Dodge Ram 5.7 pings after I turn off the engine, until cool.

After I turn the truck off, something around or on the engine pings for several minutes afterward. Repetitive ping about every two seconds until the engine cools down.

I assume a heat shield or something is cooling and popping.

Any idea which one, and can I take it off?

 

It likely is normal contraction of the exhaust system due to the heat produced by the catalytic converters.

 

Cat heat shields sounds viable to me too. I'd check all of them for proper mounting, but I definitely would not remove any of them! A friend of mine took his off of his Dakota because it was rattling and he ended up with a burned carpet!!! Luckily he had some water with him to throw on it!

 

OK, so if it is around the cats, I will wiggle them all and see if I find a loose one.

Never made this noise until just recently.

 

They have pretty cheap mounts. They're just basically strap steel that cracks after it has vibrated and heated and cooled for awhile. Another friend of mine fixed his with two large stainless hose clamps. He just put them around the tin shield and tightened on it a bit. I think he got the clamps at a semi truck shop, I'll try and find out for you!

 

If that is all it is, i will either learn to live with it, or grab some of those clamps and do that fix. Sounds easy enough.