the 01's came death flashed from the factory. Not sure about 2000.

 

Based on the advice of everyone on this site, I changed out that plenum plate and gasket with the Hughes plate and Fel Pro gasket. I don't exactly "regret" spending the money, but my gasket was still intact! There was no sign of any leak at all. The plenum was clean and beautiful. The gasket still looked brand new.

Since I am the original owner, I know it has never been serviced in the past. According to the Dodge dealership nearby, the late model year 2001 Rams have the upgraded gasket. They claim the new gasket is not failing like the original gasket did.

So, my advice is, if you have a 2001, maybe the dealership can tell if you have the new gasket before you tear apart an intake manifold that may still be fine.

Peace of mind? Yes. A big piece of cash out of the wallet for nothing? Perhaps.

 

fwiw- I run an '02 5.9L, w/ 150k miles, and did the hughes plate and gasket a couple moths ago... I'm not certain mine was leaking badly enough to trip the vacuum test either.. I wanted to get rid of the death flash, and do some other things- it would have been crazy, in my opinion to go ahead with the mod's I wanted to do without addressing that weak link- whether it was leaking or not..

point I guess I'm trying to make is this: that is an absolutely identified issue with these engines.. once it's addressed you can move on to the next item with some confidence.. If you didn't, you will always have that concern and that big job ahead of you at some point.. It's behind you now.. good stuff..