Thanks Mark, don't know if it would have or not. I think it would have taken a very steep hill because it wasn't totally slack like the next one was. It took a fair amount of pressure to move the gear. I was going to try it if I didn't find anything with the starter. Main reason I checked it again is that there was no noise before replacing it and the noise sounded like it was from there when I was in the cab.
I don't think you would have if you could have heard it Million. It didn't sound like engine ping. It was more as I said before, like something getting into the fan lightly.