If you are going to Seafoam it, I recommend you add a second can of it a week later. You add 1/3 of it to your gas tank, 1/3 into your oil ( make sure you change the oil shortly after that), and the rest goese down the PCV valve or the brake booster. I would go with the PCV valve.
After that many miles there is probably gonna be alot of gunk in there.

The first can will most likely dissolve most of it but I didnt see too much smoke the first time. A week later when I added the second can (Gas and Intake only) the amount of smoke that came out was ridiculous. I got better acceleration and throttle response and my truck is about to hit 200k.

 

Right on. Well I start my second job next week so that will help with all the tune up parts and plenum kit that I want to buy now. Looks like Hughes really knows whats up with these magnums. And they have obviously done a lot of research on this as well.

I got to thinking about this further and I have more symptoms than I thought. The upstream O2 sensor gave an error within 70 miles of buying it. The cat seems like its getting plugged. Add that to the ping/ticking I have been hearing and its almost a sure thing.

About how long does it take TOTAL to do the hughes fix?

 

Figure an afternoon at least, if you don't do anything else to the intake. I plan on doing the Kegger Mod as well, so, I went to the scrap yard, and picked up another manifold. That way, I can mod the crap out of that one, and then just swap. Minimize downtime on the truck.

 

Where can you get this kit installed? I'm not mechanically inclined but I definitely need to do this...coming up on 100k and I want to change the plenum, thermostat, new plugs, wires and cap. Just worried that the local firestone or pep boys might not be the best choice.

 

Ask around your area, for where other folks get their cars/trucks worked on. An independent shop is likely to be cheaper than the dealership, but, not all independents are created equal... Some are better than others, and some are just hacks. Trick is, to find someone that has a good rep, and is trusted by their customers. Keep in mind, everyone has a pissed off customer or two. Even me. So, if the majority of folks are telling you "X shop always does right by me." Check 'em out.

Other alternative is the dealer. They will have higher labor rates, but, they also have factory trained techs.... (not always as good as they should be mind.....) They may have issues installing aftermarket parts though, best bet is to talk to them first, and see what they say.

If you are feeling really devious, you could talk to the mechanic at the dealer that does that kind of thing... and see if he does side work, and possibly get a factory trained tech, at a fraction the cost of dealer labor rates. I know a bunch of my mechanics did that when I was at the dealer.

 

I called the place that I bought my truck from and explained the symptoms and error code I got. They said they would be willing to either give me a discount on parts and labor or give me a second intake free to put the correct gasket on. I took the intake

 

I have been asking around as well. The auto tech students will do the labor for free as long as I buy the necessary parts. The downside to that is that it will take MUCH longer than an already experience mechanic.

I asked a couple of mechanics around my home town. The average labor cost for the complete plenum fix, replacing dist. cap & rotor, plug wires, thermostat, and timing chain is about $350 to $450.

Which is too much for me.

 

If your truck is your primary driver.... Time considerations can be a problem. If you have something else you can drive for a bit, Free Labor sounds like a VERY good plan. Sure, it will be students assembling your truck, but, under the supervision of an instructor...... Should be good.

Other alternative is to do it yourself.... If you have the tools, and a spot you can wrench on your truck at, go for it.

 

Hey is right. Doing it yourself, even if all you have done in the past is change oil is still a very viable option. You can easily pick up a manual at the auto parts store or download the one off of the faqs. And you can upload pics here and we are all here to help out however we can.