I became a new and first time owner of a dodge vehicle 2 days ago, I traded my car for a 2002 Dodge Stratus R/T Coupe with the 3.0 and 5-Speed. The body has 187k on it and looks great for that many miles. THe motor the guy said he and his dad replaced not too long ago and has 126k on it. I drove 3 hours to meet him and he drove around 1-2. The car made around a 5 hour highway trip that day. It runs great, sounds amazing. I made it home and let it sit for about and hour or two. I got in it to go grab some taco bell, I start it up and I hear this loud ticking/tapping, I pop the hood and it's coming from the passenger side, very top, cant tell under which valve cover though its so close together. I drove off and it went away. I remember the guy saying it was probably due for an oil change, but the oil looked very clean and not low.

Next morning I leave for town, start it up and its doing it again. I drive into town to my father in laws store to have him listen to it. I shut it off, he comes out, when I start it up it sounds perfect. Not an odd noise to it. The rest of the day I tested it, it only occurs when the car has cooled off and you start it up. If you let it warm up while its making the sound, shut the car off for a minute or two, start it up, it's gone. I changed the oil yesterday and had a quart of lucas put in at the valvoline instant oil change. Oil today looks as clean as out of the bottle, under the oil fill cap everything looks really clean and definitely getting oil in that head. It sat for 3-4 hours last night while I was at my parents, started it up, as usual loud tapping/ticking, drove all highway around 10 miles to my house, Stopped at a light before my turn to go down my road and it finally had stopped.

Here is a video I found of what looks to be the exact engine and sounds Exactly like my sound, only mine seems louder.


Any ideas? Stuck lifter or clogged lifter? I'm hoping I can drive it some more and if it is clogged the fresh oil will clean it out. But like I said the car runs and drives great and very strong. Any recalls or TSB's for this possibly? I appreciate any help. It's got me worried to death. CEL is on but codes are for O2 sensor and EGR, the EGR was replaced like last week by PO.

 

I had the same exact issue with my 04 Dodge Stratus 3.0L. Mine was a sticky lifter. I went to Oreilly's Auto parts (I know advance auto parts has it also) and bought Seafoam. It will be in the same section as the fuel injectors. This stuff is amazing. You pour half a bottle into your oil crankshaft 100-200 miles before your next oil change. It took care if the issue and haven't had it since. I use seafoam every 3 oil changes. Let me know if this helps.

 

And it sounded just like that? I thought about putting some in but figured I would try just a fresh change and a quart of lucas and run clean oil through it and see if it works it out. Do you do it before the oil change and run it for a while then change it? I've never actually used seafoam yet. But if this worked for you I definitely want to try it. It's kind of embarrassing to drive it with how loud it can be.

 

My sounded just like. It sounded like it was coming from underneath my intake manifold. clean oil wont hurt it. I did that same thing, I put new oil in,and a quart of lucas and it made it quieter but I still had that obnoxious noise. My brother works at an auto parts store and he suggested Seafoam. He said that Lucas is more of a lubricant and Seafoam is more like a cleaner. Thats the way my brother explained it to me anyway. Yes you but seafoam in 100-200 miles before your next oil change. Im not going to lie I ran it through my system for a good 400 miles. I have not had a problem since. I use it every three oil changes, as a preventative measure, just in case

 

Awesome, I'll have to try it soon. I want to wait but I dont at the same time. And that's exactly where mine sounded like it was coming from. This morning my neighbor even came out and helped me by throttling it a little while I listened and It was so hard to distinct it between left or right and almost sounded like it was right under the intake, but definitely right there at the front of the engine. I love this car so far, its out drying from having the carpets cleaned all the way around. It sounds wayyy too good for it to be something major when it isnt ticking. Thanks a bunch for the help. Puts me at ease. Haha. I've traded up car after car with problems and I think this is the car that i've been looking for the whole time. So I believe if I work out the tick this car will be with me for a while.