Well, upon discovering that my truck is burning a quart of oil every hundred miles or so.... looks like I get to yank the intake. I plan on getting the hughes plenum plate, and install kit, along with the heater bypass hose, as per what I have read on here. Trouble is, time is a consideration for this evolution. So, what I had considered was, getting another intake from the scrap yard, (they have one lying on the ground, in front of a truck, so I can just grab it and go.) but, the concern I have is, is there any difference between the 318 manifold, and the 360 manifold? Any problems with the manifolds (aside from the obvious) that I should look for before investing in it?

 

EGR vs non EGR

Different # of coolant sensors

Other sensor ports? (make sure they are the same)

Look for cracks or damaged gasket mating surfaces

318 and 360 manifolds are the same. I have a 318 one on my 360 right now.

 

Thank you Sir! I will prolly cruise out there later today, and check it out then.

 

i'm not sure of the cutoff years, but
older years have the EGR and/or 2 temp sensors.
later years have no EGR and/or 1 temp sensor

that's a good plan, but it'll go to hell in a hand basket if you have a broken intake bolt or two.

get new intake bolts, from either hughes or other. they're not reusable.
edit - if you need a tune up, replace cap, rotor, wires while intake is off.
i'd replace temp sensor and t-stat also.
and heater hoses,
and radiator hoses.

 

The plenum plate, and install kit are on order. I had noticed the bolts were not reusable, and i need gaskets and such anyway, which are in the install kit as well.

Looked into the throttle bores, just to verify that it IS the problem.... (a a quart/100 miles, I was pretty sure anyway.....) and there is oil pooling on the bottom of the intake. So, yep. Its blown.

I will be driving my truck to the yard, so, a compare should be easy..... if it isn't the same, well, i just won't worry about it, and do it the slow way. I have a shop that I can use, so, even broken bolts won't be too much of a pain. (but i would still prefer to avoid that....)

Hoses and such sound like a good plan.

Thanks for the tips.

 

Like he said it would be a good idea to replace the dist. cap, rotor, and plug wires while your there. Also you might want to replace the thermostat with the Hughes 180 its about $12.

 

Be sure to look that gift horse in the mouth, especially if the heads are still on the engine it came from.

 

Turned out the manifold that was off, was an EGR style. Mine doesn't have that, ended up paying a bit more to have the 'correct' manifold yanked off the truck next to it. (a 97) No EGR, all the sensors look right. I plan on doing the kegger mod before installation, so, will have a VERY close look at the manifold before investing any amount of time into it.

An O2 sensor sounds like a good idea as well.

Got the manifold, and my other parts came in today. Plug wires are new, gonna have a look at the cap/rotor, and see what they are like, but definitely going to change the plugs..... I can see the reasoning for doing this when the intake is off.... that has got to be a real drag to do when the manifold is in the way.......

I have seen that plug wire routing was a real issue with these motors, and was wondering if that was still a problem with aftermarket 8mm wires? Mine appear to be routed the factory way, and NOT the TSB way...... the engine runs great.... and pushes 17mpg on long trips. (which was WAY better than I thought I was going to get, but, declines dramatically when just driving around town. Think my daughter managed about 8, when she was out and about hitting garage sales....)

Any other issues I should watch out for/pay attention to?

I appreciate the input so far. Thank You.

 

Alright, I gotta be the "slow" one to ask the questions, without doing a thorough search. Is EGR just that metal plate that run in the middle of the manifolds? And What do you mean the wires routed the stock way vs. the TSB way? What's TSB?

 

EGR = Exhaust Gas Recirculation. Its an emissions thing. There is a valve on the passenger side rear of the intake (on some of them.....) that routes exhaust gas to back into the mixture. This ostensibly reduces combustion chamber temps, and reduces NOX emissions.....

A while back, Chrysler issued a TSB (technical service bulletin) on plug wire routing on dodge trucks, to correct a misfire condition. A few wires needed to be rerouted from how they came stock. (thru the nifty little wire looms) Number 8 wire is the one that sticks in my mind, It went from being in the loom, to being routed over the top of the valve cover. Link to article.