my indicator was the oil comsumption. i lost about a quart every 3000 miles. now with the plenum fixed i realize that i did not have power. it made a ton of difference. well along with my SCT tuning and the 1.7 roller rockers!!

 

Every Ram with the Magnum engines, from 3.9L V6 through to the 5.2 and 5.9 V8s, will have the gasket problem eventually. Most happen early. Mine happened before the 50,000 mile mark. Reason I know is I bought it at 50,000 miles and it was leaking then.

Even if it doesn't consume enough oil to be noticed, it will cause, among other things, premature failure of the (or sloppy) pre-cat oxygen sensors (which are very important for air/fuel ratio), and catalytic converter failure. Much cheaper to fix the gasket then replace converters or sensors.

 

I still haven't replaced my cat after doing plenum fix about a month ago. Going to gut it this weekend and replace the pre-cat O2 sensor. Should be a 2 cerveza job.