2013 4.7L Ticking

[NickSteel]

Hello, i’ve been wondering for a bit now about how and why my 4.7 has been ticking.

It ticks at startup when cold pretty badly, sounds like a lifter, but also doesn’t make sense because the longest i’ve gone on an oil change is ~2500 miles.

When warm, it doesn’t tick at all, purrs like a kitten, and when i shut it off when it’s warm and leave it sitting for let’s say 10-20 mins, it comes right back and starts ticking again. But when it’s shut off and turned right back on, the ticking isn’t there.


I’ve read that this could be manifold bolts, truck has just under 91K on her, and i’m caught up with all the maintenance except for a tune up. I was supposed to replace the spark plugs, coils, etc every 30K miles and i have not done it because when it comes up usually i’m too busy and forget about it.

I’ve also heard about spark knock, all this other stuff regarding the ignition system but i don’t believe that’s the issue.

I’ve seen some members of this forum say that if you change the oil it’ll change tune, but mine doesn’t. Yesterday i changed my oil with Shell Rotella Gas Truck, and 1.2 quarts of Marvel Mystery Oil to no avail, same sound.

If anyone could help, it would be appreciated.

Link to sound:

 

[TheEnder]

Hello, i’ve been wondering for a bit now about how and why my 4.7 has been ticking.

It ticks at startup when cold pretty badly, sounds like a lifter, but also doesn’t make sense because the longest i’ve gone on an oil change is ~2500 miles.

When warm, it doesn’t tick at all, purrs like a kitten, and when i shut it off when it’s warm and leave it sitting for let’s say 10-20 mins, it comes right back and starts ticking again. But when it’s shut off and turned right back on, the ticking isn’t there.


I’ve read that this could be manifold bolts, truck has just under 91K on her, and i’m caught up with all the maintenance except for a tune up. I was supposed to replace the spark plugs, coils, etc every 30K miles and i have not done it because when it comes up usually i’m too busy and forget about it.

I’ve also heard about spark knock, all this other stuff regarding the ignition system but i don’t believe that’s the issue.

I’ve seen some members of this forum say that if you change the oil it’ll change tune, but mine doesn’t. Yesterday i changed my oil with Shell Rotella Gas Truck, and 1.2 quarts of Marvel Mystery Oil to no avail, same sound.

If anyone could help, it would be appreciated.

Link to sound:

I’d suggest taking off the manifold heat shields and seeing if you can tighten down the manifold bolts, and if you can’t because they’re just spinning you have your answer. Regarding the ignition system, it shouldn’t cause that much of an issue, at least i think it wouldn’t. Wait until another forum member comes to help as i’m not an expert. Thank you.


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[Lyle Longboat]

If it a bolt, which it sounds like. The gasket gets hot and expands causing the leak to seal again (this is the ticking when cold or sitting for a bit then restarting). When you shut off and restart within a minimal timeframe, gasket still sealed and therefore no tick. The rear bolts on either side seem to break the most, not all the time. Just try and wiggle the heat shield near the rear of the engine, if they wiggle at all, you have a broken bolt issue. Very easy to fix, just deciding on what to do (headers or not) and the money you have to spend fixing the issue.

 

[jws123]

To me it sounds like timing chain guides/tensioners or possibly a sticky lifter these are notorious for those 2 issues both easy fixes. Especially if you miss oil changes and use cheap oil. If you find its not manifold gaskets dump seafoam in crank case run for quite a while change oil have fixed many 4.7s this way.

 

[NickSteel]

If it a bolt, which it sounds like. The gasket gets hot and expands causing the leak to seal again (this is the ticking when cold or sitting for a bit then restarting). When you shut off and restart within a minimal timeframe, gasket still sealed and therefore no tick. The rear bolts on either side seem to break the most, not all the time. Just try and wiggle the heat shield near the rear of the engine, if they wiggle at all, you have a broken bolt issue. Very easy to fix, just deciding on what to do (headers or not) and the money you have to spend fixing the issue.

Thank you, i’m going to look at it tomorrow.

 

[NickSteel]

To me it sounds like timing chain guides/tensioners or possibly a sticky lifter these are notorious for those 2 issues both easy fixes. Especially if you miss oil changes and use cheap oil. If you find its not manifold gaskets dump seafoam in crank case run for quite a while change oil have fixed many 4.7s this way.

If it was timing chain guides or tensioners, wouldn’t it be a constant sound? And i’m trying the MMO flush, and i’m gonna drain and replace the oil in a week.

 

[jws123]

If it was timing chain guides or tensioners, wouldn’t it be a constant sound? And i’m trying the MMO flush, and i’m gonna drain and replace the oil in a week.

Not always as oil warms up it can go away have worked on a ton of 4.7s the timing chain tensioners work off oil pressure and can get gummed up same for lifters.

 

[NickSteel]

Not always as oil warms up it can go away have worked on a ton of 4.7s the timing chain tensioners work off oil pressure and can get gummed up same for lifters.

Well i’m still going through the oil flush so i’ll know if it changes at all within that week. I checked the manifold and the heat shield is “flexing” a bit, but i don’t know if it’s because of the bolts or because of the angle i was grabbing it at. It may be a timing issue, as it has days where it loves to preform amazing (on one of these days i got a 0-60 of 6.5 seconds OUT OF A 4.7 MIND YOU!) and the others it performs like a 3.7L V6. I always thought of this as that it’s desperate for a tune up, but do what you do with it.

 

[NickSteel]

Not always as oil warms up it can go away have worked on a ton of 4.7s the timing chain tensioners work off oil pressure and can get gummed up same for lifters.

Oh yeah and also, i checked the oil and it’s clean, i thought with the MMO it’d come out atleast slightly dirty as it’s been in there since Thursday, but i guess not.

I took another video of it and the sound definitely sounds like it’s coming from the side with the “flexible” manifold cover too. If you want i can post a video.

 

[NickSteel]

Update: After i flexed the manifold cover, the tick seemed to go away.....faster? if you know what i mean. Usually the truck would take around 15-30 minutes after the engine was up to operating temps, (200F), but now it went away almost as soon as i started the engine and it revved down from 1500 RPM. I’m still not convinced it’s a manifold 100%, I'm still going to wait.

 

[TheEnder]

Update: After i flexed the manifold cover, the tick seemed to go away.....faster? if you know what i mean. Usually the truck would take around 15-30 minutes after the engine was up to operating temps, (200F), but now it went away almost as soon as i started the engine and it revved down from 1500 RPM. I’m still not convinced it’s a manifold 100%, I'm still going to wait.

Then it would be a manifold bolt. I’m currently about to decommission my 4.7, 2013 as well because it needs brakes really badly and i’m not in the financial situation to deal with it right now, (broke my foot on the job, not being paid as much) and i’m relying on my 300. Hope everything works out in your favor.


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[RamCares]

Update: After i flexed the manifold cover, the tick seemed to go away.....faster? if you know what i mean. Usually the truck would take around 15-30 minutes after the engine was up to operating temps, (200F), but now it went away almost as soon as i started the engine and it revved down from 1500 RPM. I’m still not convinced it’s a manifold 100%, I'm still going to wait.

Hi NickSteel, We see that you have received some great advice from your fellow forum members! However, if these suggestions do not address your concern and you decide to visit your dealer, our team would be happy to offer additional assistance throughout that process! We are available via private message!
Rob
RamCares

 

[NickSteel]

Well honestly regarding this i’ve just about given up.

Truck started to calm down and not make any noise at startup, and then today it started to make all the noise in the world except for rod knock.

I heard piston slap, the lifters started to scream (again, even though they were just fine a few hours before) and then when i took it on a drive the tranny seems to have **** itself, and acts like a CVT at around 5th gear. I did a tranny flush at 88K miles, (forgot if i mentioned that). But it acts like it’s being driven without tranny fluid. The past day it’s just sat there and i’m using my 300 full time now sadly. I don’t have a lot of money to spare as i’m going through a lot of headaches with my house, so yeah.