I have a 99 Ram 2500 with a 5.9 gas motor. The truck runs great, has about 90,000 miles on it. When you first start the truck it is quiet with no issues. Once it warms up a bit I start to get a tick at about 2,000 rpm. There's no noise at any other RPM level. If I have the truck in park and give it throttle it will start to tick once it hit's about 2000 or so. Same on the road when driving. If I accelerate it will actually go away. I have pulled the valve covers and checked the rockers, I have checked for exhaust leaks and I have confirmed the torque converter bolts aren't hitting. I have used a stethoscope to attempt to find the origin but for the love of me I can't figure it out. I thought maybe it is piston slap but it doesn't do it when cold. Maybe the flex plate is cracked? I'm at a loss. Any ideas?

Take a close look at the valve springs. I had one crack and it caused a similar problem.

timing chain?

lifter preload (measure one). Or a bad lifter. remove valve covers & 2k RPM (when it is noisy) press straight down on each rocker arm (lifter end) with a wooden hammer handle on all 16 one at a time & see if any of em get quiet or change tone, thems the bad one(s)

Robert, is your process fairly clean on these Magnums?

I might have a tick as well and would like to check mine. Do I need to wear a raincoat?

My daughters Grand Cherokee had a "tick" that changed into something a little louder. Because the oil pressure had dropped some, I figured the sound was because of low oil pressure to the top end. Well, after dropping the pan to change bearings, I found a broken skirt on #6 piston. These motors are a pain to pull the head on.

My 98 ticked and it turned out the be the tensioner for the belt as it rocked back and forth

I have checked the valve train... Yes, you should wear a raincoat! Oil goes everywhere! No issues there. Plus it's not a constant tick. If i rev the motor up it only ticks at a certain rpm range. If I am driving its the same thing. It can be ticking and if I put a load on the motor and accelerate it will stop. As soon as I lift off a bit it will start back up. at higher RPMs without load it tends to get louder. If I turn off overdrive and go about 55 it gets pretty loud. I have checked about everything I can think of. I can't seem to pin it down. The weird thing is it doesn't do it as bad when the engine and everything is cool. I seems to get worse as the motor and drivetrain warms up.

To sum up:

>Doesn't make much noise until everything has warmed up.
>Not constant, it only occurs in upper rpm range.
>Tick stops when load is put on motor upon acceleration.
>If no load, like overdrive is off, and higher RPM tick is there.
>Neutral or drive, it makes no difference
>Tick, not a knock.
>valve train seems fine.
>Truck drives fine just ticks at higher RPM

Thanks Telvis.

Does it speed up/slow down with engine rpm?

It does speed up with he rpm but if there is a load on the motor it will stop. For instance, if you ar going down hill it might be ticking loudly then when you give it gas to go up the hill it will stop until you hit level land and the load is diminished on the motor. It is RPM sensitive but no speed sensitive. you can go 60 and put it in neutral. once the rams go down it stops. At idle and lower RPM, no tick at all.

I'm going with the easy stuff you can get at first, so I'm liking Crabmans' suggestion.

I've had the idler wheel off mine a few times, packed the bearing and put it back together but never looked at the tension or what it does when the engine is free-revved.

Does the sound seem to be coming from the accessory drive?

If it's loud and heavy, it could easily be a rod knock, or a spun bearing. spun bearings can do all kinds of odd noise things, including sounding like an accessory drive or idler that's on its way out.

Not a rod knock... Different type of sound. It's been too cold to mess with it this week. I don't drive it much so I will wait until it warms up a bit to investigate more.