Hello friendly dodgeforum members. I sold my 2005 Hemi Ram about6-9 monthsago, and I'm still missing it every day, and haven't posted here much since... ButI just purchased a 2002 "Chrysler" Neon. It's in really nice shape, considering how the previous owner treated it; smokers burned holes in the seats and children coloring all over the windows... And it looked like the oil hadn't been changed since new...[/align][/align]All that being said, the little 4 banger has been great for tooling around town, and the 5spd seems to be holding up well!![/align][/align]Now, I have noticed lifter tick, so I took the easy steps and seafoamed the engine hoping it was just some crud causing the lifters to be sticky... And I got an engine flush and changed to a slightly heavier weight oil... Obviously it quieted down a little bit. But I drove it a little hard over the weekend, and the thing is just about as noisey as before.[/align][/align][/align]I think I'll have to bite the bullet and just pull the vavle cover off and replace the damn lifters/rockers to be on the safe side.[/align][/align][/align][/align]Being that I've never done it before, is there anything I should watch out for? I've got a buddy who owns his own auto repair shop, so I've got free reign of a fully stocked toolbox and a free bay to work in... I'll also be getting a killer deal on the price of the parts. I'm rather mechanically inclined, so I don't think it should be too troublesome, especially since there will be 3 licensed mechanics on hand in case I need help...[/align][/align][/align]I'd just rather not make an ass of myself in front of them if I don't have to![/align][/align][/align][/align]So I'm trying to do my research beforehand, and you guys are my first stop.[/align][/align]Thanks in advance![/align][/align]-rob[/align]

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when dodge serviced my car for the "ticking" noise, it wasnt a problem with the lifters but the rocker arms. just thought it might help you out if its the same noise i had. kinda like a "ticka ticka ticka" coming from what sounds like the middle front of the valve cover? dodge replaced the middle intake arms and it still made the noise so they replaced all intake and exhaust rockers and the noise was gone.

Yeah... I *JUST* edited the post to reflect the fact that it might not be lifters, but rocker arms, either way... The parts should be cheap, and the procedure should be fairly straightforward, no?[/align][/align]

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yeah. the rockers are all right under the valve cover so no removal of extra parts. just remove the rocker shafts, unbolt the rocker arms and install new ones. the arms are different for exhaust/intake so dont put em in wrong. thats about it. if you have a haynes manual, its all inside on how to do the job.