**I appologise for the long post....Thanks in advance to those who read it and try to help me!**
I picked up a 96 Ram1500 360 4x4 today... when I bought it I heard a pronounce "puff puff puff puff" type sound around the exhaust area and dismissed it as a hole to weld up later...
Well low and behold there is no holes in the exhaust and the puffing type noise is coming out of the drivers side exhaust pipe. The passenger side sounds normal. (I covered the drivers side outlet with a rag and verified that it went away like that)....
The exhaust consists of a 2.5 true duals with cats up front, and two flowmasters dumping under the bed area. I hoped that maybe it was a loose baffle in the flowmaster and went as far as to cut it off.. well guess what, noise still there.
What could be making this sound? The motor is dead silent when you have your head under the hood, and the noise will go away as soon as you come off idle under load. It will come back as you come to a stop, but only as it comes back to idle.
Its almost like a lifter tick but out the exhaust.... The truck runs GREAT other than this noise? Any ideas? Thanks!!
Is there not necessarily the typical "tick tick" type noise when the exhaust manifold is cracked or leaking? It seriously is very very quiet under hood..
I guess my only angle is to pull the exhaust and make sure everything is secure and snug. I guess its worth the effort to eliminate the possibility...
The rough idle how rough are we talking ? The engine shakes a little at idle that is normal, it is not like a 4 cylinder.
Minor...just enough that it feels that it should be smoother
Sorry, I do not know what your level of expertise is.
Fairly high... but mostly build LSX based Camaros/ Powerstroke Trucks Etc.. No real seat time in a dodge platform
Could it just be you are not use to the sounds and shake of the engine
? Its certainly possible...but Im used to driving cammed out cars even, and this still stands out as not smooth enough...what tells me there is more to it is this example... As I barely come off idle...especially backing up...barely any pedal...the rough idle will translate into bed shake as I back up...with each "thump thump" the bed will "hop" Just sort of tells me that it should be more docile
I say you have a bad exhaust valve because in your compression test you say #5 is down to 110 where all the rest are at 130+ and you also said you pulled all the wires one at a time and number 5 did not cause a change in the way the engine ran even after you regaped and replaced the plug. The bad valve is why you are getting the puff-puff out the exhaust and since it is not all that bad that is why it is still running good at higher rpms but you have the slight miss at idle. I would pull the valve cover off on that side and check it out, you may get lucky and only have a broken valve spring like I did, if that is your problem its a quick and easy fix. Good luck
Large Vacuum Leak - Nope
Ignition Fault - Maybe a bad wire
Fuel Injector Faulty - Not the injector but maybe a broken wire. We have seen this.
Engine Mechanical Condition - Bad valve like what was said
High or Low Fuel PSI - Nope
Another common problem is the intake is a 2 part. The belly pan is made of steel while the intake is aluminum. They expand at different rates and causes the pan to leak.
Check down the throttle body and shine a light and check for puddling of oil at the bottom of the intake. Especially around the edges.
Not really pretty hard to tell since it would not be a completely broken wire. Just start pulling the wires fromt he wire looms and one will pull apart if it is broken.
I am sure the injectors them selves are fine. They don't really go intermittant and only at idle it is either they work or they don't and if they are going and missing then it would be constant through out the rpm range.
After you pull the valve cover off and before you start the truck up check out to #5 exhaust rocker arm, try moving it and take a good look at the spring and valve stem. I would disconnect the coil and just crank it first to see how the #5 valve parts move in comparison to the others. When you've finished there you can start it up and see how it moves compared to the others. All this is much easier if you have some one working the ignition while you are looking at the motor.
Have you tried the seafoam on it? If there is some carbon on the valve it may be part of the problem. Have you tried doing a leak down test on that cylinder?
Haha! No, this is all I know. I only bought the truck July 7th... I thought I had posted the heads were replaced in the first post but I had'nt. SO...do you think it has something to do with that perhaps?
I cant say for sure what was done he just said the heads were replaced... but you can tell that the heads on my truck are very clean and recently removed and replaced... and the receipt in the truck is an invoice from Clearwater Cylinder Head for $700... so I cant say what was done... but perhaps it is suspect.. Push come to shove I guess I can pull a head but I might just drive it before I do that...
I wonder, when the original owner washed the engine and it developed a miss if the engine was hot if the exhaust or intake manifold cracked. The crack could be inside where you can't find it unless you do a tear down and magnaflux the block, intake, and exhaust manifold. You can check the outside of these by idling the truck and misting the engine with a spray bottle of water. If the engine sucks the water in it will stumble. I would start with the exhaust manifold on the drivers side before it got hot, mist it down real good top, bottom, all around it. listen for any rpm changes. Move up to the intake and start misting this down on the drivers side, starting where it is bolted to the head, spray and listen and then spray a different spot and listen for any changes. If nothing is found try some seafoam, maybe some carbin build up. If nothing changes turn up the stereo and run it 'till it pukes...good luck..I hope you find the problem...I know it drives me crazy when I can't find whats wrong with something that seems simple...Keep us posted...Ricker
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