Here's a thougth, my truck and tranny are a '96 but the engine is and '01, Autozone lists two different parts numbers for the crank sensor. Assuming the pictures on the website are the actual parts the plug is different which would lead me to believe we used the original sensor from the 96 when we did the swap. I know the engine block size SHOULD be exactly the same but is it possible there is a slight difference causing the sensor to hit?

 

I think there is supposed to be a grommet, or some such in there as well......

 

There us a rubber grommet that mounts in the tranny to keep junk out of there, but I was wondering if maybe there was supposed to be some kind of spacer under the sensor bracket

 

There is no spacer, but it has been shown that some aftermarket crank sensors are longer than the OEM sensor. Which is obviously not good.

 

Hmm, if that's the case I an tempted to try putting a small spacer in there, I wonder how far away from the adapter plate it can be before the truck won't run at all?

 

If you don't have the OEM sensor, I have one and can measure the depth of it in the AM.

 

I do have the original sensor in the truck and I have one from a 99 that has a different plug so I can compare the two to see if they are the same

 

Another possibility, could some bad gas cause it to knock? I put in 5 gallons of gas from work because I had been using it for work just before it started knocking. My boss just noticed today that his work van 98 3500 Ram Van with a 5.9 is starting to knock same as mine. Could we have got a bad batch? Doesn't seem likely since I still had 15 gallons in there from the gas station, but it started acting up after i filled up there too. Anyway u told my boss I would see what y'all thought

 

well, i dropped the oil pan and found the knocking is the least of my worries!
There is water in my oil pan! I have no idea how it got in there. I had the top half of the motor apart last year, so it has new gaskets from the head gaskets up. On the plus side everything appears to be tight in the bottom end, so the ticking/knocking is still a mystery. Talked to my dad and described the noise in detail and he seemed to think it was nothing to worry about anyway since once the engine is warm I can barely hear it in the cab (not the best logic I know but he seemed to think it was probably something minor, and since I did not find anything I tend to agree with him, since he taught me most everything I know about engines)
So now what to do about the water?!?!!? I have no idea how long it has been there and always keep a close eye on my oil when I change it, especially this last one (last week) and have never seen any water in it. My thought is a cracked head, most likely from the severe pinging I was getting a couple weeks ago, could also explain the ticking if it damaged a valve, although that would be odd since it seems to be coming from the bottom unless I am crazy (quite possible) I think my dad was trying to terrify me because he mentioned the possibility of a cracked block =O
I am still trying to figure out what could have caused either since this engine has not been hot since it was put in 4 years ago. it has always run at normal temperature and maybe got a TAD high once or twice (like 220) and now has a 180* t-stat and has never even seen 200 in the past year.
I still have a 400 mile trip from NY to Maine one month from today with some pretty steep hills and all my crap I need to take with me. MY plan is to put the oil pan back on and go and pray it makes it, but my dad says I am insane! If it is a cracked head what further damage could result from driving it? I watch the temperature like a hawk since a friend killed the original engine by overheating it, so overheating is not a huge concern, since I would shut it down if it got above normal operating range.

I have a spare engine however it holds two problems, I have VERY little money and I am getting married in a month (thats just one of the problems) and it has sand in it.
The sand is in there because I am an idiot. There was sand in between the intake and the valve covers and I wasnt paying attention when I took the valve covers off and some of the sand got down inside, not a lot but it only takes one grain in the wrong place. The engine has not even been so much as turned since then so the sand is just sitting there. My plan was to limp my truck home then start rebuilding the spare when I has some time and money, maybe buy a cheap beater truck to save on my Ram, but my dad suggested taking the valve covers off, turning it upside down, take the oil pan off, and dump a crap load of Kerosene through it to flush the sand out, and throw that in the truck, I like the idea however there is a third problem, (well really part of the first) when I removed the exhaust manifolds most of the bolts broke off in the head. So I guess this is more of a question, where could I take the entire engine (to save having to remove the heads) and get the broken bolts out and about how much would it cost? I do not have the patience, tools, or want to to do it myself (i've tried it many times on other things and it is never pretty)

 

If the torque converter bolts are loose they will make that noise as well. Check them. You can oull the dust cover off the bottom of the bell housing to gain access to them.