How Many Miles Can I Get Out Of The Pentastar?

[newdorplane]

Hey Y'all:

I currently own a 2001 Ranger, with 200k on the odometer, and I love the truck, but it's going to have to be replaced at some point. Unfortunately, I am not too fond of the powertrain options on the new Ranger; I prefer a normally aspirated engine over a turbocharged unit. Secondly, the ZF transmission in the Ram has a bulletproof reputation, while the jury is still out on the long term longevity of the 10 speed unit in the Ranger. This has me looking at the Ram 1500 Classic.

I really like the Ram Classic, in all ways, but I wondering: is the Pentastar a 200-250k mile motor, if maintained? I was hoping for some feedback. I read, I don't remember where, that it has a service life of 150k, which left me a little disappointed.

Also, is the Ram 1500 Classic a true Mopar truck in all ways? The older Dodge trucks has a reputation for running forever. Nowadays, there's a lot of cost cutting going on with certain manufacturers.

Thanks

 

[SitKneelBend]

In short, everything I see points to the answer being yes and it's not a stretch to say the Pentastar is FCA's flagship engine. I believe 2016 and later trucks have the part improvements that strengthen reliability of the engine.

The only thing I wish they did was make a metal oil filter housing in those improvements...

Sent from my HTC U11 using Tapatalk

 

[stimpy433]

The 3.6 will run forever with proper maintenance. They are in almost every vehicle FCA makes.

 

[crash68]

is the Pentastar a 200-250k mile motor, if maintained? I was hoping for some feedback. I read, I don't remember where, that it has a service life of 150k, which left me a little disappointed.

There was one that hit 626K miles:
https://www.thedrive.com/news/34672...s-chrysler-pentastar-v6-is-after-626000-miles

 

[newdorplane]

Appreciate everyone's replies.

So, longevity wise, the 3.6 Pentastar is the son of the 225 Slant Six?

 

[ramffml]

I trust the 3.6 more than the 5.7 at this point, just due to issues I'm having with my 5.7, lots of "mechanical chatter". Hoping it's just exhaust manifold leak but noises have been there since brand new.

But, depending on your driving style, you may want to go 5.7 as there is a clear power difference, and not much MPG loss. 5.7 should get you to 200k as well.

 

[El Huapo]

Mine was built in the USA (for the most part). It runs strong and the 8-speed is terrific. Look carefully at the gearing if you're going to pull much. A 1500 with the 3.55's is rated to tow almost twice what the standard 3.21 geared one is. I personally wonder how that could be so different since first gear in the tranny is a 4.71 and second is in the 3's. Although if they had offered 3.92's I would have got them.
The 3.6 is an engine that must rev to get power, not a low-end grunt king, but it does very well and there's a plus that I think is important which doesn't get mentioned---the all-aluminum engine is very lightweight and sits back which I feel contributes to a great-handling truck. I live in the mountains so that matters to me, this truck corners very well---for a truck, mind you, it ain't an M3 BMW.
Last point: I don't think the Classic is as good-looking as the standard new 1500's but those are built in Mexico from what I've heard---if that matters to you, it does to me.
Drive one, I bet it'll get you grinning.

 

[newdorplane]

Y'all have been very helpful...thanks for taking the time to offer your feedback

Highway mpg's should be in the mid 20's?

I also read somewhere that 90% of the pentastar's torque peak is available at 1,900 rpms...I am not looking for big block torque off the line, but does this thing need to be pushed simply driving around town?

 

[MoPowered]

How many lick’s does it take to get to the center of a Tootsie Roll Lollipop? Lol, If you take care of it, it’ll run for a long time barring any manufacturer defect it should do 200k or more. And with the 8 speed tranny it boogies. I have one one my 15 Jeep GC Limited and it runs great.

 

[canadiankodiak700]

How many lick’s does it take to get to the center of a Tootsie Roll Lollipop? Lol, If you take care of it, it’ll run for a long time barring any manufacturer defect it should do 200k or more. And with the 8 speed tranny it boogies. I have one one my 15 Jeep GC Limited and it runs great.

Lol... Here ya go...

Sent from my Pixel 2 XL using Tapatalk

 

[crash68]

How many lick’s does it take to get to the center of a Tootsie Roll Lollipop?

He wrong it's three..

 

[PoMansRam]

Appreciate everyone's replies.

So, longevity wise, the 3.6 Pentastar is the son of the 225 Slant Six?

I think this might be the case as time goes on. Like said above, my #1 gripe was the oil filter housing and where it's located. Spark plug and coil change outs are a bit of a pain too, given you have to pull the intake manifold. This really isn't an oddity though given this is how most V6s are designed today.

You do hear of the occasional rocker arm or lifter issue with them, but parts are cheap and it's not too labor intensive of a job.

My first Ram 1500 was a 2017 with the pentastar. I now own a 2019 classic with the hemi. It is surprising at how much power that pentastar can deliver.

 

[El Huapo]

Y'all have been very helpful...thanks for taking the time to offer your feedback

Highway mpg's should be in the mid 20's?

I also read somewhere that 90% of the pentastar's torque peak is available at 1,900 rpms...I am not looking for big block torque off the line, but does this thing need to be pushed simply driving around town?

No need to push it hard around town, remember it does have 305hp. My last truck was a shortbed 2001 4WD 5.9l Dodge with 4.10 gears, this truck feels like it would run away from the old one. The 8-speed is probably a major contributor to that. You need to drive one to see if it suits YOU, no one else can tell you enough.

PS: The V6 is good but it will NOT win a stoplight race against the new V8s.

 

[PoMansRam]

One funny observation you might have when you look under the hood on a pentastar powered Ram 1500 is, there's so much room between the engine and radiator that you can climb right in there. Brings me to another plus on the pentastar Rams, they have an electric cooling fan, where as the Hemis have an engine driven clutch fan AND an E-fan behind it for A/C. Kinda dumb IMO. Why not just use one larger E-fan and scrap the one bolted to the water pump. I suppose you could argue it's good to have a backup.. Nothing wrong with that.

Oddly enough, if you pull the cooling fan shroud off a hemi Ram, there's an almost equal amount of room between engine and radiator. Even the hemi looks tiny in the engine bay.

 

[newdorplane]

How many lick’s does it take to get to the center of a Tootsie Roll Lollipop? Lol, If you take care of it, it’ll run for a long time barring any manufacturer defect it should do 200k or more. And with the 8 speed tranny it boogies. I have one one my 15 Jeep GC Limited and it runs great.

The GC is nice; there might be one of those in my future too

I think this might be the case as time goes on. Like said above, my #1 gripe was the oil filter housing and where it's located. Spark plug and coil change outs are a bit of a pain too, given you have to pull the intake manifold. This really isn't an oddity though given this is how most V6s are designed today.

You do hear of the occasional rocker arm or lifter issue with them, but parts are cheap and it's not too labor intensive of a job.

My first Ram 1500 was a 2017 with the pentastar. I now own a 2019 classic with the hemi. It is surprising at how much power that pentastar can deliver.

Appreciate your reply. As for the oil filter housing, I couldn't agree with you more. Pulling the manifold to do the plugs seems easy enough, although it's a little time consuming. Yet, as you mentioned, that's how things are designed today, so there's no getting around it.

No need to push it hard around town, remember it does have 305hp. My last truck was a shortbed 2001 4WD 5.9l Dodge with 4.10 gears, this truck feels like it would run away from the old one. The 8-speed is probably a major contributor to that. You need to drive one to see if it suits YOU, no one else can tell you enough.

PS: The V6 is good but it will NOT win a stoplight race against the new V8s.

Appreciate the feedback

One funny observation you might have when you look under the hood on a pentastar powered Ram 1500 is, there's so much room between the engine and radiator that you can climb right in there. Brings me to another plus on the pentastar Rams, they have an electric cooling fan, where as the Hemis have an engine driven clutch fan AND an E-fan behind it for A/C. Kinda dumb IMO. Why not just use one larger E-fan and scrap the one bolted to the water pump. I suppose you could argue it's good to have a backup.. Nothing wrong with that.

Oddly enough, if you pull the cooling fan shroud off a hemi Ram, there's an almost equal amount of room between engine and radiator. Even the hemi looks tiny in the engine bay.

That's great to hear; roomy engine compartments make things easy to service.

 

[rvance]

The GC is nice; there might be one of those in my future too



Appreciate your reply. As for the oil filter housing, I couldn't agree with you more. Pulling the manifold to do the plugs seems easy enough, although it's a little time consuming. Yet, as you mentioned, that's how things are designed today, so there's no getting around it.



Appreciate the feedback



That's great to hear; roomy engine compartments make things easy to service.

Not so much unless you actually climb into the engine compartment, which isn't that easy either. It is a long reach to anything. I put 80k on my first Pentastar before the truck was totaled and it was running like new.

 

[Brian Sullivan]

I have a 2015 3.6 with the 8 speed. I use it f or camping,lite towing, and going to work. It's only got 62,000 on it. Hade no problems so far. Should run to 200,000 no problem.

 

[gfh77665]

It runs strong and the 8-speed is terrific. Look carefully at the gearing if you're going to pull much. A 1500 with the 3.55's is rated to tow almost twice what the standard 3.21 geared one is.

PENTASTAR + 8 Speed + 3.55. Perfect combo!

 

[Wizard]

Hey Y'all:

I currently own a 2001 Ranger, with 200k on the odometer, and I love the truck, but it's going to have to be replaced at some point. Unfortunately, I am not too fond of the powertrain options on the new Ranger; I prefer a normally aspirated engine over a turbocharged unit. Secondly, the ZF transmission in the Ram has a bulletproof reputation, while the jury is still out on the long term longevity of the 10 speed unit in the Ranger. This has me looking at the Ram 1500 Classic.

I really like the Ram Classic, in all ways, but I wondering: is the Pentastar a 200-250k mile motor, if maintained? I was hoping for some feedback. I read, I don't remember where, that it has a service life of 150k, which left me a little disappointed.

Also, is the Ram 1500 Classic a true Mopar truck in all ways? The older Dodge trucks has a reputation for running forever. Nowadays, there's a lot of cost cutting going on with certain manufacturers.

Thanks

I have 180k on my 2013 and it runs perfect no smoke no noises no oil burnt ... I just replaced the third accessory belt and the waterpump ...flushed fluids and did the transmission oil/filter this thing will run forever

 

[Richg87]

I expect to get 200+ miles on the Pentastar. I plan to stay on top of the maintenance. I did that with my Ridgeline and I ended up with 241K miles. I could have put 300K+ miles on it but it was time for something different. Glad I made the move to RAM.