Help with the ole tick tick tick

[ChadAllen]

UPDATE: I'm currently in a holding pattern. I ordered parts from Mopar, but still waiting for them to arrive. In the meantime, I've come up with my plan. I sent an oil sample off to Blackstone. If that sample comes back with lots of metal in the oil, then I am going to return the parts and sell this truck. If the analysis comes back clean, THEN I'll pull the heads and replace those lifters. There's no point, in my mind, of changing the cam and lifters if metal from the cam is already circulating through the engine. That metal will never be completely removed and will most definitely destroy rod bearings at some point. Went through this with my wife's Santa Fe. They left metal in the block from the machining process. The dealer did an oil flush, but there's no way to be sure ALL the metal was retrieved. Her engine completely seized a few thousand miles later. She ended up needing a new engine.

I'm not taking that risk in a vehicle that tows a camper all the time...... cause my luck THAT will be when the engine fails.

I will keep you all posted. Thanks again for everything

 

[silver billet]

UPDATE: I'm currently in a holding pattern. I ordered parts from Mopar, but still waiting for them to arrive. In the meantime, I've come up with my plan. I sent an oil sample off to Blackstone. If that sample comes back with lots of metal in the oil, then I am going to return the parts and sell this truck. If the analysis comes back clean, THEN I'll pull the heads and replace those lifters. There's no point, in my mind, of changing the cam and lifters if metal from the cam is already circulating through the engine. That metal will never be completely removed and will most definitely destroy rod bearings at some point. Went through this with my wife's Santa Fe. They left metal in the block from the machining process. The dealer did an oil flush, but there's no way to be sure ALL the metal was retrieved. Her engine completely seized a few thousand miles later. She ended up needing a new engine.

I'm not taking that risk in a vehicle that tows a camper all the time...... cause my luck THAT will be when the engine fails.

I will keep you all posted. Thanks again for everything

Just note that blackstone labs (or any UOA) is not conclusive if it comes back negative on high wear metals. UOA's only look at a tiny fraction of the size that particles can be, and a number of guys have reported lifter failure with 0 warning from their UOAs.

 

[MT755]

Greetings everyone! My 2019 5.7 4wd recently started that infamous ticking. I'm trying to narrow down the source before I commit to tearing things apart. The only Ram dealer in town is a piece of work and I'm out of warranty (71k miles) so I'll be doing it myself. Any help with diagnosis would be greatly appreciated.

The tick is faint. I don't hear it while I am driving, or even sitting at a stop sign with the windows down. Only hear it when I'm walking around the front of the truck or at a drive thru where the engine echoes off the wall. It doesn't get louder or quieter at any point. It doesn't go away as the engine warms. But it's also not louder at start up. I've had a couple cars in my life with bad lifters and the ticking was always louder on initial startup until those initial rpms drop to idle as the oil first starts circulating. If anything, the tick doesn't start until that initial sequence is done and the rpm drops.

I took a stethoscope to it and I'm having a hell of a time pinpointing it. Stuck in a gap under the intake manifold Same for valve covers on both sides, heads and exhaust manifolds. Never had a point where I touched the stethoscope and said "whoa, there it is." I could hear it faintly everywhere.

No codes. Idle is smooth. Drives fine. Normal acceleration.

I change the oil when recommended, use Mopar filters and royal purple full synthetic. I know the lifters don't like idling, so I don't do that except at red lights (of course). Did everything right, so if it's the lifters I'm gonna be.....well, you know.

Any other tricks I can try? My brain is telling me maybe there is a crack in the exhaust manifold that is amplifying an otherwise normal internal tick, but I don't know. The engine is too hot right now to pull off the heat shields to check, and it's about to start pouring rain. Just thought I'd ask for help brainstorming while I wait.

Truly appreciate any help.

I've heard someone ran thicker oil and that cured it

 

[ChadAllen]

Just note that blackstone labs (or any UOA) is not conclusive if it comes back negative on high wear metals. UOA's only look at a tiny fraction of the size that particles can be, and a number of guys have reported lifter failure with 0 warning from their UOAs.

Totally understand that. It's an odds game. I'm on the hunt for metal before I go to pulling the head. I ran a magnet through the old oil, no metal. I pulled the OCV valve to look for metal on the screens as Chrysler recommends, nothing. Clean as a whistle. I pulled the valve cover on the passenger side (where the tick is coming from) looking for glitter and found nothing. So far so good. If the Blackstone analysis also comes back clean, it's just another piece of the puzzle.

Of course, the final decision comes when/if I remove the head and can physically examine the camshaft lobes.

If I, or Blackstone find metal, I'm done there. The heads stay on and the truck gets sold. It neither of us find metal, then I'll take on the task of removing the head and visually inspect that cam. Just not worth the effort if I already know ahead of time that it's shot

 

[ChadAllen]

I've heard someone ran thicker oil and that cured it

It depends what is causing the tick. These engines aren't quiet. Sometimes the tick is nothing. You hear people driving with it for years with no issue. That tick is where the thicker oil would help. But if the tick is coming from a frozen lifter slowly eating the cam, no amount of oil is going to fix that. It might quiet it for a bit until the cam is too far gone. Unfortunately, both ticks sound similar and the only way to REALLY know which tick you have is to open it up and inspect the parts.