at putting into the RAM to fix it (8300), I'm much better off doing the trade in my humble opinion. Have a truck almost paid for with low miles. Still miss my RAM. But not the issues with the hemi. I wish Dodge would resolve the Hemi tick and exhaust manifold bolts issues as well. If they would resolve it, I might consider buying another Dodge. But not until they resolve the issues. I know the hemi tick is "normal" according to alot of people. But for me, if it was a normal noise and something that wasn't serious, then why don't all of them come off the showroom floors with the hemi ticking? Mine never had it until it hit 100k miles. So in my mind, something changed in the engine and whatever that was.....needed to be fixed. And it wasn't going to be a cheap fix. It was going to cost a lot of money. I just don't believe it was just a normal noise. If it was, it would of been there from day one. Just my .02