A New Concern!!!!!!

[Todd_Rammit2023]

So quick question for the much more experienced and intelligent users than myself... This is my first ram that has been nothing but issues pretty much since I purchased it... I found a new thing yesterday I feel I need to ask about. I purchased the ram with low miles and it already had a CAI installed which is fine I dont mind them. It has since been inspected and even been in the dealership shop multiple times so I never thought to do an inspection of the air filter myself thinking that someone would have done it between all the shop visits and inspection for registration. That being said I am in west texas and we had a super nasty dust storm come though 2 days ago. I had to get out and about for about 5-10 miles of light throttle driving due to basically no visibility during that dust storm which prompted me to want to clean the air filter yesterday. When I took the lid off the housing for the air filter I found the filter literally just laying inside the housing not attached to the intake tube port in the housing at all. I think the hose clamp was just too loose or rattled loose but either way there is no telling how long it has been like that and now I am very concerned about how much dirt and debris could be in my intake manifold. I went ahead and cleaned everything I could by hand and put it all back together and made sure the filter was ACTUALLY clamped onto the port inside the filter housing. How concerned should I be about the air intake and intake valves etc. down in there and is there anything I can do to clean things up to the best of my ability without tearing down an engine? I have so far not experienced any issues but again no telling how long the filter has not been doing its job unfortunately which is my fault for not checking... so now I have this concern on an already problematic truck. I did put some seafoam into the fuel tank and a little in the oil as its due for a change soon regardless. I was told by a buddy to try the seafoam "top engine" / "intake" cleaner if I am worried but I have never used anything other that seafoam in the tank occasionally so I wanted some input possibly. How worried should I be? ... and would it hurt or does anyone recommend any further actions at this point to TRY MY BEST and keep this thing on the road for the next few years since I still owe a substantial amount on a questionable truck. I have posted some pictures for reference and clarity since I am terrible about explaining the issues I saw in writing.

 

[HemiDude]

If it was me I would change the oil immediately, remove the air tube and clean the inside, and maybe inspect or replace the pcv. There isn't much else you can do without tearing things apart, So at this point just keep your eyes and ears open for abnormalities. FYI, it probably won;t hurt to check your cabin air filter too, based on that last pic.

 

[mikeru82]

You're likely to get a lot of different answers to this, here's mine. I would avoid using any kind of intake cleaner. There was likely a coating of oil inside the intake manifold from the pcv valve, so it's probably coated with dust now. Any intake cleaner you use will flush that dust through the engine. I'd remove the intake manifold and thoroughly clean it. I'd also remove and clean the intake snorkel. I would also do an oil change, drive it for maybe 100 miles and change it again.

I'm sure in the future you won't make this mistake. I've found air filters with loose clamps on used vehicles I was looking to buy but never one with the filter completely detached. Just out of curiosity, did you have a pre-purchase inspection performed? Was this a private party purchase or did you buy from a dealership?

 

[Todd_Rammit2023]

You're likely to get a lot of different answers to this, here's mine. I would avoid using any kind of intake cleaner. There was likely a coating of oil inside the intake manifold from the pcv valve, so it's probably coated with dust now. Any intake cleaner you use will flush that dust through the engine. I'd remove the intake manifold and thoroughly clean it. I'd also remove and clean the intake snorkel. I would also do an oil change, drive it for maybe 100 miles and change it again.

I'm sure in the future you won't make this mistake. I've found air filters with loose clamps on used vehicles I was looking to buy but never one with the filter completely detached. Just out of curiosity, did you have a pre-purchase inspection performed? Was this a private party purchase or did you buy from a dealership?

yes it was "inspected" before i purchased the vehicle and it was sold by a dealer here in town.

 

[Todd_Rammit2023]

You're likely to get a lot of different answers to this, here's mine. I would avoid using any kind of intake cleaner. There was likely a coating of oil inside the intake manifold from the pcv valve, so it's probably coated with dust now. Any intake cleaner you use will flush that dust through the engine. I'd remove the intake manifold and thoroughly clean it. I'd also remove and clean the intake snorkel. I would also do an oil change, drive it for maybe 100 miles and change it again.

I'm sure in the future you won't make this mistake. I've found air filters with loose clamps on used vehicles I was looking to buy but never one with the filter completely detached. Just out of curiosity, did you have a pre-purchase inspection performed? Was this a private party purchase or did you buy from a dealership?

cabin air filter was changed yesterday and it was sold by a dealer here in town who did the initial "inspection" and its been in the shop probably 5 times this last year for random issues including recalls and all 8 injectors failing .... like i said this truck has been nothing but an issue so far.... first and probably last RAM I will own unfortunately

 

[Scap]

Sorry to hear you're having issues, but it sounds like the PO may have had issues as well.
Don't let something someone else dumped be a benchmark for the brand.

 

[HemiDude]

cabin air filter was changed yesterday and it was sold by a dealer here in town who did the initial "inspection" and its been in the shop probably 5 times this last year for random issues including recalls and all 8 injectors failing .... like i said this truck has been nothing but an issue so far.... first and probably last RAM I will own unfortunately

Recalls with every manufacturer, but all 8 injectors? Did they all fail at once, or was it a progressive issue?

 

[boogielander]

yeah not much you can do about it now since you can't get rid of it. The internals may have been damaged or scored due to lack of filtration and sucked in dirt/ dust and likely "sandblasted" the internal. Just change the oil and keep on trucking, especially if you don't feel like it drives differently.
If you're up to task and mechanically inclined, you can probably remove the intake manifold and swap a new one in but that's the best you can do.

and don't write off the brand just because you bought a used truck that was modded questionably... that was on you. but i do understand the hostile feeling toward incompetency of dealer service department though.

 

[Todd_Rammit2023]

Recalls with every manufacturer, but all 8 injectors? Did they all fail at once, or was it a progressive issue?

all at once apparently... truck got to where it would BARELY or not even cold start without several attempts .... took it in they did their testing and said all 8 were below standard in whatever tests they performed.... so they replaced them under warranty but then shortly after I developed a fuel leak out of one of the injectors and the stealership tried to charge me to fix it even tho they had JUST done the injectors so that was a fight ... not worried about the recalls i get those happen its the other stuff thats killing me on this truck...

 

[HSKR R/T]

The damage is already done. As others have suggested, do an oil change immediately.

If you can, pull the intake manifold and have it cleaned, as well as the throttle body. Judging by the pics of the throttle body you posted, it's obvious it sucked in a lot of dirt.

Monitor oil consumption. You may have increased oil burning due to scored cylinder walls.

 

[Scram1500]

Most cai filters are rock catchers, think screen door. The motor has been chewing on dust since that was installed

 

[boogielander]

Most cai filters are rock catchers, think screen door. The motor has been chewing on dust since that was installed

yes but his problem is even worse... from what it sounds like the filter was not even attached.
it's like the screen on the screen door fell off!

 

[Scram1500]

yes but his problem is even worse... from what it sounds like the filter was not even attached.
it's like the screen on the screen door fell off!

Without the screen you're gonna get mosquitoes

 

[boogielander]

Without the screen you're gonna get mosquitoes

sometimes even worse! you get bees!

 

[mikeru82]

Mosquitos and bees, hell, we’re taking seagulls lol