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360 making funny noises, but no loss in power


AJeep99
09-26-2004, 10:51 PM
Recently, my dad's 2001 Ram Off-Road had a loose belt tensioner. He took the truck to the dealership where they replaced the belt, belt tensioner, and the A/C clutch (or fan clutch, either one or the other). Now, whenever he drives the truck it makes a sound like the engine is bogging down. This truck has never made this sound before and I haven't really noticed any loss in power, but it should not be making this noise. The 'bogging down' noise can be described as an older truck struggling to go up a steep hill on a hot day with all the belt-driven accessories turned on.

The truck makes the sound when the A/C is on and when it is turned off. It seems to make the sound only at lower speeds (approximately <45 mph) and the noise kind of goes away when the engine has been running for awhile, but it is still there-slightly. He has brought it back to the dealership a couple of times and the technicians can't figure it out.

The truck has never towed anything and is very well taken care by my dad, so I don't think parts were worn prematurely. It only has approximately 46,000 miles on the 5.9L.

Any suggestions or ideas or stories about what is causing this problem would be much appreciated.

mprtech
09-27-2004, 10:30 AM
It sure sounds like engine pinging to me. Does it sound like a ringing or tapping or pinging? The lower intake gasket might be blown.

BleedDodge
09-27-2004, 09:23 PM
That's real odd. My mom's van started doing that after we replaced the serpentine belt at 100k miles, and the best guess I have for that sound is the new belt, it's the only thing that has changed.

Hey mprtech, I sent you a pm.

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