Hello,

I am new to the forum and not the best when it comes to vehicles, so excuse my lack of knowledge.

I recently purchased a 2001 Ram 1500 Sport used. As soon as I bought it, it had some shifting problems. I returned it to the dealership and they replaced the transmission governor solenoid and transducer as well as the serpantine belt.

Now, it runs perfectly fine, except the engine has since started to make a whining/whirring noise when I accelerate. If I accelerate quite slowly, it doesn't make a sound, and if I punch it quite hard, it does not make a sound, but any moderate acceleration creates a high pitched whining noise. Once I have reached 80-90 km/h (50-55 mph) and have to apply less pressure to the gas, the noise goes away. The vehicle runs fine other than the noise. I have noticed no loss of power, although I have not had the vehicle for an overly long period of time, so it's a little tough to judge and there has been no stalling whatsover, which is something I read of on other forums.

I have done some research on the matter and have discovered it sounds like it could possibly be the plenum gasket? Is there any easy way to check this without the vacuum technique I have read about? Also, any other possibilities to the problem?

Finally, if it is indeed the plenum gasket, what would I be looking at for replacement costs with a mechanic? My skills are definitely beginner, as the biggest car projects I have tackled were replacing the radiator and starter/solenoid on a Neon.

Thank you very much for your input.

 

Welcome to DF
First question, sound normal maybe just the back lash on the rear diff. 2nd if you are adding a qt of oil every 200 miles, then you plenum gasket is leaking. Intake manifold would need to come off.

 

Welcome to the site. I will move this thread to the second generation Ram section,
FF

 

+1 on the it maybe the rear ends backlash. You can purchase a plenum kit from Hughes Engine and its $86. There is a DIY for this also.