Prevent RAM 6.7L Engine Failure with Monster-Ram
Due to heat cycles and a 30Hz vibration at idle, a fastener in the 2007-2024 RAM 6.7L Cummins stock air intake heater (grid heater) loosens, arcs, melts, and falls into the intake manifold. Gravity forces the $1 bolt to roll downhill into cylinder #6. In many cases, this results in severe piston, valve, and head damage or total engine failure. While hundreds have caught it in time like Joe, others have replaced pistons, repaired cylinders, and heads. Some have replaced entire engines.
Full Video Transcript
00:00 Oh no. Worst case scenario. There it is. The dreaded grid heater bolt is failing. Imagine owning a Ram knowing there’s a $1 bolt ready to kill your Cummins engine. Grid heater failure is real and it’s real expensive. One of our customers brought in his truck and you’ll never believe what we found. No
00:24 way. I’ll let the guys explain. This is a 2016 Ram with about 107,000 miles on it. Did it have a P2609 code? No present. [Music] Ready. Oh, where’s the bolt? The whole piece is gone. Is the bolt in there? Looking at valve six in here and we cannot find the bolt. Magnet time. Yes, sir. Go fishing.
01:00 Got it. No way. [Music] Look at that engine killer right there. It’s ridiculous. Look at this, Matt. Another one. 30 grand. 30 grand for a whole new Cumins engine. That’s your bolt. This was about to fall into cylinder 6. Oh, wow. and get ingested and be beaten up by the piston in the head. You were
01:25 hours away from losing an engine. This becomes loose right here over time, vibration and heat cycles. And as soon as it elongates or the nut backs off one or two threads, it starts to arc basically like an arc welder. And when you arc, it superheats and it melts this
01:43 nut and bolt and it drips down. Cuz this of course is upside down right now. This would be flipped like this. And that bolt drops off like a stalactite from the top of a cave right into the intake manifold and wanders down into cylinder 6 and gets eaten up. Passes through the valve
02:03 and gets eaten up by the cylinder. So, I’m lucky today. Very lucky today. Buy a lottery ticket, my friend. All right, Monster Ram time. Included with the Banks Monster Ram is the billet high flow intake plate. And as you’ll see here, there’s no grid heater. It’s free flowing. nothing to
02:18 fall into the intake manifold. We include a coil heater that threads into the top of the Monster Ram. Let’s install this here. Factory horn inlet. Monster Ram inlet. Look at this. Can’t even get two fingers in there. I mean, look at this. That’s the opening. Put the Monster M in.
02:37 For those who say this only happens to one in a million, tell that to all the guys who’ve lost engines. It’s a game of Russian roulette that I wouldn’t want to play. The 50-state emissions legal Banks Monster Ram gives you peace of mind and performance. It extends turbo life,
02:54 improves throttle response, and boosts fuel economy.
The great news is this catastrophe can be avoided by installing a Banks Monster-Ram Intake System. The intake system completely eliminates the grid heater so there’s nothing to fail. And, for a limited time, the complete kit is more affordable than ever, thanks to Banks Monster-Ram Summer Promotion. Save $250 on the world’s most reliable performance intake for 2007-2024 RAM 6.7L pickups and chassis cabs.
Ending RAM 6.7L Engine Failure: The Mechanical Physics Behind Monster-Ram
Under standard cold-start operation, the OEM intake air heater grid draws over 100 amps of electrical current across its resistance element. At idle, the 6.7L Cummins inline-six produces a characteristic 30Hz harmonic vibrational resonance. This continuous vibration, paired with hundreds of extreme thermal expansion and contraction cycles, causes the lower retaining nut on the factory intake-air heater terminal stud to loosen over time. Once mechanical clamp preload is lost, micro-gapping occurs across the electrical contact interface, transforming the terminal into an unintended arc welder. Localized contact resistance generates temperatures exceeding 1,200°F, melting the plastic insulator, eroding the steel threads, and allowing the heavy steel nut and stud assembly to drop directly into the intake tract.
Because the Cummins intake plenum is cast directly into the cylinder head with a downward slope toward the rear of the block, gravity and incoming boost air force any loose hardware straight toward cylinder #6. When the detached bolt drops past the open intake valves, it enters the combustion chamber, where the piston crown slams into it at 2,000+ PSI cylinder pressures. This violent collision instantly crushes the piston, scores the cylinder walls, bends the connecting rod, and fractures the valvetrain and cylinder head casting. In almost every documented instance, the resulting carnage causes total RAM 6.7L engine failure, requiring a complete long-block replacement costing upwards of $30,000.
The Banks Monster-Ram permanently eliminates this catastrophic hazard by replacing the stock grid-heater assembly with a precision CNC-machined 6061-T6 billet aluminum intake plate. To preserve rapid cold-morning starts in sub-zero climates, the system integrates an optional high-efficiency vertical coil heater threaded into the upper body of the proprietary cast-aluminum Monster-Ram elbow. Because this heating element is mechanically anchored away from the intake tract floor, there are zero internal fasteners that can ever vibrate loose. Paired with a proprietary #1 fuel line that arches over the elbow to flow +88.3% more air mass and eliminate boundary-layer turbulence, the Monster-Ram provides permanent engine protection backed by 50-state emissions legality under CARB Executive Order D-161-170.
Related Cummins Airflow & Engine Protection Articles
- Cummins Grid Heater Bolt Fix: Banks Monster-Ram — Explore the comprehensive engineering guide explaining how the Monster-Ram system permanently eliminates factory intake hazards.
- 6.7 Cummins Monster-Ram: Smooth Intake Airflow — Discover how the Monster-Ram’s no-dent geometry and fuel line reroute eliminate intake pumping losses.
- RAM Grid Heater Failure: How It Happens & The Fix — Watch Gale Banks break down the physical signs of grid-heater electrical arcing and mechanical failure.
- Monster-Ram Intake Manifold for ’07-Current RAM 6.7L Cummins Passes Emissions Testing! — Learn how Banks engineered 50-state emissions-compliant performance on earlier 6.7L Cummins platforms.