So I bought a 2019 Durango RT Hemi over the winter. It had 60k miles on it and runs excellent. Typically after a vehicle purchase, first thing I do is change oil. I came home and swapped in Mobil 1 and a Wix. Mobil 1 is what I’ve always used and never had issue. Well, after this switch, it sounded like a transplanted a 12 valve Cummins. Real noisy and clackity. I called the previous owner and asked what oil they used because it was quiet when I bought it. Valvoline. So, I drained the Mobil 1, swapped in Valvoline Advanced 5w20 and it’s quiet once again. When it’s cold, it will be semi noisy upon startup but go away after less than a minute. Now that it’s warmer, it’s quiet from startup as well. My question is, should I move to a 5w30 when it starts getting cold again? Also, I’ve obviously become a Valvoline fan, I’m assuming the moly content is what has helped, but should I use R&P in the meantime? It now has 64k miles and I’d like to keep it as long as possible. So many guesses as to the reasoning of the hemi tick from poor design, small needle bearings, MDS etc. This one isn’t the manifold bolts and I believe it could be due to the needle bearing design from my research as well. Would 5w30 benefit in the warm weather? Should I go dramatic and move to 0w40? My thought is the R&P may help keep build up off the needle bearings as well? Any input?
2019 Durango RT Oil Observations
- Thread starter swrve
- Start date
OVERKILL
$100 Site Donor 2021
2019 would have the revised lifters with the larger needles. The "HEMI tick" is normally the exhaust manifolds, if you've got a failing lifter (which shouldn't be the case with your post revision lifters), no oil is going to fix it. MDS pre-dates the lifter failure, so it's not an MDS issue, and non-MDS lifters fail in the same way.
The HEMI's are not the cleanest running engines, so a run of VRP and then a look in the filter would be a good idea, to see if there's any evidence of cleaning going on. None of our HEMI's have ever been any louder on M1, FWIW. Prior to HPL, we were using M1 EP 0W-20 in our '19 RAM 1500.
Mine is quiet on M1 0W-40. Was quiet on Pennzoil Ultra Platinum 5W-30 too. Next up is Pennzoil Platinum Euro 5W-40.
Was the M1 you used the plain vanilla M1? I have used that oil in the past in different engines and it appeared to be noisier.
Was the M1 you used the plain vanilla M1? I have used that oil in the past in different engines and it appeared to be noisier.
I’ll run the R&P on the next change, would you recommend the factory recommended weight of 5W-20?
What year is yours, does the factory call for 5w-20?
I think all the SRTs run 0-40 and those are monsters.
OVERKILL
$100 Site Donor 2021
I don't see a problem with using the factory visc spec, I'm using 0W-20 in our RAM, but there's nothing wrong with using a 5W-30 either, if you feel more comfortable with a slightly heavier oil.
2023 0W-20
Oh wow. I’m sketchy about using 5w-20. My Toyotas all use 0W-20 and are fine somehow. One of them has 190k and runs like the day I bought it.
FWIW, my 2014 Jeep with the 3.6l engine currently has 186k miles on it. Through most of its’ life I used 5w-20 Pennzoil Platinum or Ultra Platinum. At about 150k miles I changed viscosity to 5w-30 Pennzoil Ultra Platinum and curiously the fuel economy increased. Last year I tried Valvoline Advanced 5w-30 and the engine was quieter with it. The most recent two changes I switched to Valvoline Restore and Protect 5w-30 and the engine is even quieter, feels smoother, and the from time-to-time engine startup rattle is gone. I believe my Jeep’s engine has picked this oil as a current best match.
Would you still use 0W-20 if all you had access to was off the shelf lubes?
OVERKILL
$100 Site Donor 2021
I was previously running M1 EP 0W-20 in it, so yes, at least while it was under warranty. Would I feel comfortable running something a bit heavier like a 0W-30 or 0W-40? Also yes.
This is good to hear. I think R&P is my next oil for this motor. Just have to decide if I want to stay with factory 5w-20 or move to 5w-30. I also wonder why people only do this oil for its cleaning ability, then switch back to something else? Seems like the smart play is just to stay with the R&P?
@swrve My intent is to stay with it. When Pennzoil Ultra came out it was promoted as an oil that kept engine components clean. I will say the throttle body of each vehicle I’ve run it in always stayed amazingly clean. Oil vapors recycled through the PCV system didn’t gunk up the intake and I believe Penz Ultra is a very high quality oil. Oil manufacturers continue to introduce improved products and I’ll be open to trying them in the future provided they appear to have an advantage over the R&P.
At about 50,000 miles one or more of the needle bearing rockers failed on the intake side of my Jeep’s 3.6 which is what inspired me to respond to your original post. I did have oil analysis documentation as evidence that this engine was exhibiting very minimal wear, the rockers simply failed. The dealer replaced the intake cam and all intake side rockers under warranty and I have had no further issues with this vehicle.
At about 50,000 miles one or more of the needle bearing rockers failed on the intake side of my Jeep’s 3.6 which is what inspired me to respond to your original post. I did have oil analysis documentation as evidence that this engine was exhibiting very minimal wear, the rockers simply failed. The dealer replaced the intake cam and all intake side rockers under warranty and I have had no further issues with this vehicle.
i have run dealer 5w20, pennzoil platinum 5w20, schaeffers 9000 5w20, mobil 1 FS 0w40, HPL supercar 0w40 and premium plus 5w30 and supercar 0w30, and most recently mobil 1 ESP X4 0w40 in my 2018 5.7 hemi and i can honestly say with my finely tuned ears that HPL supercar 0w40 was the quietest ever so slightly and every other oil, the engine has sounded the same. A jump to 5w30 will be of no issue
I had an 04 Ram 1500 4x4 that ticked horribly when I used M1. The tick was significantly reduced on Valvoline Maxlife. I discovered Amsoil around that time and tried the SS 5w-30 and can’t remember specifically, but I want to say it made the engine sound between the M1 and Maxlife. This was before I knew anything at all about various oils and their contents as a young E-5 lmao.
OVERKILL
$100 Site Donor 2021
Amusingly, '04, being pre-VCM, wasn't prone to lifter failure.
They are not the quietest engines (if you've ever seen the valvetrain, you know why). I personally have never had them make any more noise on M1 than any other oil (we've owned 2x 5.7's and 4x 6.4's) and our current 1500 had M1 EP 0W-20 in it exclusively before we switched to HPL.
That said, I do appreciate that there are people that experience audible differences and want to avoid certain products because of this.
That tick was actually what drove me to learn about oil
. In the 04s, the online speculation was that a pushrod in one of the driver’s side cylinder banks was a thou or two short (lol) and would allow a slight play enough to contribute to the noise. People most often complained about it when waiting for drive-thru food. I rarely ate fast food (don’t at all now) and when I did, it sure wasn’t in my truck. I hate the smell of stale food in my vehicles lol. I did work on a compound that had me park between two metal sided buildings so it amplified the tick enough to make it very noticeable and that’s when I started researching oil to see if I could muffle it a smidge. The internet of the early 2000s was a good time 
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