The Under the Hood Show
Dear Motor Medics, I have a 1999 Ram 1500 truck with a V8 engine. The truck started to make a squealing noise after I would start the engine and let it run for about 30 seconds. The noise is always there and sounds more like a whistle than a squeal.
I tried two different shops but neither one has found the cause. It does it with the belts removed from the front but does go away if you take off the engine oil cap while its running.
They can’t seem to find the cause of why that would happen. Do you have any ideas? It’s a clean, old truck with only 90k miles on it.
Herbert in Sioux City, Iowa Dear Herbert, Sounds to us like it is a case of failed intake manifold gaskets. Even if the truck does not leak coolant or leak on the top of the intake, it can still pull air from underneath. This can lead to oil usage and a noise caused by extra suction inside of the engine due to the intake ports being open to the crankcase.
If there is internal suction with the PCV valve removed, then you can bet that there is an intake leak. It would need to be torn down for further inspection.
Talk to your local shop about this and see if they agree. If it is leaky intake gaskets, make sure to flush the coolant and replace the thermostat while doing the job.
Take care, The Motor Medics
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