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Have you experienced the torque converter problem?

  • Yes, I had this problem and had or plan to have it fixed.

    Votes: 191 30.5%
  • No, I have not noticed this problem.

    Votes: 313 50.0%
  • I can't determine for sure if I have this problem.

    Votes: 122 19.5%

Torque Converter Poll

130K views 453 replies 198 participants last post by  freezer16801 
#1 ·
If you have a 4th gen Ram (2009-present) and either have or have not had an issue with the reported grinding noise, please vote in the poll. My intent is to see how widespread this issue is among forum members.

As for me, I can tell for sure because my Magnaflow cat back exhaust upgrade is the dominant noise I hear (when my radio is not blaring). So I am having a hard time determining if I have this issue.
 
#326 ·
The fluid leakage is small but more then just residual. I picked up the truck on Thursday and it is still dripping today. Might be O.K. if it had a few hundred thousand miles on it but not O.K. for a brand new truck.
I have attached the work order, they didn't do anything else other than replace the converter. When I drove it home Thursday night it was fine but today it starting shuttering or vibrating depending on the speed or load. It's not constant but you can make it do it with light acceleration or de-acceleration. Could be the transition between MDS but it wasn't like that before. Pretty severe vibration.
 

Attachments

#327 ·
hope the new torque converter fixes the annoying sound

I've had my 2011 ram 2500 into the dealer a few times and they said they heard the grinding type sound but, it was common in everything that they have drove that had the hemi motor in it. I called them out on it because I have drove a few of these trucks with the hemi and haven't noticed it before. I came across this forum and found the star case and my truck is doing exactly as the star case describes. I took the truck back to the dealer and gave them a copy of the star case. Within a half hour later they said they ordered a new torque converter and would call when it comes in. They didn't argue about it at all. My truck is in the dealer right now having the new torque converter put in, hopefully it gets rid of this annoying sound.
 
#328 ·
I read somewhere in the 2011 Ram Forums that there was the possibility of a recall/tsb coming out for the TC issue in April. I cant find the thread I read it in, but has anyone heard of this? I figured it wouldn't kill me to wait a few more weeks to go into the dealer, so I was waiting to see if anything came up for this. Either way, it seems like the issue is so well known that I shouldn't have too much of a problem with the dealer now. Any info on this is appreciated!! Thanks.
 
#329 ·
I have not been on the forum for some time now. I finally traded our other Chrysler vehicle off and still have this pos of a truck here. I tried to trade it and keep the wife's car instead, but I had too much negative equity and just could not justify it at this point. I just had my 6,000 mile service completed and the third visit for this TC grind/groan among a host of other issues. As I suspected, I was told the same old song and dance and that it is normal from these trucks. I was told to drop the gear down to 5 and it would go away, which it does not because it is not an MDS issue that I am having. The GM of the dealership told me that he had 4 or 5 trucks with same issues and that his Chrysler service rep would not approve of a new TC for my truck because it was not the "fix" that I needed. He said that the rep had a field engineer come with him and install some sort of vibration dampeners on one of the other trucks to see if it would solve the problems, but it didn't. He also told me that the rep said that the TC was only a temporary band aid to my issues.
We then had a heated argument and I took him for a ride and he agreed that there was something wrong. We then swapped trucks and i drove his 2012 demo which is exactly like my truck other than the color and it was a night and day difference for the both of us. When we both drove back in to the dealership, I told him that the only thing that they could do to make us happy at this point was to work out a deal to trade our 11' for a 12' model. He kinda laughed and said that it was up to Chrysler to help with trade assistance since we were upside down in our truck. I didn't think it was too damn funny myself considering that I am paying for a $44k piece of crap and no one seems to care to stand behind their guarantees of warranty. I am still waiting on a call from him, but according to their sales manager, it looked like their was not going to be any assistance from what he could tell. This has really been an experience for me and if I am gonna have to take a beating on a trade, it definitely will not be on another RAM!!! Hopefully the outcome will be better than it appears right now....
 
#330 ·
TC replaced and sound is gone

Well after driving my truck for a few days and around 300 miles I can say that the new TC fixed my problem. before I could make the truck start the annoying sound whenever I wanted but ever since they put in the new TC there is no more sound... Best advice I can give is take a print out of the star case with you when you go to the dealer. At first I didn't tell them I even new about a star case I just told them what I believed was causing the sound and they said they cant just replace TC's just because of what I read online... thats when i gave them a copy of the star case from Chrysler, they had a guy drive my truck yet again and then 15 mins later they ordered my new TC. Now that the sound is gone I am very happy with my ram 2500
 
#332 ·
I've got a 2011 ram big horn and I've had a noise coming from somewhere, not to sure exactly. it sounds like a either a grinding or one of those old industrial warehouse bells going off when i accelerate. i cna get the noise to happen all of the time, but when i take it to the techs they never rev it enough to get the sound. or they tell me it is a the exhaust resonating. i get it when the engine revs higher. like 2500 to 3500 rpms. at any speed. the dealership tells me that the sound isn't loud enough nor constant enough for them to do anything about it and they wont look into it. even if it is the damn muffler resonating my step dads truck doesn't do that so why wont they fix the problem even if the have to replace the muffler under warranty it is a new truck after all. so do you guys think this coudl be the torque converter or doe sit sound like it could be the muffler. I did mention thta torque converetr to them and they just said. O no we know about that problem and we are sure you don't have that. before they even test drove the truck.
 
#333 ·
The tech claimed "my heat shield could be vibrating causing the noise" until I brought up the "star" case and called him on the heat shield, since it happened at the same rpm no matter the speed. After speaking with the service manager I was able to get them to upgrade me to an RT torque converter because the tech was being difficult. You are correct, the exhaust is under warranty as well (as long as it is stock) so have them check the exhaust and see what happens. If it eliminates the noise then great, if not then its on to the next step.
 
#334 ·
We should almost move this thread to the general section since it seems to effect more then just the 2011 models. Some people might be missing this poll
 
#337 ·
RAM is working on a "permanent fix" for the TC, as the issue is "the converter becoming unbalanced" which leads to the vibration. Once this "permanent fix" is completed there will be a general recall issued. While it seems that a lot of people on here have the issue, this forum is not a good sample. My company has the largest privately owned fleet of RAM pickups in the US. Over 6000 trucks, of which less than 100 were affected.
 
#342 ·
I havent really noticed anything yet as I have a flowmaster exhaust, since I have gotten the exhaust I do notice the gears changing more on the top end, after I get to my cruising speed and level off (60-65mph) it drops down a gear, then goes up, then drops down, then goes up and drives fine til I have to stop and start again, but Im afraid if I take it in to get it checked out for that they will tell me the warranty is void cause of the exhaust and intake
 
#343 ·
yeah!!! Finally! Got my truck back yesterday with new torque converter... like music to my ears, no noise any more. When i took my truck to dealer first time last september i told them to look at TC. But they said problem is in rear diff and replaced it, than they said they found a problem in transfer case and replaced bearing in it...noise did not go away. I took it back and took shop foreman(!) for a ride, and he said that it is normal noise. I asked why it is only after 70km/hr and only on my truck. He agreed to take it to the shop next day and have guys look at it, but next day road were too slippery so they did not took it anywhere. I said f. it!, i am not going to fight with you. and come back next summer, and in a mean time if it will cause more problems you will have to fix it.
Last weekend i was driving with towhaul on, and noticed noise after 40km/hr. I went to dealership on monday and took service manager for a ride, first he was saying that all the noises are normal, but then agreed that something is wrong. I told him to replace TC. Next day (tue) they took my truck and after a while called me saying that they found problem in rear diff again, and going to replace it. I said order TC at same time. They said , no, it will be good with new rear diff. I said that rear diff is in the rear, but noise coming from front. Wednesday they called me saying that replacing rear diff did not solve the problem. No way!?! i said. Couple hours later they called and said that problem is in TC and they ordered a new one! :) I was laughing really hard :) Friday i finally got my truck back, i have brand new rear diff and torque converter, and no noise!!!!!
 
#351 ·
Just found this thread my 2012 Express is getting a new torque converter as we speak it lasted 300 miles and one week of ownership. My truck was stalling when you put it in gear basically going into lockup as soon as it went into gear and killing the motor i did have the grinding as well.
 
#355 ·
I remember the very first 2011 dodge ram I got in the shop for this. the guy said that at 45mph if you feathered the throttle there was a very faint grinding/rattle noise. For the life of me I could not figure it out. Turns out there was actually a Chrysler STAR (help center) case on this that said to replace the torque converter. I did it and the noise was gone. Since then I've done at least 10 of these. Not sure why Chrysler never made a TSB about it.
 
#356 ·
Took mine in yesterday (26K miles) to have them look at a "bump along" shifting issue and the torque converter "rattle". They ordered a new torque converter and said they should be able to solve the "bump along" issue with software.

Waiting to get my truck back. We will see.
 
#357 ·
Follow up:

Got the truck back yesterday. They did TSB 18-011-12, and so far I'm pretty happy with the results. Evidently it reprograms LOTS of things performance related. Shifting makes more sense now, downshifting is better, etc,...

In talking with their transmission guy, he said Chrysler is doing this TSB instead of replacing the torque converters. We will see if the TC noise is really gone. I'll be doing a bunch of towing very soon.

Here's the TSB:

NUMBER: 18-011-12
GROUP: Vehicle Performance
DATE: March 15, 2012


SUBJECT:
Flash: MIL Illumination With Transmission And Driveability Improvements
OVERVIEW:
This bulletin involves flash reprogramming the Powertrain Control Module (PCM) with new
software.
MODELS:
2009 (HB) Durango
2009 (HG) Aspen
2010 (DJ) Ram 2500 Pickup
2009 - 2010 (DS) Ram 1500 Pickup
2009 - 2010 (DH) Ram 2500 Pickup
2009 - 2010 (DC) Ram 3500 Cab Chassis
2009 - 2010 (ND) Dakota
NOTE: This Service Bulletin applies to HB/HG/DJ/DS/DH/DC/ND vehicles equipped
with a 3.7L, 4.7L or 5.7L engine (Sales Code EKG, EVE, EZC, EZD or EZH) and
a 4 speed 42RLE or 5 speed 545RFE or 6 speed 68RFE automatic
transmission (Sales Code DGV, DGQ or DG7).

SYMPTOM/CONDITION:

The customer may experience a Malfunction Indicator Lamp (MIL) illumination. Upon
further investigation the Technician may find that any of the following Diagnostic Trouble
Codes (DTC's) have been set.
i. P050D - Cold Start Rough Idle
ii. P2181 - Cooling System Performance has been set
iii. P0935 - Line Pressure Sensor Circuit High All RFE transmissions
iv. P0300 through P0308 - Multiple and Single Cylinder Misfire. This condition can
occur when the vehicle is started cold and the driver immediately places vehicle in
drive and applies heavy throttle.
Driveability and Transmission improvements are also included with this software
release. These changes consist of the following:
a. Enhanced clutch protection for more robust torque management during repeated
fore and aft movement (rocking vehicle) all engines.
b. A revised torque convertor lockup schedule that will reduce transmission
temperatures in Tow/Cruise mode All models equipped with RFE transmission.
c. A Clunk sound or feel a shudder when the cruise control resume switch is pressed.
This condition is most noticeable after the brakes were pressed to cancel cruise
control and then the resume switch is pressed All models equipped with RFE
transmission.
d. A shudder or shaking feeling when a wide open throttle (WOT) event is performed
by the customer. This is most noticeable after the transmission downshifts during the
WOT event. This condition will stop once the transmission upshifts All models
equipped with RFE transmission.
e. A shudder or shaking feeling when accelerating from a stop under moderate throttle.
This condition will stop once the transmission upshifts All models equipped with
RFE transmission.
f. A shudder or shaking feeling after the transmission downshifts. This condition will
stop once the RPM's drops All models equipped with RFE transmission.
g. Harsh or noisy natural to reverse shiftsAll models equipped with RFE
transmission.
h. Harsh 4-3 downshifts. This condition happens when there is no throttle applied and
the vehicle is coasting down.All models equipped with RFE transmission.
i. Harsh 1-2 upshifts. This condition happens under moderate or heavy throttle
conditions All models equipped with RFE transmission.
j. Engine knock condition. This condition could happen when a wide open throttle
(WOT) event is performed or cruising at 5400 RPM or above All models equipped
with RFE transmission.
k. Hard start or long crank condition at 0° F (-17° C).all 5.7L DS and DJ models
equipped with RFE transmission.

Reprogramming the PCM will correct the DTC conditions listed above
 
#361 ·
Update my vote on the torque converter poll

Hey,

I think I originally posted a "no problem found" for my torque converter. The truck now has about 5500 miles on it, and the noisy TC has reared its ugly head with a vengeance. I just got off the phone with the dealership, and they claim to have had no problems reported in regards to the TC noise. I think I'll call some other dealerships in the area. Is there a reference link for the STAR report here on the forum?

Thanks
Dan
 
#364 ·
Besides taking a few days (Tues-Fri) and having a Town & Country minivan for a rental (covered by Dodge), having the TC replaced was the best service experience I've had. The service rep called me each day with a status report, they finished on schedule, and so far the rattle is gone. Whoooop!
 
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