Hemi Tick, Fast Idle, & Rattle On Startup

19469 Views 18 Replies 12 Participants Last post by ArmyofOne, Sep 14, 2016

merc496cid

Discussion Starter · Jul 16, 2015

Just Became a new member and this has probably been covered before but just have a few questions....

I just recently bought a used 2011 RAM w/5.7 Hemi. Have noticed that after driving for a while (10 minutes or so) I get the dreaded Hemi Tick. Is this normal? Should I have it checked? Still has the power train warranty.

Secondly, is it common for the engine upon cold startup to idle at 1100 RPM's for 30 seconds to a minute and then come down to idle at 700? Can I drive off right away? I've made a habit of waiting until it gets to below 1000 RPM's before I drive off.

Thirdly, just the other day I had my wife start the truck while I was outside loading stuff into the rear passenger door and I noticed for a brief second upon startup...the engine rattled. My old Dodge did this when it was low on oil. I don't hear it when I'm in the drivers seat (door open or not) and the engine has plenty of oil. Is this normal also?

Lastly, When I'm at a light or a drive through, sometimes as I let off the brake to just advance slightly forward, the idle drops to about 500 RPM's. It does this intermittently. If I give it a little gas it goes back to normal idle and stays that way. Is that something to be concerned about?

Any and all help/advice will be appreciated. I will be bringing it to the dealer as I still have about 18 mo. of power train warranty left to at least check the above issues and go from there.

1 - 19 of 19 Posts

shadango

· #2 · Jul 17, 2015

Issue 1 -- SOunds normal compared to mine (24k miles or so) -- but run it in to the dealer and have them listen to it and document your complaint for any future issues.....

issue 2,3 -- Mine does this -- when mine is cold it has the hemi "knock"....told it was and is normal...documented at dealer as above.

Issue 4 -- havent noticed that...will pay more attention.

We have to remember that these trucks "are not your grand dad's truck"....everything is electronic and built differently now....odd sounds are the norm anymore....

My wife's stang has what I consider the same sound as the hemi knock when cold and it also goes away once warmed up.....we were told it is normal as well...and hers has done that for 45k miles.

John999

· #3 · Jul 17, 2015

I think if enough people complain about the so-called Hemi tick the more likely Dodge will say it's normal, as long as the tick isn't mechanically harmful. Harmful in the context of an exhaust leak.

I brought my 05 Ram Hemi in for that very same tick and other items and was never told the sound was normal. Looking back, why would they tell me it's normal and leave potential repair money on the table? Besides that the ticking noise was driving me crazy, I don't like weird unexplained noises anyway.

Come to find out I believe the condition that causes the tick is more common than not. Turns out the ticking is caused by a warped left and right exhaust manifold that causes the rear studs to break off resulting in an exhaust leak and the ticking sound. I don't think it makes sense to ignore the ticking noise because we are talking about an exhaust leak, something I would not ignore due to safety issues.

The replacement of both exhaust manifolds and associated parts totaled $1,182.84. Labor was $630 while parts was $552.84 I don't know for sure, but if one was mechanically inclined and had the Ram workshop manual, they could perform the replacement themselves after paying the dealer for a diagnostic. I don't know if the left or right exhaust manifolds are separate entities or must be treated as one unit. So if one side has a leak while the other is OK, maybe a considerable savings could result in only doing the affected exhaust side, the warped side that is. I also don't know if only one side can warp while the other remains in spec. In my case the work order indicates both left and right sides were warped.

One last note, the warping apparently caused the mounting rear studs to break off, thus creating the exhaust leak and ticking sound. I always thought the ticking had something to do with the exhaust manifold, I noticed it more when cold, but it was still there when running hotter, but not as bad. I can see why the noise would subside when the engine warmed up, materials expand under heat, so much so I suppose any gaps around the exhaust manifold become sealed on a temp basis. Why my truck ticked when both hot and cold is likely because the manifold warping caused some bolts to break off, creating larger exhaust gaps and maybe even degrading the manifold gaskets too.

I hope this helps.

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streetHEMI

· #4 · Jul 19, 2015 (Edited)

My ram does most of these i have close to 90k
1. I assume mine has it i had my friend hold rpm at 2k never got louder just at idle

2. Mine does this everyday i always wait for it to idle down unless i have to make it move quickly.. Can't remember if it does it when warm shouldn't hurt the trans to go in drive while in high idle, haven't done this yet but on my old car 14 cruze LS auto... Went to shift (used to manual mode) went in to neutral doing 40 slowed down some due to i was worried went back in drive like nothing happened... So these new autos are smart (well i guess the ones with tap shift..) haven't done it to my ram i think my buddy might had in his 11 3500 auto... Can't remember either

3. Not really sure haven't heard it

4. Mine does it often ( will confirm that again (can't remember) when it does it

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endlive

· #5 · Jul 20, 2015

merc496cid said:
Secondly, is it common for the engine upon cold startup to idle at 1100 RPM's for 30 seconds to a minute and then come down to idle at 700? Can I drive off right away? I've made a habit of waiting until it gets to below 1000 RPM's before I drive off.

my 11 ram w/ 25k miles will start up idling around 11-1200 rpm then after about 20 seconds drops down to 800 and will stay there. seems to take longer to drop if it's colder outside. i usually wait until it drops before putting it in drive. and i've noticed that every once in awhile while stopped it will momentarily drop to around 500 or so and then bounce back up. never stalled on me.

Ramzaq

· #6 · Jul 20, 2015

merc496cid said:
Just Became a new member and this has probably been covered before but just have a few questions....

I just recently bought a used 2011 RAM w/5.7 Hemi. Have noticed that after driving for a while (10 minutes or so) I get the dreaded Hemi Tick. Is this normal? Should I have it checked? Still has the power train warranty.

Secondly, is it common for the engine upon cold startup to idle at 1100 RPM's for 30 seconds to a minute and then come down to idle at 700? Can I drive off right away? I've made a habit of waiting until it gets to below 1000 RPM's before I drive off.

Thirdly, just the other day I had my wife start the truck while I was outside loading stuff into the rear passenger door and I noticed for a brief second upon startup...the engine rattled. My old Dodge did this when it was low on oil. I don't hear it when I'm in the drivers seat (door open or not) and the engine has plenty of oil. Is this normal also?

Lastly, When I'm at a light or a drive through, sometimes as I let off the brake to just advance slightly forward, the idle drops to about 500 RPM's. It does this intermittently. If I give it a little gas it goes back to normal idle and stays that way. Is that something to be concerned about?

Any and all help/advice will be appreciated. I will be bringing it to the dealer as I still have about 18 mo. of power train warranty left to at least check the above issues and go from there.

All engines fast idle on start up when cold, they have been doing this forever. I personally wait for the idle to come down before taking off, just something I do.

The rattle on start up is the engine building up oil pressure. It has been noticed some oil filters may have faulty check valves that don't hold some oil in the system when the engine is shut down. It should go away in a few seconds after start up.

The fluctuating rpm's you mention sounds like the AC cycling on and off while driving. Even with defrosters on your AC is cycling.

streetHEMI

· #7 · Jul 24, 2015

Ramzaq said:
All engines fast idle on start up when cold, they have been doing this forever. I personally wait for the idle to come down before taking off, just something I do.

The rattle on start up is the engine building up oil pressure. It has been noticed some oil filters may have faulty check valves that don't hold some oil in the system when the engine is shut down. It should go away in a few seconds after start up.

The fluctuating rpm's you mention sounds like the AC cycling on and off while driving. Even with defrosters on your AC is cycling.

Hate to say it but not all engines high idle in cold maybe they do but out of all i owned i havent seen it on the old engines..
(89 dodge with the 318 a 96 ram cummins.. Rest are modern)
All computer controlled engines do.

Example my 96 ram 2500 auto ole 12 valve cummins, during winter it would idle around 400rpms then as it got warmed up it got up to 700rpms (happened with in 30 seconds)... After the pump tweak.... It went straight to a grand no matter what temp..

KWATSON72

· #8 · Aug 28, 2016

My 2011 5.7 starts at around 1300 rpm for up to 30 seconds. Then drops below 1000 and that's when I shift into gear. My 2006 4.7 never idled above 700, no matter how cold it was.

DILLIGAF

· #9 · Aug 29, 2016

Redline Oil with a Wix filter made my engine nice and quiet at startup.

Thunderhorse

· #10 · Aug 29, 2016

KWATSON72 said:
My 2011 5.7 starts at around 1300 rpm for up to 30 seconds. Then drops below 1000 and that's when I shift into gear. My 2006 4.7 never idled above 700, no matter how cold it was.

Same here with my 2013. Once I've been driving around for a while it will idle at around 500

KWATSON72

· #11 · Aug 30, 2016

I wonder what the reason for this is. Do other similar sized engines with similar outputs also do this? Just thinking back to the 80's / 90's. If you had a 5.7 liter making 400 horsepower, driveability suffered a bit and the idle was rough unless you set it high (but we didn't have roller cams back then either).

huntergreen

· #12 · Aug 31, 2016

KWATSON72 said:
I wonder what the reason for this is. Do other similar sized engines with similar outputs also do this? Just thinking back to the 80's / 90's. If you had a 5.7 liter making 400 horsepower, driveability suffered a bit and the idle was rough unless you set it high (but we didn't have roller cams back then either).

on the 440 six pack, you adjust both carbs to sooth out th idle. drivability was fine, except for turns and stopping. lol

Thunderhorse

· #13 · Sep 1, 2016

huntergreen said:
on the 440 six pack, you adjust both carbs to sooth out th idle. drivability was fine, except for turns and stopping. lol

Didn't the Magnum/TNT/Supercommando have 3 2 barrels?

bee1971

· #14 · Sep 2, 2016

Thunderhorse said:
Didn't the Magnum/TNT/Supercommando have 3 2 barrels?

440 Six Pack (Dodge) or 440 Six Barrel (Plymouth) has 3 - 2 barrel carbs

And the middle carb is the only one that operates at idle or cruise for drive ability

The outer two carbs only open under engine vacuum upon acceleration

huntergreen

· #15 · Sep 4, 2016

bee1971 said:
440 Six Pack (Dodge) or 440 Six Barrel (Plymouth) has 3 - 2 barrel carbs

And the middle carb is the only one that operates at idle or cruise for drive ability

The outer two carbs only open under engine vacuum upon acceleration

there you go thunder. as i recall, the middle carb adjustment didnt affect the other two.

Thunderhorse

· #16 · Sep 4, 2016

huntergreen said:
there you go thunder. as i recall, the middle carb adjustment didnt affect the other two.

Oh ok, I didn't get what you were saying :wavey:

ArmyofOne

· #17 · Sep 14, 2016

ya'll will think I am crazy, but I put half a bottle of Marvel's Mystery Oil in my oil at the last oil change on my 15. I run Royal Purple always, since new. No sooner did I put that stuff in, no more tick...not on cold startup, nothing.

huntergreen

· #18 · Sep 14, 2016

MMO is an old but good product. not sure i would add it to my oil though.

ArmyofOne

· #19 · Sep 14, 2016

huntergreen said:
MMO is an old but good product. not sure i would add it to my oil though.

I don't know, it said I could on the bottle, so I figured I would give it a shot, it was only a few bucks and my dad swears by the stuff.

Turns out, it was not a bad ideal. Trucks been running fine for a week now, and in the grand scheme of things, half a pint of MMO in 7 quarts of royal purple isn't going to do anything detrimental to the engine anyway. It just isn't a high enough ratio.

1 - 19 of 19 Posts

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