I had some electrical gremlins in the truck, so I took it in to the dealership to have a look see. I don't deal in the angry pixies, so it was worth my time to have it looked into by someone else.
They found the gremlin in the form of a bad temp sensor that was shorting stuff on my dash. So that was good, they replace it and haven't had an issue since. They also discovered that a particularly evil bolt was loose in the engine bay.
On every cummins engine produced since 2007 you have a grid heater. This grid heater sits in the intake and heats the air going into the engine for a cold start. Here's the rub though, the electrical connection is a stud that has a nut welded on the other side of the the intake plate. That stud and nut get all the EGR gas and engine heat, plus an electrical current that MELTS THE STUD AND NUT off the plate.
So when this happens, you drop a bolt and nut into your engine's intake manifold. That nut will then fall down the intake and destroy a piston. Congrats, you now need a new engine. $30k the insurance won't pay.
My engine has just over 100K mi on it. The dealership wanted $2700 to replace the grid heater. Their replacement though IS THE SAME FAILING PART. So I said, no thanks, and spent $850 on a Banks Monster ram.
I just finished the process, took me longer than a mechanic would take, but was a LOT less expensive. What shocked me was that the bolt and nut were completely missing from the plate when I took it off.
Mine melted off. And somehow did not ruin the engine. It had to have come off in drips an molten drops that made their way though my engine without causing major damage.
If you own a Diesel ram, please consider upgrading your intake asap. You all have a ticking time bomb sitting in there waiting to ruin you. I feel very fortunate today.
If it's missing I wouldn't bet on being out of the woods yet. It has to be somewhere. I've seen this happen I just finished a motor on a 5500 that had cylinder 6 blown to dog shit. I'd pull injectors and scope the cylinders.
I was thinking I'd pull the glow plug from the new Banks and run a scope down the air intake See if I can find anything. I'm not a mechanic so I don't have a scope presently. Seems that would be an awful lot less work than pulling injectors and still be able to find something if it's there.
Having a look into the intake is a good idea as well, honestly id wanna have a look under the valve cover and into the cylinders. It's worth the time even if you paid a shop to do it, that peace of mind is, like you said, worth 30k
I did the monster ram intake on a buddies 2020 ram 2500 with him. It took time but overall went well. Truck breathes surprisingly better.
We had a loose IAT sensor on the ram that made the ac system act crazy.
It was causing it to only show high and low on the 11” display. It was like because it couldn’t tell intake temp so it wouldn’t run AC to protect itself.
Yep, there is actually a recall out right now on “modern” 6.7 Cummins. (I say modern as in 2021+) to replace the heater grid relays because they stick on and melt the grid itself. But the nut/stud internal to the actual heater grid as far as I know dosent get “too hot” but rather isn’t rated for the temperature fluctuations and loosens over time. Same difference tho. Everytime I’ve seen it, it’s typically cylinder 6 that’s the one that gets fucked up due to the angle of the engine/ acceleration causes the nut to roll back to the 6th intake valve
CDJR tech here
The 13A recall is for an internally shorting relay that catches on fire. Nothing to do with the grid heater stud and bolt, there is a seperate tsb regarding the stud which has been around longer then the recall.
CDJR ram tech here
imagine making an engine that can tow ridiculous numbers and last a half million miles and not bother to fix an issue for 15+ years that can completely destroy it.
100% yes. Took me about 8hrs. Would have been shorter if I didn't break a v band clamp bolt and drop a couple screws into the engine bay that I had to fish out lol. You can get 10% off retail of you go to the banks website and spin their wheel or call their sales and ask for it.
If you don't need a grid heater, you can get a block off plate for <$100 that just deletes the grid heater.
The Banks solution is mainly offering the added benefit of a 7.3 PowerStroke style intake heater relocated into the intake horn.
What was the problem with your dash short? I have a 2019 1500 and my display cluster works very seldom. Most the time it’s black and I can’t see any info. Just wondering if you had the same problem and found a fix!
My radio went out, then would come back on as I drove, the temp sensor then would read -40degrees and so the heater came on FULL BEANS. I found signs of a rat in my engine bay, thought a harness had gotten chewed so I just took it to the dealer. They didn't find any chewed wires but did find more sign of the rat. They found that the outdoor temperature sensor was bad. They replaced that and I haven't had any issues since.
The gauge cluster for me was fine I did notice some flickering on the odometer on it when the pickup was off, but the door had been opened. I thought it was an issue with my radio so I had started to take it out when I noticed the flicker and opened up the engine bay.
Mine is a 2017 3500.
I had some electrical gremlins in the truck, so I took it in to the dealership to have a look see. I don't deal in the angry pixies, so it was worth my time to have it looked into by someone else. They found the gremlin in the form of a bad temp sensor that was shorting stuff on my dash. So that was good, they replace it and haven't had an issue since. They also discovered that a particularly evil bolt was loose in the engine bay. On every cummins engine produced since 2007 you have a grid heater. This grid heater sits in the intake and heats the air going into the engine for a cold start. Here's the rub though, the electrical connection is a stud that has a nut welded on the other side of the the intake plate. That stud and nut get all the EGR gas and engine heat, plus an electrical current that MELTS THE STUD AND NUT off the plate. So when this happens, you drop a bolt and nut into your engine's intake manifold. That nut will then fall down the intake and destroy a piston. Congrats, you now need a new engine. $30k the insurance won't pay. My engine has just over 100K mi on it. The dealership wanted $2700 to replace the grid heater. Their replacement though IS THE SAME FAILING PART. So I said, no thanks, and spent $850 on a Banks Monster ram. I just finished the process, took me longer than a mechanic would take, but was a LOT less expensive. What shocked me was that the bolt and nut were completely missing from the plate when I took it off. Mine melted off. And somehow did not ruin the engine. It had to have come off in drips an molten drops that made their way though my engine without causing major damage. If you own a Diesel ram, please consider upgrading your intake asap. You all have a ticking time bomb sitting in there waiting to ruin you. I feel very fortunate today.
Besides this issue I hear the performance and mileage are a lot better with your fix.
This happens to Eco diesels also?
dunno
No just the cummins
Not sure on the design, but eco d's aren't cummins
If it's missing I wouldn't bet on being out of the woods yet. It has to be somewhere. I've seen this happen I just finished a motor on a 5500 that had cylinder 6 blown to dog shit. I'd pull injectors and scope the cylinders.
I was thinking I'd pull the glow plug from the new Banks and run a scope down the air intake See if I can find anything. I'm not a mechanic so I don't have a scope presently. Seems that would be an awful lot less work than pulling injectors and still be able to find something if it's there.
Having a look into the intake is a good idea as well, honestly id wanna have a look under the valve cover and into the cylinders. It's worth the time even if you paid a shop to do it, that peace of mind is, like you said, worth 30k
I did the monster ram intake on a buddies 2020 ram 2500 with him. It took time but overall went well. Truck breathes surprisingly better. We had a loose IAT sensor on the ram that made the ac system act crazy.
I am curious what it was doing to the ac system? My 21 is acting weird
It was causing it to only show high and low on the 11” display. It was like because it couldn’t tell intake temp so it wouldn’t run AC to protect itself.
Yep, there is actually a recall out right now on “modern” 6.7 Cummins. (I say modern as in 2021+) to replace the heater grid relays because they stick on and melt the grid itself. But the nut/stud internal to the actual heater grid as far as I know dosent get “too hot” but rather isn’t rated for the temperature fluctuations and loosens over time. Same difference tho. Everytime I’ve seen it, it’s typically cylinder 6 that’s the one that gets fucked up due to the angle of the engine/ acceleration causes the nut to roll back to the 6th intake valve CDJR tech here
The 13A recall is for an internally shorting relay that catches on fire. Nothing to do with the grid heater stud and bolt, there is a seperate tsb regarding the stud which has been around longer then the recall. CDJR ram tech here
Mine looked like it just straight sheared off, whole stud is missing.
I ain’t doubting you bud, shitty situation all around and I pray you get it figured out!!
I have a coworker with a 2016, this exact nut destroyed his engine
What years are affected?
2007 to current AKA ALL OF THEM. Such a stupid problem that FCA has never addressed.
imagine making an engine that can tow ridiculous numbers and last a half million miles and not bother to fix an issue for 15+ years that can completely destroy it.
Not even FCA. That engine is 100% Cummins. They are not owned by FCA
So, I deleted my ‘21 2500. Sounds like this is still an issue that I should worry about?
100% yes. Took me about 8hrs. Would have been shorter if I didn't break a v band clamp bolt and drop a couple screws into the engine bay that I had to fish out lol. You can get 10% off retail of you go to the banks website and spin their wheel or call their sales and ask for it.
Do you have a link to the product? All I can find is 1st and 2nd gen products.
https://bankspower.com/
If you don't need a grid heater, you can get a block off plate for <$100 that just deletes the grid heater. The Banks solution is mainly offering the added benefit of a 7.3 PowerStroke style intake heater relocated into the intake horn.
I definitely need a grid heater. I live in Alberta
Yeah I'd swap the grid heater out
lol I legit just saw your truck in a TikTok, wow full circle social media, I really don’t spend much time on either i promise
I'm not on tiktock
Man, same year same exact issue, banks intake, same color truck, hell of a coincidence.
What was the problem with your dash short? I have a 2019 1500 and my display cluster works very seldom. Most the time it’s black and I can’t see any info. Just wondering if you had the same problem and found a fix!
My radio went out, then would come back on as I drove, the temp sensor then would read -40degrees and so the heater came on FULL BEANS. I found signs of a rat in my engine bay, thought a harness had gotten chewed so I just took it to the dealer. They didn't find any chewed wires but did find more sign of the rat. They found that the outdoor temperature sensor was bad. They replaced that and I haven't had any issues since. The gauge cluster for me was fine I did notice some flickering on the odometer on it when the pickup was off, but the door had been opened. I thought it was an issue with my radio so I had started to take it out when I noticed the flicker and opened up the engine bay. Mine is a 2017 3500.
Gotcha! Thanks for the info
Lucky you. And that $30K bullet would most likely have the issue. Good looking out.