Ive tried looking for one but im wondering what a normal plenum should look like when looking down the throttle body. Ive heard that its normal to have a film of oil on the pan but not a pool. Does anyone have pictures of a working plenum? Also is there anything wrong with replacing the plenum gasket even if its not blown. I have a 94 ram with 120k and wanted to do the repair this summer since the trucks getting old.

 

Don't have any pics for you, but it is really easy to tell the difference between a slight misting of oil in the plenum and larger pooled amounts. The misting usually occurs due to the PCV valve breathing back into the manifold. Pooling occurs when the plenum gasket is blown. The lower vacuum pressure of the manifold actually sucks the oil from the lifter galley right into the manifold.

You can replace the plenum and/or gasket at anytime. I've always liked doing my work when it's warm so summer would be a great time to do this preventive maintenance. It also gives you the perfect opportunity to replace all of your coolant hoses and thermostat.

 

I'm kinda wondering this as well. I'm still waiting on the rest of my parts. But looked down the TB yesterday and I have some oil in there but not a lot.

Something is causing my truck to miss. And I haven't checked the rotor yet. I was gonna just change it out when I did the plenum since it seemslike it might be hard to reach with the plenum on the truck. I'm losing oil somewhere but have a mild valve cover leak. However, I haven't had the big loss in power and mpg like others havehad. Installed new plugs and I've pulled them and cleaned them about 3 or 4 times now in a months time.

I'd say mine is more than a misting of oil. But far from a big pool. There's maybe half a cap or a cap full(cap off the oil quarts) of oil directly under the TB. Can't see the ends.

 

I would say thats a little more than normal, sounds a little juicy in your Intake

I checked mine the other day and If you pull the Tb you can see the back of the intake if you look at it at the right angle

Mine is definitely leaking, so its going to get replaced in a few weeks

 

Park on a hill or incline facing up the hill to make the oil pool better in the back. remove air hat and TB if you notice any pooling of oil toward the back of the intake, the gasket is blown and will need to be replaced.

 

when you guys say a blown gasket is it something that happens suddenly or does it wear over time and get to a point where its "blown"

 

I think it's an "overtime" thing. I guess there's a point where the first leak is created, making it "blown". But there seem to be several levels of said "blown".

 

in addition to looking for the oil pool
the official TSB on fixing the plenum gasket
calls for a vacuum guage check:

http://dodgeram.info/tsb/2000/09-05-00.htm

 

on some mornnings ive had hesitation when accelerating. The rpm's go up but the engine sounds different. Ive heard this could be a vacuum leak. Would the plenum be enough of a vacuum loss to cause this. It only happens once in a while and i havent been able to figure out if it was certin conditions like cold or hot weather the only time it happens is in the mornnings when the engine is cold.

 

Turkey thanks for all the helpfull tips, you definetly helped me out on some topics.

I just was reading your post and I saw that.

I feel sorry for yall yanks sometimes with all that cold. I did all my work this month and only had to wear my hooded sweater, one day. It has been averaging 60-70's here. We only have two seasons Summer and Fall.
I would like to see a snowfall one day though.