Lots of Engine Noise (Hemi Tick?)

[JimmyP]

I've had this 2014 1500 Sport with the 5.7 for 6 months or so now and feel like I'm getting more engine noise than I should be. Learned about hemi tick and the Redline 10w40 5w30 through this forum and gave it a shot. It quieted the tick down a bit but it's definitely still noticeable. Hoping some of you sharp people could help me diagnose my engine noise issue(s). I'll link a video with audio from a few different angles (engine bay, wheel well, under the vehicle, in the cab parked idle and in the cab accelerating). Hopefully the audio quality is good enough.

2014 Ram 1500 Sport Engine Noise

2014 Ram 1500 Sport Engine Noise

youtu.be

The tick is noticeable in the cab and I feel like I hear it traveling up the steering column. Tick pace increases with revs and does not appear to go away after the engine warms up (so I assume it's not a manifold issue). I'm also a little surprised at how much noise I get when opening the hood...maybe that's completely normal though. Just feel like my Silverado was quieter. Any help would be greatly appreciated! It was just in the shop for a new evaporator and the "full multi point inspection" or whatever they did didn't mention any issues but just doesn't sound right.

 

[Burla]

Sounds like hemi lifter tick. How many miles on redline? Also, 10w40 is not known as a hemi tick formula, not saying it isn't, but it is not known and is not the formulas that we've tried and tested here. Next run I would try 5w30 redline and a royal purple filter for it's high flow. What I would do now is put a quart of 5w20 redline and even if you have to drain a little to get it a little thinner, and you want to be 1/2 quart over fill line on dip stick.

My truck is silent on 5w20, and 5w30 redline but ticks on 10w30 redline. There are reasons for it, but 5w30 is the absolute proven hemi tick killer if the tick is to be silenced with oil. Again, how many miles? My truck took 500 miles to go silent, other trucks over 1500 miles, it is the science of the oil. I would say, you tick isn't that bad, but it does sound like hemi tick. Let's work on killing it, and then consider doing a used oil analysis to set an interval and see the health of the engine.

Was that warm idle?

Next time you take a vid with audio please take it from underneath engine. But you did a good job on that. I have heard a lot worse hemi ticks, I'd put this in the mild catagory.

 

[Burla]

Check the bolts, but if you say redline 10w40 helped some, then it has lifter tick, maybe both, but lifter tick for sure if oil changes the characteristics.

 

[JimmyP]

Looks like I got some numbers confused. Looked up the receipt and it was the 5w30 Redline that I had put in there with the RP 20-820 filter. Pretty sure I stole that info from one of your posts Burla. It's been about 1400 miles since the oil change (87,800 to 89,200 or so). And yes, that was warm idle in the video.

 

[Treburkulosis]

Mine likes Edge and a Puraltor boss filter. It stopped mine. I added Lubeguard to mine as well. Yours may not like redline. I honestly don't know. Redline sure works for a lot of people. Edge was just ultimately what stopped mine. Before you change it dump seafoam in the crank case and drive it 100 miles. Dump it and try again.

 

[GTyankee]

Any audio from inside of a garage is going to reverberate off the walls & sound worse than it really is

 

[JimmyP]

I've seen some threads on the Seafoam so I'll have to go back and revisit them. Same with the oil thread...gotta find the oil that comes in 2nd for killing the tick. Or try the Edge next. Is that 5w30 too?

And in the interest of not dumping out perfectly good oil...will the tick eventually cause any kind of permanent damage?

 

[HEMIMANN]

Lifters might be too far gone. How long did it tick before switching to Red Line?

 

[JimmyP]

I bought it at 82k, so not exactly sure. It was there when I bought it, I just thought it was something with the engine fan...didn't know what hemi tick was. I have an extended warranty but I doubt they would cover any kind of lifter job. They only covered half of the evaporator costs...

 

[Burla]

I wouldn't dump 5w30 redline for edge, if edge works better it would be a fluke. If you research EP additives and base oils all you would be doing is using less of them, and since hemi tick is an Extreme Pressure condition, more would likely be better. You said it is better now yes? Like noticeably better then before? This would be the one time to dump a bottle of lubegard biotech with that redline 5w30, even add more EP additives. If you are right at the full line on the dip stick, go ahead and dump a 15 ounce size in and give it up to 500 miles.

So this has been an improvement so far yes? Give me a number if you can, what was the tick 1-10 before 5w30 redline and what would you say it is now 1-10?

 

[Burla]

So if you are considering edge, the formula would matter. Let me look into it, let me look into which edges ave the desirable specs. Would you mind trying 0w40? As far as damage, it is what it is, so if the damage is there it wont matter. but, we can do a uoa and that would hint how bad it is. We know what average hemi wear numbers are, if it is far north of that we could pretty much say how bad the issue is.

 

[Treburkulosis]

I've seen some threads on the Seafoam so I'll have to go back and revisit them. Same with the oil thread...gotta find the oil that comes in 2nd for killing the tick. Or try the Edge next. Is that 5w30 too?

And in the interest of not dumping out perfectly good oil...will the tick eventually cause any kind of permanent damage?

Mine was bought in 16 with 60k was noisy at the dealership. Didn’t know either about the tick. It was pretty new at the time. We had the synthetic thread and my vote was Mobil 1. Such a wrong choice for the Hemi. Mine got the tick fairly loud after that oil change. Wix filter was used. And yes 5w30 is all I have used. Seriously ran sea foam and then the edge with the boss filter and never another sound. That’s my story. I stick to it. I did add the lubeguard to my truck and it was starting kinda rough for an older engine and it made it sound like a new engine. It’s a good insurance for the Hemi. I’m at almost 140k and no signs of failure. Edge I like because it really comes out of the bottle thicker. It’s not thin like pennzoil which I know has become superior.

 

[Treburkulosis]

So if you are considering edge, the formula would matter. Let me look into it, let me look into which edges ave the desirable specs. Would you mind trying 0w40? As far as damage, it is what it is, so if the damage is there it wont matter. but, we can do a uoa and that would hint how bad it is. We know what average hemi wear numbers are, if it is far north of that we could pretty much say how bad the issue is.

This man knows his stuff. I’d trust the life of my Hemi on him. I’m just giving my experience. Edge is great stuff. Just make sure it meets your spec as it did change.

 

[Burla]

I don't see edge in 0w40, but the 5w30 carries dexos and states it is ms6395 which is hemi spec. It is similar to other shelf oils.

 

[huntergreen]

I bought it at 82k, so not exactly sure. It was there when I bought it, I just thought it was something with the engine fan...didn't know what hemi tick was. I have an extended warranty but I doubt they would cover any kind of lifter job. They only covered half of the evaporator costs...

why wouldn't the warrant y cover the entire cost ?

 

[Travis8352]

I don't see edge in 0w40, but the 5w30 carries dexos and states it is ms6395 which is hemi spec. It is similar to other shelf oils.

It might be in the edge euro section. Its at walmart i see it there

 

[JimmyP]

Burla I'd say the tick was 6/10 on the sound level and went down to 3/10 or 4/10...so roughly cut it in half. I've seen you mention that Lubeguard Biotech a few times so I'll definitely check it out and report back. If that doesn't help, sounds like seafoam and 0w40 is worth a shot.

Extended warranty only covered the cost of aftermarket parts and the average labor rates in a 20mi radius of the shop...I got OEM and labor done at a reputable dealership. Want to call them and get a breakdown on exactly what they covered, backup on labor rate, etc but don't know how successful that'll be.

 

[knightjp]

As someone who has experienced the horrible tick, I can tell you that just changing the oil does not completely resolve the issue. Even if it does, it will only be for a time and sooner or later, you will have to replace the lifters.
From my own thread (here), and the comments of @Burla in there, you will notice that my lifters were pretty gone and the biggest cause was using the wrong oil on my engine; specifically for the region that I am in.
Dubai's weather gets to about over +50.C sometimes in the Summer and running your engine and even though I was using Mopar oil for my changes, it was 5w20 and frankly the wrong one.
We often think that the manufacturer knows what is best, but in this case.. not.

We changed the lifters, checked the cam for damage and used Redline 5w30. I have been using it since and I'm pretty happy with it. Even my mechanic, who is more inclined to just use what the manufacturer specifies, was impressed with how smooth the engine sounds with Redline in it over just the regular Mopar oil.

 

[JimmyP]

Yeah definitely concerned that they could be past the point of fixing without a full overhaul. Going to try all the suggestions here first and save up...given my recent experience with my warranty company I'm gonna need to throw some cash in the pot. That is if they cover any of it at all...

 

[dakotanut]

That's nothing compared to mine. I have a very loud tick. I can hear it from my front door to my house.