The Tick

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njeffries80

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I am A new Ram owner, I have a few concerns about this ticking sound coming from the motor. I bought the truck used from Hendrick Dodge with 95,000 miles. I noticed the ticking sound the second day and said something about it. Before even looking at MY truck The sales man said that is normal. He (the sales man) said that every dodge truck on the lot would do that. I have talked to a few people and they say their trucks never do that. Can the ticking sound go away or sound I push the issue and have Hendrick look at My truck, I love my beautiful truck and have worked hard and long to have something this nice.
 

Burla

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Two causes for the tick, you need to rule out exhaust bolts. If not exhaust bolts it is likely lifter related, high moly oil has proven to be pretty effective. Do me a favor and use the search feature for Hemi Tick in titles only, there are a million threads on it. If you have questions past that, shoot me a pm. Common issue, but many of us fix it. GL

Never make an argument and say, "the sales man said."
 

HammerHead

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I am A new Ram owner, I have a few concerns about this ticking sound coming from the motor. I bought the truck used from Hendrick Dodge with 95,000 miles. I noticed the ticking sound the second day and said something about it. Before even looking at MY truck The sales man said that is normal. He (the sales man) said that every dodge truck on the lot would do that. I have talked to a few people and they say their trucks never do that. Can the ticking sound go away or sound I push the issue and have Hendrick look at My truck, I love my beautiful truck and have worked hard and long to have something this nice.

Welcome to the forum :favorites13:
As stated there are two possible issues, one would be a broken exhaust manifold bolt that is Very VERY common. I just replaced a broken bolt a few weeks ago. The broken bolt is Very noticeable when starting the truck in the morning on a cold motor, very loud ticking / clapping noise but goes away after it warms up. Second would be the even more common tick related to lifters, dident necessarily mean anything is wrong. My Hemi has been ticking for years as most Hemi owners. Only know fix is a good quality full synthetic oil with a high Molly count. Redline oil is the one that gets the credit.
 

huntergreen

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I am A new Ram owner, I have a few concerns about this ticking sound coming from the motor. I bought the truck used from Hendrick Dodge with 95,000 miles. I noticed the ticking sound the second day and said something about it. Before even looking at MY truck The sales man said that is normal. He (the sales man) said that every dodge truck on the lot would do that. I have talked to a few people and they say their trucks never do that. Can the ticking sound go away or sound I push the issue and have Hendrick look at My truck, I love my beautiful truck and have worked hard and long to have something this nice.

Did you listen to other trucks with salesman ? Checkout The synthetic oil thread. You will learn about the tick and oils that quite it.
 

R.L.K.

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I agree with all the responses to the original post 100%

Most exhaust manifold bolts break between 40 & 80 k so it's a good chance this is your issue ...either way I'd be pouring in a high Molybdenum oil and a quality 100% synthetic media filter soon , even if the dealer just changed the oil because some dealers are using junk bulk oil that is not doing anyone any favors .
GL

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dstryr

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Have you guys found the tick to come on suddenly? My daughter said she reached in to start it without getting into the seat and as she turned to pick something up it lurched back 4-6" and the knock started immediately. It now has the consistent tick I hear on the youtube vids but also an occasional high and low pitch knock which comes and goes and seems to not want to down shift on grades where it needs a little more rpm to maintain speed. Prior to this problem starting the truck had exhaust manifolds and bolts replaced under warranty at around 98,000 miles-last December- and it just turned over past 112,000 miles. It is not the manifolds again. btw, '13 Ram with 5.7.
 

Burla

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The truck lurched back with an auto transmission?

But yes the tick can come up out of nowhere. Maybe download video/audio, you could have two things going on here.
 

dstryr

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On the truck moving, she swears it did and takes great care of my stuff, her car, her horses and dogs.. can't even imagine she'd not tell me if she had a little mishap and since its got 112,000 miles and has Never done anything like that to me... well, I can't begin to try and explain or guess what may have happened.

Now, to the tick, here's a youtube clip from yesterday afternoon

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yCGgc6DJ8HA

In the last couple of weeks I've heard what sounded to me like coolant flashing while idling a couple of times, and having had vehicles that have done that it didn't seem strange other than it was strange that it happened in my truck for the first time.

While this tick is going on I will also hear random high and low pings, like something is hitting the block on the low tone and then hitting something lighter on the higher tone, they happen at the same time, either I hear a random cyclical high high low high low low high about 1/2 second apart, or it doesn't happen at all.
 

sticknstring

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On the truck moving, she swears it did and takes great care of my stuff, her car, her horses and dogs.. can't even imagine she'd not tell me if she had a little mishap and since its got 112,000 miles and has Never done anything like that to me... well, I can't begin to try and explain or guess what may have happened.



Now, to the tick, here's a youtube clip from yesterday afternoon



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yCGgc6DJ8HA



In the last couple of weeks I've heard what sounded to me like coolant flashing while idling a couple of times, and having had vehicles that have done that it didn't seem strange other than it was strange that it happened in my truck for the first time.



While this tick is going on I will also hear random high and low pings, like something is hitting the block on the low tone and then hitting something lighter on the higher tone, they happen at the same time, either I hear a random cyclical high high low high low low high about 1/2 second apart, or it doesn't happen at all.



I'm not a professional but that sounds louder than any of the others I've heard.


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dstryr

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Yep, it went from zero to that in one startup and based on the youtube vids I've seen I'm just a little worried because it is so much louder. Now waiting for my mechanic to call. Honest, its never been low on oil or coolant. I wouldn't waste your guys time if I effed it up on my own! lol
 

Burla

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That is standard Hemi tick, you still have to see if it's exhaust bolt or lifters. If it is lifters try 5w30 Redline and a synthetic filter like Royal Purple. Redline has highest amount of moly, read here. This is a cheap way to see if you can avoid paying to change lifters. If that is lifters, everyday you ignore it it creating higher pressures below the lifters in the cam lobs. It can take 1,000 miles for moly to plate.
 

Burla

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Coolant flashing? Is your coolant level getting low? Do you smell sweet? Any leaks? If not, I wouldn't worry.
 

dstryr

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The coolant is full to the radiator cap and the level on the white dipstick in the radiator is good. I've added some but not even a gallon in the 4-1/2 years since I bought the truck.
 

dstryr

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This morning I ordered 2 gallons of Redline 5w30 syn and an RP 10-48 filter on Amazon and will have it Thursday morning. I'll let you know how it works after the weekend.

Edit:

my mechanic called and said definitely a lifter. They added a can of seafoam which he thought helped a little but not much. How does it go from no noise to hammering like this in one day?

Edit: #2

So I walked in and started to write out a check to my mechanic and he said stop right there. I looked at him and he shook his head like 'don't do it'...
He doesn't do internal engine work but most work is pretty straight forward brake work, water pumps, fuel injectors, coils, alternators, scan codes and diagnose and fix anyway... so no big deal. He said he didn't want to add insult to my injury, expecting I'll have to get the engine opened up at another shop that does that kind of work. I've been using him for 7 years, nothing but the highest integrity.
 

Ramnewbie

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This maybe completely off base but has anyone ever had a flex plate crack? With the mentioned transmission shifting issues I'm wondering If torque converter messed up and cracked flex plate.

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Ramnewbie

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I'm new to hemi's and as far as I know have never heard the dreaded hemi tick, but that sounds really solid and loud to be a lifter. Brings back memories of when my daughter's Audi had a cracked flex plate. Before just jumping in and tearing stuff apart I isolated the sound by turning engine over by hand and could actually hear it snap on every rotation. Like I said, could be completely wrong but that sound just drove chills up my back.

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dstryr

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I changed oil this afternoon to Redline and replaced the filter with a 10-48 RP and went for a quick drive, maybe 4 miles, and the last 1/4 mile under acceleration a new sound came along, or maybe just a momentary worse sound than the tick. Super loud ticking for a moment and then back to the 'normal' tick.

Okay, Burla, or whomever has experience, what is happening to the lifters? Do they collapse or stick? If they stick, what does that mean??

I am more familiar with flat tappet stuff and don't understand what's actually going on with this yet.
 

Burla

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I have had that as well with redline right after the change, but that went away just after the one time just like you did. Whatever is causing lifters if you want to call it "sticking", they are not lifting smoothly and pressures are created below the lifter. The cam lob hits the roller, and in regular lifters they lift smooth and sweet, but in some of our Hemi's there is serious resistance. let us know if that happens again, now go the 500 miles and let's see. Just try and forget about it, before you know it the tick will hopefully disappear.
 

dstryr

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this is 'worse', from inside the truck and windows up.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q6QPGBibP_E

Thank you, Burla... I'm going to rent a pickup if I can find one tomorrow morning. I have 100 miles with a horse and trailer to drive by 1pm and can not break down with an animal in tow.
 

Burla

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What the hell is that? That happened just after an oil change? Are you oil pressures around 50-60psi?

Can you record that noise from under the hood?
 
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