Dodge Magnum 360 Kegger Mod & Plenum Repair
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- čas přidán 28. 08. 2024
- I own a 1998 Dodge Ram with the Magnum 360. In the process of repairing the notorious plenum gasket leak I also enlarged and ported the runners in the “Kegger” intake. This video shows the before, middle, and after of the modification. Please subscribe if you found this video useful!
I have a 98 dodge ram 1500 with the 318, (5..2). I did the 'leaky plenum gasket' repair about 2 months ago. Truck runs great. Completly stopped oil use, seen a mild power increase, low-end torque improved, engine runs very smooth throughout its range and no more valve clatter under acceleration. Before I did the repair I was putting a quart of oil in every 1000 miles, thought it was just worn rings. Never thought about the motor drawing the oil through the bad sealing of the rotted gasket as it was returning to the crankcase.....I have put about 1600 miles on it since the repair and the oil level is still on the full mark.....I did a few other little things to it while the intake was off since it was easier to get to while there was more room. New upper radiator hose, new heater hoses, spark plugs, PCV valve, air intake housing ring gasket, new coolant, oil change and oil filter. The truck has 187K on the clock and runs as if its a new one....so happy that I finally got a set of 17" AT tires and put the 17" chrome wheels that a friend gave me about 3 yrs ago and finally finished the body work, sanded by hand and put a new coat of paint on it, its almost like driving a new truck, lol....if I do say so myself, not bad for a 63 yr old thats beat up from fighting and BEATING stage 3 lung cancer. The chemo and radiation beat me up pretty good, not 100% and probably never will be. But I'm still kicking even after the doctor had given me 'about 90 days', five yrs later I'm still alive, many thanks to my Lord Jesus.......
Wondering if you ever had to do anything to the transmission in your truck? That's awesome that you beat the lung cancer!
@@HighSierraBob thank you. I have yet to get to the trans cold shift issue, supposedly it involves replacing the shift solenoid and also the pressure switch since they are mounted in the sane housing. I have researched and am told do not use a factory solenoid rather an aftermarket hiperformance unit. My trans has no slippage, just has to warm up a bit before it wants to shift smoothly. Of course with it now having 188K on it probably go ahead and order a band and soft parts kit. Might as well do right the first time, although it does depend on what I see when I remove the pan. Kinda been putting it off as my friend is doing his 4l60 in hi 94 chevy. (He's got a nice little shop). I have never built an auto trans in a pickup but have built several 16X16 hydro units in farm tractors, figure if I can build a 16 forward and 16 reverse then a 4 speed od unit should be fairly easy, lol. Might be awhile but I have been driving the truck on a daily basis for 7+ yes with the issue, just got to know the 'sweet spot for the first couple shift changes. I did beat the lung cancer but still face ill side effects from the chemo and radiation. I have an appt. with Dr. Tomorrow about issues with my esophagus, can be hard to swallow at times. It is caused by the extensive radiation, created a 'strictures. I have been scoped 5 ti.es to clear the stricture but it is just one of those things gonna have to learn to live with. It usually puts me out of commission for a while but doesn't take long to get back into the swing of things. Not 100%, probably never will be but it beats the other options, lol. Im still on the top side of the grass. I take it you must be having trans issues, from my understanding all the dodge trans of the Era have pretty muck the same issue, I did find a couple videos on u tube. Describes it fairly well. Not much work to replace the solenoid and pressure switch. Just got to remove the pan, change filter and fluid while at it....
@@jamesmoore3346 I have a 1995 1500 with a 360 engine. The transmission problem I have is that when I first start it in the morning, I have to shift into neutral for about 5 seconds before I go into drive or the transmission will slip. There is a leaky valve that keeps the torque converter from draining overnight and going into neutral brings the fluid back up. After that, the trans works fine. I will have to do the intake and plenum gaskets soon as well. How long did that take you?
Hey, I have a 94 year old neighbor lady who was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer about 6 months ago. She just completed chemo and radiation and is doing fine. She is in very good shape for being 94 years old! Hang in there!
@@HighSierraBob the trans in my truck has the same issue with the converter draining, I just got used to it and let it idle a couple minutes to fill before I try any gear. I was not aware of a valve that causes this, you got me wanting to do some research to locate the issue, lol. I had a 95 with the cummins diesel , it was in the manuel to let it idle to refill the converter. The trans it had was on used a couple years and proved to be to worst trans dodge ever built.I ended up selling my diesel after buying the trans twice and it was going out a 3rd time, It just was no longer riable for what I needed the truck for. As for as the plenum plate repair on my 318, I can't work as fast as I used, I pulled it down one day, had to stop, next day did all the prep work, and took the rest of the day off, 3rd day did the reassembly in about 4 hours, truck is running great! My health holds me back, It is always good to hear others beating cancer. I went to doctor yesterday, first thing he said is 'heart disease', that sucked, lookalike I'm going to be out of commission for awhile, going to start testing Monday, guess its back to fighting with the reaper again, haha. Not to worried, they can fix hearts now......just a bit more down time, thats the hard part for me. Just want to get back to doing what I love, hopefully finish my 1500 ram, its come a long way...finally got a got a coat of paint on it, looks good but the heart got me down, so the truck is on the back burner again, sigh.....I'll get it. I'm going to keep this one and see it finished one day. I'm really liking the way its turning out. Considering it can be tagged an antique in a couple years, figure its a keeper. Been thinking on buying another truck, got the urge for a 4-door. Plus that will give me opportunity to rely finish up my lil dodge....Guess I'm strange, I just like old trucks and twisting wrenches on them, lol. It does give me something to do........
I know im randomly asking but does anyone know a way to log back into an instagram account?
I stupidly lost my account password. I would appreciate any help you can give me!
I ran into that problem myself with a customer's truck you got a great idea there
Ignore the trash in the bed of the pickup. This is the truck that’s being repaired in the video. First trip after it’s fixed is to the dump to unload the bed.
There are thicker plates available which completely end the blown gasket problem. The runners are at a length that allow for a ram air effect within a specific range of rpm creating torque in the range where most folks use a truck. Shortening the ram tube length will allow for more rpm but will harm low end torque. If you use the original bottom plate you might try using that new silicon seal that Permatex makes, supposed to be real good stuff. Heads are ok for a 5.2 but a bit restrictive on the 5.9. Enginequest heads are an improvement over the stock ones. On the exhaust I pilfered a set of big mouth 5.2 exhaust manifolds off of a 93 Dakota. They are 2 3/8" at the outlet rather than the usual 2". Also used the down pipe off the same vehicle to match the manifolds then went with a 3" exhaust system the rest of the way back. A caution about using the old Permatex sealer: Alcahol in today's fuels & synthetic oil will attack that stuff.
Permatex sealer washed out when I used it to try and seal primary chain case on a Triumph motorcycle.
I did this and really feel it above 3000. It would fall on its face til then. Lost alil wheelspin on the bottom end but the passing power is awesome. I bought the thick white gasket paper and wide flat washers for the plate. Haven't leaked in three years
Btw it’s called a Kegger because the manifold looks like half a beer keg from the top. Forgot to mention this in the video.
I just finished a similar mod on my 2002 quad cab. I only cut about 1/2 " off the runners but didn't change the angle. I cleaned up the inside of the runners the best I could and added some aluminum plates to fill in most of the extra area. (VRP plates @utasome performance) this cut my 0 to 60 time by 1.4 seconds and 1/8 mile by .5 second.
@@moccasinmarine 0 to 60 12.7 seconds before mods and 11.3 after mods. 1/8 mile 12.3 seconds before mods and 11.7 after. The plates I used just reduce the volume of the plenum to help increase the velocity. Some guys are doing the same thing by filling them with epoxy.
Here is a link to what I did. czcams.com/video/xfU7dqMOR60/video.html
Great idea man, I had the same idea, we use aviation form a gasket on Harley Davidson engine blocks without a gasket and have had great results in sealing the crankcase halves to prevent oil leaks.
I’ve been driving the truck now for about three weeks since the repair and I haven’t noticed any change. My opinion is this mod alone is not worth it unless other restrictions to airflow are removed as well, starting with the cylinder heads. The exhaust is also restrictive if you look at the pipes going from the manifolds to the catalytic converter.
Let me clarify that the plenum plate repair was absolutely required to reduce oil consumption and reduce pinging. The “Kegger” mod repair alone is not worth the effort in my opinion unless you change out the heads and exhaust.
Would you say it would be worth the trouble if my 5.2 is fresh over haul, new cranks, 30 over flat tops, mopar performance lifters and double valve springs, compcam camshaft and timing set, long tubes, 3” duals with h pipe, egr, purge, and converter delete, jet stage one chip.
Saving for monster stage two trans and posi set
I'd be hesitant to try this mod without documented improvements in HP, torque, and driveability. Chrysler pretty much discovered and scienced out the long intake runner tech on their late 50's(?)/early 60's long/short ram 300's. I'm guessing that is no accident they extended the runner walls like that on the stock oem kegger manifold.
I admire your can-do attitude in trying it, but I would need to see numerical improvement before I'd attempt this mod.
Ever checkout UTAWESOME on here ?
Has perfected the truck manifolds . They were never meant for high rpm horsepower, just low end grunt but done properly you can make power up to 6500 . My runners are at 13” and it’s making 450lbs with a mild cam up to 5800
Thanks for testing this out! I agree with your theory about there being limitations to the airflow in other areas.
Trucks need torque. Shorter runners do not make torque. There is a smart fellow in Utah that makes volume reducing plates (VRP) that increase torque and horsepower up to around 4k rpm. These plates go inside the manifold. And he has multiple dyno runs to prove they work.
great mod! it makes sense, I wonder how it effects mileage, it's got to be easier for it to breathe. If you added a bored, or high performance TB on top of this, I bet that would be a great combo for more power. All of this applies to the 5.2 and 5.6 magnums, obviously. don't forget to let it relearn, or recalibrate after these kind of mods.
There is a company that makes a 3D printed throttle body. You ship them your old throttle body, they rob the needed parts, mostly the throttle shaft, and build you a larger throttle body that fits the bolt holes on the kegger. Then you mill out the opening under the throttle body to fit their template. It lets more air in. You then install larger injectors to match the increased airflow. A mild cam upgrade and a set of headers will easily put the 5.9 into the 400 HP and 500 Ft Lb range.
Do you have the info of the company that makes those custom throttle bodies i would be very interested in
Nice long runners, this is an interesting variation of the TPI intake, I'm sure it's effective for low end grunt. Nice work!
What a great video man that's an awesome idea
What part did you think was awesome?
And thanks for the work thanks for the information and the experiment appreciate it I'm getting ready to work on this Dodge myself
Btw the plenum gasket repair is working fine. I’ve been driving the truck for 3 weeks and it’s running great. Like I said in the previous comment I don’t think the “Kegger” mod made any difference.
it's a bad idea for them to use a steel plate on an aluminum plenum, two different metals cool and heat, expanding at different rates, over time will definitely work that gasket out. good news is it's cake to make a new plate out of a piece of stock aluminum, just get the torque pattern and specs off the net, and have at it.
We use that permatex in aviation school so we can get the cases apart again.
The restrictions comee in the top of the curved 'tubes'. I wonndered how dodge could hang the term 'magnum' on the 318''s and 360's. Can't say if its partly due to a poor designed intake or not. Just did the plenum/intake gasket issue to my 98 ram 318. Got 186K on the click and its like driving a nnew truck again...still wish I could find an old carburerated 340 to build....I think I'm stuck in the 60's...
You can put bearing spacers in a 5.9L magnum so you can run the 340 crank.
@@karlsmink7037 interesting
In your opinion..what would be the largest aftermarket cam you can use with a kagger intake?
I wouldn’t sink money into a cam until after I installed high flow cylinder heads
since both gasket surfaces are aluminum and possibly slick why not run a a ruff grit sand paper down the length of the gasket surface to anchor the sealant and gasket to the surfaces? to bad a company doesn't make a sheet metal gasket coated with high temp silicone so it seals up and doesn't blow out? did you post a video to see any leaks or that you fixed and or running?
Both gasket surfaces are not aluminum. The bottom plate is steel but the intake is aluminum. I don’t think that’s the problem though. The problem is the inside of the intake is at a very high vacuum almost all the time and both sides are exposed to an oil mist environment. So you must use a sealant that is resistant to hot oil. That’s why I used Permatex Aviation Gasket sealer. It’s coming up on one year and so far the gasket is holding.
So you're saying a 98 mine's a 2001 and I think my plan on is leaking I wonder if the 2001 has the same problem with the intake ports?
pretty sure it pings because of carbon buildup in the combustion camber.... raising the compression.
And water injection will get it out.
long runners better low end, best for a truck.
I pitched the kegger and put on a manifold from mancini racing (mopar performance) and a 650 edelbrock...... nice increase in top end, same bottom end grunt..... the REAL wake up call is to go 1 or 2 stages up on the cam..... .42 lift to .50 or .55 lift...... makes ALL the difference in the world..... the stock dodge cams are junk......
So what length did your runners end up being after you cut them ?
( inside length + outside length divided by 2 )
I don’t know. I didn’t really drive the truck much after the mod.
Round the midle area of runner, like a pocket.
My intake has been installed for a year and a half. I’ve moved on from that project.
How much horsepower gain buy doing this
zero
If anyone is watching this video check out my video on Dodge Magnum Fuel Synchronization. It might save you some money.
You need to turn up your volume
Just weld it up and get some cylinder heads
aviation forma gasket worst gasket sealer ever. never saw an aviation mechanic use it.
as a professional engine builder i stand by my statement.
It has 4.8 stars in 124 google reviews so someone likes it. I use it mainly on threads exposed to oil. What does a professional engine builder do? Do you stop at the short block? Long block? Complete the project by reinstalling and firing it up?
@@moccasinmarine that stuff is not good for filling and sealing voids and is bad for running out. to begin with, the factory bolts are too long and bottom out on that intake. if you didn't replace the bolts with shorter ones, grind off the end, or use washers on them, you didn't fix the root cause of the problem to begin with.
I ran into that problem myself with a customer's truck you got a great idea there