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HEMI LIFTER TICK, is this "really" safe? + Video included...

35K views 33 replies 18 participants last post by  CUUDA 
#1 ·
So I've had my 6.1l SRT-8 Challenger for about 34k miles now, for as long as I can recall it has "tapped" like this, but is this actually "safe" for the engine...what happens is after I have been driving the car and it cools down to 120-130f (3-4 hours of it being off), it will make this "tapping noise" for about a minute or until the car is driven, even when the engine hits 170f it will still make it (unless the car is driven).

I today talked to a legendary mechanic who works on the new M3 F10's and is just a in general BMW legend, (3 phds in engineering) and told him about this, he said if there is "any" lifter tapping, there is wear, as it means there is lack of lubricant and it is metal on metal...if this is true, why the hell has Dodge never attempted to fix this issue? He said it's only a matter of time until it damages the cam. After driving it at all, the it goes away and runs like a dream though (and I drive very hard) I am now using Pennozil 0w_40 but used M1 0w_40, no difference in lifter sound when I start the car after it's been a little warmed up...

I know DODGE will also more than likely say it's the "hemi tick" but I don't have a "tick" i have a "tap" unless that is what people are talking about, it never makes it again once I start driving..only after it has been sitting for a couple of hours.

Any ideas? Here is the sound of it...thanks in advance...I know if I have to get dodge to fix it, they would have to take apart the engine and who knows what else could go wrong during this, so hopefully this isn't actually an "issue", my car has pretty much done it from day one, just getting more paranoid about it, still runs fine...please advise, thanks!

Challenger light tapping, 130f - YouTube

And a longer one.. Untitled - YouTube

You can really hear it out of the front wheel-wells, hopefully this is just a Push-Rod V-8 thing...
 
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#5 · (Edited)
I had a 5.7L truck that had a light tick (Hemi Tick). It didn't sound like that. When I had a stock 6.1L, it didn't have it, just injector clicking, but not the Hemi Tick, same with my current 426 nothing but injectors. Yours sounds valve train related, pull the valve cover and have a look, may be a spring about to let go. Could be a lifter not pumping up (broken spring inside it), or a cracked rocker arm, or a rocker shaft bolt not torqued to spec.
 
#6 ·
in your video above... what you are calling a tick now... the frequency of the tick seems to coincides with this video you posted back in May about an exhaust rattle...is this what you meant by you can really hear it from the wheel well. I say something is up with the exhaust.

 
#8 ·
No, that video was a blown catalytic converter that Dodge replaced. That has nothing to do with this, I'll try to get another video tonight...how could it be a lifter not pumping? It goes away and does not come back after the car is driven until it is shut off for 3-5 hours...
 
#9 ·
Also I just found this video... is it possible it is a header noise? o_O, it goes away once everything is warmed up....that sounds a lot like mine does.. SO CONFUSED, and paranoid as if its my engine >.< I'm going to hate dealing with dodge taking it apart

Also when I rev the car the noise gets faster\louder.

 
#11 ·
Sounds like mine. Very loud at a cold start. Sound level almost disappears as the engine heats up to temperature but it's still there. Time to pull the valve covers.
 
#12 ·
So the verdict is lifters? Really? I don't get it, a lifter should be making noise ALL the time, not randomly stopping once temps build up...would a lifter noise increase\decrease with RPM? I.E. I found this video of a LS engine, and the tapping noise was apparently a loose header, which is why the sound increases with the rpms? fyi my sound comes from BOTH sides of the engine\wheel wells. LS3 416, possible bad lifter ticking - YouTube

Mine has ZERO noise after everything has completed heated up...maybe that slight "tick" which is injectors...that's why I'm confused as to why a lifter would just stop making noise if it was bad.
 
#13 ·
Lifters can get quiet once oil gets too them, and as they are riding on the camshaft you bet the speed will vary with RPM.

However an exhaust leak will too and will be louder by the wheel well and can also go away with temp, I'd have a look around for soot stains on the exhaust before I took the engine apart.
 
#15 ·
how about doing the old screw driver trick.... take a long screw driver place it close to each lifter with the handle close to your ear and see if any one lifter is making a lot more noise than another
 
#16 ·
My truck had the notorious hemi tick. LOUD!
When I had to replace a piston, I found the passenger side rear stud on the exhaust was broken.

When I put it all back together (replaced the stud of course). There was just a slight hemi tick again.
 
#17 · (Edited)
Hm....I'm still confused as to why my "lifters" would do this after the car has warmed up, then been cooled down for just 3-4 hours, (still warm), but not on a cold-start...really makes me think it could possibly be the header metal expanding which stops that tapping...blah

From what I get, noisy lifter generally = a bleeding lifter, or a lifter that has no oil, well, on a cold-start, if I had a lifter oiling problem, ALL of that oil would def be "gone" from the lifter, ZERO noise on a cold start though so why in the hell does it just makes it on a "warm-start" then? Just watchin some engine gurus in here, as I keep thinking it's "not" the lifters at this point, but I need knowledge :mrgreen:
 
#26 ·
Get a torque spec and then loosen them and re tighten. I would suggest new nuts though. Any ticking in the engine is a bad thing anything that comes and goes should be found. If the lifters are losing oil and the tick is from that it is wearing them out. Maybe slowly but still wearing them out. I don't know how you use your car but if not raced or on dirt roads all the time and you changed the kind of oil you use try using the manufacture recommended oil. If it goes away you will have your answer if not you will have to dig deeper!
 
#21 ·
I to think it's exhaust. My Ram has had a sidewinder cam for 100,000 miles, no hemi tick, but once it started to tick. It was loose header bolts. My Magnum has ticked like crazy for the last 110,000 miles that I've had the sidewinder. Does not get louder over time. I may pull valve covers off at 300,000 miles and have a look. Old school solid lifter guys ask what I've done to her as it sound just like the solid lifter motors of the good old days.
 
#23 ·
It may not just be a lifter. Could be a bent pushrod or loose rocker or as others have said, loose exhaust manifold bad gasket etc. Tolerances close up with heat so who knows. I'm going to pull the valve cover to make sure there's nothing mechanical going on. I used the rubber hose trick to narrow down the noise location and it seems to come from the front end of the drivers valve cover.
 
#24 ·
Er...a bent pushrod would CONSTANTLY be making a sound, cold, warm, or hot, right? I'm guessing your car constantly makes a sound? As I said,once mine gets up to temp (exhaust heated, engine heated) it ceases to do this, nor does it do it on a cold-start, ONLY on a warm-start after it has been sitting for 3-4 hours.
 
#25 ·
This is the tool you are looking for to locate this kind of abnormality.
If the sound is located on top of the head. Remove the valve cover and visually search there.
If the sound is located on the exhaust. Search for loose or broken exhaust bolts.

 
#30 · (Edited)
Quantum blue oil,acesIV gets rid of the hemi tick

Iirc he coined the phrase........
No it doesn't.....ugh. Friggin waste of money....wheres the dislike button....keep that crap on CF where it belongs....lol

P.S....he didn't coin sh*t...."hemi tick" has been around long before Brian and for the most part is the secondary spring inside the MDS lifter. Thats why it's more a 5.7 issue than a 6.1.:doh:
 
#29 ·
vid removed so I guess problem fixed. What was the issue?
 
#31 ·
The Hemi tick that you hear is a result of the design the Hemi cylinder heads and long rocker arms on those dual rocker shafts.
I goes away at operating temperature from thermal expansion tightening up the tolerances in the valve train. My 2007 SRT8
Charger has 19,000 miles and does the same thing. The reason you don't hear it while driving is because you have a load on the
engine when you put it in gear and it can't freewheel. Gen II 426's have been doing this from day one.
 
#32 ·
Mine does it once its warmed up! 08 SRT 8 with 104,000..... Doesn't go away! Doesn't affect how it runs though! She still gets it. I don't hear mine cause of the loud azz exhaust lol.....
 
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