Did Redline Oil work against your Hemi Tick?

[Burla]

Day 4 in the books since Redline change no difference in engine noise yet, I will say sometimes I think it’s gotten louder. No where near 500 mile mark. I was going to take her on a road trip next week but I’m a touch nervous something might go wrong on the highway. I think something has gone wrong with my brain I’m borderline obsessing over this issue

updates?

 

[JHoward]

Burla, Hemi395, HEMIMAN ... I've been reading posts in other forums on this topic/discussion's and haven't seen anyone making comments about remote start or if folks have thought about could this optional feature be a bad thing in contributing to the issues of hemi tick/ dry start up, etc. ... just wondering

 

[JHoward]

However, using remote start when using these HEMI engines on a daily basis would probably not matter

 

[Burla]

Not specifically imo, I don't even have remote start. It is known long idle times are not good for hemi cams.

 

[Hemi395]

Burla, Hemi395, HEMIMAN ... I've been reading posts in other forums on this topic/discussion's and haven't seen anyone making comments about remote start or if folks have thought about could this optional feature be a bad thing in contributing to the issues of hemi tick/ dry start up, etc. ... just wondering

I put a remote start in my truck because I live up north and winters can get cold here. My truck sits a lot during the week in the winter and when I need to drive it its nice to remote start it, especially if theres snow on the truck.

I personally don't let it idle more than 5-10 mins but I can definitely see someone letting it idle for 20+mins every day could potentially cause some issues. Especially for the trucks like mine that came from the factory with a way too low 550rpm idle...

 

[JHoward]

Not specifically imo, I don't even have remote start. It is known long idle times are not good for hemi cam

 

[JHoward]

My truck is an 2017 Express regular cab short box 6.4 " bed and came factory equipt with remote start and I had been using this feature alot ... I'll opt on using it so much

 

[HEMIMANN]

Burla, Hemi395, HEMIMAN ... I've been reading posts in other forums on this topic/discussion's and haven't seen anyone making comments about remote start or if folks have thought about could this optional feature be a bad thing in contributing to the issues of hemi tick/ dry start up, etc. ... just wondering

I have the factory remote start. When I was at work, I'd start and idle a couple minutes before I left the building. That's long enough to get past oil filter bypass valve opening initial startup. I wouldn't idle any any longer. But - these engines are programmed to start at high idle ~ 1400 rpm, and gradually slow to 900 rpm warm idle. So cold winter starts don't bother as much.
More important to have proper viscosity oil and filter for your climate.

 

[Gemcityfireman]

Good Morning all, I am new to posting on the forum but have been following for many years I am excited to announce that Redline 0w-40 killed my Hemi Tick and made the entire valve train much quieter. I have a 14' 6.4 with 48k miles when purchased. It was maintained at that same dealer who did oil changes, when I bought the truck I was going to put the PUP but decided on Amsoil which I thought was the best. After 3k miles of so so performance with the AMSOIL I decided to start reading about the Hemi Tick and found multiple threads of this being called "Hemi Honey" so I decided to give it a try. I put the RL and a bottle or ceratec in a few hundred miles ago and it is getting better each day! Thank you for all the advice

 

[HEMIMANN]

Good Morning all, I am new to posting on the forum but have been following for many years I am excited to announce that Redline 0w-40 killed my Hemi Tick and made the entire valve train much quieter. I have a 14' 6.4 with 48k miles when purchased. It was maintained at that same dealer who did oil changes, when I bought the truck I was going to put the PUP but decided on Amsoil which I thought was the best. After 3k miles of so so performance with the AMSOIL I decided to start reading about the Hemi Tick and found multiple threads of this being called "Hemi Honey" so I decided to give it a try. I put the RL and a bottle or ceratec in a few hundred miles ago and it is getting better each day! Thank you for all the advice

Congratulations to you - if you haven't seen the words of caution on cold weather viscosity, many of us switch to 0W-30 RL in the winter to reduce oil starvation on cold startup (even if you keep your truck inside a garage, most eventually park outside sometime - work, stores, etc.).
0W-40 is a real witch's brew that attempts to be all things in all conditions. Remember that SAE viscosity grades are not single point viscosities - they are ranges of viscosities, and the broader the multviscosity product usually tends to be on the narrow side of the SAE ranges. i.e. - a 0W-40 will be higher in the 0W viscosity range, and lower in the 40 viscosity range. What does this mean? It doesn't flow as good in cold weather as other 0W oils, and doesn't protect from wear as well in hot weather as other 40 oils.

Also recall 0W-40 came out for the 6.4L in CARS meant for high performance - not trucks towing things. The truck version of the 6.4L Hemi came out years after the cars, but FCA just kept the oil recommendation. That is why we generally go with two narrower range oils for those living in intemperate climates - like me - living in the Siberia of the Americas.

 

[Gemcityfireman]

Congratulations to you - if you haven't seen the words of caution on cold weather viscosity, many of us switch to 0W-30 RL in the winter to reduce oil starvation on cold startup (even if you keep your truck inside a garage, most eventually park outside sometime - work, stores, etc.).
0W-40 is a real witch's brew that attempts to be all things in all conditions. Remember that SAE viscosity grades are not single point viscosities - they are ranges of viscosities, and the broader the multviscosity product usually tends to be on the narrow side of the SAE ranges. i.e. - a 0W-40 will be higher in the 0W viscosity range, and lower in the 40 viscosity range. What does this mean? It doesn't flow as good in cold weather as other 0W oils, and doesn't protect from wear as well in hot weather as other 40 oils.

Also recall 0W-40 came out for the 6.4L in CARS meant for high performance - not trucks towing things. The truck version of the 6.4L Hemi came out years after the cars, but FCA just kept the oil recommendation. That is why we generally go with two narrower range oils for those living in intemperate climates - like me - living in the Siberia of the Americas.

Thank you for the great information. I happen to live in Ohio where we turn the heat on in the AM and the AC on in the afternoon. We very rarely have temps below zero for long and a factory block heater is in the works since they are so easy to install. I always remote start my truck and let it warm up and get fluids moving. I have terrible OCD my last truck was a 5.7 and it had 108xxx on it when I sold it and it was absolutely silent with PUP 5w-20 every 5k miles. I had to part with it for a 2500 due to my camper.

 

[Burla]

This is buried in that syn thread but relevant for guys considering a high moly strategy and help us all understand part of the reason why this is so successful. Some of the paper addressing very high moly and coefficient of friction, mo trimer =moTDC moly the type used in motor oils. You can see how it goes up a little before it goes to the lowest point. So maybe those oils under 200ppm but over the 75ppm are actually less effective then an oil with 75ppm, IE most shelf oils. It's looking like lubegard biotech boosts these oils over 200ppm, but maybe not a no moly oil. That may put you in that spot between 75 and 200 that is not the sweet spot. Too bad we don't have a chart that goes to redline's level 450ppm, but we can probably assume since that is killing ticks that this graph and coefficient of friction may continue downward or at least stay this level.




And you can see coefficient of friction go down with heat. I'm pretty sure we can assume the location of the tick, the banging metal, is creating a hot spot.





This is moly with sulfur versus moly w/o it, you can actually see without the sulfur the moly is ineffective, the sulfur along with moly, heat, and pressure or friction is what is creating the plating effect, in theory, we still have some smart guys thinking it is the esters, maybe we can get some paper on esters and coefficient of friction and post them up as well. You can see the s free means sulfur free moly.

 

[BadHemi2014]

Unfortunately you can now count me in the list of hemi owners with high mileage engines that Redline did not help. Had 106K when I bought it and 126K now. Finally got headers put on due to the infamous broken exhaust manifold bolts (5, yes FIVE of the dang things, apparently a shop record!). It sounds better but clearly still has a lifter tick so my guy recommended cam and lifters as preventive maintenance.
I'll probably just go back to Walmart Supertech for now, it'll be a while before I can afford to throw more money at this problem child.

It has at least 7500 miles on redline total.

 

[mradDiction]

Day 4 in the books since Redline change no difference in engine noise yet, I will say sometimes I think it’s gotten louder. No where near 500 mile mark. I was going to take her on a road trip next week but I’m a touch nervous something might go wrong on the highway. I think something has gone wrong with my brain I’m borderline obsessing over this issue

Hi guys,

So I have been running redline 5w30 for a couple months now and just under 5,000km on it. Unfortunately no change in the noise. I broke down and decided to get the truck diagnosed at a Napa shop here in Calgary that also has a machine shop on site. I got the call today that it’s not my manifold bolts and it’s the lifters and cam. The lady said that it is very early stages of it eating the cam and that the truck is fine to drive and maybe good for a couple years. The fix for this job in Calgary is a base amount $5400 Canadian. If it needs a new water pump, spark plugs etc it’s going to run $6400. It’s heartbreaking how much money this truck haha cost me I can’t do it anymore. I just got the paint fixed in the summer before this problem started. Problem is buying something brand new is just as expensive. Do I fix this? Drive it till the motor dies (14,000 Canadian to replace) or trade it off and cut my losses. Here in 2021 are these damn trucks still having these issues? The motor is essentially the same since 2009. Im debating running the 0W30 as it’s getting cold here now but not sure I care anymore, as these costs are going to break me.

 

[ramffml]

Every hemi since 2009 has a probability of lifter/cam failure which is noticably higher than industry average, that is the weakness of the hemi apparently. What's less certain is the "why", whether they are just more susceptible to dirty oil problems or whether the lifter/cam vendors have quality control issues, lots of theories out there.

Unfortunately, you have one of the "problem years" where it was even worse, somewhere around 2016(?) FCA redesigned the lifter and as far as I know that has mitigated the problem somewhat.

Have you done any used oil analysis reports? I'm curious what a report from Blackstone might say.

I'm not sure I'd recommend 0w-30, I've just tried that in my engine and for the past few weeks I've had a pretty significant increase in cold engine start noise over the 5w-30 that I was running before that, especially below freezing which is odd as I expected the opposite to happen given the oil weights.

As for trading it off; will you lose more than the 5400 in a trade? Probably, and then you don't know what kind of problems you're getting there either. If you like the truck and it has been good to you otherwise and you have low-ish mileage, I personally would fix it. Maybe @Wild one knows a cheaper/better shop as he lives in your area.

 

[Burla]

Hi guys,

So I have been running redline 5w30 for a couple months now and just under 5,000km on it. Unfortunately no change in the noise. I broke down and decided to get the truck diagnosed at a Napa shop here in Calgary that also has a machine shop on site. I got the call today that it’s not my manifold bolts and it’s the lifters and cam. The lady said that it is very early stages of it eating the cam and that the truck is fine to drive and maybe good for a couple years. The fix for this job in Calgary is a base amount $5400 Canadian. If it needs a new water pump, spark plugs etc it’s going to run $6400. It’s heartbreaking how much money this truck haha cost me I can’t do it anymore. I just got the paint fixed in the summer before this problem started. Problem is buying something brand new is just as expensive. Do I fix this? Drive it till the motor dies (14,000 Canadian to replace) or trade it off and cut my losses. Here in 2021 are these damn trucks still having these issues? The motor is essentially the same since 2009. Im debating running the 0W30 as it’s getting cold here now but not sure I care anymore, as these costs are going to break me.

So thanks for sharing your experience. Hemi tick can last a lot of miles before eating a cam, I would get a uoa if I was you to see how bad the situation is, blackstone will mail you a kit, all you needed is the cheapest option, just a uoa, you don't need tbn because you should be on a 5k mile or less interval from here on out, keep the oil clean. Maybe you need to find a local place for uoa's? dunno bout that 1

Don't fix it, I have lost count on how many guys replaced lifters on hemi tick trucks only to still have hemi tick, it is indeed a crap shoot and no real need unless you get a mis fire code. If you trade it in, going thicker might mask the tick more, like 5w40 redline. Play dealer games back at the dealer, because for sure they do this. If you can, post a youtube on it, at warm idle, recorded from under engine. Some of us have an ear for this, get an idea on what level of tick this is.

no mid fire code yet right? p0300 range?

 

[mradDiction]

So thanks for sharing your experience. Hemi tick can last a lot of miles before eating a cam, I would get a uoa if I was you to see how bad the situation is, blackstone will mail you a kit, all you needed is the cheapest option, just a uoa, you don't need tbn because you should be on a 5k mile or less interval from here on out, keep the oil clean. Maybe you need to find a local place for uoa's? dunno bout that 1

Don't fix it, I have lost count on how many guys replaced lifters on hemi tick trucks only to still have hemi tick, it is indeed a crap shoot and no real need unless you get a mis fire code. If you trade it in, going thicker might mask the tick more, like 5w40 redline. Play dealer games back at the dealer, because for sure they do this. If you can, post a youtube on it, at warm idle, recorded from under engine. Some of us have an ear for this, get an idea on what level of tick this is.

no mid fire code yet right? p0300 range?

No miss fire codes, 5W30 is still in the truck it’s starting to get cold up here, was told to run the 0W30 but the oil is pretty fresh yet with the Royal purple filter. Lady did say it was early stages which I have no idea what that means. All I know is it’s a **** tonne of money. I’m going to file a complaint with FCA, I don’t feel enough people are complaining about this problem and FCA is just looking the other way on it. Should I throw a thing of Lubegard biotech in it? Don’t think it could hurt it at this point.

 

[mradDiction]

Every hemi since 2009 has a probability of lifter/cam failure which is noticably higher than industry average, that is the weakness of the hemi apparently. What's less certain is the "why", whether they are just more susceptible to dirty oil problems or whether the lifter/cam vendors have quality control issues, lots of theories out there.

Unfortunately, you have one of the "problem years" where it was even worse, somewhere around 2016(?) FCA redesigned the lifter and as far as I know that has mitigated the problem somewhat.

Have you done any used oil analysis reports? I'm curious what a report from Blackstone might say.

I'm not sure I'd recommend 0w-30, I've just tried that in my engine and for the past few weeks I've had a pretty significant increase in cold engine start noise over the 5w-30 that I was running before that, especially below freezing which is odd as I expected the opposite to happen given the oil weights.

As for trading it off; will you lose more than the 5400 in a trade? Probably, and then you don't know what kind of problems you're getting there either. If you like the truck and it has been good to you otherwise and you have low-ish mileage, I personally would fix it. Maybe @Wild one knows a cheaper/better shop as he lives in your area.

Hi there the truck only has 133,000 on it, my problem with spending the money on the fix is there’s no guarantees it will last and it could just be a patch job. All rust is an issue. I fixed it in the summer but may need to be done again. Gonna keep driving it awhile until I figure out what to do. This place is a smaller shop and cheaper than most shops. I am still going to phone around.

 

[Wild one]

Hi guys,

So I have been running redline 5w30 for a couple months now and just under 5,000km on it. Unfortunately no change in the noise. I broke down and decided to get the truck diagnosed at a Napa shop here in Calgary that also has a machine shop on site. I got the call today that it’s not my manifold bolts and it’s the lifters and cam. The lady said that it is very early stages of it eating the cam and that the truck is fine to drive and maybe good for a couple years. The fix for this job in Calgary is a base amount $5400 Canadian. If it needs a new water pump, spark plugs etc it’s going to run $6400. It’s heartbreaking how much money this truck haha cost me I can’t do it anymore. I just got the paint fixed in the summer before this problem started. Problem is buying something brand new is just as expensive. Do I fix this? Drive it till the motor dies (14,000 Canadian to replace) or trade it off and cut my losses. Here in 2021 are these damn trucks still having these issues? The motor is essentially the same since 2009. Im debating running the 0W30 as it’s getting cold here now but not sure I care anymore, as these costs are going to break me.

Finning Cat north of the airport on Barlow and Country Hills does oil sample testing in Calgary,if you want to do an oil analysis.I have a couple kits on hand,but i'm in Airdrie,so going to them would be closer for you

 

[Burla]

No miss fire codes, 5W30 is still in the truck it’s starting to get cold up here, was told to run the 0W30 but the oil is pretty fresh yet with the Royal purple filter. Lady did say it was early stages which I have no idea what that means. All I know is it’s a **** tonne of money. I’m going to file a complaint with FCA, I don’t feel enough people are complaining about this problem and FCA is just looking the other way on it. Should I throw a thing of Lubegard biotech in it? Don’t think it could hurt it at this point.

I would throw in lubegard in this limited situation. Even though you are mixing esters, you will be well below the dangerzone of ester content. 0w30 or 5w20 is a good move before winter if it is ticking anyway. I would stick with redline, at least you are using an oil with additives that will still protect the cam more then sparce otc oils. There are some 0w30's when you look at sds you see pao content, those mixed with lubegard biotech are also a good move. Random 5w20 oil, I would avoid at this point, as well as non pao 0w30 I would avoid for sure. 0w40 is worth considering, but it is indeed thicker then 5w30, especially in the beginning of interval, and maybe you don't want that direction, I wouldn't expect most 0w40's to help your situation. Just maybe a thick 0w40 would help, but most 0w40's are close to 12-13 visc, I would not expect those to help more then redline 5w30.