Loud Diesel Exhaust?

[kddsunshine]

Hey Guys,

I recently purchased a 04' Ram 2500 diesel. It's an awesome truck, but for whatever reason the exhaust on it sounds like a Harley. It pushes out a lot of air. Do any of you guys know what causes the loud exhaust noise on certain trucks? There's no problems with the exhaust as far as I can tell. I'm thinking it's after-market add ons, but am not sure. It gets great mileage, 17 on B99 Biodiesel, 17.5 B50 Bio, or about 18.5 Diesel, pulling a 5x8 trailer, heavy duty lumber rack and Gem Tradesman canopy. Is this good mileage due to something with the exhaust, and if I change the exhaust, could the mileage decrease? Any input would be great.

[Kye GC]

Re: Loud Diesel Exhaust?

Try these guys, they are the JLCers of Dodge Cummins trucks: http://www.cumminsforum.com/

Kye

[J.Buesking]

Re: Loud Diesel Exhaust?

Odds are the cat was removed?

And odds are if you put it back you will loose gas mileage.

[jeffmur]

Re: Loud Diesel Exhaust?

There's a wealth of info here
http://www.turbodieselregister.com/forums/
Full privileges on this forum cost $35/year and that includes an excellent magazine. If you do most of your own truck maintenance, it's a bargain. I have an 01 Dodge Cummins and actually like the exhaust and engine sounds.

[Pup Schulte]

Re: Loud Diesel Exhaust?

Sounds to me like the previous owner installed a 4" after market exhaust already. It's supposed to increase fuel mielage and raise the horsepower. Around here alot of people install this exhaust along with a Superchip and rave about the benefits.

[J.Buesking]

Re: Loud Diesel Exhaust?

I have 4" exhaust and a chip. I still have my cat on though which keeps my truck pretty quiet especially for a diesel.

I don't mind the the loud exhaust when I'm driving around during the day but I don't want to pull up at a customer meeting in a truck that sounds like a dump truck. Or turn it off when I go through a drive threw or look a like a redneck taking my kids to soccer practice....

If it wasn't for those reason's I'd yank it off in heartbeat for the extra horsepower and better gas mileage.

[kddsunshine]

Re: Loud Diesel Exhaust?

I have 4" exhaust and a chip. I still have my cat on though which keeps my truck pretty quiet especially for a diesel.

I don't mind the the loud exhaust when I'm driving around during the day but I don't want to pull up at a customer meeting in a truck that sounds like a dump truck. Or turn it off when I go through a drive threw or look a like a redneck taking my kids to soccer practice....

If it wasn't for those reason's I'd yank it off in heartbeat for the extra horsepower and better gas mileage.

I'm right there with you. I feel the same way about pulling up to meetings with the excessive noise. My kids cover there ears when I start it, and I set off every car alarm on my way around. So it sounds like I will loose some mileage if I bring the exhaust back to stock? It's funny when I checked the links of diesel sights that others posted to check out, most people on those sights would love to have my exhaust. For me it's too much and not what I'm in to. The mileage however is awesome. It's about the same as my previous Toyota Tacoma, with incredible power!

[J.Buesking]

Re: Loud Diesel Exhaust?

It could be the exhaust.

I'd slide under there and figure out what kind it is and see if you still have a cat hooked up. Most around here just run straight pipes because it's legal with a diesel motor.

If you do have a performance exhaust on it look it up online and see what it compares to other's sound wise. People pay alot of money for an exhaust that is loud and sounds good.

[David Meiland]

Re: Loud Diesel Exhaust?

It gets great mileage, 17 on B99 Biodiesel, 17.5 B50 Bio, or about 18.5 Diesel

Kudos to you for running a grease rig. Wish I had one....

[kddsunshine]

Re: Loud Diesel Exhaust?

Kudos to you for running a grease rig. Wish I had one....

Thanks David! I've been running B99 since I got the truck in September. It runs great on it. The gas mileage drops a bit, but not to bad. My wife has a Mercedes diesel, that we run B99 on as well, only her mileage goes up with Bio. In Portland it's priced from about $3.25 a gallon to $3.95. It used to be in the upper $2 range, but Portland has started a lot of there transit buses on Bio and taking a lot of the supply, which means higher costs for the rest of us.

[RobertCDF]

Re: Loud Diesel Exhaust?

I want your exaust on my 99 F-250! I dont think I have heard a ford as loud as some of the dodges I have heard. I was next to one that would shake my old truck once. It was sweet!

[RWeber]

Re: Loud Diesel Exhaust?

Theres a couple of things that can contribute. Your air intake actually makes quite a bit of difference. My F350, for example, a stock intake is quiet. A filter on a stick like the K&N stuff is very open and much louder. The foam filters are between the two.
The Navistar engines had an insulating foil cover on the intercooler intake pipe which some people remove, and only to get rid of the dampening effect it had on sound. I dont know that Cummins ever did that.
Even your turbo, if you think its not stock, plays a role. I know way more about the Nav engines than Cummins but between the 7.3 and the 6.0 the turbos are different and very different sounds. The 6.0 is louder and more high pitched.
Lastly, the first one that people hit on, the exhaust. A larger exhaust is actually better for a diesel engine. They are routinely made with an exhaust which is restrictive enough to pass 50 state emmisions. But its not really all that great on the engine. Or efficient. A 4" turbo back or even cat back pipe generally gives some small gains in mileage and horsepower, but you'd almost need a dyno to really see it. You're talking like 5hp. The muffler is part of that system, and some are quiet, some are not. The one I had was what we refer to as a flow thru meaning you could look straight through it and all the baffles were on the periphery. It still muffled the sound but did not restrict airflow.
If you are fairly new to diesels I would encourage you finding a forum that caters to your specific flavor. They can be extremely informative and helpful, though often populated by guys who like to putter with the truck and get more power, so don't expect much in the way of empathy for wanting to make it quieter.

[kddsunshine]

Re: Loud Diesel Exhaust?

I got the exhaust checked out and it turns out you all where pretty much right on. No cat, 4" pipe hooked straight to the turbo, no muffler. Everyone at the exhaust places looked at me as if I where crazy for wanting a quieter truck. To each his own I guess, but it's just not my thing. They quoted about $600 to install a cat & another $300 to install some special muffler. I may do it, but it sure seems like a lot of dough to spend on quieting an exhaust.

[Dick Seibert]

Re: Loud Diesel Exhaust?

I'm surprised that Oregon would let that go, it is illegal in California to modify an exhaust unless you have an approved alternative which means it is registered as a one of a kind vehicle with it's own registered $500 tuning device, there is no more polluting vehicle in the world than a diesel without pollution controls on it, and I thought you were an environmentalist!

[kddsunshine]

Re: Loud Diesel Exhaust?

I'm surprised that Oregon would let that go, it is illegal in California to modify an exhaust unless you have an approved alternative which means it is registered as a one of a kind vehicle with it's own registered $500 tuning device, there is no more polluting vehicle in the world than a diesel without pollution controls on it, and I thought you were an environmentalist!

Working on getting that problem fixed my friend! Besides, you really think veggie oil is the most polluting fuel? Maybe your guys from the CNW marketing research that concluded that hummers where cleaner than priuses should do a study on this as well.