Cummins Killer Grid Nut: Banks Monster-Ram Save
Full Video Transcript
00:05 what’s up everyone we’re back this week in the shop same old truck different problem uh we’ve got a intake heater relay fault or intake heater fault I checked the relay relay is working it’s got power all the way over to the heater grid itself which is down here found out that the Heat gr it so
00:31 it’s not working so these trucks have a history I think it’s the 13s I’m sorry the 10 all the way up when I get it apart I’ll show you there’s a nut there’s two nuts on the underside that can come loose over time from the Heat and cooling so we got a solution we’re going to go with this Banks set upCopy SectionAdd a noteJump to
00:56 here comes with a new intake Ram the heater will thread into here now it’s over here somewhere anyways Banks make some pretty good stuff there’s some good diesel guys out here these guys been around forever so really can’t go wrong with them and uh so yeah let’s get start tearing this sucker apart
02:19 all right so we got the air intake horn off some of the wiring out of the way now we’re going to have to pull all the fuel lines off get the fuel rail off and then this plate off there’s the inake heater this one’s clean unlike you’ll see most of the time uh for reasons we’re not going to talk
02:40 about and uh I’ll leave it at that so let’s get to pulling the rest of the stuff off guys I want to show you something this is how close we were to probably having an engine failure just for moving around and pulling this intake plate off I seen this hole and I was like oh no where the rest of it
03:43 go there it is there it is right there that is the killer bolt nut stud however you want to call it that comes off of this heater intake right there and then that eventually makes its way into one of these valves intake valves into the engine and hurts destroys the engine wow
04:16 and we nailed that got that just in time just in time wow love it that would go sorry it would go in there like that dang it’s crazy so I want to go over this again the stud that come out this would have gone here which I was taking it apart it was loose like it would
04:54 wiggle this is attached on the bottom side here see over time as this gets hot and cold hot and cold obviously it works the metal expands contracts expands contracts eventually you end up with a loose uh a loose connection here and and once that starts then you start getting
05:23 resistance CU you don’t have a good solid clean connection which creates more heat which eventually melted off that’s scary I’m glad uh we got this handled before we had a really big issue but all right so moving on to the banks let’s get these out and do a little
05:45 comparison all right so we got them out let me take a good comparison of this this Banks uh what do they call it monster ram genin 2 compared to the Old Stock Feller it’s definitely got more of a rise holds more volume you get a more direct air input in straight so I can see that
06:08 helping got a nice Billet new intake plate there so we just got to swap a few things over put throttle valve on this one uh obviously we got a map sensor or tmap sensor to put in there and uh the new heater this will be our new heater grid just threads into here I say heater Grid it’s a coil
06:36 style and hopefully I don’t see any way that can come apart and damage an engine like the factory one here so it’s very nice upgrade well done Banks as usual and like they said in their deal if anything I think you’ll agree it looks badass too it does look badass good job guys all right
07:02 I also forgot to mention it came with some sweet stickers obviously a uh another sticker that proves that this is carb compliant a nice little nice displate bracket thanks fellas looks awesome all right guys missed out on uh some of the install didn’t miss out on much it’s
07:28 real straight straightforward I’ll give it to Banks their directions are awesome they killed it with that I haven’t seen directions that clear in a long time did I follow them to the tea no I did not I did a few things differently that caused me to do some stuff twice we’re not going to talk
07:51 about that but there’s not a whole lot different the uh you got to put these spacers on the fuel rail right there use the factory bolts it comes with you know really put it all back together it comes with this new number one fuel injector line that goes over and down here rather
08:13 than the other way where it crossed in and was impossible but anyways yeah so uh you have to pull this bracket off here for the old batwing okay that no longer is used uh yeah just got to get the little cool Banks heat shield on there so it doesn’t burn up the hood
08:36 and all right that’s what it looks like complete it’s on up there I guess it clears it clears it’s close really really close so guys on a scale to 1 to 10 I give this about a three or four I uh I probably could have done this first time around taking my time reading the directions hour and a
09:12 half uh it took me more than that but also had to stop and uh feed the small human at one point and take a phone call so I got I got about 3 and a half hours in it right now but I said I was taking my time make sure it’s all right so don’t be afraid to do it there’s a little tricky bolt um if
09:37 you on the intake heater coil here I put that in first and then installed this and realized there’s a bolt down in there and it comes with this Allen headed tool that allows you to get down all the way in there and tighten that up uh they say use a magnet bigheaded magnet
10:02 stick it down there and start it that would work I I went ahead and stuck the bolt in the intake and as I worked it in I made sure I didn’t push it out and got it started that way so do it however you like like I said Banks did a great job with their directions but everybody kind of has
10:19 their own way so anyways let’s going to we’re going to fire it up make sure the uh it actually works does not turn the light on hopefully it’s cold enough but looking at the evidence we had with the other intake I know we got this thing whooped so all right all right so we got the old girl fired
10:42 up it’s a little bit warm so she did not do her preheat uh so we’ll try in the morning go drop this thing off she had a little long crank time as we expected because we had the fuel system apart know go
Mike from Mike from Mikes Motor Venture has a problem child of a Ram in his shop again. “Same old truck, different problem,” said Mike. The truck, a 2016 Ram 2500, was featured in a previous episode and is now back because it was getting a heater relay fault code. That’s a code that could indicate a major problem with the grid heater on 2007.5 thru 2024 Rams… something that all owners shouldn’t ignore. “We have a solution; we’re going with a new intake from Banks,” Mike said as he opened a box revealing the Monster-Ram. “These guys have been around forever, so really, you can’t go wrong with them.”
Upon removing the intake plate, Mike makes the discovery that will save the owner thousands in engine repairs. “Guys, I want to show you something. This is how close we were to probably having an engine failure,” pointing out the broken heater grid bolt that was sitting in the manifold. “That killer nut comes off the heater and eventually makes its way into the engine and hurts or destroys it. Wow, and we got it just in time! I’m glad that we’re getting this handled before we had a really big issue.”
Mike sets the Monster-Ram next to the stock intake horn, and the difference is obvious. “It’s definitely got more of a rise, holds more volume. You get a more direct air input in straight, so I can see that helping. And it looks badass. Good job, guys!”
Understanding Grid Heater Relay Codes and the Monster-Ram Solution
Diagnostic trouble codes indicating heater relay faults often provide the only warning before catastrophic engine failure. High electrical resistance and severe thermal cycling degrade the factory nylon terminal insulator over time. Constant engine vibration eventually rattles the melted nut and stud loose from the grid assembly. Because the intake plenum slopes downward toward cylinder six, gravity draws the disconnected hardware directly into the combustion chamber.
The Banks Monster-Ram intake system permanently eliminates this vulnerability by removing the factory grid heater plate entirely. In its place, a solid CNC-machined billet aluminum plate provides unrestricted mass airflow into the cylinder head. The oversized intake elbow delivers dramatically more air volume, slashing boost pressure loss and lowering exhaust gas temperatures.
Truck owners maintain effortless cold-weather starts by pairing the system with the Banks high-efficiency coil heater. This upgrade provides 50-state emissions compliance, protects expensive internal engine components, and delivers lasting peace of mind.
Related Cummins Reliability and Monster-Ram Guides
- Read our Banks versus BD comparison to evaluate boost loss measurements and fastener reliability.
- Explore the FASS Motorsports Monster-Ram install to see cold-weather starting protection in action.
- Review our RAM 3500 Monster-Ram evaluation to protect your heavy-duty engine from catastrophic cylinder damage.
- Inspect our Monster-Ram Cummins upgrade guide to eliminate factory grid heater bolt drop risks permanently.