About 6 months ago my car stared what sound like valve clacking in the mornings. At first I thought it was just low oil and was diligent in making sure I checked my oil. Usually after my car warmed up the clacking would slowly go away until I once again did a cold start after it had been sitting for awhile. I took the car to the dealer and they told me my transmission was coming apart. So after my $100 deductible, a $300 rental car anf ten days later I got my car back with a fully overhauled transmission. The next morning when I started up my car it was still making the clacking noise. The car does not make it every morning but tends to do it mostly in the morning or when I do a cold start. I took my car back to the dealer and they could find nothing wrong and the car would not clack even though I sat for 3 hours while it cooled down. This noise is driving me crazy. It reminds me of the clacking noise my lifters made on my old 83’ subaru when they needed to be replaced.
It’s hard to describe and diagnose noises without a sound file, but I’ll hazard a guess that you have one or more valve lifter that is draining overnight, and is /are slow to refill on startup. How diligent have you been about getting the oil changed on schedule? Are you using 5W-30 as recommended?
You might try adding 1/2 a can of SeaFoam to the oil.
You might try switching to a different brand of oil filter too–some have a better anti-drainback valve. If the noise is indeed coming from the top of the engine, it may or may not help. Try some 10w-30 Mobil-1 synthetic at the next oil change.
It sounds like the dealer isn’t trying very hard and is playing dumb (maybe, not playing…is). If they won’t duplicate the condition, parked outside, overnight, cold engine, they’re not trying.
You probably still have warrenty for this problem. Call the regional Chrysler representative with your complaint. You could try another Chrysler dealer which, either, has mechanics, or has a dealer (and service manager) who will let the mechanics work on the problem.