2001 dodge ram plenum gasket?

[icefisherman]

I am pretty sure its blown out. Its using alot of oil and its pinging when accelerating, and a little bit of a rough idle. I was told its very common problem on them. Has anyone installed one? How long do they take? I looked in a manual and it doesnt look too hard. How much if I bring it in should I expect to pay to have it done?

[Jeremy airjer W]

The belly pan gasket under the lower intake is the part that goes bad and causes the internal vacuum leak and oil consumption issues.

This is much more labor intensive than a plenum gasket.

What engine do you have. The 5.9 is the most susceptible to this but I think the 5.2 has the same setup.

The parts are available from the dealer and come as a kit. New metal belly pan gasket is one of the updated parts along with new bolts for the belly pan.

[PurpleFloyd]

I had the plenum gasket problem in my 1998 ram 1500 with a 5.9 and solved the problem by removing it and replacing it with a mopar M1 intake manifold. You can get it as a direct replacement for the keg style intake and the problem goes away forever. There are a few aftermarket places that make a 1/4 inch steel plate that will solve the problem forever too.

All in all it was not a tough job. I also replaced the throttle body as the guy that I bought the intake from ported, polished and machined them as a unit so they flowed properly with no burrs, mismatches in fit etc along with a new set of heads.

I took lots of pictures during the disassembly, taped and marked the connections on both ends so I knew what hooked back up to what and kept all bolts etc separated in their own zip lock baggies that were marked for location.It took me a whole day and into the evening to do but it was well worth it in the end.

Here is a video that gives a basic outline of the job.

[icefisherman]

airjer that is the part I am talking about, I do have the 5.9. Does it affect mpg? Also I noticed it because I noticed my oil preesure was alot lower than normal, so I checked it and it was three qts low. I dont know how long its been low, Do you think I did damage running it that low for a while?

[Jeremy airjer W]

Your fine.

The high amount of vacuum in the engine will cause oil pressure to appear to drop. I'm not actually sure if it does drop or the gauge is fooled. I have not spent enough time meditating on one yet!

PCV failures are really common with Volkswagen and the engine is also put under a lot of vacuum and in every case the oil light is on and the engine runs really weird.

I was under the impression that we fixed all of these once already. Guess I'll have to keep a look out for the second wave!

[icefisherman]

airjer, one more thing. When I called the dealer they said they only sell the gasket and bolts. When you look at after market sites, they sell a kit with a 1/4 plate and a gasket and bolts, do I need that plate? They said they just replace the gasket with a upgraded one for $770.00 installed. Sound about right? For that price I think I will do it my self. Thanx airjer!

[Jeremy airjer W]

I've never done an aftermarket kit so I couldn't tell you if its the better way to go. I have never done one that already had the aftermarket metal gasket. I can only assume that the dealer setup is a decent if not effective and/or permanent repair.

I say you go for the aftermarket one and let us know how it goes. None of this well its done stuff! I expect a full how to article with photos!!!

[PurpleFloyd]

I know a few guys who have done the 1/4 inch plate and they never had the problem after that. There are many documented cases of the replacement gasket blowing out just like the original one did.