So I have been trying to figure out why my truck sucks at towing, I took the TB off just now to clean it and looked in the intake and theres tons of oil in there.
So... would that definitely cause a loss of power?

How long should this take me, if I am taking my time, being careful, and drinking some beers ?

Im sure the gasket itself doesnt cost too much, but what about the APS? kit I keep reading about, how much will that run?

Thanks again everyone, this forum really does kick @$$!

 

Oh yeah, I was planning on taking my truck out of town this weekend, total distance would be 350 miles and I plan on towing a 2100# trailer.
Would that be a really bad idea?

 

gee, i think i get that truck fixed

 

yeah, i will do it myself, just wonthave time right away

 

Its not too bad... Just set aside a day if youve never done it... and get someone to help you lift the manifold on and off. Unless your like right there, its heavy when u have to lean over the truck.

 

you can continue to drive it until you're ready to repair it. just keep it full of oil, and watch your temperatures and don't let engine or trans overheat.
you should use premium 91-92-93 octane gas. it helped mine while my plenum was leaking.
tow with OD off.
drive as gentle as possible to try and keep rpm's around 2000. thats where you get decent torque.
if your getting a lot of upshift/downshift torque converter lock/unlock, go ahead and replace the TPS. a bad tps sends an irregular signal to the engine and causes poor throttle response and excessive shifting.

the plenum repair is a big job that will take at least a couple of days. you'll enjoy it better if you plan it out, prepare to be without the truck for several days, and plan out how much you want to replace while you have it apart. i was forced into this last spring due to water pump failure, and decided that while i had it down, i would replace EVERYTHING. no sense in taking it apart twice. it took me about a week, working on it during the evenings, and i refused to get in a hurry. i used a few special tools that might not be in every common toolbox here's the story..
https://dodgeforum.com/m_735291/tm.htm

ps. i spent about $750 on parts for everything. if i had planned it better, and shopped better, especially rockauto.com, i could have saved $100+

 

Thanks, but what do you mean by "everything" exactly?

And is this a definate HP stealer?

 

yes.

water pump, timing set, upper and lower radiator hoses, water pump bypass hose, heater hoses, belt, oil pan gasket, rear main seal, oil pump, hughes - plenum gasket & intake gasket & bolt kit, distributor cap, rotor, plug wires, plugs, valve cover gaskets, pcv valve, pcv and other small hoses, valve cover grommets, oil pressure sending unit, temperature sending unit, various gasket sealers/teflon, throttle body gasket, air hat gasket, probably some other things. if i took it off, or i could see it - then i replaced it

you don't have to do all this. you can just remove all the stuff off the top, pull the intake, replace the plenum plate, and put it back together. but if you've never replaced the water pump - then its just sitting there waiting as the next thing to fail... and then you have to take all the same stuff back off. course - on the bright side - you'll get good at it..

 

Plemun leak is allowing oil and air to sneak into parts of the engine that it shouldn't. It costs you lots of HP, and it's also a giant vacuum leak. You can do this job in about six hours. I bought the entire "kit" from hughengines.com The new aluminum plate, gasket and bolts. You really shouldn't reuse the bolts as they are torque to yield.

Here's a couple of tips:

Use Steve's guide in the DIY section and take a pic of your engine for every step. This will really help if you forget a stepduringreassembly.
Use masking tape and a sharpie to label all your parts.And mark what size sockets the bolts take. This will help immensely with reassembly.
Make sure you really clean the engine ggod before you start, I found caked up dirt and leaves that ran down the crevice between the intake manifold and the valve covers.
I'd suggest you take the TB off and clean it at the same time you chenge the plenum. There's a DIY for this as well.

 

a leaky plenum deffinatley robs yer power because its a vacume leak.combustion requires 0 leaks in order to work properly