Hello all,
In december last year I traded out my bmw 318 for a 1998 Dodge Ram 1500 with the 5.9L. So far, I've had to put a lot of money into it, as the xfer case went out within two weeks. Just got done ordering the Hughes plenum kit and a new MagnaFlow cat. Have had to do a LOT of work to it so far, considering the people who owned it before knew nothing of 4x4s, or cars in general, the oil was like sludge, the sparks were worn down to a gap of .1 and I don't think the air filter was EVER changed. Swapped out the oil with some royal purple, champion sparks, and a spectre stock air filter. As soon as the plenum kit/distro/cat come in, I'll be spending a day for that.

 

I hate to tell you this, but if your oil was like ""sludge" and you did an oil change with some synthetic (brand doesn't matter) that oil is gonna do one hell-of-a job at cleaning you engine. That, in turn, will cause your engine to leak...a lot. That sludge that you had in there was actually plugging the leaks you engine has. Synthetic oil will do a great job at wicking away all that sludge. Just a heads up. Hope it doesn't sound like I'm raining on you parade. Welcome to the DF.

 

Yeah, I cleaned my driveway really well, getting previous oil spots up and the like, and have been keeping an eagle eye out to see if anything starts dripping. That was almost 2 weeks ago and so far, nothing new on the bottom of the engine, and nothing new in the driveway, but the diligence will continue.

 

cool well you will be able to really tell when you take off the manifold to see if its sludged real bad or not. good time to do timing chain and cap and rotor while the manifold is off.

 

maybe do the water pump to if it looks old when you do the intake