door panel and possible header leak?
Recently my left side speakers have been cutting in and out, I found out that my Father and Step-Father also had the same problem with their 3rd gen rams. But they took their trucks to the dealerships and paid more than it was worth. Id like to work on this on my own, but I heard that door panels are a pain and if I am even going about this correctly..Any advice ? Also I swapped out my stock headers a month ago and am getting slight whiffs of exhaust, but when I check my header bolts and the gasket if find that they are tight ( as tight as the manuel recommends) and that the gasket is showing no signs of leaks..again any adivce?
Pulling the door panel off is not that difficult. On my 98 it involved removing 3 screws one up by the side mirror A pillar and 2 in the interior door pull handle. Roll down the window. The panel is held in by 13 plastic friction /rivets. I start by getting my fingers under the panel at the bottom front (may need a screw driver to create a gap big enough for your fingers, wrap it with something so you don't scratch the paint). Once your fingers are in there pull gently (you want to be careful you don't crack the panel). Pulling will either pull out the plastic rivets or cause them to snap off. Note they make a tool for doing this as well. Work your way around the door. Once you have all the rivets out pull up on the door panel to get it out where it is attached at the bottom of the window. Lift off the door panel you may need to pull on the door handle to do this. At this point you need to undo the plastic electrical connectors for the power window and the mirror. Removing the speaker is straight forward -4 screws.
Here's a link showing what the plastic rivets look like:
http://www.thefastenerwarehouse.com/...76/1140196.htm
-Jim
Here's a link showing what the plastic rivets look like:
http://www.thefastenerwarehouse.com/...76/1140196.htm
-Jim
maybe your doughnut gasket on the ends of the headers (if applicable) is cracked or loose if there are no leaks on the top of the header go down further, you may have even misaligned the pipe further back causing a leak or crack somewhere.another thing, check the egr (also if applicable) and make sure its plugged off or properly installed.
What headers did you go with? More importantly, what gaskets? Pacesetter gaskets are not real good. Felpro makes a good set. Make sure you retighten the mounting boltsa couple of times after the headers heat up and cool down as they will get loose and blow out a gasket.



