2008 CHARGER R/T LIFTER & CAM REPLACEMENT HELP

Hey all, I have an 08 Charger r/t with the 5.7 l HEMI and am dealing with the infamous lifter tick !! I am considering on going into the engine and replacing the lifters and cam myself, my first thought is since I will be in there anyways... why not upgrade ? From what I've been reading, the whole reason for this issue in the first place is shawdy parts. So maybe not only putting better parts but also maybe an upgraded cam ?? I am confident that I can get this job done if everything is plug and play and no tuning needs to be done, on the other hand I am not ready to deal with the headache of tuning and trying to deal with possible smog issues later. Soooo my question is: can anyone point me in the right direction to a good quality set of lifters ( not op of the line but, will last a lot longer than the crap they put into these engines at the maufacturer ) and a cam that is upgraded and will drop in with no tuning or tweaking anything. If such a cam does not exist, then I would be content with with a stock type of cam that is also better than oem. Also, I've been reading about MDS, does my car have this ?? I beleive it may. If so will this affect the parts I shop for ??? Thanks in advance !!

 

Sounds like someone has been doing some internet reading lol. The hemi tick has always been there, though are you sure it's that tick and not an injector or small exhaust leak?
I had three (now two) hemi powered vehicles, they all have (had) it. Before I lost my Charger that was a combined mileage of over 460,000 miles. They're hardy and reliable if you take care of them.
Any cam you put in will require tuning or it won't run right, if at all. Cam is the heart of the engine and the computer is designed to run on the static specs of the cam. Change those specs and it throws everything off. There is no "stock type" of cam that is better than OEM. Kinda wondering where you've been getting some info or ideas. Best lifters available actually are OEM ones lol. Yes, you have MDS. If you are shopping for lifters, yes this affects your choice. All LX's have MDS; only the LC stick shift and hellcat cars didn't get MDS.
How many miles does it have and what type/weight oil are you using?

 

Also, you have a 2008, you posted in the 2011+ section lol...this needs to be moved

 

Wow ! Thanks for all the info. I feel like a total noob lol. Well at least I got Dodge right, okay so I'm at 135,000 miles, second owner. Previous owner was my mother in law and I know for sure that it was run low on oil a few times since I checked for her periodically before I made her sell it to me, as far as I know driven pretty normal while she owned it. The ticking just started a couple of weeks ago that I've noticed, I may accelerate a little harder than she did while driving, that being said I use the recommended 5w20 and I usually go with synthetic, not sure the type since the last time it had oil change I wasn't the one that took it in ( I may be going with royal purple after I get this sorted ). My info has been from forums but may have been misunderstood or maybe just incorrect. I mostly find information that ends up leading to chargers that were police vehicles where someone ends up mentioning that the reason law enforcement doesn't use them anymore is the lifter and cam problems. I am open to any suggestions especially from someone who had around 400,000 miles on a charger. I've also read many complaints from people that have premature lifter and cam problems at 40,000 or less resulting in misfires. Although I have not had misfires, I did have a Dakota back in the day and that f#cker had a mean lifter tick that I couldn't get rid of. Is there any way I myself can diagnose an exhaust leak and or injectors ? Also I might add that after a while of driving the tick usually goes away. Sometimes it takes longer than others, what about seafoam ? I've only heard of this but never used it. Thanks again !

 

Looks like someone beat me to it.

 

How low? Like empty or just like a quart? It's easy to burn off a quart with consistent thrashing on these hemis. From what I've seen it was the 4th gen engines that had the lifter and cam issues. I didn't have 400,000 miles on my Charger, I said "I had three (now two) hemi powered vehicles, they all have (had) it. Before I lost my Charger that was a combined mileage of over 460,000 miles", that's between all three of the hemi powered vehicles I had (Ram 154,000+, Charger 182,000+ at time of accident and Magnum 130,000+).



If you have a leaky manifold you can listen for it, that's honestly the only way to find one. Keep looking; once you find an exhaust leak it is glaringly obvious when it's in front of you. If it runs great and the tick goes away after a while, let me ask you this. What temp or how long do you let it warm up before you drop it in gear and go? If you have EVIC, press the note and north buttons at the same time for about 10 seconds or so; it will change the EVIC display and you can get an accurate oil pressure and temperature as you scroll through. If you don't have EVIC, how long or where is the temp gauge when go? It sounds like you crank it up and go, and as it warms up the valve train components expand enough to quiet down. A noisy injector will emit a nice loud tick, you can put a screwdriver up to each one and your ear to compare noises. I will caveat that with just because it makes noise doesn't necessarily mean it's bad. Some people swear by Seafoam as a cure all; it has it's place for trying to clean out gunk on engines that weren't all that well maintained.

 

The time I noticed it was low it was about 2 quarts low, and you're right I usually let it warm up about 5 min In the morning( it would be more but I leave for work at 2:45 am and don't want to piss off my neighbors with my exhaust) to be honest I've never really paid too much attention to the temp gauge when leaving. Not sure what an EVIC is but I'm guessing I don't have it because I've never seen a north or note button. I will look into exhaust leak and check the injectors for now. I wonder if I upload a video of it running if you will be able to hear it correctly or if it will be too distorted to tell ? I will investigate some more and get back