I'm dense dude.. it's sometimes an issue.. but for what it's worth- I am now one post closer to 'knowing what i'm talking about'..

there are about a dozen guys who use this forum right often that really know what they are talking about.. there are maybe a dozen more that use it infrequently.. I'm glad to see you back Zman... Aim, HeyYou, hell- you guys know who you are..

we need to send a search party out for Unreg.. I'm thinking he doesn't want to be found for some reason though..

edited to add:

Zman, you are NOT Maddoff.. you are the opposite.. you are a cantankerous fart, where he was a really likeable guy.. you give great mechanical advice, where he gave a little less than stellar financial advise.. I stand by my analogy though..

 

last thing im going to say about zman in this or any other thread. im not denying he knows his stuff. but like i said there are different ways of presenting your knowledge. coming on here acting like everyone is on the same playing field as far as knowledge is just plain stupid.

again, not everyone has the resources/knowledge/money to just take the throttle body off like in this instance. i for one do not. in order to do this im going to have to take the time to drop it off and the money to have someone to look at it. at this point in time i have neither extra.

 

I can say with 100% certainty they are 7/8's

 

agreed. there is a socket that you can use to slip on it but i found it next to impossible to fit the wrench on top of the socket to turn. i just used my plain 7/8 wrench and it came right off

 

i couldnt agree more. i was going to comment on the oil and taring one the lower sides. also wanted to add that i had the same issues about two weeks ago with the plugged cat and loss of power. i took the pipe apart at the y and removed it at the muffler. and actually built a fill mid pipe with out that cat in it. most of the 318 will run clear of the CEL with the cat missing. allowing for emmissions inspection to be sound. from the sounds of you issue tho it sounds like the motor is loading up. i would try fixing the CEL and then adopt other ideas from there. and normally when the cat is plugged under mid load like climbing hills or increasing from 45 to 55 or 35 to 45 you will head what sounds like a hissing this is where the exhaust is passing out of the connection between the manifold and y pipe. its a deffently noticable lack of power and the hissing is easily noticable. i would also look around on here and see if anyone else has the same issue or has had it i know i post things and get no answer because 100 other have asked and and a 1000 other have answered.

 

Lucky Dog. Mine acted like they were welded in. I used a 24" pipe wrench, and a big farking hammer.......

 

If you can replace an o2 sensor you should be able to pull the throttle body. Its just a few bolts and sits right on top of the motor.

 

+1000

 

As far as your plenum goes, zman is correct, you need to take off the throttle body. And, honestly, even if it's not blown yet, if you haven't had the plenum repair done, i would. The gasket WILL fail.

Also, isn't there a way to check for a plenum leak using vacuum?

I found this link to testing the plenum:
https://dodgeforum.com/forum/3rd-gen...enum-leak.html
not sure if it's relevant, but i thought it might help.

 

From what little I know, the plenum has to have a huge leak in it for the vacuum test to give you an absolute guarantee that the plenum is blown.