Engine Ticks and Knocks

[GHanna]

Yes I read your post with great interest. I only said that the Dodge dealer would be the first place I went for the "pinging sound". I should have gone on to say that if I was not satisfied with their answer, my next stop would be a Cummins dealer.



Does anyone know of a Cummins dealer in Northeast Detroit area that has at least one really knowledgeable diesel technician???



Thanks, Chuck

I also should have mentioned that at times the noise was a lot more pronounced than a 'spark knock' sound, (LOUD metallic clatter). I abbreviated my original story a bit, but when the service manager at the Cummins dealer first listened to my truck it was parked next to an idling semi tractor! Even with all that racket he stated "that's injector knock". He then drove my truck into a service bay where several mechanics listened to it and corroborated his diagnosis. The Dodge dealer thought it was a cracked piston or a bad wrist pin. I think it would be in your best interest to seek out a genuine Cummins dealer. The scary thing is that only the Dodge dealer can do warranty work on your Cummins, and I feel there are very few Dodge mechanics who know their way around one. Hope you get it resolved.

George

 

[CTRice]

Hey Guys,



Does anyone know of a Cummins dealer in the Northeastern Detroit area that has a good diesel tech on site?? I am willing to drive as far as the Port Huron area to find one.



Please advise.

Thanks, Chuck

 

[MSanford]

One thing I was looking for in this post is at what RPM's the ticking comes from. My 06 has recently started ticking (past 3000 miles) with only 8000 on the truck. However it only starts when I reach around 2000 RPM and it's usually not very constant or rythmic. Has kind of an exhaust leak sound but on drivers side. Power is by no means diminished. Sometimes disappears if I take her on up to 2500+ and every time when I let off throttle. My first thoughts are cp3 but can't be certain yet. Additives havn't seemed to help (Howe's and PS).



Ill have it into the dealer in a couple of weeks but would like to figure out before they get it.

 

[CTRice]

Well Guys,



I went to the dealer where I bought my truck to talk to their diesel techs. What I found was that the guys who were there, left to start up their own diesel repair business. The guy I talked to said that he was just recently made their diesel tech and was learning the ropes. When I told him about the "spark-knock" like noise, he said that it could probably be cured by a re-flash of the computer. I am reluctant to let him do a re-flash as many TDR members have said that a reflash may take away the "spark-knock" but leave the truck anemic and with less power. My truck pulls hard and doesn't spark-knock if I trounce the pedal.



I would like to eliminate the noise, but not at the cost of reduced power and torque.



What do you think?? Should I let this guy try a reflash?? or wait for something to break??



Thanks,

Chuck

 

[CLWilliams]

Well Guys,



I went to the dealer where I bought my truck to talk to their diesel techs. What I found was that the guys who were there, left to start up their own diesel repair business. The guy I talked to said that he was just recently made their diesel tech and was learning the ropes. When I told him about the "spark-knock" like noise, he said that it could probably be cured by a re-flash of the computer. I am reluctant to let him do a re-flash as many TDR members have said that a reflash may take away the "spark-knock" but leave the truck anemic and with less power. My truck pulls hard and doesn't spark-knock if I trounce the pedal.



I would like to eliminate the noise, but not at the cost of reduced power and torque.



What do you think?? Should I let this guy try a reflash?? or wait for something to break??



Thanks,

Chuck

Had mine reflashed for the knock and white smoke on startup. White smoke is gone. Knock/tick still there and now I have an occasional long crank to start that I never had before????

 

[HBarlow]

When I took my truck in to a dealer with the complaint about noisy operation they reflashed it without my knowledge or consent. Nothing changed. It is still noisy, still runs fine. I also notice longer start times but don't know if it is any different over time.



I suspect that Dodge/Cummins made minor changes to the injection system or ECM programming for the '06 trucks that owners have not been told about. The noisy operation problem seems common among '06 owners but not other years.



Harvey

 

[DPKetchum]

Since the 3rd generation hit the streets theres been comments and issues with ticking/clicking posted from some. 06 does seem to be more of. I may be full of do do and I'm sure its not a cure all but I still say the ones that tow and work don't mention much of this. I HEARD a big differance in mine after my 800 mile pulling 10k and my NEIGHBOR who has 120k on his 05 pulling 9k or so 95% of the time said I would. He was right. His sounds healthly I guess you could say and just RECENTLY recorded his BEST fuel economy once it popped 100k. I think moderate to the upper end of EGT temperture for SUBSTAINED intervals(like pulling/towing on the interstate etc) is the key. You DON"T see road tractors,farm tractors,UPS trucks ,dump trucks getting grocerys and hauling slow,short trips or as low rpm no load commuters. CARBON.

 

[HBarlow]

My '06 was new on 4/7/2006 and today, 3/13/2007 has 128k miles on the odometer. It runs 600+ miles almost every day, most days pulling heavy travel trailers. It has pulled quite a few that put the gross combined weight beyond the 23k factory maximum GCWR. Occasionally EGT runs 1400 degrees farenheit pulling long steep grades. The engine has been noisy its entire life. I see no correlation between engine noise and driving conditions.



Harvey

 

[DPKetchum]

How do yo know then its a as noisy as some of the ones posting the complaints. Yours might just be a quite one? I didn't think mine was noisy until I drove my neighbors 05 (he wanted to see if it had a roar in front end and asked to drive it)and paid attention to noises. Mine TICKED his did not. Mine didn't and still does not for the moment after driving/working it as you described you do with yours. Really would be nice to get them all in one area and do a ride and listen!

 

[HBarlow]

I don't know how noisy some others may be since I haven't heard them but I've heard lots of Gen IIIs at truck stops and RV transport terminals. The 2003-2005s I've heard are quieter than mine. I've talked to a couple of other 2006 owners at truck fuel stops who were also transporters and theirs are noisy like mine.



This is purely anecdotal evidence. I can only comment on the ones I've heard and they are just whatever models I happened to run across. But I can say this with authority: Mine is noisier making clattering sounds than the 2003-2005 Cummins I've heard and I've also heard several other 2006s which are noisy like mine.



Harvey

 

[2 Ram Fam]

I had a loud tick last winter when I drove less than 1 mi. to and from work. I tried adding PS, MMO, & valvoline injector cleaner for cummins. After the additives & longer trips,the noise did quiet,but not completely. Next I performed a valve adjustment & that also helped some. Still it seemed louder than when it was new. Finally I went to the dealer,parked next to a new truck & listened to both one at a time. Guess what? They were the same, just being a little paranoid. 04. 5 45,000 mi.

 

[JVantreese]

I have been using the PS and MMO cocktail for my truck from day one and feel that they may help with the injector cleaning and replacing some lube qualities in the ULS fuel that we now have to use. They may or may not increase the life of my trucks engine, but it makes me feel better.



I recently changed from Mopar oil to a synthetic 5w40 and found the noise factor to be greatly reduced. If you want to quite the dishpan full of ball bearing that is under the hood, I would suggest that you try the synthetic of your choice with the next oil change. I am using Rotella and it definitely quites the engine and may slightly increases fuel milage.

 

[CSchmidt]

My 06 does the same thing... especially when i'm pulling a load or accelerating. The dealer says it's because it idles too long and that i need to drive the **** out of it... so i put injector cleaner in it and did just that. The knock is still there.



My buddy has another 06 and it did the same thing, amoungst a few other problems, and they ended up replacing the injection pump and reflashing the computer and it seems to run fine now. They tried a reflash on my pickup and it didn't do anything.



I told them that I would just drive it till it blows and then they would be able to find the problem. I just hope it happens before 100K!!

 

[DonFitzwater]

My 06 just hit 9000 miles recently and has developed "The Tick". It came on slowly and quietly but is definitely there. My warranty is good for 7 years and 100,000 miles. HMMMMMMM? Drive it like I stole it? No... ... ... ... . Maybe like it's rented! Run that sucker and don't sweat a little clatter!

 

[CTRice]

Well guys, I am off on to NC on Thursday. I won't be towing my fiver, but I plan on driving my truck hard. I am also going to try a PS/MMO additive mix. If this "pinging" noise can be improved by not babying this truck, I will find out.



BTW, there is a new thread that has been started by one of us that also addresses this issue. It seems that this problem is more pervasive than we imagined at first.



As I said before, our group has more combined knowledge than most any dealer tech group. We just have to keep chewing on the problem until we find out the true reason for this annoying noise and share our conclusions.



I will share my findings when I return from NC.



Thanks, Chuck

 

[deeselfitter]

Try a couple bottles of seafoam in one tank full along with 32oz of ashless 2 stroke oil. It won't hurt anything and will probably take away that tick. Don't use seafoam in every tank. Don't use seafoam unless your trying to get rid of the tick. Only use seafoam after a tick has developed.

Without being there and listening to the noise it's very hard to determine what's wrong. It could be several things. bad injector, sticking injector, valve out of adjustment, and the most severe knock would be connecting rod or main bearing.

Start with the seafoam/2 stroke combination and see if the noise gets better.

Pwr2tow
I have an 06 mega cab with 100thousand kilometers (62,000 mi) . The weather here in Newfoundland has been cold as hell here since i bought the truck a month ago. It has an annoying tick when i am easing on the fuel (like coming off a ramp onto a highway)between 1500 and 2000 rpm, after that rpm, or when i slack off the fuel the tick dissapears.
I have been reading the pros and cons of using sea-foam in my fuel to try it and am a bit nervous about it. I have been just puttering around town empty since i bought this truck ,but when summer comes i will be hauling my Montana 5er with it.
My question is whether i should wait until when it warms up to see if it goes away on its own or should i give this seafoam a try.......the tick(not a knock) is very annoying.
Damn.....-38 f where you are. It's been -25 c here for a few weeks now.
Any input here would help...thanks
Wayne