60k miles...

[smax]

I seriously doubt it is piston slap, especially at just 60k. Modern engines are good for over 200k, even a Chrysler. It sounds like you have a little bit of lifter noise from the oil draining and they are not pumping up all the way until they get a solid stream of oil. I would definitely switch from conventional to synthetic oil and add some Zmax into the crankcase. It really does work. Other than that, if you sell now, you are wasting about 3/4 of the trucks useable life and spending money you don't need to.

I won't argue that it might not be lifter noise because it could be, but I will say that lifter problems are associated with mileage more than piston slap. While a high mileage engine might develop piston slap, it is mostly associated with the design of the hypeutectic piston designs in modern engines. Pretty much all modern engines are designed with much lighter rotating assemblies which allows them to be more efficient. One of the ways they lighten a piston is with the material and by making it shorter and moving the wrist pin and ring pack closer to the top.

 

[tharper]

My dad's 2001 z71 has tapped a bit on cold start for a very long time and it still runs like a champ. Near 150k on it now. Very common on the gm gen 3 and up motors. Not sure about the Dodge though. If you're not getting metal in your oil I'd day you're probably fine.

Sent from my LG-D800 using Tapatalk

 

[AllOut]

Piston slap is fairly common in the newer engines. Does the noise subside once it warns up?

Exactly

I seriously doubt it is piston slap, especially at just 60k. Modern engines are good for over 200k, even a Chrysler. It sounds like you have a little bit of lifter noise from the oil draining and they are not pumping up all the way until they get a solid stream of oil. I would definitely switch from conventional to synthetic oil and add some Zmax into the crankcase. It really does work. Other than that, if you sell now, you are wasting about 3/4 of the trucks useable life and spending money you don't need to.

Actually he's dead right
Most newer motors are this way
LS motors are notorious for unskirted piston slap. A lot of them do it brand new, it's no big deal.
Sounds like lifters rattling for a few seconds as soon as you fire it up, then it goes away.

 

[Johnny]

My vote is an exhaust leak next to the head. I would check that first.

 

[FamousAJ]

Piston slap is fairly common in the newer engines. Does the noise subside once it warns up?

It's pretty quiet..you'd have to know it was there before to hear it.

But a trained ear....

 

[dennishoddy]

buy a Toyota.
301K miles with only two spark plug changes.

 

[4play]

Piston slap and lifter tick or any other valve train noise sound totally different to me. You don't have to worry about valve adjustment as there is no way to adjust it on this engine. If something in the valve train has slack there are bigger problems, Hemi valve train is know for having issues BTW. Maybe I am being optimistic with guessing its probably exhaust manifold bolts, I'm only guessing this because its easier to diagnose and verify than internal noises and is another common problem too.

Keep in mind that you should still be under factory powertrain warranty ( 5yr-100k miles )

 

[dennishoddy]

You haven't had to adjust valve clearance since hydraulic lifters came on the market back in the day?

My old cars had solids, and it was a once a year job. I still have the modified spark plug that allowed one to put compressed air into the cylinder so they could be adjusted.

 

[p238shooter]

The old Ram Hemi has passed usually what I consider trade-in time, but the wife says no. (I can't just hide a new one in the safe)
The engine has developed (in the last few months) what I would call a slight tapping/ticking after I start it...but only when it has been sitting awhile, like overnight or from when I park it in the morning (630am) until lunch at noon. I've read some Dodge forums where they say, "its the nature of the Hemi, no worries". I've been around cars and engines my whole life, but I've been a Ford dude..so this is new to me. The tapping/clicking does disappear in less than 5 mins.

Should I change from standard lubricant to synthetic? Standard city driving, 40 miles round trip on my daily commute, mostly highway. I hit Kansas dirt roads every other month, but that stretch is minimal. The stick this morning read perfect, dirty, but perfect. It's been 5k miles since my last oil change. This Hemi 2010 runs on 5w-20 now and I usually go 5k between oil changes, so it's time now.

So all this jib jab leads back to my first statement. Should I start looking for new or follow the advice of the dodge interwebz of, "its the nature of the Hemi"?

Do we have any Mopar experts who wanna chime in?

OK, not a MOPAR expert, just an old guy that has flogged many MOPARS with Chevrolet's here to give an opinion of motors of what ever brand. Opinion from a range of owning a lot of lawnmowers, weed eaters, 43 motorcycles, mechanicing nitro funny car motors, flying aircraft engines, and numerous more than I can count, automobiles.

Right now I can not remember his first his name, Hurbert I think, but it was Tom Hovers dad who engineered and developed the hemi engine for MOPAR. ( I have a 500CI hemi end table with a glass top by my chair in the living room) Mine is the 500ci Nitro Methane Version with some signatures on the block. For those into drag racing, Gartlets, Force, Perdome, 12 others.

First, What!!! 10w20? -- not 20w30? Oklahoma is not Alaska. Jesus, draining everything off your cylinders and lifters in the nighttime? No wonder you get noise. I run 30w50 to start my airplanes. I bet Dodge would like you to trade in and pay a premium to buy a new one every 6mo.

Second, to head you off of the synthetic stuff. I have purchased 3 vehicles at very reduced prices because they used synthetic oil and were "bad" motors. After changing back to the regular oil they were designed to run, everything went back to normal, one of them had 125K and I had to add a quart at 1800 miles. To me, synthetic stuff might be whizo sounding, but I like real oil in my engines, that was the premise the designers. In my opinion, if you were to purchase a new vehicle and run synthetic at twice the price to 200K it might be ok. Then I will purchase real oil and run another 200K.

This post is from a guy that normally purchases vehicles with 50K miles, uses Castrol, Sonoco, Penzoil, and most any others that happen to be on sale. (all are the same except for 3lbs powder/10,000gal, base stock oil tank based on my experience of working in refineries,) of 10W30 and then drives the hell out of them 48 miles each direction to work each day to 200K and then starts to think about if it is time to upgrade to a newer model. Most usually because the plastic hardware is starting to crumble away. Other than a Ford oil pump product, when have you ever heard of an engine failure?

In my opinion, the motor-transmission reliability of todays autos (except for some Ford oil pump problems) have far exceeded the electric window regulator reliability so far that that is now a factor. How many instances of a motor failure with your particular make and brand are out there? (Compare to Chevrolet products, not to the still consistent Ford oil pump problems that have been paged with for years.)

Lets begin with how I start either one of my aircraft. Headsets off, listen. Yes, weird noises a few seconds while things start moving in the motor, oil to the bearings and push rods, lifters pumping up (one of my engines has hydrolic lifters with a roller cam, the other solid lifters) piston vs cylinder expansion thermal equalization. Pretty rough and noisy. If it were to start sounding worse, I shut down. If it starts sounding better, I smile and turn on the aviaonics,

I am not concerned with a cold engine or old engine that makes noises at start up and then smooths out. Cold is abnormal. I am only concerned about what it sounds and feels like at normal operating temperature.

My Dad always said. Change the oil every 3,000 miles, make sure it never over heats, and above all, keep the carbon blown out. This has worked for me for over 66 years.

On the other hand, put some synthetic in it, sell it to me for 1/2 the value next week, and you will be relieved of your concerns.

Good luck to you.

 

[71buickfreak]

OK, not a MOPAR expert, just an old guy that has flogged many MOPARS with Chevrolet's here to give an opinion of motors of what ever brand. Opinion from a range of owning a lot of lawnmowers, weed eaters, 43 motorcycles, mechanicing nitro funny car motors, flying aircraft engines, and numerous more than I can count, automobiles.

Right now I can not remember his first his name, Hurbert I think, but it was Tom Hovers dad who engineered and developed the hemi engine for MOPAR. ( I have a 500CI hemi end table with a glass top by my chair in the living room) Mine is the 500ci Nitro Methane Version with some signatures on the block. For those into drag racing, Gartlets, Force, Perdome, 12 others.

First, What!!! 10w20? -- not 20w30? Oklahoma is not Alaska. Jesus, draining everything off your cylinders and lifters in the nighttime? No wonder you get noise. I run 30w50 to start my airplanes. I bet Dodge would like you to trade in and pay a premium to buy a new one every 6mo.

Second, to head you off of the synthetic stuff. I have purchased 3 vehicles at very reduced prices because they used synthetic oil and were "bad" motors. After changing back to the regular oil they were designed to run, everything went back to normal, one of them had 125K and I had to add a quart at 1800 miles. To me, synthetic stuff might be whizo sounding, but I like real oil in my engines, that was the premise the designers. In my opinion, if you were to purchase a new vehicle and run synthetic at twice the price to 200K it might be ok. Then I will purchase real oil and run another 200K.

This post is from a guy that normally purchases vehicles with 50K miles, uses Castrol, Sonoco, Penzoil, and most any others that happen to be on sale. (all are the same except for 3lbs powder/10,000gal, base stock oil tank based on my experience of working in refineries,) of 10W30 and then drives the hell out of them 48 miles each direction to work each day to 200K and then starts to think about if it is time to upgrade to a newer model. Most usually because the plastic hardware is starting to crumble away. Other than a Ford oil pump product, when have you ever heard of an engine failure?

In my opinion, the motor-transmission reliability of todays autos (except for some Ford oil pump problems) have far exceeded the electric window regulator reliability so far that that is now a factor. How many instances of a motor failure with your particular make and brand are out there? (Compare to Chevrolet products, not to the still consistent Ford oil pump problems that have been paged with for years.)

Lets begin with how I start either one of my aircraft. Headsets off, listen. Yes, weird noises a few seconds while things start moving in the motor, oil to the bearings and push rods, lifters pumping up (one of my engines has hydrolic lifters with a roller cam, the other solid lifters) piston vs cylinder expansion thermal equalization. Pretty rough and noisy. If it were to start sounding worse, I shut down. If it starts sounding better, I smile and turn on the aviaonics,

I am not concerned with a cold engine or old engine that makes noises at start up and then smooths out. Cold is abnormal. I am only concerned about what it sounds and feels like at normal operating temperature.

My Dad always said. Change the oil every 3,000 miles, make sure it never over heats, and above all, keep the carbon blown out. This has worked for me for over 66 years.

On the other hand, put some synthetic in it, sell it to me for 1/2 the value next week, and you will be relieved of your concerns.

Good luck to you.

And you would be dead wrong. Synthetic oil is far superior to all conventional oils. It never loses it's viscosity, meaning once it is 10W30, it stays 10w30 unlike conventional oils that thin out over time. Additionally, it protects the engine much better than conventional oil. It clings to the parts and because the molecules are smaller in synthetic oil, the engine stays lubricated all the time.

Example- My mom had a 2000-ish Buick park avenue with the 3800. Great engine, last a long time. Well, the check engine light came on and it turned out to be the oil pump. It was losing oil pressure. She couldn't afford to fix it. I told her to stop driving it. We changed the oil to synthetic, and she kept driving. She put over 5,000 miles on it before it finally croaked. With zero oil pressure, as in it none. Synthetic oil makes a HUGE difference and works so much better than conventional. Modern engines are not spec'd for conventional oil, they all call for synthetic. You could feasibly run a single filling of synthetic forever, the issue is that there are other contaminants that need to be removed.