HEMI tick or exhaust leak.. or both?

[KristiyanK]

Hey everyone,

I recently bought a 2021 RAM 1500 BigHorn 5.7 at auction and had it shipped to Bulgaria. The auction video showed no ticking noise, but once the truck arrived, I noticed a ticking sound from the driver side and a misfire on cylinder 7.

Here's what I've done so far and nothing seemed out of the ordinarily:

• Swapped spark plugs, coils, and injector
• Compression test showed 190 PSI on cyl 7 (vs. 210 on cyl 1)
• Changed oil and filter
• Removed valve cover—valves on cyl 7 move fully and look normal
• Inspected the piston with endoscope camera
• Suspected an exhaust leak based on sound

After removing the heat shield, I found a badly cracked driver-side exhaust manifold, likely from forklift damage to the exhaust pipe during transport. I was hopeful this was the cause.

I installed a new set of manifolds from BD Diesel today. While doing that, I noticed heavy carbon buildup on the exhaust valve of cyl 7, unlike the other valves which were clean.

Unfortunately, after everything, the ticking sound remains.

Any ideas or suggestions on what to check next? I’d really appreciate your input. I will post some pictures and videos of some of the things i checked so far.

 

[KristiyanK]

Hey everyone,

I recently bought a 2021 RAM 1500 BigHorn 5.7 at auction and had it shipped to Bulgaria. The auction video showed no ticking noise, but once the truck arrived, I noticed a ticking sound from the driver side and a misfire on cylinder 7.

Here's what I've done so far and nothing seemed out of the ordinarily:

• Swapped spark plugs, coils, and injector
• Compression test showed 190 PSI on cyl 7 (vs. 210 on cyl 1)
• Changed oil and filter
• Removed valve cover—valves on cyl 7 move fully and look normal
• Inspected the piston with endoscope camera
• Suspected an exhaust leak based on sound

After removing the heat shield, I found a badly cracked driver-side exhaust manifold, likely from forklift damage to the exhaust pipe during transport. I was hopeful this was the cause.

I installed a new set of manifolds from BD Diesel today. While doing that, I noticed heavy carbon buildup on the exhaust valve of cyl 7, unlike the other valves which were clean.

Unfortunately, after everything, the ticking sound remains.

Any ideas or suggestions on what to check next? I’d really appreciate your input. I will post some pictures and videos of some of the things i checked so far.

Videos

Hemi Tick

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Hemi Tick 2

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[wutech]

what weight oil is in it? I'd go 5W-30 if its not already.

 

[KristiyanK]

what weight oil is in it? I'd go 5W-30 if its not already.

it’s 5W-20

 

[Wild one]

Videos

Hemi Tick

Enjoy the videos and music you love, upload original content, and share it all with friends, family, and the world on YouTube.

youtube.com

Hemi Tick 2

Enjoy the videos and music you love, upload original content, and share it all with friends, family, and the world on YouTube.

youtube.com

Get a mechanics stethascope,and run it over the oil pan,as that sounds more like a bad rod bearing,then a bad lifter.

 

[KristiyanK]

Get a mechanics stethascope,and run it over the oil pan,as that sounds more like a bad rod bearing,then a bad lifter.

Will do that, though it sounds that the knocking is coming from the top end of the engine.

 

[KristiyanK]

Got an update on this.. i took the valve cover off again and i found excessive play and slop in the rocker arm of cyl 7, which is throwing the misfire code.. so i guess i found my issue.. seems to be suck lifter or worn cam.. or both. Will take the head off and find out.

 

[Sur5er]

Before you rip off the head, measure the lift. Can you wiggle the endoscope down and to get a peek at the lifter/lobe? I'd also send out an oil sample. If you have iron or steel in the sample, it's cam and lifter time. If Babbitt, it could also mean a bearing problem. Could be more cost effective to do a full rebuild of go with a crate engine! Good Luck.

 

[KristiyanK]

Wanted to follow up with what I found and how it was resolved — it turned out to be a stuck lifter on cylinder #7. Luckily, there was no damage to the camshaft and even the lifter itself only had a faint mark you couldn’t feel with a fingernail.


I went with the quick fix: replaced the set of 4 lifters, pushrods, head gasket, and head bolts. After reassembly, the tick was completely gone — best feeling ever!


I’ve put about 4000 miles since the repair, and the truck’s been running perfectly.

 

[Burla]

Nice, that was about the worst we hear around here, glad you fixed it.

 

[KristiyanK]

Nice, that was about the worst we hear around here, glad you fixed it.

Thanks! I suspect that sitting in the auction house and the shipping time to Europe got the valve stuck somehow. Because the video i saw before purchasing the vehicle didn't had this knocking sound