Engine knock (lifters, rockers, springs?)

[RodRamCar]

Here's a video of what my truck is doing. Sound only. Phone is on the driver front tire.

2011 5.7 Hemi Knock (lifters, rockers, springs)?

youtube.com

Louder when at idle especially cold, not s noticeable in higher rpm. Doesn't get noisier or more noticeable. Got this truck for cheap so I'm ok with spending some money but just wondering if it's going to be worth it.

 

[RodRamCar]

Wondering if any of you have heard this on your truck.

 

[RodRamCar]

Have any of you had this exact sound before?

 

[Jeepwalker]

Sounds like my truck has sounded for ...long time.

Sounds like its half engine-speed, which would make it valve-train noise. Are there any check-engine lights?

 

[rzr6-4]

The easier and cheaper issue to fix that is also fairly common is the manifold bolts breaking. Unfortunately that's not what it sounds like to me. Agree with JW, something with the lifter. Could be a few things though. Misfire codes?

 

[RodRamCar]

Sounds like my truck has sounded for ...long time.

Sounds like its half engine-speed, which would make it valve-train noise. Are there any check-engine lights?

I don't have any check engine lights but i'm wondering if a scanner at the stealership will tell me anything. I have an appointment today and i'm not going into it saying anything other than, "it's making strange noises i'm not used to hearing and mention the 1 throuh 3rd gears are a bit rougher than 3rd through 5th. I haven't gone to this dealer before but seems to have good recent reviews.

 

[RodRamCar]

The easier and cheaper issue to fix that is also fairly common is the manifold bolts breaking. Unfortunately that's not what it sounds like to me. Agree with JW, something with the lifter. Could be a few things though. Misfire codes?

Yeah, since I don't have the time but I am willing to spend some money on it (everything works great on the truck), i'm ok with getting it fixed if it isn't going to be too much however the tck is only worth like 11,500 bucks. if its going to require 3 to 4k to fix it i'd rather just sell it. I wish I knew someone in the Boise area i could rely on to help diagnose it. I don't need it and its not a daily driver so i'm ok with that.

 

[Jeepwalker]

I don't have any check engine lights but i'm wondering if a scanner at the stealership will tell me anything.

It might.
If they see a bunch of misfires (via the scan tool), especially on a particular cylinder, ...and possibly a couple errant readings, it would prompt further investigation. Probably pulling off the valve covers and running the engine briefly to observe each of the cylinder's valve lift (make sure they're all lifting fully) is what it should be. The next step might be to do a leak-down or compression test. FWIW, a bunch of misfires on a cylinder could also (by coincidence) be a failed ignition coil or plug, bad connector) or even bad engine/body/battery grounds. I likely won't make the noise go away, but misfires can be caused by several things. So don't take misfires by themselves as end of the world.

If it turns out one 'rocker arm' is not 'lifting' very much it probably indicates a worn cam lobe or damaged lifter. Most likely the cam. In that case, you have a bigger issue and some 'thinking' to do. Probably the Ford dealer would be the most expensive place to have a new cam put in ...and whatever else it needed. You definitely should ask them to show you if the cam is worn. They might tell you the engine is toast and $12k for a new one. In that case, don't panic (lot of guys have heard that -- dealerships need $$ too!), thank them for their investigation, and get another assessment and price from a different shop that does engine work and get an estimate for repairs.

Not to get ahead of ourselves, but, a lot of owners who have had damaged cams, have been able to just replaced the cam and lifters and clean out some other parts ...and whatever other parts need it. Worst case they might need to remove the oil pan, or the engine...and tear it down to clean out metal shavings. Often the rotating assembly is fine, but you'd probably want to replace the oil pump or at least take it all apart and clean. And if it's on an engine stand and the bores look good, probably stick in new main & rod bearings if you had it that far apart. And of course, a new set of improved Mopar lifters. That gets pretty expensive, but on the flip side you have almost a new engine depending on what work was done.

But, that's all worst-case. Let's not get ahead of ourselves. Mine looked good, measured good, just has a tick/knock. Been doing it for yrs. The sun still comes up in the east every morning. I didn't find anything wrong with it in terms of bad cam. But the again, lot of guys have had worn cams too. One of these days I'm planning to replace the lifters on mine...

Let us know what they find

 

[Jeepwalker]

How many miles, btw??

 

[RodRamCar]

It might. If they see a bunch of misfires (via the scan tool), especially on a particular cylinder, ...and possibly a couple errant readings, it would prompt further investigation. Probably pulling off the valve covers and running the engine briefly to observe each of the cylinder's valve lift (make sure they're all lifting fully) is what it should be. The next step might be to do a leak-down or compression test.

If one 'rocker arm' is not moving much it probably indicates a worn cam lobe or damaged lifter. In that case, you have a bigger issue and some 'thinking' to do. Probably the Ford dealer would be the most expensive place to have a new cam put in ...and whatever else it needed. You definitely should ask them to show you if the cam is worn. They might tell you the engine is toast and $12k for a new one. In that case, don't panic (lot of guys have heard that), thank them for their investigation, and get another assessment and price from a different shop that does engine work and get an estimate for repairs.

A lot of guys who have had damaged cams, just have the cam and lifters replaced ...and whatever other parts need it. Worst case they need to remove the oil pan, or the engine...and tear it down to clean out metal shavings. Often the rotating assembly is fine, but you'd want to replace the oil pump or at least take it all apart and clean, probably stick in new main & rod bearings if you had it that far apart. New set of improved Mopar lifters.

But, that's all worst-case. Let's not get ahead of ourselves. Mine looked good, measured good, just has a tick/knock. Been doing it for yrs. The sun still comes up in the east every morning. I didn't find anything wrong with it in terms of bad cam. But the again, lot of guys have had worn cams too. One of these days I'm planning to replace the lifters on mine...

Let us know what they find

Thanks for the detailed reply. I am going in expecting WCS because that's how i think in my normal job setting. I imagine most military folks do haha. Yeah, it will be worth the diag fee I suppose to at least find out what's going on. I'm not inclined enough on my own and probably would just mess things up.

 

[RodRamCar]

How many miles, btw??

165,000

 

[RodRamCar]

How many miles, btw??

Oh, and my dumb A didn't verify the engine hours. I guess I deserve the trouble for jot checking that. 5600 engine hours. Probably half or more are idle hours

 

[Jeepwalker]

I guess I deserve the trouble for jot checking that. 5600 engine hours. Probably half or more are idle hours

Yeah ...well, whaddya going to do... idle hours are there. You can't rewind the clock. See what the dealer says. Remember they're in business to make $$ and you might get a worst-case diagnosis and price. Hopefully the tech will be thorough. Just don't freak out whatever they say. Lot of guys get spooked by the dealer. Some guys get a good assessment and price by the dealer too. Get a written assessment if you can.

Like I said in my above post, if in the unfortunate case, you ended up having to have a bunch of work done on the engine, the 'good' part of that is you would have addressed the weak areas of the engine and (presumably) 'bought' yourself many more trouble-free miles ...logic would conclude. If you like the truck that might be worth something. Or maybe go a different route. Or maybe it's just a nuisance-knock. (I just made that up!) lol

 

[RodRamCar]

Yeah ...well, whaddya going to do... idle hours are there. You can't rewind the clock. See what the dealer says. Remember they're in business to make $$ and you might get a worst-case diagnosis and price. Hopefully the tech will be thorough. Just don't freak out whatever they say. Lot of guys get spooked by the dealer. Some guys get a good assessment and price by the dealer too. Get a written assessment if you can.

Like I said in my above post, if in the unfortunate case, you ended up having to have a bunch of work done on the engine, the 'good' part of that is you would have addressed the weak areas of the engine and (presumably) 'bought' yourself many more trouble-free miles ...logic would conclude. If you like the truck that might be worth something. Or maybe go a different route. Or maybe it's just a nuisance-knock. (I just made that up!) lol

Whatever the case, I'm just glad I haven't grown attached to this truck in case it's gonna cost an unborn child

 

[RodRamCar]

It might.
If they see a bunch of misfires (via the scan tool), especially on a particular cylinder, ...and possibly a couple errant readings, it would prompt further investigation. Probably pulling off the valve covers and running the engine briefly to observe each of the cylinder's valve lift (make sure they're all lifting fully) is what it should be. The next step might be to do a leak-down or compression test. FWIW, a bunch of misfires on a cylinder could also (by coincidence) be a failed ignition coil or plug, bad connector) or even bad engine/body/battery grounds. I likely won't make the noise go away, but misfires can be caused by several things. So don't take misfires by themselves as end of the world.

If it turns out one 'rocker arm' is not 'lifting' very much it probably indicates a worn cam lobe or damaged lifter. Most likely the cam. In that case, you have a bigger issue and some 'thinking' to do. Probably the Ford dealer would be the most expensive place to have a new cam put in ...and whatever else it needed. You definitely should ask them to show you if the cam is worn. They might tell you the engine is toast and $12k for a new one. In that case, don't panic (lot of guys have heard that -- dealerships need $$ too!), thank them for their investigation, and get another assessment and price from a different shop that does engine work and get an estimate for repairs.

Not to get ahead of ourselves, but, a lot of owners who have had damaged cams, have been able to just replaced the cam and lifters and clean out some other parts ...and whatever other parts need it. Worst case they might need to remove the oil pan, or the engine...and tear it down to clean out metal shavings. Often the rotating assembly is fine, but you'd probably want to replace the oil pump or at least take it all apart and clean. And if it's on an engine stand and the bores look good, probably stick in new main & rod bearings if you had it that far apart. And of course, a new set of improved Mopar lifters. That gets pretty expensive, but on the flip side you have almost a new engine depending on what work was done.

But, that's all worst-case. Let's not get ahead of ourselves. Mine looked good, measured good, just has a tick/knock. Been doing it for yrs. The sun still comes up in the east every morning. I didn't find anything wrong with it in terms of bad cam. But the again, lot of guys have had worn cams too. One of these days I'm planning to replace the lifters on mine...

Let us know what they find

Unless the computer isn't saving and codes, it's saying it has no saved codes related to misfires/shifting issues either

 

[RodRamCar]

Hey @Jeepwalker, I took my truck to Ram here in my area and funny thing is, i didn't ask but they looked up the vehicles history and found that it has exchanged many more hands than I had realized. That being said, when the gal in service connected the OBD scanner to the vehicle and brough up the more in-depth scan results she found nothing more than some parking sensors that were wigging out without popping a check light of any kind. She said there were zero misfires which makes sense because the truck does drive good with ok power. The TCM also didn't show any hidden codes or concerns but she said, "it looks like whatever you got going on, which sounds like some form of engine ticking, you caught it early." I honestly hope that means valves in which case i would be very glad to just replace all valves and springs together.