Coming home from church this morning, I noticed my truck would make a loose chain or a lag in a chain type of noise coming from the engine when it would shift into overdrive. This happened a few times under normal acceleration. The loose chain sound lasted for a second and quickly went away as soon as overdrive was engaged. Does anybody have any ideas what could be causing this or what this is? Any replies would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

 

could it be spark knock (pinging) (rattling) from the engine ?

 

+1, thats what I was thinking vaughan.

 

dvaughan and jason.w- Thanks for the replies. I thought it might also be a spark knock but it occured under normal driving conditions without the truck under any serious load. The noise was definitely noticeable and it sounded like a chain was ready to come off or a chain with a lot of slack. This is the best way I can describe the sound. The strange thing is, I later drove my truck around town this afternoon and also to Home Depot with several hundred pounds of lumber in the bed and not once did it make the same sound. My truck shifted into overdrive smoothly without making any loose chain noise. I hope it stays that way.

 

It's probably the heat shield between the manifold and motor mount on the front driver side it gets worn and rattles you could try bending it for now but it will go back after not long. I would be willing to bet money that that is what it is. mine has the same problem and i am activly searching for a replacement but the dealership cant even find it i got one that is supose to be the one but its not shaped the same they said they may have changed the design to provent this problem from occuring again. So once i try installing it I will let you guys know if it fits

 

You could check back on my thread for this problem in a week or 2 and I should come to a conclusion of if this heat shield works or not that is if that is your problem here is the link to the thread https://dodgeforum.com/forum/2nd-gen...ml#post1620652

 

GoneLikeThaGreen- Thanks for the reply. I will have my mechanic check and see if it is the heat shield. I hope it is because then the problem is not internal. Good luck with your heat shield and I will definitely check back and see what the conclusion is. I will also let you know what my mechanic says or if he finds anything. I drove it this morning to the shop and it shifted smoothly with no noise. Thanks once again for the info.

 

Found out what caused the loose chain sound. My mechanic to me I had an exhaust leak. The exhaust gasket essentially split in half. I hope this info helps anybody with a similar problem in the future.