Trans/TC or something else?

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Chrismb5.7

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Dandridge, TN.
Ram Year
2004
Engine
Hemi 5.7
Gonna get straight to it and I'll do my usual blabbing at the end... I've been having a few things going on lately, need some input before I start literally throwing parts at this thing. I'm also not totally sure if any of it is related but I believe most of it is.

2004 1500 5.7l 2wd 9.25" 3.55 lsd 20" wheels

1. When I'm coasting or light on the throttle, like driving through a Walmart or a gas station parking lot, I hear a combination of loud howling and whining. Also whines when I accelerate. I can't pinpoint where the howling noise is coming from because its so loud. It howls AND whines while I'm coasting at any speed slow or fast, and at low throttle. It whines when I accelerate at any rate. I hear no whining while idling in any gear. Not sure if the two are related.

2. Sometimes it lightly kicks going from park to reverse, and sometimes a little harder from reverse to drive when backing up. It also kicks slightly shifting into neutral from any gear. Haven't changed the trans fluid but it isn't low, and looks clean.

3. When the truck gets to about 45-50 mph, I feel it shaking, almost like a shudder. Tires were shot so I just went ahead and got new ones, of course they were balanced but its still happening. This was about 3k miles ago. Replaced my upper controls/ball joints last week. I now have a fresh alignment and newly balanced and rotated tires but the shaking is still there.

4. Last Monday, I noticed a little loss in power. Was really hard to get on the interstate without just stomping it. Thought about it, egr is new so I changed the map. It helped tremendously, even gained some power I didn't have to begin with. Fuel pump was changed in Aug 2021 at 180k, I'm now at 209k and it starts and idles just fine with no sweat. Yesterday morning when I left for work, I noticed a hesitation when I gave it gas. From the stop sign I pressed the gas to take off, it crawled and then took off like a bullet. Doesn't do it every time but it's pretty often.

5. When the motor warms up, and if I stop at a light or a stop sign after driving around for a few minutes, it idles at 500 rpm. If I touch the gas, the idle rpms jump to around 600 until the next stop. Idles perfectly normal in park or neutral. If the A/C or even just the fan is on it will idle around 600-650 every time.

I know it's a lot to read, but I have a feeling it's my transmission or maybe just the torque converter. Possibly the rear diff? Any opinions?
1 year ago the motor blew. Since then I've replaced the motor with a Jasper 5.7 reman (Just a little over 9k miles and it's a wonderful engine!), gotten a new throttle body, intake, water pump, power steering pump, rack and pinion, fan clutch, egr, map, iat, 16 plugs and wires, 4 o2's, magnaflow exhaust with 2 new cats. Front end is mostly new minus the stabilizer bar itself and lower control arms. Shocks are new all the way around. I actually just ordered a set of Bilsteins for the front cause I have a lot of front wheel hop with these cheap Monroe Gas Magnums I wound up with. Nothing has been done to the rear end except wheel bearings and shocks. Haven't touched the transmission or rear differential. Hit it with the scanner yesterday, didn't pull a single code, says everything is clean. This truck would be like a new one if I could get these things straightened out. Also I didn't do all of this because of the problems I listed, it's all just stuff that had to be done and I'm listing what's new for an easier process of elimination. I apologize for such a long post but I really appreciate any opinions or advice! If there's something else you need to know about it, ask and I'll tell.
 
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jws123

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I feel like you might have 2 seprate issues the houling could be many things and Engine hesitation any codes? you need to hook up a good scanner the cheap $50 scanners dont do it sometimes. Looking at live data would also help also if you could upload a vid of the loud houling noise would help.
 
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Chrismb5.7

Chrismb5.7

Member
Joined
Apr 14, 2019
Posts
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Location
Dandridge, TN.
Ram Year
2004
Engine
Hemi 5.7
I feel like you might have 2 seprate issues the houling could be many things and Engine hesitation any codes? you need to hook up a good scanner the cheap $50 scanners dont do it sometimes. Looking at live data would also help also if you could upload a vid of the loud houling noise would help.
I'll get a video asap! I've hooked up my scanner a few times and pulled no codes, but it's not a cheap one. Have not looked at the live data lately so when I'm done with these shocks I'll get some readings. What are some things I need to look for? Thanks for replying
 
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Chrismb5.7

Chrismb5.7

Member
Joined
Apr 14, 2019
Posts
56
Reaction score
18
Location
Dandridge, TN.
Ram Year
2004
Engine
Hemi 5.7
I feel like you might have 2 seprate issues the houling could be many things and Engine hesitation any codes? you need to hook up a good scanner the cheap $50 scanners dont do it sometimes. Looking at live data would also help also if you could upload a vid of the loud houling noise would help.
I took a few videos of the whining and howling noises. The howling seems to be louder coasting downhill. The whining happens when I'm pressing the throttle and its loudest at operating temp. It all makes the cab extremely noisy at just about every speed. I'll get a link to the videos uploaded asap. Hit it with the scanner again, no codes. As far as the live data goes, what should I look at to fish out the random hesitation? I noticed at idle, my tps slowly moves between 12-15%. Also like I mentioned, at operating temp, the idle speed while in drive drops to 500 unless I tap the gas or turn on the AC fan. Then it's at 650. Sometimes it'll even randomly kick back up to 650 on its own. Odd.
 
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