Own a HEMI and it’s developed a tick?
The HEMI pushrod V8s are known for lifter failure, which presents itself as a ticking noise. If left unattended, this can turn far worse, resulting in cam lobe wear, misfires, and metal through the engine.
However, it’s not always a lifter.
If your tick is worse cold and goes away once the engine warms up, you may only need some exhaust work. The HEMI V8s are also common for snapping exhaust manifold studs, giving a similar audible sound which can lead some up the diagnostic garden path.
Be sure to have eliminated exhaust leaks at the manifold gasket before condemning the lifters and subsequent cam shaft.
How to Diagnose this?:
If your tick noise is only present when the vehicle is cold there is a strong likelihood that the noise is the exhaust manifold stud. They are most common for breaking at the end most studs. Unfortunately, these are normally hidden under a heat shield making visual diagnosis challenging. If you can get a camera or you can see where the exhaust manifold meets the head the sure sign is a soot build up in suspect area.
If your tick is not the exhaust studs the next course of action is to replace the Lifters. Ignoring Lifter tick on Hemi engines can cause significant engine damage. Whilst doing this repair it is strongly advised to delete the MDS system at the same time.
You can find out more about MDS Deletes, and Lifter replacement by clicking the Link below.
