hi
sorry if i am being alittle vague but please bear with me.
we have a 98 5.9L dodge ram pickup. my husband took our soninlaw out on a drive to hear the pinging (sounds like poker chips in a sock when reving or going up an incline and giving it gas), definitely not knocking, that has started up ever since this ethynol (sp?) gas has come out...never heard a peep before...putting higher octane in does help alot but now we just can't eat--$3 a gal????!!!-hes a contractor and drives alot all day-- also B12 helped alot too.
anyway...my soninlaw mentioned a "whine" coming from the back end and said he was pretty sure our rear end was going out. it almost sounds hollow like a hole/problem in the exhaust system but my husband looked at the exhaust/tailpipe and couln't find anything right off hand. but it does "wind up" more when giving more gas and subsides when not/at stop no sound.
is there any way he can look/test and tell if it's actually the rear end? any signals that it's time is near? any help on either problem (have read some threads about the pinging) would be appreciated.
thanks guys

[&o]...female not very technical

 

a few years ago i had a dodge dakota that acted the way you're describing. first time it happened the catalytic converter was shot & rattling around inside it's case. the second time it happened the transfer case went bad & totally destroyed itself internally. the thirt time i heard the sound there were a few teeth from my spider gears broken off and flying around in my rear diff.

just some things to check out

 

Put higher ocatane gas in it and see if it does it.....

 

thanks guys thanks olseng..hope it's none of those! but pretty sure its just regular pinging or at least i hope it is but ill ask hubby about all that too
yes habeb like i said we do put the higher octane gas and well at least yesterday it wasn't pinging...but we have to be very careful and get the gas at one station we know its fuel is not making it ping...we had HAD to stop one other place last week and i think that gas made it act up again...kinda annoying to have to go to this one place so the pinging is not as big an issue as the "whine" thing but if its reg. pinging from octane issues will it ever go away? does it have something to do with the fuel injection system?
does anyone have any info about the symtoms of the rear end going out? is that the technical name...rear end? will the axel fall off while going down the highway? just don't know kinda scary

 

Rear end whine could just be caused by low gear lube level. Take the fill plug off and you should be able to stick your finger in the hole and feel some pretty close to the level of the fill hole. If you have to reach down pretty far, or don't feel any at all, that is the problem. Use a 75W-140 oil if you need to fill it

[IMG]local://upfiles/3111/7633B506256143568ECB91CBE6D3540B.jpg[/IMG]

 

thx 94ram..sounds like a plan. this oil is available at any reg. auto parts store? does he need anything special to pour it in there? i sure hope this is it any other suggestions if this isn't it? it would be sooo nice for once if it were this simple the poor guy is working two jobs right now so thats why i am asking all this thanks again

ps what does happen if your rear end goes out? what falls off what stops? and is that the proper technical term for rear end trouble or is it differential trouble

 

Depends on what breaks...it will knock along with the speed you travel or could lock up(possibly). More than likely it's just the fluid. You can run anything in it, some people swear by Royal Purple and others just use any synthetic.

 

First off ... relax ... the chances of anything catastrophic happening are EXTREMELY slim. There are a dozen different things that can cause a "whine" on a vehicle. Only a few of them originate in the axle. How loud and noticeable is this whine? Did it just come on suddenly or has it been building for a while? Are they 100% certain it's coming from the axle area? Could be from the transmission? It is pretty difficult to pinpoint the location of a noise while inside of the vehicle.

I would be MUCH more concerned about the pinging. You should not have to run premium in your truck. It could be caused by something as simple as crossfire between plug wires (solved by re-routing them or replacing them with a heavier gauge set) or something as complicated as a blown plenum gasket (how's the oil usage lately?) that's a bit more work to fix. Even if the axle is whining, it will go for MANY MANY miles before causing any real problem. The pinging can ruin your engine pretty quickly if it's severe enough ... and if it's caused by the plenum gasket ... you CAN suck your oil pan dry faster than you could imagine.

 

thanks for all the info bill...well actually i am very worried about all thats happening. and thats what i told hubby...its happening all of a sudden for a reason. it is our only vehicle and i have read on the web about the pinging and how it can be pretty hard on your engine if the cure is not one of the simpler things you mentioned.
the pinging started about the time the stations (we're in dallas area) started selling the ethynol gas...might be coincidence but thats when it started ...before that we were using the lower grade octane like everyone else. it was before this pinging started, purring like a kitten...at least when i drove it....he drives it 90% of the time. he says the oil usage hasn't increased. being its age and now has about 93,000 on it you would expect some usage i think? but he says he has not noticed any increase. where is that plenum gasket located? we are going to do a good tune up hopefully this weekend and check out the cables too you mentioned.
when you're in the cab the whine sounds like it is coming from the back of you...doesn't sound like under the hood or near front. he said it's definitely in the rear. he is going to check and see about the gear lube level too. good idea with you too?
so what are you're suggestions now with this info? if you need more info let me know or if i missed something.
btw...when we bought the truck a year ago...a really really nice dual cab in almost perfect condition..someone really took care of it... and fit our pocket book...it only had about 66,000 original miles on it! see the mileage i mentioned above? that's how much he drives in a year! just to work and only very local driving otherwise...never get to go anywhere good..[>:] i've always been worried about getting close to the 100,000 mark and the problems you have sometimes. let me know what you think. thanks again for taking the time.

 

Hi sugahplm, Check out -transmission mechanical whine
by kayakman
Not trying to frighten you, but get it checked