2012 Ram (1500 5.7 with MDS, 107k miles) Crank, Cam, and other questions

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Brent Perry

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Ram Year
2012
Engine
5.7
Hello, hopefully this post has enough info to answer a few questions I have.

Background; the vehicle is new to me and had a severe 'tick' when purchased (single tick at engine speed, same tune at all temps and all rpm ranges). Figured I might get away with just a simple exhaust manifold bolt change as the shields on both driver and passenger sides were loose. Four of the exhaust manifold bolts were found to be cracked and all bolts were replaced (loud tick continued). Checked flex plate, not cracked and tight. Compression test and oil pressure checks good. Decided to pull the motor and dive deeper.

Cam and lifters show wear/marring, but not to the extent that I have seen on other posts, nor to the extent that I would consider to make that loud of a tick. I found the cam measured .030 max end play before removal (supposed to be .001-.003), but all bearings and surfaces check good (I don't understand the reason for such large endplay). One of the cam lobes (the worst being shown) is slightly grooved. A few of the rollers show marring, but all rotate and appear to have no unusual play. I am replacing the cam and lifters, but my main concern is that after reassembly the tick will still be present (again this is not an injector tick, this can be heard 20 yards away). What am I missing, other than hands on or visual experience?

On further inspectionCrank: I believe this tab (circled in red) on the #3 main, to be the thrust bearing. I can wiggle it up/down (head to pan) about 1/32nd of an inch, moves freely enough to make a slight tick sound. It has no fwd/aft movement. Wanted to know if I have correctly identified this part, and should it be moving/moveable?
 

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Burla

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2010 Hemi Reg Cab 4x4
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Hemi
If it ticks and you have done your best, read the lubrication strategies threads below and filter thread, it is science based and is 80% successful at dealing with hemi tick. One nugget in this thread is a metallurgy test that proves it is not a metal quality thing but rather a lubrication thing. Some oils and additives are loaded with extreme pressure additives and base oils, as it turns out this will provide the protection needed to stop tick or reduce it significantly, it kills more ticks then not. These features allow an oil to provide a lower coefficient of friction without traditional oil flow. It seams like common sense if there was enough oil flowing through the cam and lifters that tick wouldnt be happening. But it took the work of this forum over a decade to prove that you can actually effect the friction on the cam and lifters without increasing the oil flow, but rather use these base oils and EP additives that keep the metal sliding like it should. It isnt 100%, but pretty damn close and impressive if you ask me, and all it takes is a simple oil and filter change.
 
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Brent Perry

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I wanted to follow up on this post as I was worried about the “tick” remaining after reassembly; my inspection had found minor wear on the cam lobes and no significant lifter/roller issues.

In summary… I replaced the cam & lifters (both showed marring and one lobe with minor grooving (0.011), I say minor based on what I have seen in other posts. Anyways… I also found that 3 of the intake and 2 exhaust pushrods were extremely worn, the worst being 0.128 inch shorter than spec. My assumption is that this “tick” was initiated by poor lubrication between the rocker arm and pushrod ends, leading to excess lash between rocker arm/pushrod/lifter, with the lash ultimately transferring between the cam lobes and lifter rollers (resulting in cam marring). I must have caught it in time, before a roller eventually failed and ground the cam to the extremes we see in other posts.

Bottom line, if you have a “tick” (and I mean a 20yrd away audible tick), but you don’t find anything significant in the cam/lifter inspection, DON’T OVERLOOK pushrod condition and length before reassembly. I just wanted to tell the rest of this story, as I never found anything in these other “tick” posts that key in on pushrod inspections (seems limited to cam/lifter replacement only).

I hope this helps someone else.
 

Reid76

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Illinois
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2011
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Hemi 5.7L V-8
I have about the same issue. Had the cam and lifters replaced. The hemi tick is still there. I don’t know what I’m talking about really but, can I use a Non Moly cleaner I think it’s called that? I just had the oil changed 150 miles ago. If I can how do you use it? Lol.
 
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