Well, I just about got my 1997 Ram fixed up 100% to drive and have been driving it throughout Christmas break. I drove it on the 24th, Slight belt noise. 25th didnt drive it, 26th the snowstorm moved in and I drove it all day. 143,400 miles and the 360 started to make a bottom pinging noise. I have a Fan Bearing going bad but I have no clue what that noise is. I drove from My House to The next town (10 Miles) at about 9am and it started to make a noise under a load (Drive with the Brake Pressed) and throughout the day (3:45pm) it was a loud knock in Park and in Drive. Any Suggestions on the noise or anyone that has had this before. The worst i can think is main bearing or rod knock but doesnt sound loud like a knocking rod. Like I said 143,400 miles.


Forgot to add: P0505 Code pulled for the Torque Converter and O2 Sensors are shot.

 

Get scaner or diagnostic done,too many if's...

 

Have you checked the plenum? It may not account for all of your issues, but IF it's blown or the PCV is bad it would be contributing to those problems.... And would explain the shot O2 sensors.

 

My truck has made some knocking that sounded like some one was beating on the truck with a hammer, in time. Happened one time after driving into strong headwind with a big load on and another time just idling in parking lot.
Some guesses were, a piece of carbon broke loose and was getting hammered by piston. The two times it happened it didn't last long.
I was reading an article last night about something,can't remember now, that many people mistakenly think is a rod knocking or bearing. It was something you wouldn't think could make that noise. Purge solenoid keeps popping into mind. Going out on a limb.

 

At Stewie01. The plenum and pcv was replaced at 136k miles. But the Cats are coming off
At cruzer55. The scanner is pulling o2 sensors (bumped it out of place on the Cat when transmission got done.)
At readram. That sounds like a possibility. Our nearest gas station has bad gas. I get 12mpg from any other but 7.5 from there.

 

When you did the plenum did you put a new plate in or just replace the gasket? Just replacing the gasket doesnt solve the problem.

 

Sorry John123, that isn't accurate at all. It's not a requirement to ALSO replace the plate to aluminum (my inference from your statement). It'd be more appropriate to make the OP aware of "proper" refurbishment of the plenum gasket issue, which can go various ways. It's a systematic issue with the gasket. For the most part people don't take care of their vehicles resulting in oil build and sludge everywhere. It's NORMAL to get oil into the IM via the PCV. The PCV is NOT supposed to stop oil from flowing through, only to regulate the crankcase pressure.

Many RAMS were taken to dealerships to have the gasket replaced, not the pan, and still run just peachy. There are cases of people that have replaced their pan/gasket (i.e., hughes or bwdrt here) and still repeat the gasket failure. The gaskets used also are not all the same.

I'm only cautioning with respect to claiming a solution. We don't even know if the OP did the work.

 

5 Days later... Well the belt squealing to my displeasure. Look under the hood to find Oil and Anti-freeze spread everywhere and the noise is to the point i stopped driving it... any suggestions?

 

Find out where oil nd anti freeze is coming from would be my suggestion. You already mentioned fan bearing - maybe it was the water pump bearing. Check water pump and the timing cover.

 

@Gdstock. Good thinking. My Dad was driving it on Friday and it let the water pump go so we replaced it and no more pinging or unusual noises. We also finished the Wheel bearings and the tires got rotated