than stamped steel; this lowered noise levels and made for better gasket sealing. The 8.0 L Magnum V10 first became available in the 1994 model year Dodge Ram 2500 and 3500 pickups, and it was the most powerful gasoline-burning engine then available in any passenger pickup truck. The engine lasted through the 2003 model year, after which it was discontinued. Applications: 1994-2003 Dodge Ram 2500/3500 Pickup Magnums today Chrysler offers a line of crate engines based on the Magnum designed to bolt into older muscle cars and street rods with little modification. Some of the changes to facilitate this were using a 1970-93 water pump so that older pulleys and brackets could be used, as well as an intake manifold that uses a carburetor instead of electronic fuel injection. With a high lift cam and single plane intake, the crate Magnum was rated at with the Magnum heads. Later models equipped with "R/T" or aluminum cylinder heads produced . A bolt-in fuel injection conversion kit is also available. Identifying a Magnum engine The easiest way to differentiate a bare Magnum block from a LA is by checking for the presence of the two crankshaft position sensor mounting bosses on the right rear top of the block, just to the rear of the cylinder head deck surface. Bosses = Magnum. Keeping in mind that the earlier TBI engines also have crank sensors in this position. All Magnum engines were stamped with a unique engine ID number. This was located on a flat impression on the cylinder block's right side, near the oil pan gasket surface. From 1992 to 1998, the ID was 19 digits long. An example would be: 4M5.2LT042312345678 -The "4" is the last digit of the model year of the engine. This example is a 1994. -The "M" stands for "Mound Road", the plant where the engine was assembled. Other characters found here would be "S" for Saltillo, "T" for Trenton and "K" for Toluca. -5.2L has an obvious meaning here: the displacement of the engine in liters. -The seventh character, here a "T", was the usage of the engine. "T" translates to truck usage. -0423 would mean the engine was produced on April 23. -The final eight digits, here shown as "12345678" are the serial number of the engine. From 1998 to 2003, the engine ID was shortened to only 13 characters. It differed in that engine displacement