My other thread got long and wandered on and off topic. Consolidating that here and providing update.
PAST:
Around the 5000 mile mark on my new Durango R/T, I noticed a knocking sound, most obvious from the passenger wheel well, on cold starts (i.e. sitting 6+ hours)
It manifests like so:
1. Engine start, elevated but smooth, quiet idle
2. Idle lowers, engine still runs quiet and smooth
3. After 30-60 seconds, a knock can be heard and will get progressively louder
4. After 2-5 minutes of run time, the knock lessons and eventually cannot be heard.
Video of the noise in question:
The dealership kept my Durango for a week and my recollection is a little unclear but I believe they did hear something but deemed it the "Hemi Tick". The manifold bolts were fine. They could not tell me what the Hemi Tick was other than it affects a lot of Hemis. They are, after all "just noisy engines". Sounded alright to me so I went home and kept on keeping on.
Now, at the 8000 mile mark the sound is still present but has worsened both in intensity and duration. To give you an idea, I remote-started the Durango from across the street at home. The ticking sound, just like what you hear in the video above could be clearly heard from the other side of the street. Where it would diminish in a couple minutes before, it keeps going and going until I finally start driving. Once warm though, all is well. In fairness, it does not tick on every cold start. I would say 8 or 9 out of every 10 is average.
I brought the Durango back to the same dealership and told them exactly what I wrote above. I asked this time though that I be present when the Durango was cold-started the following morning. That morning, it was started in the company of the shop foreman, another tech, and myself. We all agreed we heard it and I was told by the foreman that it was not normal.
A few days later they said they felt it was piston slap and were looking to pinpoint the issue so they could determine which cylinder was at fault. I said that was fine with me.
This morning I received a message that they have not been able to reproduce the sound since the morning I was there.
I am at a loss. My car is cold-started every day; once in the garage and once in the middle of a large, uncovered parking lot. It can't be that the garage is amplifying the sound or doesn't do it after sitting out in the hot sun. As I mentioned above, for me, the sound happens most of the time.
Am I being snowballed? I am concerned that I really have a problem here and I am approaching a point where Dodge is going to deny any more "no fault found" claims. What's the next step?
PAST:
Around the 5000 mile mark on my new Durango R/T, I noticed a knocking sound, most obvious from the passenger wheel well, on cold starts (i.e. sitting 6+ hours)
It manifests like so:
1. Engine start, elevated but smooth, quiet idle
2. Idle lowers, engine still runs quiet and smooth
3. After 30-60 seconds, a knock can be heard and will get progressively louder
4. After 2-5 minutes of run time, the knock lessons and eventually cannot be heard.
Video of the noise in question:
The dealership kept my Durango for a week and my recollection is a little unclear but I believe they did hear something but deemed it the "Hemi Tick". The manifold bolts were fine. They could not tell me what the Hemi Tick was other than it affects a lot of Hemis. They are, after all "just noisy engines". Sounded alright to me so I went home and kept on keeping on.
Now, at the 8000 mile mark the sound is still present but has worsened both in intensity and duration. To give you an idea, I remote-started the Durango from across the street at home. The ticking sound, just like what you hear in the video above could be clearly heard from the other side of the street. Where it would diminish in a couple minutes before, it keeps going and going until I finally start driving. Once warm though, all is well. In fairness, it does not tick on every cold start. I would say 8 or 9 out of every 10 is average.
I brought the Durango back to the same dealership and told them exactly what I wrote above. I asked this time though that I be present when the Durango was cold-started the following morning. That morning, it was started in the company of the shop foreman, another tech, and myself. We all agreed we heard it and I was told by the foreman that it was not normal.
A few days later they said they felt it was piston slap and were looking to pinpoint the issue so they could determine which cylinder was at fault. I said that was fine with me.
This morning I received a message that they have not been able to reproduce the sound since the morning I was there.
I am at a loss. My car is cold-started every day; once in the garage and once in the middle of a large, uncovered parking lot. It can't be that the garage is amplifying the sound or doesn't do it after sitting out in the hot sun. As I mentioned above, for me, the sound happens most of the time.
Am I being snowballed? I am concerned that I really have a problem here and I am approaching a point where Dodge is going to deny any more "no fault found" claims. What's the next step?
