My experiences thus far with 3.6 Pentastar Ram 1500

[Yardbird]

How would you like your water pump to be inside the timing cover, driven by the timing chain, like on the Ford 3.5 engines that sit sideways, like in the Explorer, Edge, ect......

I have one, and it went out at 56K miles. Usually a complete engine failure when it does. Ours just happened to fail as the engine was being shut down.

Unfortunately, It was in a city, 100 miles from home, at a store after dark, in a not so good part of town, close to the hospital I was in after a heart attack and bypass surgery, with my wife driving back to a hotel, and my outlook unknown if I was going to live or not.

I wasn't even aware of where I was, and here she was, stuck.

The Edge is fixed, we still have it, and I'm still greatly ticked at the made to fail system Ford put in this vehicle that could have had a deadly outcome for my wife.

Not our engine, but just like it.

Water pump at end of arrow.

 

[Atcer2018]

I believe all manufacturers make duds from time to time. My Pentastar powered truck has been good through 80k miles except needing the oil filter housing replaced.

My wife’s 2L ecoboost Ford Escape has been the biggest PITA vehicle we’ve ever owned. The drain plug for the rear differential on the AWD model has 1 1/2 inches of clearance before the suspension crossmember blocks its removal. The fill plug is between aluminum cooling fins on the top of the unit which sits about three inches from the body. The front diff or PTU as Ford calls it uses a special socket to remove the drain and fill plugs. It’s also above the turbo plumbing so everything needs to be removed. It holds 10 ounces of 50w oil and needs changing every 30k because Ford put the turbo unit inches from the PTU without a heat shield. The plugs need the intake manifold removed for replacement as does the PCV valve. It’s DI so may as well clean the valves while the intake manifold is off. Want to replace the serpentine belt? Pull the passenger front wheel and remover the wheel liner. Change transmission fluid? Pull the driver side tire and remove the wheel liner. At least the coolant change was easy lol

 

[stenerson]

Been very happy with this 2018 Ram 1500 3.6..Got it at a decent price before today's hyper-inflation. Currently 160K miles on it so far. I changed the front wheel bearings at 125K miles, just like my 3rd gen they seem to go at about that mileage like clock work. Other than that I this month changed the Evaporative Emissions System Leak Detection Pump. It fixed the Gas cap Loose message on dash and the 0456/0457 DTC codes. A 22 dollar part I got on Amazon. When I bought this most of the GM and Ford full sized trucks were at least 10K more. No regrets.

 

[DILLIGAF]

I hate the engine so much, So underpowered and noisy in the wifes JK . I even started putting the RL5W30 sauce in it.

 

[star_deceiver]

85k miles, never missed an oil change.

Brand? Interval? Weight? Idle/drive time? Filter specs?

 

[BenchTest]

Where are you guys getting a 3.6 this reliable???? The 3.6 in my Jeep has been a NIGHTMARE. 85k miles, never missed an oil change. $2,600 in lifters, 4 cams, alternator, 2 cam phasers, clutch and flywheel (recalled), and a coil. And then it's just a pain to work on,,, take off the intake for sparkplugs.... And whomever designed the timing chain system..... I have no kind words for you.
I don't know what university the design team went to, but we should burn it to the ground so they stop giving out useless diplomas. They are obviously just handing them out to every drug addicted homeless wreck living under a bridge.

Can't argue that on the design. It could have been a great platform if they'd have put some better designed parts/materials in.

 

[Yardbird]

I think the basic rotating assembly is good. The problems arise in the oiling system. One being, no oil drain back check valve. Every start is a dry start to the cam and lash adjusters.

Not crazy about the oil cooler under the intake that warps either.

Removing the intake for plugs is also stupid.

I may or may not see 85k on my truck with how I drive and my age, so hopefully I won't have any problems, buy, you never know from one day to the next what might happen.

 

[BenchTest]

I think the basic rotating assembly is good. The problems arise in the oiling system. One being, no oil drain back check valve. Every start is a dry start to the cam and lash adjusters.

Not crazy about the oil cooler under the intake that warps either.

Removing the intake for plugs is also stupid.

I may or may not see 85k on my truck with how I drive and my age, so hopefully I won't have any problems, buy, you never know from one day to the next what might happen.

The oil cooler is an awful design, no doubt. The dry starts are awful, agreed. Those two go hand-in-hand. I absolutely dread hearing the truck start for the first time after it's sat overnight. RATTLE RATTLE RATTLE RATTLE for about 2 or 3 seconds. I can hear the valvetrain screaming for help.

While removing the intake to change plugs is less than convenient, it's not the worst thing they accomplished. That design is shared with a lot of manufacturers as well. The solace in that design is that you can run 100k miles on modern plugs (sometimes longer). I did mine while I had the intake off addressing the oil cooler/filter adapter atrocity.

Dry cam/adjusters at startup, plastic cooler/filter adapters, plastic thermostat housings, plastic coolant crossovers, crappy harmonic balancers...they could have done much better by putting a few changes into place. More sad part is that they never learned from all their millions of vehicles that have failed prematurely and upgraded the metallurgy in the adjusters or put an anti-drainback feature in place. Just kept making the same fool mistakes over and over. Hell, a simple programming change could help this. Teach the computer to long start if it's been over 30 minutes since the last run. Let the oil system re-prime prior to igniting cylinders. It's not a true fix but it would greatly reduce the dry run time at startup. Or put a damn check valve in the system. They've been making this engine for YEARS and have shoved it any MANY models, and never addressed these things. Poor, very poor. 6 or 8 iterations of the cooler adapter/filter housing issue. They know it's a failed design and do nothing to support their customers after the fact. If you're beyond the basic warranty, screw you and get your wallet out. Glad I'm able to turn wrenches myself, otherwise, I'd be in the poor house trying to keep up with this truck. They have the worst resale value for a reason.

I came from a fleet of Pentastar equipped vehicles (my friend had a BUNCH in his fleet as well) - the fails are very routine and very common. Usually the same song and dance over and over.

 

[Yardbird]

I prime mine by holding the gas pedal to the floor and spinning it over before dry starts. Not good for the starter, but starters are cheaper than rockers and cams.

 

[DILLIGAF]

not if but when My oil cooler Sh1ts the bed im installing Baxter performance Cartridge to Spin-on Adapter to solve the dry start issue along with the doorman aluminum housing.

 

[Yardbird]

Does anyone remember the 3.1 (3100) GM V-6? It sounded like it would rattle apart at every start, but never did.

 

[star_deceiver]

For every doom and gloom pentastar story, there’s many like this. A 600000mile version.

626,000 mile pentastar motor

3.6L pentastar motor from a 2014 ram promaster. Timing chain stretched, tensioners failed. Replaced the engine tore the old one apart to have a look see.

youtu.be

There are many vehicles with much worse engines out there.
Use better quality fluids and halve the maintenance interval.

 

[DILLIGAF]

Use better quality fluids and halve the maintenance interval.

This X100

 

[nlambert182]

To be fair.... I had a 2014 Durango with the 3.6 and a 2015 Rubicon with the 3.6 and never had a single issue with either of them. I put over 100k miles on both (and bought them used). Not great on power, but they were dead reliable for my family.

 

[turkeybird56]

Dad bought brand new ‘65 Buick Special. Had lil V6. Just power steering, 4 doors, am radio and heater. That thing just ran and ran. It prob still somewhere running lol

 

[BenchTest]

not if but when My oil cooler Sh1ts the bed im installing Baxter performance Cartridge to Spin-on Adapter to solve the dry start issue along with the doorman aluminum housing.

I'd suggest not using the Dorman supplied o-rings when you do that process. Not sure where they are sourcing those or if they are their own manufacturer of, but they crapped out pretty quick. OEM o-rings or FelPro seem to last much longer.

I've seen that Baxter unit. That'd probably be a good add-on to a new or very low mileage vehicle.

 

[DILLIGAF]

Thanks for that info, will junk them

 

[BenchTest]

I prime mine by holding the gas pedal to the floor and spinning it over before dry starts. Not good for the starter, but starters are cheaper than rockers and cams.

Yup. And at least you don't have to take the intake off to change the starter, lol.

 

[Yardbird]

I like the Baxter add on filter, but I don't think I want to put that much weight on the end of the factory plastic unit. It would be a good add on to a Dorman aluminum unit.

https://www.baxterperformanceusa.co...t-ms-201-bk-cartridge-to-spin-on-adapter.html

Cost of unit..$379.95

There is a remote mount available from them also.

 

[gfh77665]

Greetings Folks,

Transmission service - I've read TONS and TONS of information from a bunch of different resources (including the manufacturer) in preparation for servicing the 8 speed ZF transmission. Again, more about me - I've been in a service/technical industry for 30+ years, some of which have been within automotive. Everybody has different and varying opinions on what the exact right thing to do is when servicing a transmission. I'll share what I did and my results. You may agree or disagree, but this is just what I did. The transmission pan and filtering unit are all-in-one on these transmissions from Mopar/ZF. There are different aftermarket units that provide for replaceable filter-only services going forward. I opted for a Mopar pan/filter combo as I believe this is a critical part that needs to adhere to specs. The original pan design had a drain port which was handy. However, the replacements/updated design from Mopar have eliminated this port. That's unfortunate as it makes futures services a bit more tidy (and drain/refills easier). I opted for Valvoline ATF for the refill. Some may balk at the idea of not using the specific ZF Fluid or Mopar re-bottled version. Again, ATF usage has been discussed ad nauseam as it relates to these transmissions. If money isn't a concern, then take the safe route and use OEM spec fluid from the OEM. I'm 10,5k miles since service with no discernible performance difference using Valvoline. For what it's worth to readers, I have used Valvoline for drain/refill type services on NUMEROUS vehicles for years without issue. Not all fluids are the same, yes I'm aware. Do your homework and make sure your refill product meets spec, confirm with manufacturer, etc. There is a specific procedure on the refill to achieve proper fill within temperature parameters. It's not like the good ol days of drain/refill/check with a dipstick (sad face here).

Hopefully this information is useful to somebody trying to figure out similar issues with their ride.

Thanks all,
BenchTest

Thanks for tons of great info. I have a question about the trans service. What mileage interval do you recommed? Presume no towing, generally easy driving.