Avoiding the hemi tick?

There's been a ton of speculation....some claim insufficient oiling, some claim insufficient cam hardening, some say bad needle bearings in the lifter rollers. Of these, Dodge did revise the needle bearing design in 2017. It has not solved the problem, though maybe it reduced it some...

I'm going to add fuel to the fire and suggest lifter bore geometry issues, or incorrect valve lash at the factory. Yes, hydraulic lifters are pretty forgiving about incorrect lash, but even they have a limit.... knowing the build quality I wouldn't be surprised if that's the root issue.

I'm still amazed this issues exists and is allowed to continue. Wouldn't buy another Dodge...or whatever they have to rebrand it to by the time I'm looking...

I do a full synth oil change every 2500 - 3000 miles. I have 92k on my 2018 now and nary a sound.

dragrazor said:

View attachment 504225
First step to hopefully avoiding the hemi tick. Thanks to this site for all the great information.

Click to expand...

Might need to try that down the road. I’ve yet to get a tick and my 5.7 is at 189k miles but might be good for future proofing

SpaceRanger1 said:

Are these the replacement filters for the Fram 10060 series filters??

Click to expand...

In short they’re the filters that should provide better flow rate at the same level of filtration (% @ micron size) than 10060.

Check out the oil filter thread.

anchorsaweigh said:

I do a full synth oil change every 2500 - 3000 miles. I have 92k on my 2018 now and nary a sound.

Click to expand...

Amen. Thats what I said in my previous posts. Good oil combined with a good filter and a short run and dump. No noise. I only got noise when I let it run past that interval. Leaving the filter on and doing a dump and fresh oil fill, eliminated the valvetrain noise for another 2500-3000 miles. That eliminates the oil filter as the culprit. I still say it is the oil additives that have broken down and the longer the depleted oil stays in there, the more noise you hear. The more noise you hear, the more metal depletion you get.

Light299 said:

There's been a ton of speculation....some claim insufficient oiling, some claim insufficient cam hardening, some say bad needle bearings in the lifter rollers. Of these, Dodge did revise the needle bearing design in 2017. It has not solved the problem, though maybe it reduced it some...

I'm going to add fuel to the fire and suggest lifter bore geometry issues, or incorrect valve lash at the factory. Yes, hydraulic lifters are pretty forgiving about incorrect lash, but even they have a limit.... knowing the build quality I wouldn't be surprised if that's the root issue.

I'm still amazed this issues exists and is allowed to continue. Wouldn't buy another Dodge...or whatever they have to rebrand it to by the time I'm looking...

Click to expand...

There's also the theory of too light of valve spring,letting the lifter bounce.I don't know if you can pin it down to any one specific theory,or if it's a combination of all the theories combined that contribute to the issue

Wild one said:

There's also the theory of too light of valve spring,letting the lifter bounce.I don't know if you can pin it down to any one specific theory,or if it's a combination of all the theories combined that contribute to the issue

Click to expand...

This was my thought, so I’m making mods to it all. (Have a thread on it).

Maybe I’ll pull my cam and lifters in 100k to check as the Guinea pig.

Rayzaa said:

There is a YT video of a Hemi mechanic that says the reason for the lifters wearing out / the cams getting a flat spot is excessive idling. I get why you do it, its freaking cold. Just saying. And this is newer versions of the Hemi. Mine dont have the tick (3rd Gen)

Click to expand...

We have been using chargers with the 5.7 for years at my job. Some of the cars idle most of the day, depending on what the day has in store for us. We've never had an issue with hemi tick in these cars. They are the charger pursuit model, so I don't know if there are differences between the engines in these cars and those that are in our trucks. We are transitioning to hemi Durango's. I will be interested to see how those hold up with the excessive idling time.

mdc1990zr1 said:

Amen. Thats what I said in my previous posts. Good oil combined with a good filter and a short run and dump. No noise. I only got noise when I let it run past that interval. Leaving the filter on and doing a dump and fresh oil fill, eliminated the valvetrain noise for another 2500-3000 miles. That eliminates the oil filter as the culprit. I still say it is the oil additives that have broken down and the longer the depleted oil stays in there, the more noise you hear. The more noise you hear, the more metal depletion you get.

Click to expand...

Some engines are ticking even immediately after an oil change. If it was as simple as throwing away perfectly good oil every 3000 miles then we'd know about it by now. Nobody's truck that ticks, stops ticking after an oil change.

As for general valve train clatter, yes I'm with you there, fresh oil can make things a little more quiet. But different oil brands/formulas work much better, Redline for example has made my truck completely quiet throughout my 12,000 KM interval (about 7500 miles). Mobil 1 was pretty quiet for the first 1000 to 2000 kms but generally became louder at the end. So far the HPL I'm running is super quiet, either just as good or better than RL (hard to direct compare since I ran RL over a year ago, I do know the HPL is so completely buttery smooth right now, but it's only been 1000 KMs, so have to give it more time ).

Black1500Ram said:

Maybe I’ll pull my cam and lifters in 100k to check as the Guinea pig.

Click to expand...

Mine were fine at 100xxx even after 8 years of winter idling. Still tossed them in the trash since thats where MDS belongs

DILLIGAF said:

Mine were fine at 100xxx even after 8 years of winter idling. Still tossed them in the trash since thats where MDS belongs

View attachment 504657
View attachment 504658

Click to expand...

I meant since mine are toast now, to see if the changes I am making, have an effect on wear under similar circumstances. (Semi controlled experiment)

1979PowerWagon360 said:

And keep idle times low

Click to expand...

This might be the most important thing.

JerryETX said:

This might be the most important thing.

Click to expand...

In Canada and the Northern States where it can get down to -40 or colder,that's not gonna happen,lol.Once you get the damn thing started odds are you're going to leave it running,lol. As has been stated upping the idle rpm to 750/800 is one of the best things you can do to keep a Hemi's cam and lifters happy and alive.

Wild one said:

In Canada and the Northern States where it can get down to -40 or colder,that's not gonna happen,lol.Once you get the damn thing started odds are you're going to leave it running,lol. As has been stated upping the idle rpm to 750/800 is one of the best things you can do to keep a Hemi's cam and lifters happy and alive.

Click to expand...

Yeah that’s completely different than what we experience here in Texas. Here it’s a lot warmer and idling in warmer temps is harder on the engine in my opinion.

JerryETX said:

Yeah that’s completely different than what we experience here in Texas. Here it’s a lot warmer and idling in warmer temps is harder in the engine in my opinion.

Click to expand...

I won't disagree on that,as usually at -40 even if it's been idling for 24 hours the oil in the oilpan is still cooler then idling it at 100+F and oil pressures will be slightly higher because of it

Wild one said:

There's also the theory of too light of valve spring,letting the lifter bounce.I don't know if you can pin it down to any one specific theory,or if it's a combination of all the theories combined that contribute to the issue

Click to expand...

I think I have this when I do a cold start I hear what i call a tinny tick in a few of the lifters and possibly valve springs once it warmed up after 1to 2 minutes the noise is gone, warmed up idle no noise except the injector pulse.

ramffml said:

Some engines are ticking even immediately after an oil change. If it was as simple as throwing away perfectly good oil every 3000 miles then we'd know about it by now. Nobody's truck that ticks, stops ticking after an oil change.

As for general valve train clatter, yes I'm with you there, fresh oil can make things a little more quiet. But different oil brands/formulas work much better, Redline for example has made my truck completely quiet throughout my 12,000 KM interval (about 7500 miles). Mobil 1 was pretty quiet for the first 1000 to 2000 kms but generally became louder at the end. So far the HPL I'm running is super quiet, either just as good or better than RL (hard to direct compare since I ran RL over a year ago, I do know the HPL is so completely buttery smooth right now, but it's only been 1000 KMs, so have to give it more time ).

Click to expand...

Re-read my post. Then re-read your answer. Yes it is as simple as changing the oil. The recommended PUP, whether 5W20 or 5W30 made my Hemi have start-up tick for a few seconds at start-up in the morning when the oil approached 3000 miles. When I was a chemist out of college, we ran experiments with controls and documented the results and graphed them for ease of analyzing the data. When I leave all things constant, only changing the oil returned my valvetrain to quiet status again. It is the oil.
When I cut/mix my PUP with RedLine 5W20 or 5W30, I can easily keep my hemi quiet past the 3000 mile OCI. I have gone 4000 miles with that mix and kept a quiet Hemi. I am not throwing away perfectly good oil. It isn't working in my Hemi anymore. Maybe I can use it in my Lawn Boy, but its not doing its job in my Hemi.
If I use your suggested OCI of 7500 miles, my PUP filled Hemi would have started to tick somewhere around 2500 miles and I would have become part of the "ticking" Hemi club for the next 5000 miles till my computer told me to change my oil. After a few 7500 OCI like this, I believe it would have become a perpetual "ticking" Hemi.
Since you poked the bear, I think my ear is doing a better job of determining when my oil needs to be changed better than the computer in my truck. The noise you hear is mostly, if not all metal on metal. After a few long OCI intervals, metal will wear and tolerances will increase. This is why, I believe, some oils will quiet/mask a noisy Hemi, but the metal depletion is irreversible.

Well, if you didn't watch the video to be clear, he did state that after thousands of those engines being sold the percentage of problems was small .
He is very informative if you watch a couple of those vids. He had worked of those engines for a decade.

I just put Pennzoil Platinum full synthetic 5w30, Lubegrard Biotech & XG2 filter on mine. Hoping it does well.

Avoiding the HEMI tick? ... hopefully.

Red Line 5w/30 and a Royal Purple 20-820 oil filter is my strategy and hopefully will keep the possibility of the cam/lifters from imploding in my 2017 HEMI.

I'm prepared for the next and upcoming oil/filter change. I'm currently on my second run using this oil/filter combo and am happy with the results.