I need to replace the plenum pan gasket and was wondering how long it would take to replace it myself. what all needs to taken off the top of the engine. how much will it cost me to do it myself vs taking it to a dealer.the truck is a 96

 

here's a DIY link, it's easy, just time consuming. Get an APS precision plenum kit and get rid of the stock plenum. it sucks.

https://dodgeforum.com/m_249261/tm.htm

Having done it a couple of times now, I'd say you could do it in about 4~5 hours. my best suggestion is to work on the inside of the engine compartment, take the fan and shroud off and it becomes real easy to work on.

 

Got her runnin' again! Finally! Not runnin' great yet...but runnin' nevertheless.

No joke workin' on a Jeep in this 100-degree heat. Standing on a stool that kept slippin ' out from underneath finally got my goat to the point where said stool was consigned to Valhalla :hah:
Biggest problem was forgettin' to mark the ignition wires (marked everything else ... guess the heat got me...). After some timid screwin' around and neato explosions I decided that since the distributor cap can only go on one way (the side bolt housings are different...one is square, one is round) then "1" marking on the distributor cap better damn well be for cylinder 1...so I proceeded to re-wire the rest of the ignition wires from there...even used the stock 7mm wires which I must say fit much better than the fatter 8mm aftermarket wires I bought. I also broke the dogon oil pressure sending unit back there but a replacement was only $28 at Kragen. Not sure why the Dodge engineers put the EGR valve, the EGR tube, the oil pressure sending unit, and the distributor all way back there behind the plenum manifold (Fords are way better in that regard) but I surely do appreciate them marking the distributor cap with the #1 cylinder (it makes sense...it can only go one way...). So I'm now qualified to be the official "workin' in the confined spaces behind the intake plenum-maifold on a Dodge 318/360 Ninja". But not like you guys who can do the job in 5 hours...it took me a month (the heat was a big problem) and I enjoyed taking my time with it (my daily driver is an SRT-4 with Stage 3R so I had a ride anyway).

 

I feel for you in the 100 deg temps... I get to go in the attic (Sacramento is 105 today) up until about 2pm, then down into the garage to work on the dak with jr... oh it's gonna be a long day....

 

how do you drain the fuel rails?? what other gaskets do I need to buy??Should I replace the EGR valve also?please help

 

What is the worst thing that could happen if i do this wrong?

 

to drain the fuel lines, just pull out the fuel pump fuse, it is in the fuse box under the hood, then spin the motor over, it shouldnt crank, but that will help get the pressure offthe lines. I dont know of a good way to drain the lines, on mine when i pulled the fuel line out, only a minimal amount of fuel came out. Not much at all. Hope this helps.

 

not a bad idea to swap that out since it's in the back of the motor. Dont take any shortcuts during the swap and you should be fine. make sure you get new bolts for both the plenum and the intake manifold...