Dodge Tune Up Help/ really interesting solution.

retroedaddy

retroedaddy

Infidel
Joined
Apr 7, 2010
Location
Bahama NC
I bought a 2001 Dodge Ram extended cab,it is the 360 V8 Auto trans 4x4. When I got it , it had a little miss. Well the miss got worse and I got a check engine light, so I had it checked and it was a cylinder 8 misfire. So I bought plugs and wires and replaced them. When I pulled the #8 plug sure enough it totally destroyed. The central electrode was melted and dis formed. The outside electrode was also melted and almost gone.I also took off the K&N filter and cleaned it while I was doing the work. I left the battery disconnected while I did the change. I hooked everything back up and started the truck, sure enough it still runs rough and honestly seems to be a little down on power under WOT. What would y'all check next ? I did not pull the cap and rotor, I guess I might check that next but it seems weird the plug was wrecked like that and changing it made no change to the way the truck runs.
 
So I managed to hook up with a dude who was a master mechanic for Dodge for a lot of years. He knew the problem well and described it in detail to me. It turns out it is the lower gasket set on the bottom of the manifold. After 100,000 miles it is common for them to fail and allow air to seep into the intake. It can cause a weird idle and a bouncy shaky ride when the trans shifts to overdrive at lower speeds. The guy was a wealth of dodge knowledge, too bad he couldn't see the future because about an hour after I left his shop my rear drive shaft pulled out of my rear end and tore my transfer case in half. Subsequently I am looking for a NP241HD transfer case and rear drive shaft if anyone knows of one.
 
I was going to mention that plenum pan gasket when I saw your thread. That gasket will cause it to burn a little oil at first. Oil consumption will get worse. Mine got worse all of a sudden. It went from a qt every 200 miles to a whopping nine QTS out ta no where. You will also have vaccum on your dipstick tube.
 
The plenum pan is steel on an aluminum intake. gasket leaks on them are very common. Put a mopar m1 intake on and never look back. Stretched timing chains are also common in the magnum motors
 
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