Truck is back at the dealer. Dropped it off a couple of days ago and told them I thought it had a exhaust leak at the manifold. Still waiting for an update.

 

Any further updates from the dealership, TrailBlogger?

 

Just as I suspected... the service department confirmed that I had a sheered off exhaust manifold bolt on the passenger side and agreed to replace it under the factory warranty.

They were unable to extract the broken off stud so they are now in the process of replacing that whole side of the engine and did not expect to be done until the middle of next week sometime.

I am glad to hear they have acknowledged the problem and are working on fixing it up but it sucks I will be without wheels for yet another week. When my fiance dropped it off for me last Thursday they told her they were "out of loaner vehicles". Frustrating to say the least...

 

I'm happy to hear that they have gotten to the bottom of this for you, sorry for the inconvenience of being without a vehicle though.

Are there any rental car facilities nearby that your dealership works with? If you PM me your VIN, contact info, and dealership info, I can see if there's anything I can do to assist.

 

Thanks for offering to help but we talked to the dealer again and they offered a loaner vehicle for me to use over the weekend this time.

 

Anytime! Glad to hear they've got you hooked up with a loaner vehicle. Please keep us posted on how everything goes.

 

Got my Ram 2500 back from the dealership yesterday. I can see they replaced the head and exhaust studs on the passenger side. Looks like they reused the old exhaust manifold. (pic below)

The knocking/tapping sound is gone from the passenger side on cold start BUT I still hear a hissing / whistling ticking sound coming from the driver side when taking off from a stop at about 1750 rpm on up to 2500 rpm!

If the passenger side had a broken off stud what are the chances the driver side has one also?

We called the Dodge dealer about it first thing this morning and they want me to make an appointment to get it seen again.

Between the whistling/hissing exhaust when I am on the gas and the squealing/squalling when I touch the brakes I am pretty damn frustrated, disappointed, and fed up with this purchase right about now. In the month I have owned it, the truck has been back to the dealer 3 times now.

 

Sorry to hear that, TrailBlogger. When did you schedule the appointment for?

 

Did you not take this used vehicle for a test drive? I doubt these issues just cropped up over the past 30 days...

 

Hammer, I am ashamed to admit that I actually did test drive it for about 15-20 minutes before buying it both on the highway and around town a little bit. But- it was over 100 degrees outside that day during the test drive and we had the AC on with the windows up. I didn't notice the noises until after I had brought it home that night and it was a lot cooler outside.

The hissing/whistling exhaust sound is not noticeable with the windows up and AC on. We mainly tested it on the highway at about 70 mph. If you roll down the window at that speed the wind buffeting completely drowns it out.

The brakes I did hear during the test drive but I figured they were just a little dusty and would go away eventually. The dealer checked them on the first repair trip in and said they were at 75% but they have been sqeeking/screeching ever since.

There was of course no check engine light on during the test drive. The 5th wheel mount in the bed looked fine to me and of course I had no idea it had cracked the tank when the previous owner installed it.

I really do like the truck, I just can't ignore these issues. Trust me I have tried! I'm not trying to knock on Rams, they are awesome trucks. I am just frustrated and fed up with this particular one right about now!