thanks for the replies. im pretty sure that cat is not gutted. it looks stock. its fat and round. looks like a regular muffler. but idk how ram's cat coverters' look. my old dakota had a little one. i do have a temp gun. but as for the vacuum leek, the noise seems to be coming from the driverside behind the dash..somewhere by the firewall. you can hear it outside and inside. and definatly when accelerating. i checked all the hoses though going into the intake. everythign seemed tight and intact. i did put my truck in 4wd today...but i put it back into 2wd and the 4wd light went off. could it still be stuck in 4wd? it wasnt hopping or anything.. i have a glasspack, so you would think if the cat was clogged it would go rigth through the pipe. ?

 

The catalytic converter is made of a honeycomb of precious metal catalyst. If it is clogged, it's sort of like a dirty filter that restricts the exhaust flow. The cat can be found next to the transmission behind the skid plate if you have one. It should look like a large cylinder.

However, I would look into that hiss. Take the airbox off then fire up the engine and see if you can still hear it. If you can't find an obvious source, its likely the plenum gasket.

As per your question about 4x4, no if it's turning smoothly on dry pavement, the 4x4 is not engaged.

 

hey thanks for the reply. the cat isnt gutted just checked. but its all rusted on the outside. and i have a k&n air filter and housing that is open. its on the passanger side. this noise is coming from the driverside somewhere behind the dash(thats where i can hear it when accelerating) and inside the left tire well.

 

and also when startign the truck when its cold...you can hear the air filter suckign in air and it gets louder and louder then it goes to normal after about 15 secs after the truck is started. is that normal?

 

A housing that is open? You don't have a stock airbox?

Does your aircleaner look like this?



If so, the hissing is normal, especially in cold starts.

 

No man I have the housing and a k&n air filter at the end. The air filter isn't in a box...its just open. but let's hope my tranny isn't on its last leg..it just shifts from 2nd to 3rd real quick and then won't go into over drive.

 

An open air filter will usually hiss, but not from behind the intake manifold (from your description. I still think your engine problem is a big part if not the cause of your transmission problem. Take a look through your throttle body (or it may be easier to remove the throttle body) and see if there is oil pooled at the botom of the intake manifold. If so, I would say that a bad plenum gasket is to blame for your power issues.

 

in non mechanical terms take the air cleaner hose off and look down the two holes the air gets sucked into that are at the base of where the air cleaner mounts.... you have to either have someone hold their foot on gas (with engine off!) or manually turn the butterfly valve to open the flaps and then look down the holes with a flashlight to see if it looks wet and oily....
I doubt this would suddenly cause all that noise...sounds to me like a loose vacume hose from something....maybe cruize control? I think thats all on that side.....also make sure your ac is turned off (if you have it) in case the compressor is seizing or something......I tried mine once and after a min is made a loud hissing noise from some leak then stopped....it was a one time thing though

 

sounds like shes prime!

if it smells like cologne...leave it alone
if it smells like fish...tasty dish

 

Lol...true. Ok..so I was on my way to class and the engine was at 2000 rpms going 60 mph. Then the check engine light came on...and the engine has a hissing,ticking noise and it is sluggish. I've put like 2500$ in this truck for repairs since I've had it in may....