*** NOTE: I made this posting to load with pictures for under 1 min @ 56k dial-up speed.

This DIY mod should work with many of the LA engines and Magnum engines. It's been noted to work well with other Chrysler engines that use the metal bell crankcase breather.

Have you ever tried changing the air-filter in the vehicle to find that one side of it is coated with an oily slime? Well, that oil gets blown onto the air-filter via the crankcase breather tube that's connected to the filter-housing. This in turn deminishes Hp and fuel economy with the vehicle. So to fix this problem follow the DIY mod below.

OK, as promised, I got all of the pictures taken to show what this mod is all about.

For those who have not heard, I got tired of cleaning bug parts and leaves from out of the metal bell crankcase and hose. It's a real pain to keep cleaning it out as things can and would slip by this bell into the engine.

So, on with the mod to fix all of those issues.

First, a look at the typical 3.9L, 5.2L or 5.9L magnum engine with the dog-house off. (sorry, I don't know if the mod works on the earlier engines.)




Second, a look at taking off the air-filter housing with the mod in place. If the mod was not done, you would only see the hose and clip without the orange fitting and clamp.






Here's the air-filter housing taken out without the mod done. As you can see, the housing is soaked in oil and so is the air-filter. Plus, those nasty bugs and leaves had gotten sucked into the hole and down the tube. [:@]



Here's the Fram parts to do the mod shown in assembly sequence.





There was only one additional thing to do. I had to mod the mod! As you can see, the fitting hole in the fram air-breather was slightly too small for the 90 degree elbow fitting. So, I opened the size of the hole up.







Make sure the clamp fits over the clip ears and is tighten down well. That 90 degree fitting has pressure to blow out of the Frame orange fitting.



This is how the mod looks after 3,000 miles when the next oil change was due.



Even the oil didn't leak out of the Fram crankcase breather element to the air-filter.



I've only done the B1500 since it's harder to take off the dog-house with the pluch carpeting compared to the B2500.

This mod can be done for under $10.




Hope this helps other Dodge Ram Van owners!

 

These crankcase filters should work, but measure the port hole first.

Fram BA3525
Purolator B43127
NAPA FIL2992

Purolator: B23125
Fram: BA3554

Allpar has a mod for the PVC that's documented too.
http://www.allpar.com/fix/pcv-breather.html

However, that mod is only a patch to collect excessive oil in the PVC canister that should have sprayed onto the air-filter making it a mess. What happens when that PVC canister gets full?

My mod eliminates both the problem and the PVC canister patch work.

(Shhhh. The crankcase breather elements are from early '78-'94 F0rds. )