Symptoms
Ford's wording: "a metallic grinding/rattling sound coming from the transmission bellhousing area under various operating conditions." It comes from the joint between engine and gearbox, which is why it gets read as a transmission fault. It is not tied to gear changes.
Likely cause
Named directly in the bulletin: "This may be due to the torque converter studs contacting the engine to transmission spacer plate." The replacement plate (JL3Z-7007-B) has a bend pressed into it to add clearance — which is as clear a statement of the cause as a manufacturer usually makes.
How should it be checked?
Get the noise identified before pricing it. A shop that hears a metallic rattle at the bellhousing and quotes for a torque converter or a transmission is not necessarily wrong in general, but on this truck and this engine there is a documented, cheap alternative to rule out first. Point them at the bulletin number. The job needs the flexplate out, so it is labour rather than parts — but it is a plate, not a gearbox.
How can you check it yourself?
Stand at the side of the truck with the bonnet up and the engine idling, and listen low down at the back of the engine rather than at the top. Compare what you hear in neutral with the brake on and in drive. Check the door jamb sticker for the build date — after 12 February 2019 and this bulletin does not apply.
The question to ask the shop
Has TSB 19-2358 ever been carried out on this truck, or the engine to transmission spacer plate replaced? If a rattle was reported before, what was it diagnosed as and what was actually done?
