Ram 3.6 for my long term first truck. How is the reliability and overall satisfaction?

[Dr. Righteous]

Just a FYI.
The ONLY real fault anyone can point at for the 3.6L which comes under the heading of "common failure" is the plastic oil filter/cool assy. Yep. The engineers really had their head up their **** on this one. Sometimes it is the o-rings that degrade and leak, but much of the time the plastic housing (because it is plastic) gets brittle and cracks or crumbles and causes the leak. This assembly is dead center of the top of the engine between the heads. Yeah, it is going to get HOT and degrade the plastic.

Unfortunately as much as I praised how great the 3.6L is and the wife's Chrysler 300 kicking ass and getting 33 MPG hwy; we started noticing a oil smell recently. I got the flash light out and peaked in and around the filter/cooler assy; and it is oily. Its leaking.
No big deal, we purchased a powertrain extended warranty when we bought the car.
I called the dealership to make sure the warranty would cover the repair before driving 50 miles to drop the car off. "NO PROBLEM, you are covered" I was told. Great. We dropped it off Friday evening. I got a call Monday morning telling me the oil filter/cooler assy is leaking and needs to be replaced. Total he quoted was just under $1000. I said "Whoa! I have a powertrain warranty and I was told it covers that repair" He said "Uhh, No. It doesn't. Would you like us to proceed with the repair?"
Even though I could feel my blood pressure shooting up 40 points I didn't say anything nasty. It isn't his fault. He is just doing his job. Is said "No, I can't afford that repair bill right now. I'll come pick the car up and fix it myself."

Yeah, and in fact Dorman makes a all aluminum replacement assembly that solves the leaking issues. It includes all gaskets and seals need even for the intake manifold. Last time I looked it was less than $150 bux from most of the parts vendors I use.
So I get online to order. RockAuto-out of stock. Other vendors, Out of stock. Some showed they had them in stock but at $100 more. Shows how common this issue is.


Check out some of the repair videos on YouTube, not a hard fix. But if you have a 3.6L you may want to hedge your bet on this repair and keep this part on hand.

 

[Treburkulosis]

You wont be disappointed in the 3.6 We have had 2 Pacificas and now a Jeep with the same motor. Our 19 Pacifica was a ****, but I truly believe it was a lemon and we just traded it in on a Cherokee L same motor and its as it should be. We are already up over 20 mpg at 1700 miles.

 

[turkeybird56]

Just a FYI.
The ONLY real fault anyone can point at for the 3.6L which comes under the heading of "common failure" is the plastic oil filter/cool assy. Yep. The engineers really had their head up their **** on this one. Sometimes it is the o-rings that degrade and leak, but much of the time the plastic housing (because it is plastic) gets brittle and cracks or crumbles and causes the leak. This assembly is dead center of the top of the engine between the heads. Yeah, it is going to get HOT and degrade the plastic.

Unfortunately as much as I praised how great the 3.6L is and the wife's Chrysler 300 kicking ass and getting 33 MPG hwy; we started noticing a oil smell recently. I got the flash light out and peaked in and around the filter/cooler assy; and it is oily. Its leaking.
No big deal, we purchased a powertrain extended warranty when we bought the car.
I called the dealership to make sure the warranty would cover the repair before driving 50 miles to drop the car off. "NO PROBLEM, you are covered" I was told. Great. We dropped it off Friday evening. I got a call Monday morning telling me the oil filter/cooler assy is leaking and needs to be replaced. Total he quoted was just under $1000. I said "Whoa! I have a powertrain warranty and I was told it covers that repair" He said "Uhh, No. It doesn't. Would you like us to proceed with the repair?"
Even though I could feel my blood pressure shooting up 40 points I didn't say anything nasty. It isn't his fault. He is just doing his job. Is said "No, I can't afford that repair bill right now. I'll come pick the car up and fix it myself."

Yeah, and in fact Dorman makes a all aluminum replacement assembly that solves the leaking issues. It includes all gaskets and seals need even for the intake manifold. Last time I looked it was less than $150 bux from most of the parts vendors I use.
So I get online to order. RockAuto-out of stock. Other vendors, Out of stock. Some showed they had them in stock but at $100 more. Shows how common this issue is.


Check out some of the repair videos on YouTube, not a hard fix. But if you have a 3.6L you may want to hedge your bet on this repair and keep this part on hand.

^^^^^^^^^ DITTO ^^^^^^^^^^^^ Exactly what DR R stated above,. The most common issue is the oil filter/cooler assy. That would be a part for most PPL whom run a lot of miles to think of getting and replacing, IMHO...

 

[PoMansRam]

Yeah, and in fact Dorman makes a all aluminum replacement assembly that solves the leaking issues. It includes all gaskets and seals need even for the intake manifold. Last time I looked it was less than $150 bux from most of the parts vendors I use.
So I get online to order. RockAuto-out of stock. Other vendors, Out of stock. Some showed they had them in stock but at $100 more. Shows how common this issue is.


Check out some of the repair videos on YouTube, not a hard fix. But if you have a 3.6L you may want to hedge your bet on this repair and keep this part on hand.

Are you going to use another plastic assembly for your 300? I was wondering about the Doorman product and if they'd be able to keep up with demand. It wont be long until other vendors 'copy' this one I'd think.

I know with the two pentastars I owned, the first was in our 2013 Dodge Grand Caravan that I bought new. I was the only one to ever change oil on it and I always went super easy on the oil filter housing. It still smelled of burning oil after a few years of ownership. We had that van about 4yrs and 75K miles and it never actually leaked oil to the ground, but I bet it wouldn't be long..

Same with my 2017 Ram 1500 w/ pentastar. Granted, I bought it used w/ 12K miles on it. It too smelled a bit oily after a year or two.

I guess where I'm going with this is, these aftermarket oil filter/cooler assemblies should be a huge improvement. The only pain is changing plugs or coils and the occasional valvetrain issue you hear of on pentastars. Usually broken rocker arms. Parts are cheap for them though and the fix isn't too complicated or expensive.

 

[Dr. Righteous]

I'll get the Dorman alumn assy mainly because I like the fact that they saw a problem and invested in some pretty expensive manufacturing processes to produce a solution; all American made. You can get a replacement plastic assy, with sensors plus the oil cooler cheaper. But that isn't a real fix. Who knows. The next time we are in the market for a car maybe the only choices will be some bull crap electric something. Might end up keeping it for many years.

 

[huntergreen]

Just a FYI.
The ONLY real fault anyone can point at for the 3.6L which comes under the heading of "common failure" is the plastic oil filter/cool assy. Yep. The engineers really had their head up their **** on this one. Sometimes it is the o-rings that degrade and leak, but much of the time the plastic housing (because it is plastic) gets brittle and cracks or crumbles and causes the leak. This assembly is dead center of the top of the engine between the heads. Yeah, it is going to get HOT and degrade the plastic.

Unfortunately as much as I praised how great the 3.6L is and the wife's Chrysler 300 kicking ass and getting 33 MPG hwy; we started noticing a oil smell recently. I got the flash light out and peaked in and around the filter/cooler assy; and it is oily. Its leaking.
No big deal, we purchased a powertrain extended warranty when we bought the car.
I called the dealership to make sure the warranty would cover the repair before driving 50 miles to drop the car off. "NO PROBLEM, you are covered" I was told. Great. We dropped it off Friday evening. I got a call Monday morning telling me the oil filter/cooler assy is leaking and needs to be replaced. Total he quoted was just under $1000. I said "Whoa! I have a powertrain warranty and I was told it covers that repair" He said "Uhh, No. It doesn't. Would you like us to proceed with the repair?"
Even though I could feel my blood pressure shooting up 40 points I didn't say anything nasty. It isn't his fault. He is just doing his job. Is said "No, I can't afford that repair bill right now. I'll come pick the car up and fix it myself."

Yeah, and in fact Dorman makes a all aluminum replacement assembly that solves the leaking issues. It includes all gaskets and seals need even for the intake manifold. Last time I looked it was less than $150 bux from most of the parts vendors I use.
So I get online to order. RockAuto-out of stock. Other vendors, Out of stock. Some showed they had them in stock but at $100 more. Shows how common this issue is.


Check out some of the repair videos on YouTube, not a hard fix. But if you have a 3.6L you may want to hedge your bet on this repair and keep this part on hand.

Why isn’t that covered ?

 

[txlaramie]

Why isn’t that covered ?

I'm with huntergreen....why isn't that repair covered? The failed item is not a sensor, brakes, lights, window, et. al.

 

[Dr. Righteous]

Why isn’t that covered ?

They wouldn't give me any details. It was just NOT COVERED. Good new is Rock Auto has the part back in stock. Ordered it for $124.

 

[Dr. Righteous]

I'm with huntergreen....why isn't that repair covered? The failed item is not a sensor, brakes, lights, window, et. al.

Yeah, it is part of the engine and it was a powertrain warranty. No explanation. Just not covered.