5.7L HEMI Chirping Sound

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New Jersey, United States
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2016
Engine
5.7L Hemi V8
I have a 2016 Ram 1500 with the 5.7L HEMI V8 and with the 8 speed transmission, it has 119k miles currently but at around 116k miles I started hearing a chirping sound most likely coming somewhere near the back of the engine block.

I took it to a local mechanic shop 3 times and they can’t figure it out, and I took it to the dealer and they also can’t figure it out, and I’ve tried doing some research but I can’t find anything, which is why I’m here now.

It isn’t a ticking sound, not a knocking sound, nothing like that. It’s a chirping sound, almost like a bird is stuck under my truck, and it only does it when it’s idling, not when it’s moving.

Has anyone had this problem?
 

grizzstang

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What did the local tech and dealer do to try and find the problem?

Chirping noises are usually accessory related. With your miles I would be looking at the water pump, AC compressor, Idler pulleys and Tensioner pulley.

Our Wrangler was chirping with the same miles and I had to replace all the serpentine belt pulleys and tensioner.

Take the belt off and turn everything by hand. You can feel if the bearing is bad.

Many techs these days don't know how to diagnose anything unless a computer tells them what is wrong.
 
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RyanDavidPonter
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What did the local tech and dealer do to try and find the problem?

Chirping noises are usually accessory related. With your miles I would be looking at the water pump, AC compressor, Idler pulleys and Tensioner pulley.

Our Wrangler was chirping with the same miles and I had to replace all the serpentine belt pulleys and tensioner.

Take the belt off and turn everything by hand. You can feel if the bearing is bad.

Many techs these days don't know how to diagnose anything unless a computer tells them what is wrong.

Well, I had my belt and pulley replaced by a local shop and it didn’t do anything, still the exact same as before. I then took it to the dealer and they didn’t even know what was wrong with it, but maybe it’s the tensioner.

And today I found out that it got even worse, and now it can be heard from several feet away, and you can even hear it while driving too. I’m gonna take it to the same local shop again and see what they can do for me.
 

EdGs

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I would wait for it to be cold, take the belt off, and then start it. Dont run it more than 20 seconds or so, just enough to see if it still chirps.

If so, it's not anything on the front of the engine.

Post a vid to YouTube and paste a link so we all can hear it.
 
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RyanDavidPonter
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I would wait for it to be cold, take the belt off, and then start it. Dont run it more than 20 seconds or so, just enough to see if it still chirps.

If so, it's not anything on the front of the engine.

Post a vid to YouTube and paste a link so we all can hear it.

Will try tomorrow.
 

CunningStunt

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I don't want to scare you but, my dads hemi made a high pitched chirp when the lifter started to fail. He parked it immediately after and the lifter was starting to chip away at the cam. It was a pretty high pitch chirp from the block...101k miles
 

Ken226

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I don't want to scare you but, my dads hemi made a high pitched chirp when the lifter started to fail. He parked it immediately after and the lifter was starting to chip away at the cam. It was a pretty high pitch chirp from the block...101k miles

I browse the Chevy forums occasionally and have noticed that many lifter failures on the 5.3 and 6.2 are described as chirping, rather than ticking.

I seem to even remember one on this forum a year or two ago that was chirping, and the lifter had broken the plastic tray and rotated 90*.

Since it only does it idling and not while in motion, possibly the pump on the transmission? Just a thought.
 
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RyanDavidPonter
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OKAY, I got the truck back.

Thankfully, it wasn’t a bad lifter, nor anything that is extreme. It ended up being the idler pulley, and I’m guessing that the idler pulley finally started to give up, which was what was causing the ongoing chirping noise to get louder.

Now of course, a bad lifter can make a similar noise, and can damage the camshaft but the chirping noise that was on my truck was a lot louder than a chirping noise from a bad lifter.

I’m really happy that the annoying chirping noise is gone now, and hopefully this helps anyone with a similar issue and if they are trying to figure out where the chirping noise is coming from, and maybe even save money too!

And to anyone who was curious to what it sounded like, here you go!

 

RamDiver

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OKAY, I got the truck back.

Thankfully, it wasn’t a bad lifter, nor anything that is extreme. It ended up being the idler pulley, and I’m guessing that the idler pulley finally started to give up, which was what was causing the ongoing chirping noise to get louder.

Now of course, a bad lifter can make a similar noise, and can damage the camshaft but the chirping noise that was on my truck was a lot louder than a chirping noise from a bad lifter.

I’m really happy that the annoying chirping noise is gone now, and hopefully this helps anyone with a similar issue and if they are trying to figure out where the chirping noise is coming from, and maybe even save money too!

Thanks for updating the thread.

Once the noise is always present, a mechanic's stethoscope will help to identify the culprit. :cool:


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