The stock RAM 6.7L Cummins grid heater has a failure point at the power post and attached hardware. When that post starts to loosen, the bottom side of the assembly can be close to coming apart. If the nut drops off, it can travel through the intake and end up in cylinder 6, where it can do serious damage fast. That is why the jiggle test matters. If the +12V post moves at all, do not keep driving the truck. That movement is a warning that the grid heater assembly may already be failing. 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, removing that failure-prone hardware from the airflow path while also reducing intake restriction. You are not just improving airflow—you are getting rid of a known engine-killing weak point.
A 2017 Ram arrived at Banks with 190,000 miles and an illuminated check-engine light. During the initial inspection, the team focused on a known failure point in the factory intake system: the grid heater electrical post. The customer had already performed what Banks refers to as the jiggle test, which checks whether the 12-volt lead connection at the top of the grid heater has loosened.
The inspection demonstrated why that quick check matters. By grabbing the post that connects the 12-volt lead to the grid heater and moving it by hand, the team confirmed noticeable looseness. According to the explanation in the video, any movement at that top post is a strong warning that the hardware on the underside of the grid heater may already be failing.
Banks connected the visible movement at the top of the assembly to a more serious problem below. If the post can jiggle, the bottom side of the grid heater likely has a loose retaining nut or damaged connection. That lower hardware is not just a minor service issue; it can detach completely. The video emphasizes that this condition means the truck may be only days away from a major engine event.
The specific danger is that the nut can drop off the grid heater assembly, roll through the intake manifold, and enter cylinder 6. Once that happens, the engine can ingest the loose metal hardware, creating the potential for severe internal damage. The fact that the truck had been driven to the shop in this condition underscored how little warning there may be between a loose post and a destructive failure.
To verify the condition, the team planned to remove the grid heater assembly and inspect the underside. The purpose of that removal was to compare the looseness seen at the electrical post with the actual condition of the bottom hardware. Banks uses this example to show that the top-side jiggle is not an isolated annoyance but a symptom of deterioration within the factory grid heater assembly.
The broader takeaway was a direct warning to Ram owners. Banks urged owners to physically check the grid heater post rather than waiting for a fault to become catastrophic. If the post moves at all, the recommendation is to treat it as an urgent issue. The video presents the jiggle test as a simple field check that can reveal whether the factory setup is approaching the point where the retaining nut may separate and be pulled into the engine.
Because of that failure risk, the factory grid heater was replaced with a high-flow billet intake plate. Banks identifies the replacement as the Monster-Ram. In this case, the upgrade was presented not as a cosmetic modification but as a preventive measure to eliminate the problematic stock grid heater arrangement while improving intake flow.
The conclusion was straightforward: replacing the old grid heater with a Banks Monster-Ram was the correct move for this Ram owner.
