Burning oil smell, no leaks though

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Tangent

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I have a 2016 with the Pentastar with about 113K on the clock. Over the past few months, there has been an increasing burning oil smell, but my oil is never low and there are no leaks. Are there any seals or anything that I should check?
 

Jeepwalker

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I would start by taking a look underneath for any wetness, because oil leaks given enough time drip 'down'. Look in the front and look in the rear, in case oil is coming out of the transmission. Whatever oil you see (if any), then track 'up' to the source. take any covers off the top of the engine and look (if necessary). Most common leak points are where oil lines join, intake and valve cover mating surfaces and any items that rotate, like the crankshaft, driveshaft outputs, rear diff. etc. Could even be something simple like a bad seal on the oil drain plug, or it wasn't tightened up enough last time oil was changed.

I know I'm not giving you specific locations, but there are so many potential leak points, you just gotta put your eyes on it. It's either dripping onto the exhaust down below, or dripping on the exhaust manifolds up top, and causing smoke. It only takes a small drop or two.
 

Dodge 1500 4X4

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Check the oil cooler, its plastic it sits under the intake manifold, you will see oil dripping on the back of the engine, i think there was a TSB on it for your model year.
 

jaked1500

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If it’s the 3.6 pentastar then it is very good possibility it’s oil filter housing leaking. Super common problem. Just went through it with my wife’s grand Cherokee. Bad burning oil smell for a week before we saw any oil actually leaking and it was only a few small drops. Oil was never low.
 

Dr. Righteous

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I would suggest going with the all aluminum version made by Dorman. No more plastic to crack.
RockAuto usually has the best price but currently they are out of stock. When I ordered one for my wife's 14 Chrysler 300 it was just a few days before it was back in stock and they shipped it out.
Watch out. A lot of other parts vendors are selling these at double what they should cost.

rockauto kit.jpg
 

PoMansRam

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Yep. Go with the doorman all aluminum replacement if you can find one. As far as I know, they've been on back order for some time.

Very rare to have an oil leak any place else on a pentastar other than from the oil filter/cooler housing. Don't be fooled into thinking it's a valve cover or rear main seal. The oil will eventually fill the valley in the top of the block and run down the rear of the block and sort of look like a RMS leak.
 
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Tangent

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Thanks guys! I definitely want the metal replacement. I've been researching and I'm pretty sure that is the culprit since the plastic gets brittle and oil techs tend to overtighten them.


 
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Tangent

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I finally had the chance to get the work done since I can't do it myself. (bad back). They said there was oil all in the valley of the engine. The new part is upgraded with a metal base so it won't break again the same way in another 100,000 miles.

They said they replace a lot of them on Pentastar engines right at 100,000 miles.

Labor was $600. I like this mechanic and have worked with them before, but does that labor amount seem excessive to anyone?
 

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Rado

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They charged you $429.00 for the assembly ? To me that seemd high !
They charged you for the cooler ? And gaskets ?
Dorman comes with all the gaskets for around $150.00 and they reuse the OEM Cooler as I heard you can not get the cooler by itself !
Labor $600.00 for 5 hours, Shops labor here are about 80/100$ a hour here but areas are different But the part charge to me seems high . Dorman is about $150.00 w/all gaskets ! But I may be missing something ! The Oil Cooler I thought you could not et by itself !
 
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Tangent

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Yeah, iunno if I will go there again. The truck is paid for, so I had plenty of money to pay for it all, but it did seem steep.
 

Rado

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Yeah, iunno if I will go there again. The truck is paid for, so I had plenty of money to pay for it all, but it did seem steep.
I hear you at least it is done and no longer a worry issue !
And labor prices all depend on where you live !
And mark ups as well!
I think my mechanic is $90.00 a hr. But some up here are over $100.00 a Hr.
And as the saying goes it is what is is lol
Like you my RAM and Car are paid off , so a extra few hundred is doable
Have you noticed any oil temperature difference ? I am curious if the metal body helps any !\

Thanks
 

Nicholas Cove

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429 list canadian wouldn't br horrible. I mean when you pay for parts at a shop there can be anywhere from 30 to 100 percent markup. You're paying for convenience and right ****** now parts.
 

PoMansRam

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Glad you got her fixed. Sorry it cost so much. Assuming they used OEM parts, I can tell you the OEM part has not been updated with a metal base, so they're blowing smoke up your **** there. It's the same plastic housing with an aluminum heat exchanger bolted in place.

As much as I try to do all the maintenance I can on my vehicles, I'm not sure I'd try this job myself. There's a lot that has to come out of the way. Many nuts, bolts, wire connectors, clips, fasteners and hoses that have to be undone to get at it. The guys that do this job day in and day out probably get it done in under an hour. $10/minute for the shop isn't too shabby especially when they double the price of the part and still charge you $10 for shop supplies. LOL

Hopefully your spark plugs were good to go because this is the time to do those as well.
 
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Rado

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As long as things are done right ,worth it in the end. In my case I can supply the part , ans just pay labor, and of course that is is all the gaskets are in the Dorman adapter as claimed :)
Have you noticed any temp difference on the oil meter ?
 
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Tangent

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I havent checked the oil temp yet. I will when I go to work today
 

Rado

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I havent checked the oil temp yet. I will when I go to work today
Cool Thanks, I do want to get it done before I have a issue ! Hopefully in my budget lol but should be !
 
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