"ticking noise" in truck

[NavyVet88]

1999 Dodge Ram 1500 4x4 5.9L 170k

Original motor swapped at around 90k for unknown reason. This was prior to his buying the truck. The swapped motor supposedly had about 70-75k on it.

Talked to my dad on the phone yesterday and he said he noticed a ticking noise coming from the truck while it was parked. Said you cant hear it while its running down the road only when slowing down or at a complete stop and the ticking will go away simply by shutting the truck down and restarting. He claims he has plenty of oil and pressure but im thinking the oil may need changing since its been about a year ago(fixed income and doesn't go anywhere except to pay bills and grocery once a month).

He lives an hour from me so I would have to wait till the weekend to go and see for myself what he's got going on with the truck and figured id post on here to see what you guys thought about it. I will say he is notorious for only keeping about 1/4 tank of gas in the truck year round and he lets the gas light tell him when its time for more versus filling it up. With that said, could it be the fuel pump maybe? Oil pump?

He is a backwoods wanderer and most time his truck stays on dirt roads outside of his once or twice a month trip to town.

 

[ARCOgraphite]

I know you'd rather not have it ticking, but maybe she's allowed almost 20 Y.O and 170 thousand on her clock.

Just a note my wife's 'sort of new' Impreza Crosstrek sounds like a box of nails and marbles for a couple mins after starting. Starts dry everytime. And these have hydraulic lash adjusters now.

 

[NavyVet88]

Im thinking of trying a simple oil change with VWB 10W30 and a Fram TG16 to see if it will help the noise first. He isnt able to change his oil anymore so i do it once a year seeing as he MIGHT put 75 miles a month on the truck. I will get a bottle of marvel mystery oil as well.

 

[PimTac]

Instead of VWB, I would consider Valvoline Maxlife instead in the same grade. I would skip the Marvel.

The ticking could be anything. Give it a good look over and get back to us.

 

[ARB1977]

My Tacoma ticks but it’s the injectors that cause it.

 

[jk_636]

Take a video with your smart phone of the vehicle ticking at idle, post it to youtube and provide a link.

Make it a lot easier as "ticking" could be any one of several things.

 

[irv]

https://www.bobistheoilguy.com/forums/ubbthreads.php/topics/4821128/Hemi_Tick#Post4821128

Overkill mentioned in the above link, 5 out of 5 ended up being exhaust leaks.

 

[440Magnum]

Originally Posted By: NavyVet88
1999 Dodge Ram 1500 4x4 5.9L 170k


Talked to my dad on the phone yesterday and he said he noticed a ticking noise coming from the truck while it was parked. Said you cant hear it while its running down the road only when slowing down or at a complete stop and the ticking will go away simply by shutting the truck down and restarting. He claims he has plenty of oil and pressure but im thinking the oil may need changing since its been about a year ago(fixed income and doesn't go anywhere except to pay bills and grocery once a month).


It may be a lifter draining back a little bit, not too unusual for the old Mopar LA/Magnum engines. One thing to watch out for on the Magnum engines is gritty accumulation in the oil pan if they have the leaking lower intake plenum (99 SHOULD have been past that, but you never know, especially if that engine was swapped in from an older Ram/Dakota). A symptom of that is gradually decreasing oil pressure as you drive, but if you shut down a few minutes and restart the pressure will come back up because the grit drops off the oil pickup screen. I *doubt* that's the issue, but its remotely possible. A real oil pressure gauge will tell the whole story.

At any rate, do an oil and filter change, it may well be that the oil's just getting tired/diluted from the offroad short-tripping.

Originally Posted By: NavyVet88
1999 Dodge Ram 1500 4x4 5.9L 170k

With that said, could it be the fuel pump maybe? Oil pump?



Fuel pump is electric, it hums and wouldn't develop a "tick" like older cam-driven mechanical pumps would. The oil pump is pretty unlikely, and again an oil pressure gauge will tell the whole story.

Its probably just a lifter that drains a little bit, and unless it gets worse I wouldn't worry about it. It doesn't cause any extra wear.

 

[BAJA_05]

I have a 2000 Ram 4X4 with the 5.2L Magnum. There the same Magnum Family 3.9L/5.2L and 5.9L. Mine has 93k original miles on it but depending on what oil filter I use/used -- it would tick at start up. Went to a Fram Ultra and tick completely went away paired with a proper spec. rated 5W30 or 10W30 motor oil.

 

[khittner]

My '95 Dakota has a sound that I think of as a "ticking" at warm idle. I once thought the noise was valve/lifter-related, but it turned out to be the timing chain rubbing against the inside of the timing case. My Dakota has the 3.9 V-6 (i.e.: the 318 V-8 with two cylinders amputated), so I don't know whether my cause is relevant to your father's 360. In the V-6, the proud Chrysler engineers cut design and manufacturing costs by eliminating any kind of timing chain tensioner---but there's a TSB recommending installing a tensioner kit if a customer complains about the noise. I haven't bothered with replacing my timing set yet and installing the suggested tensioner, so at 225K, I'm still living with the noise. I don't know that they were quite so thrifty with timing setup for the 360s of that period, but I wouldn't be surprised, FWIW.

 

[oilboy123]

My first thought was exhaust, but this is all conjecture without seeing/hearing it in person.

 

[NavyVet88]

I will take a video of the before and after to capture the ticking. Hopefully the oil change will fix it. The last time I changed it I put in 5 quarts of 10w40 syn blend starfire. I will go the maxlife route this time.

 

[NavyVet88]

so far the oil change seems to have eliminated the ticking that my dad was talking about.

Out 5 quarts of Starfire 10w40 syn blend and fram TG16
In 5 quarts of Maxlife 10w-30 and Fram TG16

He had the oil changed so i was unable to be there to record anything.