Unknown Problems.

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bluwarguy

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Ram Year
1997
Engine
5.9 Magnum V8
Whenever I accelerate hard (like when I pass somebody on the highway) I've noticed that my check engine light starts to flash. The check engine light is also on and gives me 2 codes: 12 and 43. My oil consumption is awful and I have to constantly buy oil for my truck. Sometimes when starting it in the cold, it doesn't like to stay on and I have to slightly give it gas for about a minute and it'll stay on. If not then it sputters and dies. Are any of these problems related and what could the main problem be?
 

dudeman2009

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Arizona
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2001 1500 Sport with enough electrical modifications to make my brain hurt
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Magnum 360
Oil consumption followed by cylinder misfire (Generally what the flashing CEL means) on a dodge means its time for the plenum.

Code 12 just means the battery has been disconnected within a certain number of ignition cycles.

Code 43 could be a couple things but usually is random multiple cylinder misfire.

I'd go with the plenum but you can also check your ignition coil.

Measure the resistance of your coil from the tower to a pin on the input you should get about 12k-15kohms. Between the two input pins should read about 1-2ohms. If either is wildly off, replace the coil.
 
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bluwarguy

bluwarguy

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so Code 43 could be fixed with the plenum kit?
 

pajeepman

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Oil loss without visible leak is almost certainly a plenum issue. I replaced mine with an aluminum one from ebay. No issues for 4 months so far.

Sent from my SM-J320P using Tapatalk
 
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bluwarguy

bluwarguy

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I bought an OBDII reader and found that the code is specifically P0308, so Cylinder 8 is the one misfiring.
 

dudeman2009

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Cylinders 7 and 8 are the most common ones to go with plenum issues.
 

pajeepman

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Plenum guaranteed. Same problem i had minus the not staying running.

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Truemagnum15

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We recently bought an aluminum plenum kit from Hughes engines and it included all gaskets, bolts, etc. needed for $142 total for shipping and the kit.
 
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bluwarguy

bluwarguy

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How difficult is it to replace the plenum yourself? What kind of tools will I need? If it's not something I'd be able to do myself, what's the average cost to have a mechanic do it?
 

dudeman2009

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Its pretty easy to do yourself, I had mine done in 2 hours, but I took a bunch of extra time to really clean off the gasket surfaces before replacing everything.

The only tools you need are an in-lbs torque wrench, 1/2in sockets, 4in and or 8in extension, a flathead screwdriver, a gasket scraper (makes life easier), coolant and oil for a change, and a fuel line disconnect set (its possible to work around this, but for the price its worth it to just buy a set).

If you go with the hughes repair kit everything is listed out. But the just of it goes like this. Disconnect the alternator, unbolt the alternator and A/C compressor bracket and move it aside. Remove the air intake down to the throttle body, unplug all the electrical connectors from the throttle body. You can either unbolt the TB or just remove the cables attached to it (I found it easier to just remove the 3 cables and leave it bolted to the intake). Then unplug the electrical connectors from the injectors. To make your life easier, undo the harness clips that hold the electrical harness to the valve covers and move the harness out of the way. MAKE SURE YOU CLEAN ALL THE CRAP THAT IS SITTING BETWEEN THE HEADS AND THE INTAKE. Now you have 14 bolts around the perimeter of the intake, their locations are listed on the hughes diagram, once all of these are out, you may need that flat heat to gently pry up on the front of the intake t break it loose. After the intake is off, the plenum pan is on the bottom of it, it has 12 or 16 bolts I think. After you have it all apart scrape the old gaskets from the heads, intake and block. Install the plenum pan and gasket, install the intake gaskets and reverse the order of removal while following the torque instructions listed on the hughes kit.

After you have finished, change the oil unless you drained the coolant first, as a bunch of coolant has leaked into the engine.
 
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