[paramedicthad]

A plea for help :help:

I own a 2000 quad cab slt with the 5.9L, 4x4. I am not a mechanic by any means, change my own oil, do my own brakes, and that's about it.

At just over 75,000miles I've noticed a strange phenomenon...

When I'm headed up any hill, when it seems the engine is working a little harder, I hear what sounds like a rattling noise from up under the hood. It goes away as soon as the hill is topped or the "load" is lifted. I notice no change in performance/speed/etc. no dummy lights or anything like that. I'd take any help I can get here, or you can email me at [email protected]

Thanks in advance for any help.

 

[suffolk_mopar]

best thing to do bud is pop the hood and start jiggling shitt to see if anythings loose. could be something thats just slightly loose that only wiggles under pressure. then again this would happen over hard bumps. no noise on hard bumps?

 

[JethroStyles]

Run Premium through it for a couple of tank fulls, see if it goes away. Sounds like you got some PreDetonation problems (pinging)... If the Premium fixes the problem, try switching to 1 stage colder plugs... Dunno my 360s But i think they are 3923s.... Could be wrong.

Hope that might could help ya!

 

[MoparDrvn]

3923 Is correct... if you get em get the copper core ones they work great :biggthump

 

[MoPaR DaK]

Go to the store and pick up some seafoam to run through it so it cleans out all the carbon build up thats probably going on inside

 

[Spider]

If it doesnt go away after running premium through it, it is very likely you have a bad plenum gasket. This is a common problem with the 5.2s and 5.9s. Check out http://www.apsprecision.com they have a billet plenum that will not warp with heat like the stock ones do and they come with a new gasket and this should solve the ping problem. My 5.2 ram did this really bad but i never got around to fixing it.

 

[realdeal7369]

Run Premium through it for a couple of tank fulls, see if it goes away. Sounds like you got some PreDetonation problems (pinging)... If the Premium fixes the problem, try switching to 1 stage colder plugs... Dunno my 360s But i think they are 3923s.... Could be wrong.

Hope that might could help ya!

for the autolites they are. i would do a few things. just run the colder plug in the back two cylinders. change your thermostat to a 180. should fix the pinging issue

back two cylinders run the hottest, and the slightest hot spot on a hard edge in the cylinder sparks it.

 

[suffolk_mopar]

Run Premium through it for a couple of tank fulls, see if it goes away. Sounds like you got some PreDetonation problems (pinging)... If the Premium fixes the problem, try switching to 1 stage colder plugs... Dunno my 360s But i think they are 3923s.... Could be wrong.

Hope that might could help ya!

i forgot all about the pinging. :sorry:

 

[paramedicthad]

Thanks all, for the advice!!

 

[realdeal7369]

i forgot all about the pinging. :sorry:

no biggie man, sometimes its easy to overlook some things. thats why there is more than one person on here. get all the advice you can and then use your own judgement after that. figure out whats being said, analize it, go with what makes most sense ...right?

:biggthump

 

[paramedicthad]

Good news. With the first 1/4 of the first tank of premium the noise is gone completely.

I'm a complete rookie when it comes to anything mechanical. I changed spark plugs on a small 4 cylinder toyota years ago. I think I can tackle this project, surely I can find a guide or tip sheet on line.

Thanks again
:yourock:

 

[paramedicthad]

OK, an update.

Changed the plugs to the champion "platinum" plugs for about $3 each. This has helped but I still have the pinging, just not as often.

So, my question is, should I be looking to replace the gasket as described above? That sounds like a bit of a big job for a rookie like myself.

If left un-fixed, will this problem do serious damage?

It's been suggested that this may be a timing issue. Any opinions on that idea?

Thanks again,

Thad