1998 RAM 1500 5.9l V8, 46RE
My truck will make an intermittent noise from the bellhousing it sounds like, but only after i've done hard accelerating, or pulled a trailer with O/D locked out and rev'd to higher rpms than normal.... It sounds like a scrape/chirp... really it's a noise you'd think would be coming from a bad pulley. Pretty much goes away with increased RPM, doesn't get louder, but at idle it's noticeable and comes and goes.
I can drive this truck all day long, normal light driving and highway driving and the noise never presents itself afterwards, only after hard acceleration usually, and it will actually go away and get less frequent with in a day or two of normal driving..
just wondering if anyone has encountered this before. I will attempt to record the noise but as intermittent as it is it's sort of difficult.
I'm wondering if convertor bolts or something could be loose?

 

Loose converter bolts would rattle..... Think I would start with pulling the inspection plate, (which means, pulling the starter...) and having a look.

 

maybe weak TCC or solenoid causing some slippage under hard power? things loosen up again after light driving, have you recently serviced the trans, verified fluid level? I hate suggesting a look in the pan as well since this involves dumping all the oil, and new trans oil can sometimes create more problems, however if that's the case the trans was probably a near its end anyway

 

Could be i suppose, trans is actually almost due for a service. But i really don't notice any issue while driving, seems to have plenty of power and maintains speed up hills etc.

 

 

Cracked flex plate? Since the noise is coming from that area I think you should have a look.

 

that was my original thought.

 

been watching some YouTube videos of cracked flexplates and the noises make, and alot of what I hear sounds just like mine.
guess I'll pull the inspection cover off this weekend and inspect.

 

I had one crack because the bolts holding the engine to the trans backed themselves out. There were cracks coming from all the bolt holes on the converter.

 

Well i removed the inspection cover this evening... nothing out of the ordinary... until i began to rotate the crank... and a small, 1/2" x 1/2" maybe, piece of BELLHOUSING came tumbling out from the flexplate/TC area.... from the looks of it it appears that it's an outer edge piece due to it's curved nature. I crawled and poked my head around and didn't see any holes anywhere.... i suspect it happened at the transmission shop because it looks like it's been in there awhile.
Anyyywayy. not 100% sure thats the problem as i don't have it back together yet, you'd think a plate of metal would be easy to replace, but not when you're two bolts that attach the braces from the engine to the bell housing want to crossthread on you... sooo off to town in the morning to get a tap as naturally, it's the one size i don't have.,