2001 5.9 360 with 166k on the clock. So a little history. I put a rebuilt transmission in my truck about 12k miles ago and the truck ran great. The first time I’ve ever felt a shift kit and I genuinely thought the tranny was gonna blow again because it chirped the tires

it was discovered after i drove it all the way out here to San Diego, CA from Norfolk ,VA ( not navy btw) that my rear seal leak was worse than I thought because I had run the truck pretty dry only sparing about 2 qts. I had done an oil and filter change soon after and right before leaving.

It took the oil pressure light coming on downhill for me to know I was low.

I couldn’t not tell at all performance wise something was wrong. So I had the truck running good from nov 18 till right about now or a few months ago.


Well fast foward til Jan of this year and I had to go to Alaska for an out of town job with the company I was working for. I had no choice but to leave it with someone I THOUGHT I knew well from work so he could park it at his house. It was either that or the big bitch would get towed and I’ve that happen and it’s expensive to get it out.

so my friend says he might need to haul some Sheetrock but that he’ll let me know if he needs my truck. Well when I come back not only did this idiot run my truck dry and the engine sounded starved of oil but I noticed the gas needle was at E. I’ve never even seen it that low because my gauge reads high sometimes.

this dude got high ( smoking the green) and told me he ran the truck out of gas as well hauling that Sheetrock up Coronado bridge.

Sure enough as you can guess , coolant started disappearing too but I think I found the culprit yesterday. My reservoir was cracked but I’m gonna replace my radiator too.

well yesterday when I was doing another oil and filter change and hoping my coolant was leaking from a bad cap I started the truck to make sure the drain plug and filter weren’t leaking and to let the oil cycle through and I heard the knocking noise for the first time.

clack clack clack clack in Rhythm with the engine firing. I don’t hear anything with throttle Or over about 1-1.5k rpms. Definitely don’t hear it when driving.

it kinda sounds like a John deer tractor a little.

It doesnt sound like rod knock like loud knocking , it also has gotten a little quieter since I just did an oil change and the oil has cycled through a little more.

I guess my take away is should I rebuild or get a reman installed ?

How long do I have until it goes ?

I kinda live in my truck now because I got laid off and lost my place due to coronavirus so if it goes out soon I’m screwed.

I was also told by someone on reddit it could be a very bad exhaust manifold leak. My idle is little tougher than normal I’ve noticed.

ive attached two videos below. Thanks.

 

It could be a lifter sound, How s the oil level? If its a bit low. Add a qt of ATF to the engine and drive a couple of miles. Change the oil and filter and see if you still hear the sound. If it is still there, listen to the top end and lower and find out if it a upper end or lower end sound.

 

i think I’ve narrowed it down to the flexplate.

it definitely sounds like the sound is coming more from the TC area.

Im gonna get a stethoscope tomorrow and listen. I’ll get some loctite and check the bolts on the TC tommorow and see if that fixes it. As loud as it is the flexplate is ****ed up im sure.

now it all makes sense. I’d get a slight rumble during certain speeds and coasting on the highway under my feet like a vibration. My tranny is running hot , I know this for a fact because the last two times I checked it the dipstick was pretty hot after driving only 10-15 minutes on the highway. fluid is good though.

i also noticed my shift kit doesn’t shift as hard anymore , don’t know if that’s a ecu thing or if I’m starting to wear the gears down.

im 99% sure it’s the flex plate now. I remember the two guys helping me put the transmission in. I literally watched one of them half *** the bolts on the flex plate. He was a pill head but he was kinda all I had because my other good friend was always busy.

i had someone look it over when I had him hook all the lines and connections up for me and he said they for tight and looked fine. Atleast that’s what he said.

After this im gonna do a tune up since this tranny still shifts good and try to get a few more years out of it. Solenoid and pressure sensor, filter , new fluid , CV delete, etc.

 

Still have the check valve in the trans cooler line going to the radiator? If so, get rid of it.

 

they guy I bought the truck from said he did it but the hose looks old and I’m pretty sure the valve is on the inside iirc and you wouldn’t know until you take it off.

But no I haven’t touched it

 

I would check it if the trans is getting hot that quick.

 

I’ve driven the truck with no performance issues since making this thread and she just keeps going. I’m assuming it’s not a spun bearing.

i took off my inspection cover today and sure enough one of the bolts started to back out. I torqued them all down to spec ( 23lbs feels tighter than you’d think , about as snug as they go) with plenty of blue locktite and the sound quieted some but is still there unfortunately.

knowing what I know now and after seeing the grinded spots on my flexplate I’m about 99% sure my flexplate is cracked/warped or the flywheel plate it bolts to on the block is warped.

Two of those bolts obviously weren’t in right. One backed out a 1/4 of the way and was extremely crooked. There was another that was crooked and slilghty backed out. Like you could slide a penny underneath the head.

i had the concern for awhile even though a friend of a family member said he doubled checked. Obviously didn’t check good enough or for torque.


Now comes the hard part, a honest shop who will replace it instead of telling me I need a new engine and insist on a reman with iron heads