SRT-4 Intake Manifold Gasket

Following up on the post I did a few weeks ago, I finally got around to finishing up the install of the intake manifold gasket in the SRT-4. Overall it was a fairly easy process.

Symptoms of the bad gasket were:

Loud, High Pitched Whistle while car was running

High idle and sticky RPMs

Slight fuel smell in the car

For those looking to do this and cut as many corners as possible, follow the steps below(with my notes) to get it done without actually removing the manifold from the car. The original how-to that I followed is here, and a followup post with pictures here. Many thanks to the writers of those posts.

1. Remove the plastic fuel rail cover by just pulling up on it.
2. Remove the fuel line on the passenger side of the fuel rail – Have a rag ready because it will leak fuel as you remove it.
3. Disconnect each of the 4 harnesses attached to the fuel injectors – slide the red tab up and then pull the harnesses out
4. Remove the 2 pawns holding the fuel rail on the manifold. – you’ll need a deep socket. Off the top of my head: 13mm
5. Pull on the fuel rail to remove it from the manifold. – if you’re having trouble, focus your strength on 1 side of the rail rather than pulling on both sides equally. Once one injector pops out, the rest will come easily. Once the rail is out, clean out the injector holes as best you can to remove the sand/dirt build up.
6. Remove the 5 10mm bolts from the intake manifold. – A ratchet extension will be necessary for the lower bolts, and a ratcheting wrench will help greatly with the one furthest to the left. A ratchet with an adjustable, angled head might also be useful for this job.
7. Pull on the manifold and you should be able to get about 2″ of clearance from the head – just enough to remove the old gasket with a screwdriver or razor blade. Work slowly and make sure you take the gasket out in 1 piece if possible.
8. Put the new gasket in position, and secure it by installing the outside bolts into the head(with your fingers), followed by the other 3.
9. Set your torque wrench to 16ft-lbs. Start with the center bolt: remove it, apply medium threadlocker, and then reinsert, this time torquing it properly. Work from the inside-out and repeat this for the other 4 bolts. Do the best you can on the leftmost bolt: you’ll probably have to use the ratcheting wrench again, and judge the 16ft.-lbs. the best you can.
10. When you reinstall the fuel injectors, coat the o-rings with some clean oil first. Also note, they will not “pop” in as they popped out. Press them in as tightly as possible and then tighten the pawns and reconnect the injector harnesses and fuel line.
11. Fire up the car and hope it doesn’t burst into flames

Another road monstrosity

With this one, I have to wonder if the owner purposely made the car as mismatched as possible. Not even the wheels match each other. How does a car get to this level of hodgepodge?

Yeah, hodgepodge. That’s what I said.

Making the SRT fun again (and safe, too!)

I’ve owned a Dodge SRT-4 since July of 2003, and while the car’s been great, I made a few bad choices along the way and caused some issues. In my quest for traction, I opted to install an extremely stiff suspension along with solid control arm bushings. Everything was great at first, but over a number of years things went downhill.