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1998 Dodge 2500 w 360 PINGING BAD please help

3K views 9 replies 6 participants last post by  KThaxton 
#1 ·
hey all my dad has a 1998 dodge 2500 with a 360 in it. the truck under a load pings horribly has anyone had this problem and what it might be?
 
#4 ·
yea we have tryed premium gas and that dosent help a year ago it went in for a leaky intake gasket or somthing and it stoped for a while well now its pingin' bad again is it possible that the intake is leaking again? how would i go about checking the EGR, oh and no codes are diplayed on the truck.
 
#5 ·
Ok for 96 up magnum engines, pinging is a problem.  They no longer have EGR valves.  92-95 have EGR valves which hide a common problem to all Magnum engines.  Your problem is a leaking intake plenum gasket. It sucks air making a lean mixture and causing pinging.  It also sucks in oil and you may have noticed it using oil.  It won't smoke though.  There is a TSB on the intake plenum gasket.  There is also a TSB on rerouting the spark plug wires to help with pinging and another TSB or have the ECM reflashed.  Avoid the flashing of the ECM if you can.  Its called the "deathflash" .  It will get rid of the pinging but you won't have any power.  Fixing the intake gaskets should take care of 75-90% of the pinging and premium gas should take care of the rest.
 
#7 ·
ok first how do i ge the TSBs and also we had a shop do the intake does anyone know how hard that is to change last time i said i dont want nothing to do with it but this time it has only been a year since it was last done so i think im gonna do it this time and advice or where i could look. Also if i can get the TSBs then ill look at them too
 
G
#8 ·
The repair may have been done with the original gasket. Make sure you ask for the improved gasket that was phased into service in the late 90's. It has a steel reinforcement within the gasket, but even this will not prevent future failures. The gasket reinforcement plate from Hughes that Thaxton linked to is the best long-term solution with the stock intake manifold. Notice, I said "stock" intake. Use of the Mopar Performance M1 intake eliminates that pathetic design flaw (a real money-maker for Mopar service depts). But with the M1, you need to do other performance-oriented stuff. Don't get me started.

First of all, check the intake this way. Get a flashlight, climb up, open the throttle blades fully, and look at the inside of the intake. Does it look oily on the intake floor? If so, the gasket is shot. As mentioned, '96 and newer Magnums have no EGR, but it didn't hide that gasket failure too well. Anyway, the intake gasket is the biggie. Magnums have no knock sensors (funny, my '89 318 Shelby Dakota did....the plot thickens), so there are no provisions in the programming to automatically adjust the timing when pinging happens. While you're in there, put in a new 180 degree thermostat. Unless you have one of those fuel line dis-connecter thingies, it's gonna be a P.I.T.A. to work on the intake still attached to the truck via fuel line. I don't envy you the weekend "fun" you're gonna have.
 
#9 ·
#10 ·
gen1dak said:
First of all, check the intake this way. Get a flashlight, climb up, open the throttle blades fully, and look at the inside of the intake. Does it look oily on the intake floor? If so, the gasket is shot.
One little tidbit, often times, the oil that gets in the manifold puddles in the rear of the manifold since it sits lower, and cannot always be seen through the TB.

The TSB that Chump linked shows a procedure to determine if it is leaking. I would try that test both with the engine cold and up to temp.
 
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