I just bought my 1997 Ram 1500 3 days ago. It was making 2 noises that concerned me. One was a sort of ticking/static noise coming from the transfer case area. The other was a squealing noise. I feared the worst for the transfer case issue and expected the squeal to be glazed belts.

I was wrong on both counts.

The transfer case noise turned out to be nothing more than a loose rattle coming from the shifter ****. I backed it out about half a turn and the noise is gone! One of the main reasons the guy sold it was because he could not fix that noise! (low-tech for the win!)

I sprayed the belts with conditioner expecting the squeal to be fixed. No such luck. The sound is not loud like a belt slipping and it increases in speed with the RPMs. I suspect it's the tensioner pully (I recently changed one on my 1988 chevy G30... the bearings were siezed so the pulley was spinning on aluminum which made a similar noise to this one)... or an accessory getting ready to go. The voltage, oil pressure, and temp all look good (gage wise) and I don't see any leaks.

I am also curious if there are any mods I should considder doing at the same time... such as an underpulley? The engine is 100% stock.

Suggestions/comments?

 

I wouldn't ever recommend using any kind of belt conditioner or belt dressing. What i do is spray the belt with WD-40. If the squealing stops temporarily, you know it's the belt. If it still squeals, then continue searching. The WD-40 doesnt treat the condition, it just identifies whether it is the belt or not, as the WD-40 will wear off in short order. This could rule out a possible accessory drive bearing. Good luck

-JT

 

start it up and look under the hood....you will know if the tensioner is bad for it will be bobbing back and forth a little bit. and while under the hood, you should be able to identify if it is the belt.....is there any cracks in the belt......is there some way a pulley is not lined up right and its causing the belt to rub against something from being at a slight angle?


i had a squeel in my belt after i did my plenum. I thought it was because i got coolant on the belt...nope, it was my idler pulley. somehow it was a little warped and it caused the belt to move and rub the inside edge of the alt. pulley (the end parts of the pulley, then you have the belt go in the middle on the splines, but it was the edge lips that the belt was rubbing......trying to explain the best i can lol)

 

I'd guess a water pump, especially if it increases with throttle..

If that is the case, while repairing it I'd get rid of the clutch fan and install a e-fan.. $100 or so + water pump, around $80..

the plenum gasket is almost required.. obviously, do the upgrade to aluminum plate.. $140..

I rec H&S 1.7rr's, they've worked out well for me.. $350...

SCT Tuner.. best single mod... $275..

In and Out... as in CAI and headers/high flow cats and back.. $1k

gears... 4.56 front and rear.. $2k

seafoam... $5

these will make you a happy camper...

 

^ i got my Hughes plenum kit for 112.99 and thats with 2nd day shipping.


and as for the 4.56's....just get a D60 front, and D607/70 rear with 4.10's....can do it with http://car-part.com for about $1,000 and those axles are WWWAAAAAYYYYY better then what you have now.....thats the way im going when im ready.

 

agreed..

i always speculate high $, cause i like good surprises...

 

gotcha....i wasnt trying to correct you, just saying what i paid, and what ive seen for prices

 

Thank you all for the advice. After looking through the manual forever last night, I did find a short blurb about bearings that could go in the waterpump that would cause that noise. There was some mention about the fan clutch also.
I guess I'll do the "jiggle" test on everything.

Drew, thanks for the mod list. The SCT will probably be my first mod after I fix anything broken and/or breaking. I am not sure what an "e-fan" is but I'll look it up.

 

If you have AC check that pulley . Mine was squealing and that was the culprit .

 

if your planning on getting an SCT, i would wait until you do the Plenum....most will agree with me here.