Hello all....I'm fairly new to Dodge Rams and have a couple of questions before I change the spark plugs.

First off....I have a 2001 360 5.9L. I helped a friend change the plugs on his 2005 Dodge Dakota and he had coil packs instead of actual plug wires. Since I have yet to open my hood, I was wondering if the 2001 Rams have coil packs or regular plug wires.

Another question is....what's the recommended gap for the end of the plugs?

I've never really gotten into this DIY stuff until recently, I always had all minor work done somewhere for me since I hardly had time to do anything. Now that I have time, I'm gonna take this stuff on myself.

Umm.....nother question real quick. I want to change my air filter and someone said I had to take the air filter box off the motor...?!?! Can't I just unclip the top and open it up?

All input greatly appreciated...keep in mind, i'm a noob!! lol

 

Don't know about the plugs...but as for the air filter. On my truck (a '99) You do have to take the connection from the engine off since it won't just unclip and move out of the way enough to get the filter out. Nothing major. Easy to do.

 

First step, open the hood and check for the sticker that lists your engine size. It should either be on the underside of the hood or on the support in front of the radiator. This will tell you your spark plug gap, it should be 0.035", but I might be wrong. The 5.9L has a distributor and spark plug wires. The distributor is at the back of the motor and is not easy to get to.

To remove the air filter element, you need to loosen a band type clamp located at the base of the plastic housing. I found that an electric screwdriver with a 5/16" socket works great to get it loose. After it is loose, then you can pop the clips loose and get to the filter. You will have to remove the top portion of the air box. Be careful putting it back on, make sure it is seated the whole way around on the bottom. Place your hand on top of the box and hold it down firmly while tightening the clamp to make sure it seats.

You should get either a Haynes or Chilton manual if you are going to work on the truck yourself. Also, read through your owners manual, it is good bathroom material.

Look through old posts on this site and do some searches, there is a lot of good information here that will help.

 

IMHO, For manuals I say go to Dodge, spend the extra money and get the factory books, They are much better then Haynes or Chilton, plus they have the wiring diagrams and color codes etc, unlike the Haynes type manuals that are very generic.

 

i agree... the actory maintenance manuals are much better but a hanyes or chiltons would suffice as well

 

Hehe, I agree on the bathroom reading. I would do that today but my wife took my truck to work, seems that she likes it more than I do now.

I appreciate everything guys. I have done searches on this forum but to no avail. I"m one of those people that would rather find an existing topic rather than start a new one....no such luck with the plugs.

I did open my hood yesterday and it's a 360 5.9L so my gap probably would be what you said tehre. On a side note, yesterday I was gapping my wife's spark plugs for her Ford Focus and it's 0.65!!!! Huge gap.

 

garpoonga and shott8283 are right about the factory manual being better. I purchased the Haynes manual. It is good for general information. Also, check out the following link:

https://dodgeforum.com/m_340929/tm.htm

That might help.