The real problem is the stock grid heater layout. On these Ram 6.7L Cummins engines, the heater bolt can deteriorate, break loose, and fall through the intake runner into cylinder #6. When that happens, the damage can be severe: bent valves, piston damage, cylinder head damage, and in some cases a full engine replacement. Our Banks Monster-Ram Intake and Killer Grid Heater Upgrade fixes that at the source by replacing the factory grid heater with a high-flow intake plate and a coil-heater strategy. That clears the obstruction out of the intake path for better breathing, and it removes the stock bolt-style failure point from the engine’s air path. In this case, the same design that improves mass airflow also helps prevent one of the most expensive 6.7L Cummins failures you can have.
The video focuses on a known failure mode on Ram 6.7L Cummins engines: the factory intake grid heater can shed a fastener into the engine, causing catastrophic damage. Gale Banks introduces the issue by noting that many Ram Cummins owners have heard about the "grid heater bolt failure" that can destroy an engine, but may not understand what actually fails or how to prevent it.
Banks explains that the Monster-Ram intake elbow for the Cummins 6.7 was originally developed to improve power and efficiency. According to Banks, the system delivered an 88 percent increase in mass airflow compared with the stock intake arrangement. A key part of that airflow improvement came from replacing the restrictive factory grid heater with Banks' high-flow billet intake plate. The stock grid heater sits directly in the intake path and creates a major obstruction, while the Banks plate removes that blockage.
Because cold-start heating still has to be retained, Banks designed a separate coil heater that mounts vertically in the Monster-Ram. The intent was to preserve drivability and cold-weather usability without leaving the factory-style heater element in the airflow path. What Banks says they did not initially realize was that removing the factory grid heater also eliminated a serious mechanical failure point.
At Pro-Tech Diesel Center in Kamloops, British Columbia, Brad Hunt describes what his shop regularly sees on these engines. He says the shop performs a large amount of Cummins repair work and encounters major engine failures and engine replacements caused by a single small bolt in the heater grid assembly.
Using a removed grid heater from a Ram 3500 6.7L, Hunt explains that heat, condensation, and a poor electrical connection can cause the bolt and stud area to erode and deteriorate. Once the fastener weakens enough, it can break off and fall into the intake runner. From there, it travels down the intake passage and typically ends up in cylinder number six. The result can be a bent valve, a hole in the piston, or both. In other words, a small failure in the intake heater assembly can escalate into total engine failure.
The truck shown in the shop is a 2016 Ram 3500 with a 6.7L Cummins diesel that suffered the grid heater bolt failure. Hunt points out the exact failure location at the top of the intake assembly, identifying the 10 mm bolt head and the wire connection for the grid heater. When he touches the connection, it is visibly loose, indicating that the fastener has broken off inside the intake.
A technician then begins disassembly. The stock intake horn is removed to expose the factory heater location beneath it. With the intake components off, the failed part is clearly visible: the bolt that should secure the assembly is no longer attached. The remaining intake section shows where the hardware was supposed to be fixed in place, but the connection has separated.
Once the grid heater is removed from the engine, the underside reveals heavy carbon contamination from the EGR system. Hunt points out that one side of the heater assembly still has its nut in place, while the opposite side is missing the corresponding fastener. Flipping the assembly over shows the upper portion of the stud and the plastic around it melted, corroded, and broken away. That broken hardware then dropped from the heater assembly, entered the intake runner, and continued into the cylinder.
To determine whether the engine can be saved, the shop continues disassembly by removing the valve cover, valvetrain, injectors, charge-air cooler components, exhaust manifold, and finally the cylinder head. With the head off, the path of the failed bolt becomes obvious. Hunt shows where the heater-grid bolt traveled down the intake runner, passed through the valve area, and then bounced around inside cylinder six.
The damage includes impact marks on the piston crown and a dent in the underside of the cylinder head. Hunt estimates the dent in the head at roughly six to eight thousandths of an inch. The valves will have to be removed, and the head must go to a machine shop for inspection and repair. The bolt head is still wedged in the corner of the piston, and the cylinder wall has been scuffed, although Hunt says the wall damage does not appear deep.
At that stage, the engine is slated for removal and machine-shop repair. Hunt says the outcome is not the worst possible scenario, but the final decision depends on whether the cylinder head can be machined without going below minimum deck thickness. If it remains within specification after machining, the original head can be reused. If not, the customer will need a replacement cylinder head in addition to the rest of the repair work.
The central engineering point of the video is that the Banks Monster-Ram system avoids this failure mode by eliminating the factory grid heater assembly entirely. Instead of retaining the original heater plate and its problematic fastener arrangement in the intake stream, the Banks system uses a high-flow billet intake plate and a separate coil-style heater mounted in a different configuration.
That redesign serves two purposes at once. First, it improves airflow by removing the stock obstruction from the intake tract. Second, it removes the bolt-and-stud arrangement that can corrode, loosen, and eventually break off into the engine. Hunt states directly that the Monster-Ram intake assembly would have prevented the failure shown in the teardown and could have saved the owner from a very expensive repair or complete engine replacement.
The video emphasizes how disproportionate the consequences can be relative to the size of the failed part. Hunt describes the repair exposure as potentially costing twenty to thirty thousand dollars, depending on the extent of the damage and whether the engine can be rebuilt or must be replaced. Even when the damage is repairable, the process involves major labor and machine work, including cylinder-head service and possible short-block inspection or replacement.
A later example in the video shows a 2017 Ram 3500 6.7 turbo diesel whose owner ultimately had to replace the engine after the heater-grid bolt entered cylinder six and damaged the cylinder and piston. That example reinforces the point that this is not a minor nuisance failure; it can escalate into a full engine replacement.
After showing the damaged engine, the video returns to a truck equipped with the Banks Monster-Ram system. Hunt points out the revised layout, noting that the intake heater is now positioned up top as part of the Monster-Ram arrangement rather than buried in the factory-style grid heater assembly. He describes the installation as clean, with the electrical connections plugging in properly and the components fitting neatly with good surrounding clearance.
He also notes the airflow benefit and states that the system is 50-state emissions compliant. Banks closes by reinforcing that the Monster-Ram is presented not only as a high-performance intake manifold for 2007-current Ram applications, but also as a practical way to eliminate the factory grid heater failure point that can otherwise destroy an engine.