Hemi with liftter noise. What to do?

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I have a 2006 Dodge Hemi 1500 Mega Cab. The manual says use 5-20 oil. It has had lifter noise since new when cold and at idle. Used 0/20 Mobil 1 & Wix filter, 5/30 Amsoil & Amsoil EOA Filter, and now 0-40 Mobil with Wix Filter and nothing helps. It has about 22,000 miles and is still under warrenty. Hate to have a dealer tear into it but I do want to fix the noise. My son has an 06 Hemi and no problems. Any thoughts? Thanks!
 
I would have the dealer look at it and fix under warranty. I would not mention using anything other than 5-20 in that engine. I had a tick in a 2.7L engine that is spec'd for 5W-20. I filled with GC 0W-30 and have not had any ticking. I can see however, using a thicker oil did not solve your problem. Have them look at it under warranty, that's what it's there for.
 
The notorious Hemi tick. have you looked on a Ram forum? I had an 05 Ram w/ the Hemi but mine didn't have the tick. Many forum members reported having it though.
 
you can have it looked at but I say live with it. Its called the hemi tick and almost all have it. One of the pleasures of having a hemi, also when its time to change the spark plugs you'll find out the other big pleasure of owning a hemi. 16 spark plugs of fun for you to change out! All of which especially the back ones you need a step ladder to get to! If it has the mds where it shuts down 4 cylenders to save gas you can ONLY USE 5-20, or the mds wont work. So have fun with your hemi! Oh ya I forgot there is one more great thing! It only takes super gasoline! So thats .30 cents more per gallon for your noisy expensive engine. It wasent coinsidence that they had dumb hicks on the commercials, but hey "Its got a hemi in it" Get er done!!!!!!!!!!
 
Originally Posted By: ryland
Oh ya I forgot there is one more great thing! It only takes super gasoline!



Oh "ya?" Not according to the specs.

Fuel requirement:
Unleaded mid-grade, 89 octane (R+M)/2 - recommended
Unleaded regular, 87 octane (R+M)/2 - acceptable



As for the tick, its pretty common on engines with complex valvetrain geometries. Splayed-valve engines like the old big-block Chevy were prone to ticking a little also. Its not likely the lifters themselves, but a lateral clearance in the rocker/pushrod combination that gets taken up as the valve starts to lift. If it goes away when warm, I wouldn't worry.
 
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My wife's 05 cherookee with the hemi with the 4cylinder shut off,and it does have tick but not all the time..
 
Originally Posted By: callbay
I have a 2006 Dodge Hemi 1500 Mega Cab. The manual says use 5-20 oil. It has had lifter noise since new when cold and at idle. Used 0/20 Mobil 1 & Wix filter, 5/30 Amsoil & Amsoil EOA Filter, and now 0-40 Mobil with Wix Filter and nothing helps. It has about 22,000 miles and is still under warrenty. Hate to have a dealer tear into it but I do want to fix the noise. My son has an 06 Hemi and no problems. Any thoughts? Thanks!


The HEMI tick is present in the majority of the engines. It does not go away when the engine warms up. If anything it is worse once the engine is warm in my experience. There are people with 200K+ that have had the tick since day one and the engine is still going strong. You can go to the dealer and get it on record, just in case it is something other than the tick, but they are going to say it is normal and they will do nothing if they determine it to be the tick.

Over the years there have been many causes for it put forth. Lifters, valves, and pushrods. I don't believe anyone really knows what it is other than it does appear to be valvetrain related. It does not appear that it actually does any harm although it is annoying. My 2004 1500 had it pretty bad but that truck is still running around here locally going strong. My 2008 1500 has not developed it yet with just under 5K. I am hoping I got lucky and it never does.

Many people report a reduction in the tick by using a quality synthetic oil. I know my 04 was a lot quieter when I ran RP 5W-30 than on the factory dino oil. Lots of people reported that the RP did a good job lessening the tick. Others claimed that going to a 5W-20 lessened it more. I tried an OC of RP 5W-20 and IMO it made it louder. I went back to 5W-30.

Unfortunately, MDS requires a 5W-20 oil for proper operation. The Power Wagon and 2500/3500 models do not have MDS. Your MC is a 1500 you said so you should have it as MDS 1st appeared in the Ram 1500's in 2006. If you disable MDS with a tuner or use your Tow/Haul mode all the time so it is not functioning you can try a 5W-30 to see if it quiets it down for you? The 5.7L from 03-08 was the same basic engine even with the addition of MDS and 5W-30 will not hurt it in any way.

Oil spec's as follows...

2003 - 5W-30 ALL
2004 - 5W-30 ALL
2005 - 5W-20 ALL
2006 - 5W-20 ALL
2007 - 5W-20 w/ MDS( under 14,000 lbs GVRW ) - 5W-30 Power
Wagon/2500/3500( over 14,000 lbs GVRW )
2008 - 5W-20 w/ MDS( under 14,000 lbs GVRW ) - 5W-30 Power
Wagon/2500/3500( over 14,000 lbs GVRW )

Nothing really changed with the 5.7L from 03-08 other than MDS being added in the 1/2 tons so running 5W-30 won't harm anything. It might interfer with proper MDS operation is all. You could try disabling MDS long enough to run some 5W-30 and see if it helps the tick?
 
Originally Posted By: ryland
Oh ya I forgot there is one more great thing! It only takes super gasoline! So thats .30 cents more per gallon for your noisy expensive engine. It wasent coinsidence that they had dumb hicks on the commercials, but hey "Its got a hemi in it" Get er done!!!!!!!!!!

so Acuras, benzes, BMWs, etc that all call for premium are all for dumb hicks also?
high perf engines usually require higher octane to get the most benefit, or is this news to you?
valvetrain noise is not a hemi-only problem either; most all japanese V6's (at least the mazda and nissan ones I have experience with)have this trait as well.
the OP was looking for help, he doesn't need you turning this into a hemi bashing thread.
 
Originally Posted By: ryland
you can have it looked at but I say live with it. Its called the hemi tick and almost all have it. One of the pleasures of having a hemi, also when its time to change the spark plugs you'll find out the other big pleasure of owning a hemi. 16 spark plugs of fun for you to change out! All of which especially the back ones you need a step ladder to get to! If it has the mds where it shuts down 4 cylenders to save gas you can ONLY USE 5-20, or the mds wont work. So have fun with your hemi! Oh ya I forgot there is one more great thing! It only takes super gasoline! So thats .30 cents more per gallon for your noisy expensive engine. It wasent coinsidence that they had dumb hicks on the commercials, but hey "Its got a hemi in it" Get er done!!!!!!!!!!


What a worthless post. Choc full of inaccurate info and stereotypes.
 
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I put a few gallons of regular unleaded in my Z31 Turbo one time. Engine clattered and pinged so bad it would barely accelerate........I pulled a U-ie,went back to the station and topped her off with premium........problem solved! NEVER put regular in a car that specs premuim.

To the op on the lifter tick.........when my gf bought her 1998 Olds 88,I gave it an oil change as soon as we got it home to M1 10W30 and it had immediate valvetrain tick. After the oci petered out (the tick never went away during this oci),I went back to dino,Valvoline 10W40. Valvetrain tick was immediately gone and has never returned. I think some engines are just a lil finnicky?
 
Originally Posted By: ctc
Originally Posted By: ryland
you can have it looked at but I say live with it. Its called the hemi tick and almost all have it. One of the pleasures of having a hemi, also when its time to change the spark plugs you'll find out the other big pleasure of owning a hemi. 16 spark plugs of fun for you to change out! All of which especially the back ones you need a step ladder to get to! If it has the mds where it shuts down 4 cylenders to save gas you can ONLY USE 5-20, or the mds wont work. So have fun with your hemi! Oh ya I forgot there is one more great thing! It only takes super gasoline! So thats .30 cents more per gallon for your noisy expensive engine. It wasent coinsidence that they had dumb hicks on the commercials, but hey "Its got a hemi in it" Get er done!!!!!!!!!!


What a worthless post. Choc full of inaccurate info and stereotypes.


Where is the inaccurate info? I'll give ya the steriotypes, but are they really stereotypes if they are true?
 
Mine ticked for 20k and then I changed PP and that was the end of it. In my limited experience Mobil 1 tends to noisy in some engines.
 
Originally Posted By: PT1
Take it to the dealer. Before Chrysler files Chapter 11.


No kidding, get it to the dealer to see what they have to say.
 
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Originally Posted By: ryland
Originally Posted By: ctc
Originally Posted By: ryland
you can have it looked at but I say live with it. Its called the hemi tick and almost all have it. One of the pleasures of having a hemi, also when its time to change the spark plugs you'll find out the other big pleasure of owning a hemi. 16 spark plugs of fun for you to change out! All of which especially the back ones you need a step ladder to get to! If it has the mds where it shuts down 4 cylenders to save gas you can ONLY USE 5-20, or the mds wont work. So have fun with your hemi! Oh ya I forgot there is one more great thing! It only takes super gasoline! So thats .30 cents more per gallon for your noisy expensive engine. It wasent coinsidence that they had dumb hicks on the commercials, but hey "Its got a hemi in it" Get er done!!!!!!!!!!


What a worthless post. Choc full of inaccurate info and stereotypes.


Where is the inaccurate info? I'll give ya the steriotypes, but are they really stereotypes if they are true?


The 5.7L HEMI used in the Rams does NOT call for premium/super unleaded( 91-93 octane ). 89 is recommended but 87 is acceptable. The only time you EVER need premium gas in a 5.7L HEMI ram is if you are running a tuner( Superchips, Diable, Hypertech )that call for it.

I have had 2 HEMI powered Rams and I have always run 87 with no issues. Matter of fact when I have run 89( and yes before you say it I have run a few tanks in a row so the computer can adjust to the higher octane )it has made no difference at all.

As to the plug issue while you are correct that some of those 16 plugs are difficult to get to so what? Lots of cars with 4 and 6 cyl engines, running just one plug p/cylinder, that have worse plugs to change. Heck, on some small FWD sport cars you practically have to lift the engine out to do a plug swap.

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hey hey hey dont talk to your big dog daddy like that. we will just have to agree to disagree. lets go have a drink, whisky for my men, beer for my horses. Maybe we'll find a red neck woman that buys her lingerie from walmart.
 
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