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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.
 
#3 ·
Had problems with the poll. Sorry about that. Please go back and vote so we can be sure to capture everyone's experience. Thanks!
 
#4 ·
No issues in over 16,000 miles even while putting my truck through hell since day 1
 
#7 ·
I haven't had this issue in mine. Also, I haven't had to replace too many in the shop. Curious. I wonder if geography has anything to do with it?
 
#8 ·
5,500 miles and no noise!:woohoo:
 
#9 ·
I cant tell :/

Sometimes I think its there others its not.. I know if i find out i do have the problem the trucks getting an aftermarket 'verter not another Mopar one
 
#10 · (Edited)
At 1200 miles I'm having mine replaced next Monday. I went into the dealer today and took the service manager for a ride and he heard the noise. I said "there, do you hear it?" and he replied "Yep." I then handed him a copy of the star case printed from the other thread and he said let's go back and write it up and get a TC ordered.
I had planned on getting a magnaflow put on but decided to wait until I had this issue resolved. The noise is noticable at around 1400-1700 rpms while in tow/haul mode if you have the windows up and everything else ( radio and air conditioner) turned off. Feathering on and off of the throttle lightly (not enough to get it to downshift) really allows you to pick up on the noise. I could see where an aftermarket exhaust would hinder someone hearing the noise, you have to be paying attention to it.
I'm a bit looney when it comes to odd noises, I track them down until I have it pinpointed.
 
#15 ·
I have had the issue since 400 miles and it has progressively gotten worse. Talked to the dealer around 1500 miles and he said to allow a break-in period. Had to go to South Florida for some family issues and now have 8000 miles on it and, guess what... It ain't gone away. How are you guys getting the dealerships to install the new STAR case TC?? Just took mine in to the dealer yesterday and guess what they said... There's nothing wrong with the transmission. They looked at me like I was stupid when I mentioned the TSB flash for the PCM and the STAR case TC. They said my vehicle was not affected by the TSB because of when it was made. Also, don't know if anyone else is having issues like this or even if it is related to the partial throttle rattling, but my 3rd gear is pretty much non-existent. Automatic won't ever go to third. It either bogs it down in 4th or launches your a$$ into outer space as it shifts into 2nd. In manual, when you manual bump shift from 2nd to 3rd, the RPM's only drop 200 RPM, regardless of where you are on the powerband. Run it up to 3000, it drops to 2800...run it up to 5000, it drops to 4800. In which case you have to quickly bump into 4th to keep from holding high RPM's. I've about had it with this crap... unless someone can give me the secret to how to motivate this dealership, I am about to pull the tranny and rebuild it myself... my way... with a good aftermarket TC. Does anyone have a best recommended aftermarket TC
 
#16 ·
I have had the issue since 400 miles and it has progressively gotten worse. Talked to the dealer around 1500 miles and he said to allow a break-in period. Had to go to South Florida for some family issues and now have 8000 miles on it and, guess what... It ain't gone away. How are you guys getting the dealerships to install the new STAR case TC?? Just took mine in to the dealer yesterday and guess what they said... There's nothing wrong with the transmission. They looked at me like I was stupid when I mentioned the TSB flash for the PCM and the STAR case TC. They said my vehicle was not affected by the TSB because of when it was made. Also, don't know if anyone else is having issues like this or even if it is related to the partial throttle rattling, but my 3rd gear is pretty much non-existent. Automatic won't ever go to third. It either bogs it down in 4th or launches your a$$ into outer space as it shifts into 2nd. In manual, when you manual bump shift from 2nd to 3rd, the RPM's only drop 200 RPM, regardless of where you are on the powerband. Run it up to 3000, it drops to 2800...run it up to 5000, it drops to 4800. In which case you have to quickly bump into 4th to keep from holding high RPM's. I've about had it with this crap... unless someone can give me the secret to how to motivate this dealership, I am about to pull the tranny and rebuild it myself... my way... with a good aftermarket TC. Does anyone have a best recommended aftermarket TC
About the part I bolded, the reason the rpm isn't dropping much is because when you shift to 3 as shown on the display you're actually going into second prime which is a gear to bridge the large gap between 2nd and 3rd. So on the display 1=1st, 2=2nd, 3=2nd prime, 4=3rd, 5=4th, and then shifting back into drive puts you in 5th
 
#18 ·
here's how to determind if you have the grinding noise. if you have aftermarket exhaust you may miss something very important.

turn off the radio and excellerate slowly until the TQ locks up, usually around 36-40 mph you will feel a roughness or slight grinding noise in the drive line, now put in the tow/haul mode and duplicate, the grinding noise is even more pronounced.

we don't have to settle for second rate quality just because we want to buy american. my toyotas or ford transes never behave like this.

Ask yourself if this noise were there upon test drive, would you have purchased this vehicle, hell no'. How much quality did you pay for?
 
#19 ·
Has anybody with an R/T noticed this or is it just an issue on the regular torque converters and not the R/T ones?
 
#22 ·
I definitely had it, and had my TC replaced last week. Noise is gone.

I think the word "grinding" is a little misleading. As I type this, I've got various things around me (my keyboard, my phone, etc.) with bits of plastic that have a not-quite smooth finish. If I drag my wedding ring across any one of them, I get almost the same sound. In another thread, I described it as the sound a frisbee would make when it lands on the driveway and slides.

For me, it was really easy to get it to happen. The easiest way is to find a fairly long stretch of road that has a slight incline to it. Put your trans into manual mode limited to 4. Get up to about 40ish and try to hold a steady speed where your RPMs are about 1600 give or take a few. Then, just accell and decel slowly in the 1500-1700 range. If you have the problem, you'll notice a DEFINITE point where the noise occurs. Again, very light load throttle, at about 1600 RPM (for me).

Once you recognize the noise, it'll drive you nuts, because you'll start hearing it all the time.
 
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