Poll: How many Hemi owners actually experience the tick?

[bjayscanlon]

Here in Illinois I switch between 0W20 for winter months and 0/5W30 for summer months. This is an old (not really) U-haul special. On the window sticker, it even states U-Haul package. But, I am guessing it has seen alot of 86 gasoline and its first oil change was after 8K miles. So I need to nurture. I am using Valvoline Restore and Protect. Truck has 14K miles and no tick.

 

[Sherman Bird]

I'm assuming, a typo?

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Out of curiosity, how many miles do you have on it since switching to 5w30? I'm moving to a state with hotter weather next year, and will be undergoing a significant change to my driving habits. I'll probably switch to 5w30 then, if not sooner.

You might check into 0W40 for the hotter weather climes. The latest on the 6.2L GM truck engines now mandates this viscocity....double the prior oil! The oil geek doea a great job explaining this!

 

[Rebel4Mo]

My wife's '19 Rebel has the tick only at idle.65K miles.
Took it to the dealer and after I was told its an injector and nothing to worry about.

Also for you oil guys I have ran 5W-30 Royal Purple,Penzoil Platinum,Mobil 1 and compared to the 5W-20 the dealer just put in there was no difference in the tick.
No difference between the brands either.

 

[KeithP]

Three 5.7 Hemi’s in the family. 17 / 19 & 22.

17: broken manifold bolt(s) after 100k miles. Hasn’t been repaired yet. Currently has 108k on it. No tick.

19: cracked both manifolds while under warranty. Currently has 97k on it. No tick.

22: 45k & no issues to date. No tick.

 

[Dusty]

You might check into 0W40 for the hotter weather climes. The latest on the 6.2L GM truck engines now mandates this viscocity....double the prior oil! The oil geek doea a great job explaining this!

Yes, but the GM recommendation is based on a known problem with rough crankshaft journal finish. Has that ever been a problem with 5.7s or 6.4s?

Regards,
Dusty
2019 Ram 1500 Billet Silver Laramie Quad Cab 2WD, 5.7 Hemi, 8HP75, 3.21 axle, 33-gallon fuel tank, 18” wheels. Build Date: 3 June 2018. Now at 131031 miles.

 

[Kodabear]

I’m curious what you mean by tick? Just bought a 3 year old Hemi a few months ago. Is this tick something constant? I assume coming from under the hood?

When I start it up there’s some clicking or ticking. Is this just a normal part of it starting up? Things engaging?

 

[Thebusdriver]

I have a 2014 Ram
Express with 117k miles on it. No lifter/cam tick as far as I can tell, . It definitely has the exhaust manifold leak that many people think is the “tick” but it’s just a warped manifold. Goes away after a few seconds of warm up.

I do not let it idle for long and try to get it up over 3k RPMs at least once every drive to get oil splashing around in the right places.

 

[ramffml]

Yes, but the GM recommendation is based on a known problem with rough crankshaft journal finish. Has that ever been a problem with 5.7s or 6.4s?

Regards,
Dusty
2019 Ram 1500 Billet Silver Laramie Quad Cab 2WD, 5.7 Hemi, 8HP75, 3.21 axle, 33-gallon fuel tank, 18” wheels. Build Date: 3 June 2018. Now at 131031 miles.

The key takeaways:
1) thicker oil will not harm your engine (VVT/DOD systems etc)
2) thicker oil can extend your engine life

There are all kinds of images of hemi cam lobes in various states of deterioration and delamination. Yes, thicker oil is going to help in these cases. We have no real proof that we can prevent it, but thicker oil can help mitigate at the very least.

Why is anyone still running a 20 weight?

 

[Dragula]

My 2012 SLT Hemi got the tick, but due to warped headers. Removed them, grinded down the face, replaced, and tick was gone. My 2015 Rebel has 98K miles and zero ticks, zero issues. My favorite truck out of five owned.

 

[Last-truck]

‘22 Rebel. 40k. Standard dealership maintenance. New Hampshire. No tick.

 

[speedyslvr]

My 2019 6.4L had the manifold tick. Replaced the driver’s side manifold and it went away. Expensive fix…$1500.
Supposedly my manifold was still under warranty, but after more than 10 calls to the dealer over the course of a year, I went and paid out of pocket. Dealer kept telling me the part was back ordered.

 

[KerryinTN]

Op here. I probably should have said, experienced the hemi tick (excluding manifold) but let's see how this poll works out.

Yes, I wanted to add that the yesses should only be for the lifter ticks. If you have manifold ticks that go away when warmed up, those don’t count. Many different vehicles with cast iron manifolds have that and it’s an easy fix compared to lifters eating a cam lobe.

 

[Rambo71]

2015 with 151,000 miles, no tick. used same oil weight, 0W20 Full Synthetic the whole time. Drive it like it's stolen, but still have over 600 hours idle time and 3000+ driving. Don't bother with MDS Shutoff very often, let the engine do it's thing. Manifold bolts and rear end rebuild, biggest events i've had to deal with.

 

[KerryinTN]

I’m curious what you mean by tick? Just bought a 3 year old Hemi a few months ago. Is this tick something constant? I assume coming from under the hood?

When I start it up there’s some clicking or ticking. Is this just a normal part of it starting up? Things engaging?

Kodabear- there are two things folks refer to as the hemi tick.

The more common is what you have, which is not exclusive to hemis, but common on them nonetheless. It’s caused by warpage twisting of the cast iron exhaust manifold which causes a gap when cold. Upon warming, it expands and closes some or all of the gap.

The less common is a tick caused by lifters whose roller bearing wears out and destroys the cam lobe, leading to a misfire cylinder and metal chards in the engine. That kind is bad news, and quite a bit more rare, but is the intended focus of this poll.

 

[ron1111]

2014 5.7L with about 40K (low miles) Use 5-20W. I can't remember a time it DIDN'T tick on startup. >80% of the time it goes away in the first minute or so.

 

[sshoregaragedoor]

I have a 22 Ram 2500 with the 6.4, after 25K, the dreaded tick, after aprox, 5,000 miles on oil change, only at idle until the 0W40 watery oil decided to lubricate the cam journals, recently switch to 5W30, problem went away, the EPA standards for these trucks are ridiculous, it's a heavy duty, meant for a more robust oil, that's my story and I'm sticking to it!

 

[etbrown4]

Just posted a New poll based on many requests, focusing only on cam and lifter tics.

First poll indicated that about 1/3 of 100 respondents had encountered a tick from all sources.

 

[Sherman Bird]

Yes, but the GM recommendation is based on a known problem with rough crankshaft journal finish. Has that ever been a problem with 5.7s or 6.4s?

Regards,
Dusty
2019 Ram 1500 Billet Silver Laramie Quad Cab 2WD, 5.7 Hemi, 8HP75, 3.21 axle, 33-gallon fuel tank, 18” wheels. Build Date: 3 June 2018. Now at 131031 miles.

My assessment is that the 2 are parallel. Law of descending logic.... And using 0W40 has been done on the Rams, as I've read.

 

[Norseman]

My 2020 Bighorn 5.7 had 4628 miles when I bought it 4 years ago, it now has 73000 miles with no hemi tick. Regular oil changes before 5000 miles. But it does rattle on start up, always has, and has never gotten better or worse. I can live with it.

 

[Rivstg1]

Yes, I wanted to add that the yesses should only be for the lifter ticks. If you have manifold ticks that go away when warmed up, those don’t count. Many different vehicles with cast iron manifolds have that and it’s an easy fix compared to lifters eating a cam lobe.

THATs why I voted 'yes'....b/c mine does what you described