Engine/Transmission (1998.5 - 2002) Noisey ‘98 24 valve dually

[Frank A. Wilson]

I just inherited my father-in-law’s ‘98 24 valve SLT Laramie 4x4 super cab duality which he bought new. I have never owned a diesel anything! It has 107,000 miles on it. He took very good care of it.it is 100 % stock except for the extendable mirrors. What should I do to take good care of it? With Al the oil, lubricant, and diesel fuel changes since ‘98 should I still follow the owners manual? Is there anything I can do to lower the decibel level of the engine. I could always hear him coming fro two blocks away. I’d like to keep it if I can quiet it some so my wife will ride in it! Thank you.

 

[BigPapa]

Welcome to the TDR! You'll find a wealth of info and help here.

Sounds like a great truck. I would continue to follow the maintenance schedule. As to the noisy engine, welcome to the world of older diesels. The noisiest was the model just before yours, '94-'98 12-valve trucks. Yours is quieter than those. They got progressively quieter through the years. The new trucks aren't much noisier than a gas truck. About the only thing you can do for yours is install sound deadening insulation. It will help the noise in the cab, but won't stop it, and it's expensive and labor intensive.

 

[Topzide]

@Frank A. Wilson, Nice new to you "toy". Not much to get her quieter other than pulling carpet and adding better sound insulation under there. That version is a bit loud. Follow the manual for the upkeep and maintenance. Those rigs were built to tow and the engine noise was secondary. I'm sure you might be able to line the engine compartment with high temp insulation also. You're in the right place for any questions that you might have. It'll grow on the wife the more she rides in it. Even though mine is newer than yours and a bit quieter, the DW still took a few trips to get used to the difference in noise levels! The ride should be a bit smoother due to the weight of the engine. Hope that you'll have a use for it by towing or maybe getting a 5th wheel or just a TT. Any way it's a nice score to have given to you. Treat her well and she'll treat you the same! Enjoy it! Mine was my first also.

 

[Cummins12V98]

"MY" experience is my 01 Sport 24V is much louder than my old 98 12V.

 

[Frank A. Wilson]

Along with the truck came a 11 ft Lance cab over and a 22 ft pontoon fishing boat. I haven’t put the Lance on it yet or towed the boat. Now that spring is here I’ll have to. Wish me luck.

 

[BigPapa]

Sounds like a great rig. Is it a 2500 or 3500?

 

[Nigel]

Sounds like a great rig. Is it a 2500 or 3500?

Title says dually so I would bet it’s a 3500.

 

[petersonj]

Is there anything I can do to lower the decibel level of the engine. I could always hear him coming fro two blocks away. I’d like to keep it if I can quiet it some so my wife will ride in it! Thank you.

There are two approaches one can take for reducing engine noise in the cabin - both are expensive.

Choice #1 - insulate the cabin from the noise coming from the engine compartment. The benefit will be a quieter cabin, but the noise will be the same for someone hearing the engine from two blocks away, and for those who are in the cabin when a window is rolled down. The same goes for when you are loading your camper onto the truck.

Choice #2 - insulate the source of the noise - the engine. I personally think this is the best solution. Everyone wins.

I chose Choice #2 in the Fall of 2015 while finishing up an east coast vacation trip towing our travel trailer. My wife and I stopped in at Advanced Thermal Products in Irvine, California. The company sells custom sewn thermal blankets for engines to reduce heat in the engine compartment. An added benefit is some engine noise reduction. The individual custom thermal blankets included covering the valve cover, exhaust manifold, the turbocharger, the exhaust down pipe, and the oil pan. The product is rated for temperatures well over 2,000° F.

The owner, Tim Thompson, insisted that if we were not satisfied with the amount of noise reduction, he would remove the product at no charge. After the test drive, I turned to my wife and said, "Well?" She said, "We are keeping it." On the trip home while pulling a long grade with the outside temperature over 90°, she mentioned that the passenger side floor doesn't get hot anymore.

It is now over 7 years and 130,000 miles later and my wife and I are very happy to have made the investment. The product has shown no signs of deterioration, even the associated heat from the exhaust, turbo, and downpipe.

One other thing that I did for engine noise reduction that was inexpensive (and effective) was to add a resistor in the IAT sensor circuit. It fools the sensor into thinking that the ambient temperature is 140° F. The result is less advanced timing while engine is cold, thus less engine noise (timing rattle). In wintertime this improves cold engine performance and overall fuel economy as well.

- John

 

[BigPapa]

Title says dually so I would bet it’s a 3500.

Blew right by that one….

 

[Frank A. Wilson]

It is a 3500 and thank you for the suggestions. I will check out Advanced Thermal Products tomorrow.
I love this group. I have never belonged to a online group before but I am loving this one for timely responses, and the helpful and most courteous responses. You may have converted a 50 year old Ford truck owner over to diesel Dodges!

 

[BigPapa]

You may have converted a 50 year old Ford truck owner over to diesel Dodges!

We’ll let the truck do that.

 

[Nigel]

Blew right by that one….

Been there, got the t-shirt as they say

Nigel

 

[SnoKing]

I ran a quart of WM supertech 2 Cycle oil to each fill up, usually around 26 gals. Quieted the 24v injector rattle a little.

Guy bought it for his wife to tow her horse trailer. The horses hear her coming back from town a 1/2 mile away and run to the corner of the pasture to greet her.

24v noise is a badge of honor. I can tell a 24v from a 12v based on the sharper injector rattle. When lining the cab with sound deadening be sure to do the back wall.

I miss the fun of driving my 2001.5 put down around 325/650-700, also my 2015 3500 SRW SB.

Pickup the throttle pedal by hand and if it raises more than a quarter inch or so, you are not getting full throttle when you floor it. Solution was to hold the pedal up an put a fishing split sinker or tie wrap on the throttle cable sticking out of the top end to the throttle pedal.

Now I get by in a little 150 with the smallest engine offered that has 325/400 hp/tq produced by twin squirrel cages. And is reported to do zero to 60 in 6.1 sec. Vroom vroom, I love freeway on ramps going all the way back to my 67 SS/RS 350 Camaro days in the late 60's early 70's.

 

[SnoKing]

There are two approaches one can take for reducing engine noise in the cabin - both are expensive.

Choice #1 - insulate the cabin from the noise coming from the engine compartment. The benefit will be a quieter cabin, but the noise will be the same for someone hearing the engine from two blocks away, and for those who are in the cabin when a window is rolled down. The same goes for when you are loading your camper onto the truck.

Choice #2 - insulate the source of the noise - the engine. I personally think this is the best solution. Everyone wins.

I chose Choice #2 in the Fall of 2015 while finishing up an east coast vacation trip towing our travel trailer. My wife and I stopped in at Advanced Thermal Products in Irvine, California. The company sells custom sewn thermal blankets for engines to reduce heat in the engine compartment. An added benefit is some engine noise reduction. The individual custom thermal blankets included covering the valve cover, exhaust manifold, the turbocharger, the exhaust down pipe, and the oil pan. The product is rated for temperatures well over 2,000° F.

View attachment 136934 View attachment 136935

The owner, Tim Thompson, insisted that if we were not satisfied with the amount of noise reduction, he would remove the product at no charge. After the test drive, I turned to my wife and said, "Well?" She said, "We are keeping it." On the trip home while pulling a long grade with the outside temperature over 90°, she mentioned that the passenger side floor doesn't get hot anymore.

It is now over 7 years and 130,000 miles later and my wife and I are very happy to have made the investment. The product has shown no signs of deterioration, even the associated heat from the exhaust, turbo, and downpipe.

One other thing that I did for engine noise reduction that was inexpensive (and effective) was to add a resistor in the IAT sensor circuit. It fools the sensor into thinking that the ambient temperature is 140° F. The result is less advanced timing while engine is cold, thus less engine noise (timing rattle). In wintertime this improves cold engine performance and overall fuel economy as well.

- John

I ended up getting rid of my BHAF and went back to the filter box because of the turbo noise in the passenger seat. The stock air box and filter are fine to 450hp.

 

[Frank A. Wilson]

There are two approaches one can take for reducing engine noise in the cabin - both are expensive.

Choice #1 - insulate the cabin from the noise coming from the engine compartment. The benefit will be a quieter cabin, but the noise will be the same for someone hearing the engine from two blocks away, and for those who are in the cabin when a window is rolled down. The same goes for when you are loading your camper onto the truck.

Choice #2 - insulate the source of the noise - the engine. I personally think this is the best solution. Everyone wins.

I chose Choice #2 in the Fall of 2015 while finishing up an east coast vacation trip towing our travel trailer. My wife and I stopped in at Advanced Thermal Products in Irvine, California. The company sells custom sewn thermal blankets for engines to reduce heat in the engine compartment. An added benefit is some engine noise reduction. The individual custom thermal blankets included covering the valve cover, exhaust manifold, the turbocharger, the exhaust down pipe, and the oil pan. The product is rated for temperatures well over 2,000° F.

View attachment 136934 View attachment 136935

The owner, Tim Thompson, insisted that if we were not satisfied with the amount of noise reduction, he would remove the product at no charge. After the test drive, I turned to my wife and said, "Well?" She said, "We are keeping it." On the trip home while pulling a long grade with the outside temperature over 90°, she mentioned that the passenger side floor doesn't get hot anymore.

It is now over 7 years and 130,000 miles later and my wife and I are very happy to have made the investment. The product has shown no signs of deterioration, even the associated heat from the exhaust, turbo, and downpipe.

One other thing that I did for engine noise reduction that was inexpensive (and effective) was to add a resistor in the IAT sensor circuit. It fools the sensor into thinking that the ambient temperature is 140° F. The result is less advanced timing while engine is cold, thus less engine noise (timing rattle). In wintertime this improves cold engine performance and overall fuel economy as well.

- John

Thank you for the info about Advanced Thermal Products. I called this morning and even though the office was closed someone answered. I ended up having a 20 minute conversation with Tim Thompson. It was great. We’re going to talk more on Monday. I’ll send some pics. He’ll fabricate and send it to me. He said with some effort I should be able to install all of the sections myself. Looking forward to it. Thanks again. I’ll let you know how it turns out.

 

[petersonj]

Excellent! I will be very interested to hear what you have to say about the product. Tim probably told you, but he used to own a second generation 24 valve truck. Owning that noisy truck prompted him to make the thermal blankets for his own truck and then it just grew from there.

I actually spent two hours at his shop while crew stitched up the blankets and installed them on the engine. He has walls of photos of different celebrities (many in the racing circuit) that have had work done at his shop. His best story was that Ernest Borgnine would bring in his new motorhome every couple of years to have the engine covered in thermal blankets. While he was there, he would visit with every employee in the shop until the job was complete.

If you get the opportunity, please tell Tim that John Peterson and his wife Debi say Hello. We were there in late October, 2015.

- John

 

[Frank A. Wilson]

Bought the valve cover oil pan blanket, installed and they work. Reduced the decibel level from 95 to about 75. Not great but okay. Thanks for the advice.

 

[SnoKing]

"MY" experience is my 01 Sport 24V is much louder than my old 98 12V.

I agree the 24v has a sharp injector noise that the 12V did not have..

 

[petersonj]

@Frank A. Wilson, good to hear that you had positive results. Thanks for posting the information.

- John

 

[Regcabguy]

I just inherited my father-in-law’s ‘98 24 valve SLT Laramie 4x4 super cab duality which he bought new. I have never owned a diesel anything! It has 107,000 miles on it. He took very good care of it.it is 100 % stock except for the extendable mirrors. What should I do to take good care of it? With Al the oil, lubricant, and diesel fuel changes since ‘98 should I still follow the owners manual? Is there anything I can do to lower the decibel level of the engine. I could always hear him coming fro two blocks away. I’d like to keep it if I can quiet it some so my wife will ride in it! Thank you.

That's the loudest 24v ever made. I had one for 7 years and it sucked. The stock exhaust is about all you can do to my knowledge.