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I’ve been running a 2019 Ram 3500 with the high-output Cummins for a few years now, and lately I’ve been noticing a faint, intermittent whistling sound that seems to come from the turbo area when I’m under a heavy load, like climbing a grade with my gooseneck hooked up. It doesn’t feel like a loss of power, but that noise just wasn’t there before. Has anyone else dealt with something like this on their diesel rig?

I've heard something similar on my rig, a faint turbo whistle under heavy pull. Turned out a cracked charge pipe and a leaky intercooler hose were the culprit; replaced the pipe, reseated the boot, tightened the clamps, and the noise stopped.

I think it’s easy to assume it's something exotic, but a lot of times it's a boost leak or a loose hose after the turbo. I’d start with the intercooler hoses and clamps, then listen with a stethoscope or by feel for where the air moves.

Had one that turned out to be an exhaust up-pipe leak; the whistle was faint but persistent when pulling. Took a few long drives to notice the pattern.

I’m not sure it’s the real problem. Sometimes I’ve chased noises that were just the engine settling after a long climb, or heat-induced flex in hardware. Could be that the truck is just louder under load.

Checked boost with a cheap gauge and it read normal ranges under that grade, yet the whistle persisted for a while. After a week I decided to just live with it until the next service.

Do you have a way to log actual boost and EGR temps when you hear it, or does the sound change with throttle position?

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