On Fri, Sep 12, 2003 at 01:15:35AM +0000, A. S. wrote:
}
} Frank,
} Thanks! for the websites. I'm going to really look things over before I
} decided whether or not I want to attempt this myself. Any info/tips you
} have after you complete the job would be great!! There's always those
} little snags that others forget to mention in their write-ups. That's
} usually what costs the most time and causes the most frustration.
} Good luck!!!
} --Aaron--
} 95 DSRC 4x4 V6
Aaron asked for a followup to my replacing the plenum gasket in the
intake manifold, which I did about 3 weeks ago.
I have a '95 Dakota with the 5.2L engine. It seemed to have the plenum
gasket manifold leak. It has been using 1 quart of oil per 1000 miles
for quite some time now. I could look down the trottle body and see
some oil on the pan in the bottom of the intake manifold.
I found these references:
http://dodgeram.info/tsb/2000/09-05-00.htm
http://members.aol.com/gnkim/gnkim.html
http://www.steigerperformance.com/docs/MPIIntakeManifoldInstallationGuide.pdf
The TSB says it's a 3 hour job, but it took me about 3 times that. I'm
not familiar with working on this engine, I had to search around for
some of the tools, look around for a bolt I dropped (it was on top of
the frame under the passenger compartment), scrap gaskets, etc. If I
had to do it again I could shave a couple hours off the job.
The set of gaskets and the heater bypass hose was $110 from the dealer.
$10 for the heater bypass hose is outrageous, but I tried an auto parts
store first and they didn't have it, I could have tried a second store,
but if they didn't have it would have been 10 miles of extra driving and
being very late to work to get back to the dealer to pick it up.
Replacing the heater bypass hose requires removing the alternator, AC
compressor, and the mounting bracket, so it make sense to replace it as
part of this job.
One of the web pages suggests cutting the heads off two of the old
manifold mounting bolts and screwing them into the front two bolt holes
to use them as locating dowels for putting the manifold back on. It's
an excellent idea that worked very well.
One of the web site said he had to loosen the valve covers to get the
manifold in/out. This is not necessary, but put in the locating dowels
and practice taking the manifold on and off a couple times before
getting the gaskets ready.
The tube for the EGR from the intake manifold to the exhaust manifold:
The factory manual doesn't say anything about it. Unbolt the two bolts
holding the tube to exhaust header first. The nut on the intake
manifold is 7/8" and there is very limited clearance around it. I had a
couple of 7/8" wrenches but one had a smaller head and fit, the other
was too big. Unbolting the far end of the tube first allows the nut on
the manifold to be unscrewed most of the way by hand, otherwise it binds.
Removing the AC compressor and mounting bracket turned out to be no big
deal. I did have to unbolt the idler pulley to get one bolt out.
The manual and all the web pages say to take the top off the
distributer, but not to remove the distributor body. I looked at it for
a while and couldn't see what good just removing the top would do, so I
left it and all the ignition wires in place and it wasn't a problem.
Don't break the fuel line to the fuel rails (special tool required).
Just pivot them over and hang them on the brake master cylinder.
The plenum gasket was really really stuck to the belly pan around the
bolt holes. It took lots of scraping and some solvent and steel wool.
This was half an hours work.
My plenum gasket was not "blown out" like some of the photos I've seen.
Once I got it apart it wasn't certain that it had even been leaking.
There was oil in the intake manifold, so I hope it was from the plenum
gasket and not the PCV valve. Time will tell.
I haven't driven the truck a lot since the repair. The weather was nice
for a couple weeks so I was commuting by motorcycle, then the truck was
in the stop for a week getting repainted (the original paint was
peeling like crazy). But it does look like the oil level is holding
steady (one tank of gas).
It was still pinging badly with 89 octane gas if I floored it. I tried
a trick I'd heard about and one day when I got home (and the truck was
good and hot) I filled a bicycle water bottle with water and sprayed it
into the throttle body (engine running). It hasn't pinged since, but the
air temperature has been quite a bit cooler too.
E Frank Ball efball@efball.com
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