Bought my 2001 with 5.2 a year and a half ago.

Replaced the plenum gasket before I knew to replace the pan as well. That lasted maybe 2000 miles.

Did it again, replacing the pan also. That was in Feb of this year. Problem is back again and now it's also pinging anytime I step on the gas more than 1/4 throttle.

I'm sick of messing with this (truck has had other problems too, wearing on my patience) and if I don't just sell the truck outright, I'm going to have to make sure it doesn't come back once and for all.

I wanted to just put an aftermarket intake on, and replace the death flashed chip with a programmable one.

Am I off base here? Should I pull the intake for a 3rd time and fix it again and hope it lasts this time? Or just replace all the parts that give me fits?

Could use some advice here.

Thanks.

 

"I wanted to just put an aftermarket intake on, and replace the death flashed chip with a programmable one".

Sounds like you might just want to do just that, put on a Hughes Air Gap intake and be done with it. And unless I'm mistaken, you can just get an SCT tuner w/ programs and reprogram your existing PCM - no "chips" involved.

 

Did you use the original bolts with the new plate? If so, that could possibly cause the gasket to blow again.

If not, did you torque the new bolts down in the proper sequence? If not, that could cause the gasket to not seat properly, which can also cause a blow out.

Of course, as you stated, a Hughes (or similar) manifold without a plenum plate design would solve the problem entirely. You don't want chips for these trucks, they don't work. You want a programmer. +1 for the SCT. Sean (hemifever@aol.com) is the best at tuning these trucks, and is the cheapest route for a SCT.

 

on a side note, when I installed the SCT to my truck, I noticed a night and day difference...I LOVED IT. Then I installed my air gap and the gain I felt wasn't there anymore. Talked to sean and he said it's nothing on his end. Just a heads up.

 

You could take the intake and plenum plate to a machine shop and have them weld them together. As long as they are checked for leaks when it's done you should never have to think about it again.

 

That's probably the best advice of all. I think I'm going to do just that when I do my plenum/kegger mod.

 

I used the original bolts but I shortened them by 1/4 inch so they would torque properly, using the sequence I got from a spec sheet I got from this forum.

Is Hughes the route to go for an aftermarket intake? I come from the chevy world and this is my first non-chevy vehicle in about 15 years so I'm not too familiar with the parts market for them.

I'll look into SCT. Hopefully I can do the exhaust too, but we'll see how the money situation is after buying an intake.

Thanks for the advice.

 

I'm almost positive my replacement plate was steel, are some of them aluminum? Not sure how you'd weld it otherwise.

Welding it wouldn't be a problem, we could do that in the shop, as long as it's an option.

 

Yeah, the forum-recommended replacement plate is 1/4" aluminum, like the one Hughes sells.

When you said "Replaced the plenum gasket before I knew to replace the pan as well. That lasted maybe 2000 miles. Did it again, replacing the pan also", I thought that was what you meant. I can't see any reason to replace the stock steel pan with another stock steel pan, especially since you're not eliminating the problem of dissimilar metals.

And yes, naturally the welding fix would require the aftermarket aluminum plate. This suggestion has been added to the "End all" plenum sticky.

***

"Is Hughes the route to go for an aftermarket intake?" They're the "go to" vendor, although I understand some guys here on the forum make and sell the aluminum plates.

"I'll look into SCT. Hopefully I can do the exhaust too, but we'll see how the money situation is after buying an intake".

I wouldn't buy an intake, I'd weld an aluminum plate onto your stock one. (Yes, I have "flip-flopped" on my Air Gap recommendation)

 

I suggest you get the Hughes plate and the separate new set of bolts, theyre only like $10.

And stick through the initial problems. Once you get te truck straightened out it will long outlast anything else