Engine Access for maintenance and repairs

[jmlee44]

Morning all,

Considering purchasing a later model ram with the 3.6. I'm looking for ease of maintenance and longevity, and low cost of operation.

In the running, the new chevy's and fords are getting complicated with displacement on demand, direct injetion, turbos etc...all a mess.

As I understand it the 3.6 is a simpler layout. How easy is it to work on these engines? For services and regular maintenance and also repairs to things like alternators, water pumps, spark plugs, coils etc? Is it easy to get to everything or is some of it buried under the cowl? Do you have to remove the intake to get to spark plugs (sorry coming from toyota, this is a thing)...

Can someone give me the overall summary of how these things are to keep on the road?
I'm comparing it to the base 3.5/3.3 Ford v6's but I'm not in love with the rest of the truck on those...

 

[PoMansRam]

There are various threads on here in regards to the pros and cons.

I owned a 2017 pentastar Ram 1500 for 50k miles and loved it.

The top mount drop in oil filter cartridge is great on the pentastar, but the integrated plastic housing w/ oil cooler and some sensors has the tendency to crack and leak, especially if overtightened. It's buried under the intake so the intake has to come off to change it.

Like you say, access to one bank of coils and plugs requires removal of the intake manifold.

Other than that, youll see crazy testimonials online with pentastars in pro master vans with over 600k miles on them. Stretched timing chains finally took them out, but not catastrophically.

The only reason I don't own another pentastar ram 1500 is because I found a deal on a crew cab with a hemi and couldn't find a CC with 3.6.

 

[canadiankodiak700]

You do not have to remove the intake to change the filter, the plastic housing has clearance. I've done 4 oil changes so far on my 19 classic, and have never had to remove the intake. Maintenance on the 3.6 is very easy.

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[PoMansRam]

You do not have to remove the intake to change the filter, the plastic housing has clearance. I've done 4 oil changes so far on my 19 classic, and have never had to remove the intake. Maintenance on the 3.6 is very easy.

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Yeah I didn't mean you had to remove anything for an oil filter element change. Those are a snap. The hardest part is reaching back in there. Im 6ft and still needed to stand on something. The fun is only when you need to replace the whole housing. Lots of posts on here on that.

 

[SitKneelBend]

I've never seen a roomier engine bay in a vehicle before than the 3.6L in a Ram 1500...

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[canadiankodiak700]

Yeah I didn't mean you had to remove anything for an oil filter element change. Those are a snap. The hardest part is reaching back in there. Im 6ft and still needed to stand on something. The fun is only when you need to replace the whole housing. Lots of posts on here on that.

Ok, gotcha, i misunderstood, only because there a few posts on here and vids on YouTube where guys say you need to remove it to get the filter out.
I hear you about the stool.... I'm 5'8", i stopped growing vertically avg started growing horizontal if you know what i mean, so to make it easier, i drive up on ramps for my oil change. Well.. It makes fit a very hard reach even on my stool to put the new filter in.

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