On another note, Jack, I see you have all your chrome blacked out. Did you just sand and spray, or is there more to painting over chrome. I want to get rid of everything shiny on my truck.

 

It is an after market front bumper, and the truck has been de-badged. I have since painted the mirrors, but did a crappy job at it, I just **** canned them and it ran real bad. It is also an after market grill that was fake chrome that got painted. I have painted chrome before and I just took some sand paper and roughed it up and **** canned it.

Here is a link for de-badging

https://dodgeforum.com/forum/2nd-gen...e-badging.html

 

Well, finally got around to checking that plenum gasket today. I took off the throttle body, took a look inside, and EVERYTHING has a nice thick film of oil on it, so it looks like I'm not immune to the plenum problem. I'm ordering the kit from Hughes right now, and will be undertaking engine work a little more involved than anything I've done before. I'm a bit nervous to screw something up, but hopefully it will go well. I found a pretty good and detailed writeup on the procedure. They recommend that the thermostat is replaced with a 180* thermostat, which I guess I'll do while I'm at it. WISH ME LUCK!

 

i just did this job yesterday and today. i effed it up bad its not hard to do at all though. just make sure you disconnect everything and check 10 times to make sure you got all the intake bolts. i missed one and broke it.

 

I THINK I had a leak.



Did the plenum job today, and I must say I can't feel a dramatic difference as of yet... still getting a bit of a rough idle, but it does seem like I'm getting better throttle response - but then again, it may just all be in my head. One thing I did see was A LOT of sludge. I've been doing regular oil changes, but who knows how the previous owner treated the truck... my guess is "not well". Other than seafoam, are there any other suggestions to alleviate the sludge issue?

 

I'm in your same boat of knowledge and going down this plenum fix real soon myself. Ordered today.

Not to derail, but thought to ask....why a 180 stat change? I haven't seen, or just plain missed, the reasoning for this change.

Thanks for your shared experience as I'll be hoping mine is as good as yours.

 

I don't agree that going to a 180 degree thermostat on a properly maintained engine is a good idea. I've been coninced that since the computer programming and rest of the engine management sensors were chosen with the hotter range in mind that is where it will produce the most power, have the greatest efficiency. I have no proof but I'd also wonder if factory specified temp range is where max average component life would be achieved.

I'll let the pro 180 degree tstat guys speak for themselves.

 

Honestly, I have no reason for the thermostat replacement other than what I have read on the hughes engines website and in some posts here, which seems to make sense:
http://www.hughesengines.com/Index/products.php?browse=search&search=1839&partid=2336 0
I figure that a company such as Hughes, which specializes in optimizing these mopar engines has done enough research to know that a lower temp thermostat improves performance. Whether it does? Well, the jury is still out at least with me, but let's hope it does.

As for the car manufacturer putting together the best possible combination of parts to maximize performance and efficiency, I would have to disagree, otherwise companies such as Hughes, Eddelbrock, K&N, etc would be out of business - there is always a certain amount of tweaking that can be done to improve performance. Heck, Crysler alone figured out a way to squeeze 1.5 times more power out of a 5.7L engine than a 5.9 over the course of just a few years while improving mpg. Our trucks were DEFINITELY not built with efficiency in mind. But this, of course is just my semi-educated opinion.

 

You could have just got BAD GAS. Also, Lucas does not remedy the situation.

Seafoam the truck and give her a tune up (Cap rotor plugs). I bet she will run much better.

 

You will be fine.

Here is a tip:
1. Use zip ties to pull all wires and hoses out of the way. Also, don't take the injectors out of the rail. Just pull the rail out with the plugs in the rail. (That is tricky, you will have to pull hard and then prevent your hands from hitting your face once it breaks free!).
2. When taking off your accessory brackets, put the bracket bolts back INTO the brackets when you lay them aside. THat way you know which bolt goes where as they are different lengths.
3. Remember to TIGHTEN all connections on your alternator when you reinstall the alternator.

Another little thing to do, since you will be draining the radiator:
Run the NAPA descaler through your cooling system. When everything is back together, just put that in your radiator and top off with WATER. Run for 30 mins, then drain and add your coolant mix until it is the proper mix. REMEMBER, you will have a high water ratio mixture still in the block, so you want to go a bit heavy on the 100% coolant. Especially since winter is creeping up.

Last thing, you will notice that your heater will not warm up to HOT in the winter. That is just part of having a 180* thermostat.

PM me with any questions once you are starting your build.

IMPORTANT:
WHen doing your plenum, there are these two strip gaskets (rubber with metal) that need to be used. You will know what I am talking about, they attach to the BLOCK not the heads/intake. There are TWO TABS on them that line up with tabs in the block. MAKE SURE that you dig out all the RTV from the block before putting your own RTV on then realizing that there is still RTV in there. You will LEAK if the tabs do not go down into the block.