Clunking, rattle sound when in park/ neutral.
 

My truck makes a clunking / rattling sound when its in park and mutual.
when I put it in gear it goes away. Can not figure where the noise is comming from. I checked everything that's visually.
Sounds like it's comming from the passenger side bell housing. I took off the inspection plate on the tranny. Looks like everything is ok in there.
Could it be the crank case senser? But why does it go away when put into gear. I did a search for anyone else having this issue. But couldn't find nothing.
If anyone has had this problem. Please any help is good help with this problem.
97 4x4 5.2. Did a motor swap 4 months ago. But issue just started a month ago and seems to be getting worse.

Check the flexplate bolts are tight. Also, see if there is any cracking around the crankshaft on the flexplate. In neutral, there is no load on it, so it can rattle, put it in gear, which puts a load on it, and it can't rattle quite so much.

Checked the bolts on the flex plate. They where tight. Checked to see if there might be a bolt bouncing around in there. Couldn't find one. Seems like there are little niks on the flex plate. Like there was something bouncing around.
couldnt find nothing.
I think next I'm going to try putting a different starter on the truck. Maybe the starter gears are hitting the flex plate.
It also seems like the noise got worse tho. As soon as the RPMs go up it goes away.
Could a fin inside the torque converter. Be making that much noise? If it broke inside of it?

Put the truck on jack stands. Have someone run it thru the motions while you're underneath it. Also, use the side of your fist to bang on the cats. Sometime the substrates inside break apart and rattle.

Dont have no cat. On it. Checked out the flex plate and bolts. It all looks good.
starting to think the noise is comming from inside the back part of the motor.
Maybe the rear crank berring? Idk. Its confusing me.
if I start it up. Rev the motor for a few to worm it up. Then put it in gear. Its fine. You don't hear any of the noise. But once it idle in park or neutral. Its all kinds of loud.
I have not checked to see if it does it in 4 wheel drive yet. Plus I have not checked the starter. I have another one I was going to put in it. Just to see if it stops the noise.

wouldn't be the starter, the bendix should go back in when the gear is driven faster than the electric motor, and trans being in gear wouldn't change it.

I would have seconded the converter bolts... I'd find it unlikely for the flexplate/crank flange bolts to have come loose. Usually the rattle going away when you put it in gear means that when the flexplate is loaded, it's fine, and when unloaded, it oscilates back and forth.

Could also be a motor mount.

Rattling noise
 

Have you diagnosed the problem? I got a 97 dodge too and same thing is goin on right now with me. We took off the starter and it works good. Took off flex plate, gears looked good and no debris. But still that rattle when in park and neutral. After we put starter back on. It started making the noise one day when I went to start it.

Still sounds like converter bolts to me.

Thank you for input. We plan to drop the transmission when it stops raining. Will definetly look at those bolts

Grinding noise.
 

I haven't figured my problem out yet.
I got a new truck instead. A 97 ram 1500. Same color just bigger and with the 5.9.
Plan on getting a new flex plate for the Dakota. As I put a motor out of a 93 into it. I was told that they changed one or the other. The flex plate or converter. So my guess is they don't line up right. With me making it work. Is probably what caused the issue. The only other thing I can think of is the crank senser riding on the flex plate.