Tallguy67

Ok folks, time for me to ask for help. My truck started making an awful grinding noise when decellerating and when you are sitting still, even in Park it sounds like it is going to grind something in half. I just drove home almost 80 miles and under acceleration or while under enough load to hold highway speed, things seem pretty much normal but slow down to 40 mph and it starts to grind and the slower you go the worse it gets. I have no idea where to start, the only things I can think of are input shaft or torque converter. I have never had a box on this truck to boost the power and I have only towed a trailer with it once and that was only a 3,000lb trailer.

Any thoughts?

KATOOM

I have no idea what it could be Tallguy67. I would suggest (if you already haven't) making sure you can isolate the noise to help suggest where to look. That means.....when exactly does it do this? While the trucks rolling, while in what gear, while turning, while idling, while in neutral, etc..... Then if it does do this while just sitting in the driveway idling, get under and around there and look for the noise by ear or with a mechanic stethoscope, or a homemade one with a stick works just as good.

Tallguy67

Katoom,
It is at the shop already. Dropping a tranny is beyond both my means and the number of hours I have available. The sound was really a nasty gridning sound and it really sounded like it was near the TC / flex plate. I will update with the diagnosis once I get a call back.

dkenny

could it be the pinion bearings in the rear end?
try moving the driveshaft up/down and left to right.
there should be almost no movement.

I only bring up because I just had one got out..
the noise you describe sound about right..

-dkenny

Tallguy67

I got a call from the shop this morning. New flex plate and TC are on their way. Apparently the flex plate blew up quite nicely.

KATOOM

Strange. I'm not sure why the noise wouldn't have been constant then in relation to RPM's?

Tallguy67

Well, I just got the call. The truck is going to be about $6k for a heavy duty flex plate, triple disk torque converter, transmission rebuild, various drivetrain parts like u-joints that are worn out and fell apart while being disassembled and labor. I sure am glad that the engine, body and interior for this truck are still in really good shape. Otherwise it might be hard to justify a $6k investment in a 14 year old truck.
Truth be known, I am not too upset with the bill as long as the guy is doing a good job and it last for a long time. Like I said early on in this thread, I don't have chips or power boxes on the truck and I don't tow heavy, race it, drive it hard etc, so this should last a long time.

KATOOM

Wow, $6k sounds kinda excessive. I've heard of people getting completely hardcore built bulletproof auto's for about $5k, with a pretty impressive less built one for around $3k. But then again it seems everything is getting expensive these days.

mariner

In Canada we are used to getting screwed by almost everybody.
A lot of Canadians cross the border into the US to either shop (cheaper prices on most things) or get repairs done.

KATOOM

Bummer..... I thought everything was supposed to better for ya Canucks.