How Many Miles Can I Get Out Of The Pentastar?

[newdorplane]

My average over a total of 56000km has been 11L/100km (21mpg). I have seen 24mpg Highway frequently.

Great...thanks for the reply

 

[newdorplane]

If you want a 3.6 to last 200k, do NOT follow the built in oil change interval monitor. They use roller rocker/lifter just like every other motor and need good clean oil or they will fail also - just like every other motor.

I have had 3.6 motors since they came out - though all in several minivans.

It appears to be a decent motor and runs like a ***** ape in the higher rpms. My biggest gripe is it is gutless below 2200+ rpms, BUT it might be more the trans that has been in my Town and Country's and now the 9 speed in my Pacifica.
I haven't driven a Ram with the 8 speed with a 3.6, from what everyone says I am thinking it is a better combo vs. the gearing that is in the vehicles I have had.

That being said, I am sure for just everyday tooling around it would be a fine choice for you.

Just take one for a good test ride before you buy. If possible maybe rent one from a rental agency for a couple of days to put it through the paces and see if it works for you.

There's also the 3.0 diesel that gets great mpg and in theory should last - I stress theory though.

Appreciate the suggestion...thanks

 

[El Huapo]

Your reply was extremely helpful; thanks for the info and for your time.

So...to confirm, you're getting 16-17 around town? I can't believe it; that's incredible for an engine as powerful as the pentastar.

Since you don't do a lot of highway driving, maybe someone else can chime in with what they're getting on the highway?

Again...I gotta say that I am extremely impressed with what I have heard/read thus far.

To be very clear: I get the 16-17 mpg's with my driving but I do not live in a town or city. I don't want to confuse the issue, my driving is not typical. My close town is 3 miles away and more like a village, doubt it's even a mile long. So a lot of my driving around here is on 2-lane country roads at maybe 50 mph. It is always hilly so that takes some away and I'm often carrying a load (hah! my truck is often carrying a load). I'm a lazy driver and seldom tromp on the throttle. The closest freeway is 40 miles away so I can't say much about highway driving either.

 

[Nick14]

My opinion is somewhat skewed. I bought my truck with 49k. At 50k lifter failure. So, I do not have much faith in the 3.6. I thought, (mistake) that since the 3.6 is in every model, it must be a reliable engine. Nick

 

[newdorplane]

To be very clear: I get the 16-17 mpg's with my driving but I do not live in a town or city. I don't want to confuse the issue, my driving is not typical. My close town is 3 miles away and more like a village, doubt it's even a mile long. So a lot of my driving around here is on 2-lane country roads at maybe 50 mph. It is always hilly so that takes some away and I'm often carrying a load (hah! my truck is often carrying a load). I'm a lazy driver and seldom tromp on the throttle. The closest freeway is 40 miles away so I can't say much about highway driving either.

Appreciate the reply...if you're getting 16-17 in that kind of driving environment, that's pretty good

 

[newdorplane]

My opinion is somewhat skewed. I bought my truck with 49k. At 50k lifter failure. So, I do not have much faith in the 3.6. I thought, (mistake) that since the 3.6 is in every model, it must be a reliable engine. Nick

The broken lifter sounds like it was a fluke

 

[Nick14]

It is possible that it was a fluke. Once it happened, I started looking. It was surprising how often. Not sure of the percentage failure but, when I had to argue with a Ram dealer for two weeks, " we are going to wait, it's not that loud yet". They finally fixed it, the invoice was $2,215.00. Don't get me wrong, I like this truck, plan on keeping it for years to come, the question was, will it last 200-250K? In my case no it didn't. Nick

 

[ramffml]

My opinion is somewhat skewed. I bought my truck with 49k. At 50k lifter failure. So, I do not have much faith in the 3.6. I thought, (mistake) that since the 3.6 is in every model, it must be a reliable engine. Nick

No engine is perfect, and every engine has had failures. It's about percentages and probabilities. Having owned both, I would bet on the pentastar outliving the hemi every time. The hemi makes too much noise, not just my truck, a lot of hemis I hear rolling around just chattering away. Maybe it's just noisy injectors I'm hearing, but do some equivalent google searches and my gut tells me the hemi is more problematic.

But I'd still buy the hemi every time. The power difference is significant, not in city driving, but anytime you dip into the pedal more than "just slightly". And when you want to drive conservatively, you can still eek out 23+ mpg on the highway.

 

[PoMansRam]

My opinion is somewhat skewed. I bought my truck with 49k. At 50k lifter failure. So, I do not have much faith in the 3.6. I thought, (mistake) that since the 3.6 is in every model, it must be a reliable engine. Nick

Was it specifically a lifter or was it a rocker arm? Rocker arm issues seem to be more common on the earlier pentastars.

 

[tnctx02]

Right now between city and highway, running 35x12.5 BFGs, I am getting 18.5 to 19.5. I have 62000 and change on my 3.6L and it is still running good. I do my oil changes at 7500 with Pennzoil synthetic.

 

[Nick14]

Pomans, I stand corrected. It was a rocker. Sorry, it was early AND Monday morning. Nick

 

[newdorplane]

Right now between city and highway, running 35x12.5 BFGs, I am getting 18.5 to 19.5. I have 62000 and change on my 3.6L and it is still running good. I do my oil changes at 7500 with Pennzoil synthetic.

Appreciate the reply. Your mileage is kinda incredible, considering the performance of the engine, the weight of the truck, and the 35" tires.

After reading this thread, I gotta tell you that I am most impressed with the Pentastar.

 

[FL-RAM]

There's an engineer on another board I frequent that was involved in the design/development of the pentastar. One thing he added is these engines will benefit from getting on them hard from time to time. If I remember correctly, something about WOT runs forcing oil down into the valve stem seals. When they granny cycled these engines during the design phase, there was some sticking/wear issues there due to lack of oil.

I always ran 5w30 synthetic and changed it around 6000 mile intervals in my pentastars. I plan to go between 5-6K with my current hemi.

The ZF8 definitely is the magic behind the pentastar powered Ram 1500s IMO. I don't think it would be the same at all with the 6spd. Our 2013 Grand Caravan still felt really good with the pentastar and 6spd 62TE trans, but that's a totally different vehicle.

Work pony? It's my pretty pony! They shoot glitter and rainbows out the exhaust when you get on them. LMAO

The owner's manual actually recommends occasional WOT bursts during break-in.

 

[BriamH]

I have a 2013 Bighorn with 97K miles. Getting 19 mpg with 50/50 highway and city, in NYC suburbs. 2.1" level with 33" KO2's.

 

[newdorplane]

I have a 2013 Bighorn with 97K miles. Getting 19 mpg with 50/50 highway and city, in NYC suburbs. 2.1" level with 33" KO2's.

That's impressive...thanks for the feedback

 

[rule18]

Appreciate the reply. Your mileage is kinda incredible, considering the performance of the engine, the weight of the truck, and the 35" tires.

After reading this thread, I gotta tell you that I am most impressed with the Pentastar.

I generally get 18 around town and 21-23 on the highway (both hand calc'd). That's with corn-free gas usually.

 

[BillinNM]

This has been a great thread, except for the blip of Internet name-calling, but how do we ever get by without that? I am not very truck savvy despite owning Toyotas, Mazdas, a Frontier and three F-150s including the 2.7 EcoBoost, which I liked. That said, my 2018 4X2 Tradesman quad cab has been really satisfying. It has the 3.55 rear axle ratio -- one of the very few options I lucked into as I did not know to ask for it. I have put 39,000 miles on it in just 26 months, driving all over New Mexico and with a side trip to Iowa in the mix. Nothing but scheduled oil changes and a cabin filter so far. Last week I put 1,200 miles on it in four days, driving from Alamogordo to Farmington to Taos to Angel Fire and back. It is a very comfortable truck to drive, and that 8-speed transmission couldn't be smoother. I averaged right at 26 MPG for this trip, but usually get closer to 21-22 with mixed town and country driving. I hope to heck I can get at least 150K trouble-free miles out of this Ram -- and also plan to quit piling on the miles so fast.
Regrets? That I didn't get at least a limited slip differential, if not 4WD. My only issue has been the minor annoyance of the tire pressure gauge coming on every time there is a temperature drop in our mild weather.
I have not changed the oil myself yet, having used up the six dealer oil changes I bought with the rig, new. If anyone has a recommendation on synthetic oil and filter, please speak up.
By the way, the last oil change the service tech wanted to "service the differential" for $175 and flush the brakes for $42. I said no as I wanted to check a forum like this one to see if those were typical service tech add-ons.
Appreciate all the experienced voices here.

 

[KWG88ss]

Make sure you get 3.55 gears. They should have never put 3.21 behind the pentastar. I see limited Very use of 8th gear.

Thanks for reminding me of my single biggest regret [emoji23]


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[Quyonmob]

Thanks for reminding me of my single biggest regret [emoji23]


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same here man, same here.

 

[gfh77665]

The owner's manual actually recommends occasional WOT bursts during break-in.

It does recommend "brief" near WOT bursts. However, I don't recall it recommending continuing the practice after the rings have fully set.

I am not at all disputing the info someones says an engineer said. Just pointing out that the advice is "word of mouth", and not official in nature. A link would verify it.