Droon at 2,100 RPM

[DPKetchum]

Did'nt know that. My 1993 w250 had no drone at all. On mine its noticeable to passengers etc. Comes on at 60 like a alarm and more or less goes 95% away at 70. Starts at 2000rpm in neutral and really comes on at 2200/2300 rpm and subsides the higher you go. After a few hundred mile drive its ALL you hear and feel.

 

[CSilkowski]

DPKetchum,



Get that new exhaust installed. I think you will be pleasantly surprised!

 

[jman]

OK, so a new exhaust will probably help or solve the problem, but I don't see how this is our problem to fix. We paid a lot of money for these rigs and I can't drive it at 65 mph without earplugs to block the drone and the dash and tilt steering lever vibration. If it was at 90 mph fine, I don't drive 90 much, but I do drive 65 a big percentage of the time. I understand there is going to be different sounds at different rpm, but this is a little to obvious and obnoxious for me to deal with forever.

 

[ab7fh]

Originally posted by jman

OK, so a new exhaust will probably help or solve the problem, but I don't see how this is our problem to fix.

I agree 100%. The 2001 that I traded in didn't do it so I certainly wouldn't expect it in this one.

 

[WadePatton]

Okay, I was coming from the perspective of HOW-TO fix it because I want to fix it, not the "how to get the DC store to do it for me. "



The dumb/non-responsive answers were coming from DC, not us smart CTD folks.



Sure they should fix it, like they should fix LP's and KDP's. Do they? They claim to have never heard of either being a problem.



Short answer is fix it yourself, we know how. Long solution is keep dicking with DC and see where that gets you. Eventually you'll want the sweet sounds of a performance exhaust anyway.

 

[DPKetchum]

I agree with the D. C. ought to fix it. Thats why ANYONE who has this noise ought to make sure its a case file and REP is aware. Its right in the towing range speed wise. They had to know about this before the release of 2003 trucks.

 

[jman]

I can see Wade's point of view also as it is probably easier to fix it yourself, but that is still not the point. Has anyone tried adding some clamps in the exhaust system to help lessen the noise. I remember some folks doing this on the 2nd gens with good results. I wonder if it has something to do with the loss of the resonator. I will definitely b!!ch about this which I'm sure with little outcome, but I might as well try. I'm still miffed over my fuel gauge in my 01 that they "couldn't duplicate" the fact it didn't work since 18K. It was empty at a quarter tank, but no one could find a problem. Well they will have to find it now cause I traded it in and the gauge still doesn't work. I feel bad that the next buyer is going to run out of fuel, but at least the dealer will have to fix it this time since they offer a 3 month warranty. They should have made a better effort the first time I guess.

 

[DODGEDADDIE]

HARMONACIS

EVERY ENGINE has SOME KIND of HARMONICS . . all engines (types and brands differ)



Back in the "GO FAST" car days... this DRONE that we speak of was called,the motor ,,,was just. . "GETTING ON THE CAM"



All engines have the "SWEET SPOT"





JMO. .



Mike In Maine



P. S. ,,, I put on the 5" BIG EXHAUST,,,, (straight piped) that SWEET SOUND ,,, You'll FOR GET all about that drone!!





Oo.

 

[ab7fh]

Re: HARMONACIS

Originally posted by wishgrantter

EVERY ENGINE has SOME KIND of HARMONICS . . all engines (types and brands differ)



Back in the "GO FAST" car days... this DRONE that we speak of was called,the motor ,,,was just. . "GETTING ON THE CAM"



All engines have the "SWEET SPOT"





JMO. .



Mike In Maine



P. S. ,,, I put on the 5" BIG EXHAUST,,,, (straight piped) that SWEET SOUND ,,, You'll FOR GET all about that drone!!





Oo.

Yeah and any engineer worth a damn would be sure to place the vibration at a road speed that wouldn't be as common as 65mph!! If the motor wants to vibrate let it do it at 90. To me a "sweet spot" is where the motor sounds good and starts to sing. This problem in the '03 6 speed with 4:11s is an annoying vibration which causes driver fatigue on long trips and it sure doesn't sound sweet or good to me.



To clarify though, this isn't a sound it's a vibration.

 

[MMeier]

wishgrantter, this sure as hell ain't no "sweet spot" as you call it, if it is you need help I am convinced after this past weekend ( 2900 miles in 3. 5 days) that the 2100 RPM drone and the vibration issues are two completely different things , contrary to what some people here are trying to say. My new exhaust has eliminated the "drone" issue in my truck but like I said in my post elsewhere last night I still get the vibrating / buzzing steering column anytime I kick in the A/C from 1700- 3000 RPM's going down the road! Don't believe me try it yourself and see! ab, the vibration causes my steering column to buzz, which I can control by dropping the wheel to it's lowest position, but I can't drive it this way so I have to put up with it!! NEXT PLEASE!!!

 

[DF5152]

glad to hear the exhaust took care of the drone. rumor is there is a screw or something by the steering wheel adjustment that u can tighten that will take of the that rattle/vibration. as far as completely elimintation the rest try to shim your hanger bearing. I would start with a 1/8 shim and go from there. you can probably use alignment shims if you have no metal stock.



who's exhaust did u use?

 

[Car_nut57]

Originally posted by MMeier

wishgrantter, this sure as hell ain't no "sweet spot" as you call it, if it is you need help I am convinced after this past weekend ( 2900 miles in 3. 5 days) that the 2100 RPM drone and the vibration issues are two completely different things , contrary to what some people here are trying to say. My new exhaust has eliminated the "drone" issue in my truck but like I said in my post elsewhere last night I still get the vibrating / buzzing steering column anytime I kick in the A/C from 1700- 3000 RPM's going down the road! Don't believe me try it yourself and see! ab, the vibration causes my steering column to buzz, which I can control by dropping the wheel to it's lowest position, but I can't drive it this way so I have to put up with it!! NEXT PLEASE!!!

You may be right, they may be two separate things. We have seen good results reducing or eliminating the drone with a 4" Aerturbine exhaust, but the vibration may still be present or moved slightly in rpm. Some of the folks testing the Turbo Air Guide (TAG) have reported that the addition of the TAG eliminates the vibration or at least moves it up in the rpm range so it is not a factor in normal driving. It is too soon to say for certain what effect each of these items has, but so far they seem to work very well together on the 03 trucks.

 

[ab7fh]

Originally posted by Car_nut57

You may be right, they may be two separate things. We have seen good results reducing or eliminating the drone with a 4" Aerturbine exhaust, but the vibration may still be present or moved slightly in rpm. Some of the folks testing the Turbo Air Guide (TAG) have reported that the addition of the TAG eliminates the vibration or at least moves it up in the rpm range so it is not a factor in normal driving. It is too soon to say for certain what effect each of these items has, but so far they seem to work very well together on the 03 trucks.

Cool, so I'm headed down to my DC dealer to tell them I need a TAG and a Aerturbine exhaust to eliminate the problems associated with their factory design flaw. . I'm sure they'll fix me right up. :-laf

 

[DPKetchum]

As I stated which I want more info to confirm they said it was TURBO related and Star had tech feel and listen to vibration at the TURBO which the tech said that was where he noticed it the most. I did manage to get the service adviser to get with REP and he did explain the difference between the exhaust on U. S. built and Mexican built trucks. I was hoping someone else would BUG D. C. about what THEY are working on to correct this. They claim they know its a issue and ARE working on IT. But no one else as been told a TURBO related issue!Seems only I heard this. I want to know what IT IS!

 

[ab7fh]

My wife has our truck today... and our owners manual is in there. Anyone have a phone number for DC customer relations handy?

 

[pstillo]

I have a 03 HO 6spd DRW. I never felt a vibration. My friends truck (03 SO auto) has a bad vibration at around 65 mph. We both put the Banks 4" exhaust on it a few months back. His truck still has the vibration. It's hard to believe that DC don't know what is causing it . I think DC profits are so off they can't afford a recall, especially a recalll that's not a safty issue. Maybe we should do another poll to see how many trucks the problem. I would start it but i don't know how.

 

[badams1]

Drone dilemma or quest for quiet power!

Well my 03 was perfectly quiet until I put that AERO TURBINE and 4 " magnaflow on it. Now I am going to fix this d@&med thang if I have to hang six mufflers end to end from the turbo to the blow hole. I am going to have quite power even if I have to pull a trailer with flex a pipe and more mufflers. I ain't given up to any simple harmonic problem. This cummins is a fine instrument, you just have to tune it the same as a horn honking but what ever you do don't choke it. I like the angle iron theology to but have you thought about sand bags in the floor bords and on rthe dash yet. Just kidding. This truck is so much better than my 01 that I can stand a little harmonics just to have a Cummins. It's an in line six cylinder guys and they are not as smooooth as a V8 by nature and have always sounded different. its the nature of the beast and I for one love it. Billy & Jackie Adams

 

[ab7fh]

Re: Drone dilemma or quest for quiet power!

It's an in line six cylinder guys and they are not as smooooth as a V8 by nature and have always sounded different. its the nature of the beast and I for one love it. Billy & Jackie Adams

I had an '01 also, no drone at all...

 

[Steve M]

My '95, '98,'01. 5 and now my '03 have the 2100rpm drone. It's the nature of the beast and it's normal. They all do it. Some trucks might resonate the drone more than others. My '98 5spd/4. 10 was unbearable. I hated the drone for 89K miles when I traded it for an '01. 5 auto/3. 54 to keep it under 2100rpm. Then I bought a bigger 5th wheel and needed a 4. 10 ratio. The '03 seemed as quiet as a gasser from outside... My new '03 puts the rpm right in the drone zone at 65mph. To add to the drone mine had an out of round drive shaft. I never was able to convince the service folks of the drive shaft but they swapped it with another truck. Now it's smooth at all speeds except 65-67mph/2100rpm and a slight vibration at 2600rpm when I lock out O/D to climb a mountain. With almost 15k on it, the 2100rm drone has smoothed out considerably. It's still there but I can live with it.

After I ride my Harley 65mph, the truck feels smooth as silk even at 2100rpm.

My next truck might be a big block HEMI. Then I'll probably miss the drone and MPG.

 

[ab7fh]

I started a poll https://www.turbodieselregister.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=80208 Please respond as YES even if you have fixed the problem yourself.