The real problem is the factory grid heater layout. When the terminal overheats and fails, the hardware can break loose, go through the engine, and hammer a piston, valves, and cylinder head. That turns a small intake-side part into a major engine repair. Our fix is the Banks Monster-Ram Intake and Killer Grid Heater Upgrade. It replaces the stock grid heater with a high-flow intake plate and coil-heater approach, so you remove the factory bolt risk from the airflow path while preserving cold-start functionality. You also open up the intake for better air density and throttle response. If the grid heater power post moves during the jiggle test, do not drive the truck. Tow it in. The labor is the same whether you replace the failed factory parts or upgrade to a Monster-Ram, but the Monster-Ram removes the failure point that caused the damage in the first place.
In March 2022, Banks warned Ram owners about a potentially catastrophic failure involving the factory grid heater. If the grid heater hardware fails, pieces can enter the engine and cause severe internal damage.
Protech Diesel in Kamloops, British Columbia, was among the shops reporting the issue. Despite serving a relatively small market, the shop had already encountered six failures firsthand, along with reports of another eight to ten similar cases in the surrounding area.
One example involved a 2017 Ram 3500 owned by Reese Ferguson. The truck arrived with a grid heater failure code and a cylinder 6 injector code.
Before the diagnosis, the truck had suddenly begun producing blue smoke, running rough, making unusual noises, and developing a pronounced mechanical knock.
The truck had approximately 96,000 miles, while Protech Diesel reported seeing similar failures on trucks with significantly lower mileage.
Protech Diesel diagnosed the problem using what it calls the jiggle test.
The test involves locating the 12-volt grid heater supply cable attached to the terminal on top of the intake manifold and gently checking the connection for movement.
On this truck, the terminal moved immediately, indicating that the internal connection had broken or melted. That suggested grid heater hardware had already separated and potentially entered the engine.
After removing the intake components, the failure became visible.
The grid heater terminal had melted completely through on one side, and the insulator had melted away. Part of the assembly was missing, confirming that hardware had separated from the grid heater.
The missing material was suspected of entering the rear cylinder, requiring removal of the cylinder head for further inspection.
With the cylinder head removed, the shop confirmed that debris from the failed grid heater had entered cylinder 6.
The material had bounced around inside the combustion chamber, leaving multiple impact marks in the piston. Although the valves did not initially appear severely damaged, the cylinder head still required disassembly and machine-shop inspection.
The engine itself also had to be removed, disassembled, machined, fitted with pistons, rebuilt, and reinstalled.
After machining and internal repairs were completed, the engine was reassembled and returned to the truck.
Instead of reinstalling the original intake and grid heater configuration, the shop installed a Banks Monster-Ram intake system, using the raw aluminum version for this particular build.
The truck could then return to service with the damaged engine repaired and the original grid heater configuration removed.
Banks positions the Monster-Ram as both an airflow upgrade and a way to eliminate the factory grid heater hardware associated with this failure.
Rather than retaining the original grid heater arrangement, the system uses a coil-style heater. This allows the factory grid heater assembly and its potentially problematic hardware to be removed from the intake path.
The result is an intake upgrade designed to improve airflow while addressing the failure mechanism that damaged this particular engine.
Owners can perform the basic jiggle test by locating the grid heater's 12-volt supply connection near the fuel rail and gently checking the terminal for movement.
If the connection moves, the recommendation in the video is not to drive the truck. Instead, it should be towed to a qualified mechanic for inspection and repair.
The central warning is simple: identifying a loose grid heater connection early could mean addressing an intake-system problem before loose hardware enters a cylinder and turns it into a complete engine rebuild.
