Hey everyone. This is a really cool forum I'm glad I found it. I've been researching a lot but definitely need some help from you guys who are very knowledgeable about these trucks. I have a 1998 1500 5.9 liter and it really has been a great truck. I bought it with 176,000 miles on it for a work truck and it now has 200,000, in just 2 years. all highway miles. When I first got it I noticed it was using oil. The check gauges light would come on and the oil pressure gauge would drop to 0 when i'd come to stops. I would just add oil and this would go away. I drove it like this for 2 years, just adding oil whenever I needed it. maybe 1-2 quarts per week. I did some research and realized it's probably the plenum.

But I have a new problem now. I'm losing coolant with no leaks visible. There is no heat either (on full blast it's cold). I changed the spark plugs and man they looked horrible! one of them disintegrated as I was trying to take it off. Also, one particular plug had white crystally, salt like stuff around it. I changed all the plugs and it really made no difference in the way it runs. It runs okay for the most part. It loses a lot of power on hills and if I'm going like 50mph and the overdrive if on, it will start bucking/studdering under acceleration. But if it downshifts that goes away. But I have to have the overdrive off for it to downshift. Not sure if that's pinging or what.

So I'm obviously concerned about a head gasket issue here. I took it to a shop and they said I have a dead misfire in cylinder #8 and basically that the truck is done. They said it's probably the head gasket but didn't have much information to give me. They really didn't do any extensive checking. My question is do you guys think this is a head gasket issue or plenum gasket issue, or something else, or both, or what? I don't really trust the shop as they told me that the plenum has nothing to do with oil loss and that only the intake manifold gasket does. I'm just wondering because I read some threads about some guys who got rid of their misfire issue by changing the plenum. But the coolant loss scares me. Also, it does smoke a bit, not too much ( the smoke smells like burning oil, not coolant, and it is white). I tried some blue devil because I read so many good things about it and man that stuff is garbage. Ever since I put it in now the check gauges light comes on all the time (when I come to a stop), even though it has enough oil. It didn't get rid of the smoking and in my opinion made things worse. Ever since I put it in, the heat is even colder!

What do you guys think the problem is? Also, is it worth fixing or should I just get rid of it as this point? The shop said that replacing a head gasket at 200k is useless as the motor will go out soon after with that kind of mileage. I do like the truck as it has been very good to me and honestly extremely reliable. Never left me stranded except for one time the idler pulley broke and the belt came off (maybe this incident blew the head gasket?) Crazy thing is, the truck keeps going no matter what. What a beast! Well, sorry for the long post and I really appreciate you guys helping me out!

 

Also I did an oil change recently and saw no milky stuff in there. None on the dipstick either. However, when I take the cap off, I see some milky stuff on the bottom of the oil cap every once in a while, but learned this can just be moisture.

 

misfire #8, lose of oil, lose of power all is signs of the bad plenum. The coolant loose could be a head gasket (does it smoke?) or the thermostat neck. That shop is complete liars. The blue devil could have clogged your heater core and you MAY never have heat again unless you change it (it may have not). Never trust and magic in a bottle you can get your money back fyi

 

yeah it does smoke. But not a ton of smoke like i've seen on other blown head gaskets. It is white smoke, but doesn't smell like coolant, just burning oil really. No sweet smell to it.

 

Change the heater core? Damn man, I really regret putting that blue devil **** in there. I'm definitely gonna get my money back!

 

There are places the coolant can hide but you can test the coolant for exhaust gases

 

Did you physically look under the motor for coolant leaks? You may have a leak but it evaporates before it hit's the ground. First check the weep hole on the water pump. You may want to get a compression test/leak down test done to see what's going on.

 

Do a compression test, and find out for sure. You don't automatically get milky oil when you blow a head gasket. Changing the head gasket isn't a huge deal on the gen 2 Rams. It's not a job you WANT to ever do. It's time consuming, and requires a lot of patience. I've done several on Gen 2s, and a handful on Gen 3s. I'd much rather do it on a Gen 2, any day. If the truck is in good shape otherwise, I'd fix it.

 

 

Yeah I look under the motor pretty much every day. The only thing I see is a little power steering fluid. no oil or coolant. But that definitely makes sense that it could be evaporating, didn't think of that. I'm gonna check the weep hole, thanks man. I'm also gonna do a compression test.