crankshaft walks forward when the truck is put in gear, and there is a small squeak while in gear. some mechanics tell me its fine and some tell me i need a new engin. the vehicle is a 2004 dodge automatic 3500 turbo.

 

Ain't never heard of that before... bump!

 

does it constantly squeek when in gear or just squeak and stop? If its walking forward it sounds like the thrust bearings for the crank are worn out

 

Yes it sounds like thrust bearings are gone on crankshaft.

 

only when its in gear not in neutral

 

i also had an oil test for metals and it came back normal

 

hi
well i dont know about the diesel engines , but i have had a 273 dodge dart,a to30 fergesan tractor and a 68 440 charger rt that all had bad thrust bearing surfaces on the crank shaft .

all had signifagant crank fore and aft movement , BUT did not seam to harm any thing that would cause a problem with daily usage .
all ran fine till were traded for something else .
so i would run it for a while and just see if it gets signifigantly worse as crank will have to be welded or replaced in eather case .

 

Check crank end play with feeler gauge or dial indicator. You can pry lightly with bar on dampner. End play should not be more than perhaps .o12 inch or so. (Did not check svc manual for actual) Pressure in converter acting against stator shaft is reaction item.

 

All engine crankshafts need end play or the crank would seize. Some need more some less. The book says for the 5.9 Diesel 0.004 -0.017 thou. Seventeen thou would seem like an awful lot so the only way to be sure is to measure. As you say there is no metal with part numbers on it in the oil so my guess is it's OK!

 

Mazda had this trouble on the Miatas back in 1999/2000. Ended up replacing engines under warrenty. You measured it with clutch in and clutch out. You could see them move. It was a thrust bearing issue.

 

Do what BUSBOY says and report back, no knee jerk reaction required yet