Does Hemi "tick" go away by using a heavier weight oil, a higher quality synthetic oil or buy using premium fuel only? Would premium fuel use be more related to the exhaust manifold bolt issue? If so I do not follow at all. Bolts are bolts, cheap ones rust out regardless of fuel, no???
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Hemi "tick"
- Thread starter A4Owner
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I guess what I am asking is, the 5.7 would appear to be a VERY good v8 but for these two issues. IF and this is what I do not know for sure, those issues can be solved with only top spec oil and premium fuel then that's a pricey (but really easy if you have the $$$) solve no?
SD Rebel
Spends too much time on here
It depends on which tick.
The most mild is simply just the fuel injectors, which is normal. Then as you mentioned, you have the tick coming from a broken exhaust manifold or broken manifold bolts or combination of both. Fairly simple fix, not internal issue, just new bolts or manifold.
But you are likely talking about the infamous failed lifter, which is likely caused by bad roller pins, which can be alleviated or reduced by running quality synthetic oil at more moderate intervals such as 5000 miles.
Good idea to run quality synthetics in these engines, but running a thicker oil is unlikely to improve the lifter ssue, may actual compound the issue by reducing oil lubrication to the pins at idle.
All that is conjecture though, the Hemi is considered fairly reliable, I don't think there's any engine in the full size category that is 100% bullet proof.
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Okay but as far as engines in the larger category go, these are two good ones no? The 5/7 and the 6/4? The higher quality oil issue is pretty easy to solve: just use better oil or do some research into which oil has been shown to lengthen the life span of the roller pins. One fellow on YouTube swore by I think it was either Valvoline's or Pennzoil's synthetic. He showed the engine idling nearly whisper quiet with the stuff in the crank.
For myself, the fuel thing is potentially a more complex issue.
There are big vehicles with big engines, so premium fuel use would add up. The way I approach this is if there is an actual benefit to running 91 octane, then fine. Otherwise, believe the 5/7 can run on 87 with 89 the recommendation.
For myself, the fuel thing is potentially a more complex issue.
There are big vehicles with big engines, so premium fuel use would add up. The way I approach this is if there is an actual benefit to running 91 octane, then fine. Otherwise, believe the 5/7 can run on 87 with 89 the recommendation.
BowDown
Spends too much time on here
Mine 5.7 is quiet, makes no difference whether I'm using PUP or Mobil 1 5w20. As for fuel, I use 93 only as I've found 87 and 8+9 reduce my mpg. I offset the cost difference by buying gas at costco which consistently has 93 for the same as regular stations 89 and it also top tier gas
SD Rebel
Spends too much time on here
Sure, there are millions of them on the road, they are generally good engines. Remember you are watching a video, who knows how it's picking up the sound in a video vs in person. Also, for example, you can clearly hear the sound of loud ticking from injectors when next to a wall that it bounces the sound, but hardly hear it otherwise.
It's recommended to run 89 to get the best performance and mpg, but it states 87 is acceptable. I don't think it has anything to do with a tick, or at least an internal one.
The issue isn't too complex, essentially some engines will have bad roller pins what will fail early and that will drop a lifter. You can maybe help elevate that with higher quality synthetics and more frequent oil changes while avoiding too long idle times.
DEG
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I'm on my 4th Ram with a Hemi putting more than 350,000 combined miles on them and have never had a Hemi tick on any of them. I've also never run premium fuel in any of them.
Social media will always make problems seem much larger and more frequent than they are in reality.
Social media will always make problems seem much larger and more frequent than they are in reality.
Yeah I can appreciate that. I always read the owner's manual of every car I own and just stick with that. But I guess with the hemi "tick" its sort of a widely reported problem and so to me, to me, if using higher end oil prevents or delays the tick (i.e. somehow "better" lubricates the roller pins in the lifters) then in my mind it is worth it. The fuel rating thing I think is more nuanced: if, and I don't know this, if using premium delays prevents the exhaust manifold detachment thing (I totally don't get how using premium fuel can prevent bolts made out of one metal from rusting less quickly than the engine block that happens to be made out of another metal material) however I will say this...IF using premium nets me better MPGs then it is sort of worth it. In any case, the oil issue is more black and white to me...the fuel grade is not. I say just put in whatever the official Chrysler fuel grade is for the truck and that's it. IF and again this is a big if, someone can prove that using premium results in other benefits than just MPGs in which case you are essentially getting what you pay for, then yeah I'd let it drink premium.
DEG
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I think you are overthinking this and too heavily influenced by what you read on social media. Social media widely reports many problems that are in reality rare problems in the real world.
The huge majority of people who don't have any problems with their truck are not going to go online and start a thread saying "Hey, 60,000 and no problems." However, when that rare person has an issue a large percent will run to social media and complain about it before they even take it to the dealer.
Then, you have another percentage who don't have the problem, but believe they have the problem because they read about the problem. I saw someone complaining about their "hemi tick" once and the only time they could hear it was when going through the drive through with a wall within feet of their truck with their window down. They were hearing normal fuel injector tick amplified by the echo off the close wall, but had heard about this dreaded "hemi tick" and thought their truck was broken.
I also don't think there is anything nuanced about the fuel issue. Whoever lead you to believe it could lead to an exhaust manifold or rusty bolt issue was feeding you nonsense. The owners manual for every Hemi ram I have owned said to not use E-85 or fuel with ethanol greater than 15%. It also says the Hemi is designed to "provide satisfactory fuel economy and performance when using high-quality unleaded gasoline having an
octane range of 87 to 89". It recommends 89 for optimal performance and economy. I've run 87 in 4 different Hemi Rams and "satisfactory fuel economy and performance" it provided was more than adequate to meet my needs. At one time I ran about 6 consecutive tanks of premium fuel and noticed no difference in performance and any gain in MPG was not enough to recover the added cost.
I think you might see some long-term benefit if you can run fuel without any ethanol regardless of octane rating. Ethanol can cause long term corrosion of metal and rubber but most modern engines are designed to run ethanol blends. It's not an option for me, since Illinois requires ethanol in all grades of gasoline used on the highway.
Only possible connection I can make between warped exhaust manifolds and fuel octane would work in the opposite direction, and then only on paper.
If you are using lower octane it will force more retarded spark timing (relative). This would result in marginally lower EGT temps, and maybe less heat through the manifolds causing the warping.
However, the difference in EGTs would be so small as to be insignificant, and they shouldn't be that high to begin with in an NA engine.
In short, I agree with this:
If you are using lower octane it will force more retarded spark timing (relative). This would result in marginally lower EGT temps, and maybe less heat through the manifolds causing the warping.
However, the difference in EGTs would be so small as to be insignificant, and they shouldn't be that high to begin with in an NA engine.
In short, I agree with this:
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