Man, oh man.... today was not as productive as I would have liked. I had to bring out the cherry picker and use that to bust the manifold loose. It took some oomph for it to come loose and when it did it really *POPPED* free, haha!





The bottom of the intake:


So much sludge.... The previous owner obviously did not keep up with the maintenance. I'm going to run some cleaner through it and then change the oil once again. I still had the two stuck bolts to get out and spent hours cleaning out around the base of the bolts and soaking them in PB Blaster. I brought out the torch and was able to get one out:



The other one is still stuck fast. Not really sure what I'm going to do, but I'll figure it out. So much for this being a quick weekend job, haha!

 

Success!


The inside was absolutely filthy:


The gasket and where it failed:




All cleaned up with a new gasket, new aluminum plate, and ready for install!


I got everything installed yesterday, topped off the fluids, did an engine oil flush, and a fresh oil change afterwards. She runs like a champ now! No more stumbling or misfiring!

 

Nice pics. Man you almost pulled that chain apart. Some of those links look stretched. The satisfaction of doing it yourself is priceless.

 

Yea, the chain almost snapped! And you're right, I don't pay for others to do what I can do myself and it feels great!

 

Looking into buying a used kegger off of eBay, is there anyone I can send it to on here for modding?

 

I went to a local junkyard and picked one up for 25 bucks.... Modded that one over the space of a few weeks, just poking at it here and there, and then installed it. I don't know how much difference it made, as my truck ran terrible when I bought it. (and the plenum was seriously blown.) Overall, I probably have ten to fifteen hours into modding the intake....... So, not something I would recommend doing without having a spare..... doing it in the middle of the job makes sure you will not finish in one weekend.

 

Don't know if this will help anyone, but this is what I did on my plenum plate tonight so I didn't have to stare at the book and get lost on which bolt was which.





Tightening sequence and torque specs. Tighten in 3 stages... 24 inch pounds, then 48 inch pounds, then final torque at 84 inch pounds.

 

Thats a good idea! Save time and money. Dont forget the blue locktite.

"An ounce of prevension is worth a pound of cure"

 

I did the exact same thing when I did mine, haha! It was a life saver!

 

Hey everyone. New to the forum. Hoping to gain some more knowledge about these trucks to save some money and learn some more about the engines. Here is a little info about my truck:

01 Ram 1500 5.9L v8 360.
150,000 miles.
3 inch body lift
6 inch fabtech suspension lift
38" Toyo M/T tires on 19 inch rims.

I bought the truck for cheap knowing that it had a few "minor" problems. The steering pump was just replaced and the previous owner informed me that the steering gear box will need to be replaced soon as well as new shocks. No big deal IMO. I looked under the truck and noticed the exhaust had been "customized." The previous owner removed the cats, put spark plug spacers on the 2nd downstream o2 sensor to try and trick the engine. Muffler was added and then no tailpipe after the muffler outlet. Check engine light was throwing o2 sensor codes. Bought the truck and then drove it 1 hour home (approx 45 miles). truck drove fine on the highway and everything other than a little bumpy from the shocks. All is good.
The next day I decide to change all fluids, filters, and vacuum lines. I add a tailpipe in order to stop the muffler noise from resonating in the truck cab. add a three foot tailpipe with almost a 90 degree bend at the end so exhaust exits out the side. Put some seafoam in the fuel tank and then the rest in the vacuum line until the engine stalled. waited 30 min and then started the truck up, ran the sh*t out of it until white smoke stopped coming out. all was good.

Now all of a sudden after driving for about ten minutes, the truck starts to lose power and bog down. I try to rev the engine and get it back going but most of the time it bogs down and stalls out. I have been reading that the plenum gasket goes on these trucks so I checked for symptoms.

Opened up the throttle body and it was gunked up so I took it off to clean. IAC was new so I just cleaned the little bit of grime off it and then cleaned the throttle body. Looked inside the manifold and noticed that oil was puddled in the back of the intake (from what I have read on here that means that I need to replace the plenum gasket and possibly the plate). Fine with me so I ordered the parts. Put a new gasket on the throttle body and put everything back on.

Today I go out and the truck is throwing a P0340 code. My scanner tells me this is a camshaft position sensor circuit malfunction.

Before I spend thousands of dollars, I want to get some opinions on exactly what I should do. I have been reading and some scenarios sound similar to mine but not spot on. I would like to know what exactly to replace (exhaust, o2 sensors, headers, plenum, camshaft position sensor, distributor, plugs, wires, etc.).

Any and all help is greatly appreciated.