Whats the quickest & easiest way to get my truck running again w/o doing any / more damage? If I replace all 3 of the oxygen sensors & gut the cat will that work until my plenum kit arrives? I also have my 96 w/ the same engine in it, can I borrow / steal parts off of that? Zman, you swapped plenums from ur other ram. What was the benifit of that? I also read one mechanic never replaced the plater just installed new gaskets and that always worked fine. Should I consider that?

 

It will work for a while. Just don't wait to long, otherwise you'll be replacing the oxygen sensors again. BTW, unless you have a California truck, you only have two oxygen sensors, one pre-cat (upstream) and one post-cat (downstream). Don't believe anyone who tells you the post-cat affects the engines in these trucks or how they run, they do not. The only thing the post-cat (downstream) sensor does is tell the PCM if the converter is behaving or not.

If you just replace the gasket, also use different bolts (the ones that come with the Hughes kit are fine). You shouldn't reuse the old bolts anyway, as they are torque-to-yield, and are not designed to be used more than once. There is a big discussion on whether the bolts being slightly to long are the issue that eventually kills the cheap cork gasket, or if its the aluminum on intake manifold against the steel plate.

Many have replaced just the gasket and bolts, and been fine. However, if you are in there tearing it apart anyway, I'd get the plate too. Taking that one little extra step may save you many hours of labor later.

 

Things I changed recently while doing the plenum gasket.

eBay plenum plate
Felpro Gasket Set for intake and plenum gasket
Felpro Intake Manifold Bolts
Coolant Bypass Hose
Plugs
Wires
Cap
Rotor
Thermostat
RTV Red Sealant
2 gallons of coolant
Oil and oil filter
Seafoam

Took my mechanic buddy a few hrs to do it all for me. That included cleaning out the valley with charcoal like oil sludges on top of the cam plate. This took most of the time for him. Install was pretty easy he said, but that's coming from an experienced mechanic. It would have took me a day or so to label everything and make sure it all went back together right.

Brad

 

[quote=jasonw;2882624]It will work for a while. Just don't wait to long, otherwise you'll be replacing the oxygen sensors again. BTW, unless you have a California truck, you only have two oxygen sensors, one pre-cat (upstream) and one post-cat (downstream). Don't believe anyone who tells you the post-cat affects the engines in these trucks or how they run, they do not. The only thing the post-cat (downstream) sensor does is tell the PCM if the converter is behaving or not.

Jason, Thanks for the response. I also read the thread w/ the bolt length being the true culprit not the flimsy plenum but it just makes sense w/ my buying the whole kit , to use ia all, As far as geting it running again until my kit arrives, if I read you right, I should only have to gut the cat / replace it w/ universal MagnaFLO (more work & $ though), and just the one upper oxygen sensor or (2) if somehow it came from Calli and it should run & cause no more damage till I can swap out the stuff next weekend?

 

[QUOTE=BlackieLawless;2882696]I swapped the plenum because the 98 had the Hughes plate on it, and the truck got totaled.

 

I pulled my upper oxy sensor & while its pretty lload, and sluggish as hell, it would get up to speed (30 mph approx). Gonna replace it & gut the cat then till my new plenum kit arrives. Prob. swap out next weekend. Any insghts or concrens w/ doing that?

 

I'd probably get a cheap o2 then for now. And replace it with a good one after you change the plenum. Or just gut the cat and wait to install a good brand o2 after.

 

Playing in the rain all day & changed out both oxy sensors, put the dbl stacked non-fouler on the lower one & jammed a shaft up in the cat for a bit but time was running out so I just buttoned it up & it's made no differance. Turns out the plenum must be OK as I haven't been burning oil, and there isn't any fluids on the IM either. Shoulda just trusted the code analysis primary root cause & got my ducks in a row to change out the governor pressure sensor like the P1762 "Govenor Pressure Sensor Voltage Hi/Lo" readout suggested. Live & Learn, I guess. At least now, I ordered the parts & I have no reason to change out the Plenum before it does become a problem but first I gotta learn how to fix my immediate issue, the pressure sensor. Any suggestions???

 

Got my new tranny sensor coming tommorow from NAPA. I hope thats all it is now.
Came up w/a neat thick to bash the guts out of my cat today. I took a 2.5 foot shaft, hammered & ground a chisel pint on the one end and the put a centerdrill hole in the other end's face. I took my air chisel, took the pointed nose bit, ground it a little to clean it up, and the put it in the centerdrill hole w/the chisel end of the shaft up a slot I cut in the pipe behind the cat. Knocked the guts out in a jiffy. Then taped a small urethane hose to the shop vac & vacuumed most of the crap out before I turned it over. Still had a cloud of crap come out but not near as much as there would have been. I was alot better than jaming the shaft back and forth forever by hand, thats for sure!

 

Drop the tranny pand and see what's in there. Check connectors to makke sure they are tight. Remove and clean pressure sensor and governor solenoid.