I remember once seening a how to guide for replaceing the plenum gasket, allthough I cant find that anymore for some reason.
Anyway... In that guide, they showed pictures of the heads being off, and I was wondering if it is nessicary to pull the heads to replace this gasket.

I think that mine is going bad, becasue all of a sudden, about a week ago it started useing oil, and today when I started it there was a quick puff of blue smoke when it started.
I havent noticed a bit of pinging, power feels the same to me but who knows maybe it was leaking when I bought it.

Who has done this their self, and who has had a mechanic do it?
Was it a hard job to complete?
How much did the mechanic charge to do it?

Im planning on buying the APS precicsion deluxe kit when I do it, or have it done...
I would rather do it myself, but if its alot of work I may just get it done.

 

i just had mine done about a month ago and i had a buddy from DTW do it. i dont think he took the heads off to do it though. it took him about 8 hours total to do it over 2 days. one thing i would suggest is replacing the upper radiator hose. he had to cut mine off cause it was stuck. i was gonna replace it anyway cause of a coolant leak. i also had to replace the coolant temp sensor cause it was leeaking from there too. he said the sensor fell apart in his hands lol. my 99 360 just crossed 170k and now its running like new lol. i didnt have the money to do the kit so i just used felpro gaskets. so far no problems *knock on wood*

 

btw i found the write up for you

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

 

Alright, thanks...

That doesnt look all to bad, just somewhat time consuming.
Also, a PERFECT time to do a few of the other things I was planning on doing to the truck, new thermostat, and new belt tensioner.

 

Josh, Here some info I posted in another post in regards to my recent plenum pan replacement. This was by far the furthest I've ever dug into an engine and I really enjoyed it. Don't be afaid to DIY. And you are right, it's mostly time-consuming. Just make sure you don't get into a rush. Start early enough to give yourself plenty of time so you can take your time doing it.
I did the fan shroud removal as you saw in Steve's write-up on doing the plenum. It does make a better work area.

ThingsI would remember for the plenum kit w/bolts upgrade-
1. Torque wrench for inch pounds. Can be one that goes to 1 ftpounds in 1 poundincrements. (1 ft pound=12 inch pounds)
2. silicone sealant - just needs a little in the corners of the front/rear gaskets
3. blue thread locker - for the new plate bolts
4. shop vac to remove old gasket scrapings
5. throttle body gasket - I went ahead and replaced mine at the time
6. water pump to block hose - If it hasn't been replaced, do it now.
7. fuel line disconnect tool
8. one good go-fer

Almost forgot. My plenum and intake ports had alot of carbon build-up on them and I used Mopar Combustion Cleaner on them while it was apart. Sprayed some on, let it soak while I did other stuff, then used a toothbrush toget most of it out.
I didn't take the fuel rails/injectors off the plenum. Now wish I had so I could have cleaned the fuel rail out. I may have clogged one of the injectors. Think in handeling the plenum some gunk or debris came loose and clogged it.

 

i've been working on this for the last several days. its quite a job, but a lot of fun if you take your time, have a good place to work with decent weather, and do NOT get in a hurry. if you've never done this before on a ram, like me, allow for several days. its really a good idea to combine this with other things. once you get the fan, shroud, water pump, accy bracket, accys, belts, hoses, and intake off, its real easy to change dist cap, rotor, wires, plugs, valve cover gaskets. its also fairly easy to dig a little deeper and do the timing chain, and at that point if the oil pan gasket is leaking, well, its only another day or so. its kind of hard to know when to quit. and then when you do put it all back together, put on all new hoses and water pump, etc. i used the Hughes kit with gaskets and bolts.

no you do not pull the heads.
you do not remove power steering pump either.
if you can get the fan off the water pump, you could leave the water pump on the motor.

i could not get the fan off the water pump, so i unbolted the water pump, and lifted out pump, fan, and shround all at once.

after doing this once, i feel like i could do it again in a fraction of the time, but the first time just takes a whole lot of thinking and studying how it all fits together. steve's write up is really really good, much better than the haynes manual. a few thing that helped me....
take pictures before and during. it can help when you put the accys back on.
mark every single wire, both ends of every hose with tape and magic marker.
put each set of bolts and nuts in a ziplock bag and label with magic marker.
torque wrench that reads around 8-30 pounds, 3/8 fuel line disconnect is a must.
i did not remove the fuel rails from the intake, just the hose, then cap it to keep it clean.
don't get harsh cleaners, like brake cleaner, anywhere near the plastic looking injectors.
step ladder is handy for climbing in/out of the engine bay 1000 times.
a picnic table of tools and parts right in front of the truck would have been handy.
if you do the timing chain you will need harmonic balance/steering wheel puller, air gun, 1 1/4 socket.

 

Ive had mine replaced 3 times, the last only lasted 6 months. my dealer did mine only because i wanted to leave a paper trail and hoped that some fix would come down the pipe. This one I'm doing myself( #4). The first one went bad at 10000 miles, then a year later when I called the dealer about spark knock, I was told to try high test gas, which helped the knock, not the oil consumption.
best fix kit?

 

hughes or aps. same thing, same price. either one get the complete kit with new bolts and intake gasket.
here's a couple more how to's w/ pics.

http://www.hughesengines.com/partDet...p?partID=11698
http://www.apsprecision.com/billetplenum.html

http://www.pavementsucks.com/forums/...hp?topic=17043
http://www.truckporn.com/pics/thumbnails.php?album=237 (not what it might seem)
https://dodgeforum.com/m_249261/tm.htm

 

I had mine done at the dealer last week, cost was $475 but what a difference, no more spark knock and the power is back. Also talked to the tech and he did replace it with the aluminim gasket kitwith all new bolts.

 

don't use the gaskets at the front and back of your intake because they have a tendency to blow out. Use a thick bead of high temp permatex instead.Apply it to the block and set the intake straight down.