my 99 dodge cummins i just bought seems to have a knock all the time...bad when you first start it, then when oil pressure comes up and it gets alittle quieter...holds really good oil pressure all the time..has no smoke or blowby..i also noticed that when going down the road it sounds like a lifter ticking...i'm going to get the oil changed in the morning to see if that helps...does anyone think i need some rod and main bearings...can it be done in the truck? its a 4wd so theres quiet abit of clearance...some have mentioned that the previous owner may have burned the #6 piston..it idles smooth and runs down the road smooth..lots of power..didn't notice any vibs but really wasn't feeling for any..if the piston is burned wouldn't it have some blowby? its only got 141,000 miles with no hp mods...he did tell me he just recently had the vp44 replaced...think they got it out of time? i started it once and it knocked until the oil pressure came up and then actually went away COMPLETELY...no knock? then after a few seconds(30 or so) it came back...any help would be greatly appreciated

 

Save the oil filter and cut it open looking for metal flakes in the filter media this will help tell you if you scored #6
but it sounds like it to me sorry!!
guess it could be any one of the 6 but #6 is the one that gets fried most often

 

sucks to be me....guess i'll start looking for another motor.....think i should waist my money on the oil change? will the flakes be obvious?

 

Get an oil analysis. It will help pinpoint wear items by whats in your oil. Spend The $20 or $30 it takes for one of those before dropping $3k+ on another engine.

 

whell you prob need to track down the noise
you could just pull the filter and cut it open
and yes the flakes where obvious atleast they where in mine both times
its alot of time and$ to pull the head
filter is only 5 $