Hemi tick

[DisapointedRam13]

After pulling down my engine, inspection of lifters. Im not finding bad rollers. I did find 2 lifters that the pins are not lined up in holes like the rest of them are. Is this normal?
I haven't found anything else at this time that could cause the ticking or throw cyl#1 misfire code. I replaced coil to no avail checked plugs.
Cyl 7 manifold bolts were broke. After warm up the exhaust leak noise went away.

 

[tron67j]

Did you check for broken header bolts? 5.7s are notorious for that issue and it sounds just like a ticking noise. I had three on my 5.7, mechanic couldn't find a problem at first but kept investigating and finally found the first.

Did you test coil before replacing? Try switching the #1 coil to another and see if the problem moves.

 

[DisapointedRam13]

I had one broke ex bolt .this tick was very pronounced. Not a exhaust tick. A mechanical tick.cyl#1 misfire. New coil no help new plugs no help.. and no it threw same code. I have pictures of lifters I was talking about.

 

[DisapointedRam13]

These are only two different. All the rest where they should be. Anyone know about this? It's only thing I've found so far.

 

[EdGs]

Still could have a bad injector. Any other codes?

I believe I read somewhere that those pins can turn like that. Not 100% on that, though.

 

[Rustypipes12]

How did your oil ports and pistons look? The reason I ask is my '09 5.7 TRX4 still had a slight tick after changing header bolts and one header . I tried Valvoline Restore and Protect after watching a video from The Motor Oil Geek , sounds like a new engine and my milage increased by 2mpg. Not much but I'll take it!

 

[DisapointedRam13]

It's definitely not a leak.
By description of how it works the pin missing would be allowing oil in, right? There's 1 completely out of sight and one half way. That just doesn't seem right to me.

 

[Ken226]

It's definitely not a leak.
By description of how it works the pin missing would be allowing oil in, right? There's 1 completely out of sight and one half way. That just doesn't seem right to me.

Still could have a bad injector. Any other codes?

I believe I read somewhere that those pins can turn like that. Not 100% on that, though.

Ed is correct.

It isn't a concern. That is common and normal. The internals can rotate freely to any orientation and still work.

The pin has a flat on (circled in pic @ bottom) it that engages an annular groove machined into the inside of the lifter (item 2. "circumferential MDS relief"), specifically so that it can work regardless of how the internal plunger is oriented.

The circumferential MDS relief groove is machined around the interior of the lifter body, kinda a negative version of the exterior circumferential groove visible just above the word "flat", on the exterior of the lifter body.

when MDS is engaged, oil flows into the lifter body through the hole, fills the circumferential groove, then the pressure pushes the plunger in (regardless of orientation), and collapses the lifter. When the pressurized oil is turned off, the spring pushes the plunger back out and the flat, catches on the interior of the circumferential groove.

I hope that makes sense.

 

[Ken226]

It's definitely not a leak.
By description of how it works the pin missing would be allowing oil in, right? There's 1 completely out of sight and one half way. That just doesn't seem right to me.

Here is some more info on it, credit to @EdGs from back in June. :

09 MDS Lifter Pin issue?

Inspecting the lifters on my 09 5.7 and noticed this lifter (cyl #4) has a pin that is not lined up with the hole in the side of the lifter. Is this a problem? If so, can it be fixed, or should I replace? All lifters are otherwise in good shape (tight bearings, etc).

www.ramforum.com

In the last post, Ed linked a video that gives a really good description starting at about the 11:45 point in the video.

The BEST Prevention For Hemi Lifter Failure! (In My Opinion)

No one wants to experience the dreaded Hemi tick. If you are dealing with lifter failure this can be a costly repair. What are the options to help prevent it...

youtu.be

But, the guy is slightly mistaken in 1 small aspect, but it's a technicality and not particularly relevant. He said that the inner cylinder rotates until a pin engages the hole, but that isn't quite correct. The hole is only for allowing oil in. The actual mechanical engagement is between the flats on the cylinder pin and the lower, planar, annular face of the circumferential groove inside the lifter body. The flats will engage the circumferential groove with any amount of rotation, or even no rotation at all. The pin is larger in diameter than the hole and could never fit anyway.




I fired up CAD to make it easier to visualize.

The plunger face, in red in this image:



Bears against the groove face, in red, in this image:




Using 2d sketch mode I used to chordal section of the pin visible in the pic to show the relative sizes of the pin vs the hole. It's evident that the pin is too big to fit through the hole.