RE: Noisy Lifters

From: Bernd D. Ratsch (bernd@texas.net)
Date: Tue Sep 21 1999 - 00:13:27 EDT


Most beds will "wiggle" anyway since they're mounted to the frame on rubber
mounts. That's normal (Chevy, Ford, Toyota, GMC, Dodge) all do the same
thing. You should see my bed when it twists offroad!

With the noisy lifters...you sure it isn't the injectors...those suckers are
noisy...click, click, click. I thought the same until I took my mechanics
stethoscope to the valve covers, heads, and intake manifold. Lifters and
Rockers are nice and quiet...injectors are noisy as hell. (Regardless,
wouldn't hurt to have the system flushed and filled with dino-oil.)

With the pinging problem, have you replaced the wires, plugs (not Platinum
plugs), Cap & Rotor? Also what type of fuel are you running?

$0.02

Bernd D. Ratsch
Pflugerville, TX
1997 Dodge Dakota SLT/CC - 2WD
http://lonestar.texas.net/~bernd/Dakota.htm
bernd@texas.net
ICQ: 39320084

-----Original Message-----
Subject: DML: Noisy Lifters

Any one experience noisy lifters in a '98 V6? I'm running Mobil 1 (switched
about 10K miles ago) and am currently at 31K miles. The problem is only
noticeable when I start it up after it's been sitting there for hours. I'm
thinkig that the oil is draining from the lifters while the engine's off,
but it didn't use to, so I'm concerned. Either way, my wife is taking
tomorrow off, and she'll take the truck in to have the engine flushed and
"natural" oil put in it; I don't want to risk the dealership coming back
saying that my choice of synthetic oil has voided my warranty.

I did check the oil a couple days ago, and it was still in the "safe" area,
but not 100% full. I topped it off, thinking this might be the problem, but
the noise persists. I'm at a loss for ideas here. Even if it's not really
a pressing issue, I am still concerned that this wear at startup is going to
wear out the engine prematurely; and I have long-terms plans that involve
this truck! Any advice would be appreciated.

BTW - as an update, I *did* take the Dakota in about a month ago regarding
the wiggling bed and pinging. They updated my computer software, but it
didn't fix the problem and they clamed they could not reproduce the problem.
The service advisor wrote down that "rear cab" wiggled instead of "bed", so
they weren't able to reproduce that either. This after I'd explained to him
that he need only hop in, drive over railroad tracks, and look in the rear
view mirror - all would be revealed. That was Huffines in Lewisville,
Texas; a suburb of Dallas. This time I'm taking it to McKinney Dodge to see
what they say. Hopefully someone will fix these problems; this is my
favorite of the vehicles I've owned thus far, and it's frustrating that it's
plagued by these problems!

Incidently, if I take it in this time and they still don't fix the pinging
or the bed, I'm eligible for the lemon law. Not that I think I'd take it;
I'm too in love with this truck. But it's just a matter of time (and 5k
more miles) before I break down and throw a fit. Could land me an R/T....
:-)

Thanks in advance for any input.

--
Tibor Kun
Email: tkun@compuserve.com
Voicemail: 1-888-392-4832 ext. 972-5276-806
Fax:  (419)715-1981
'98 Dakota Sport RC V6 5-speed red

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