Ram owners with 3.6 V6

[Haas]

Anyone who owns the Ram with a V6 Pentastar. Are any of you hearing of, or having a problem with an oil filter housing adapter cracking, and then leaking oil?

I'm starting to hear rumblings about this being a common problem because they are plastic. The heat of the engine starts to degrade the plastic, and then it eventually develops a crack, only to leak oil.

Was, or is this a problem?

 

[bruce219]

Nothing with mine,mine only has 30k though

 

[CamperMike]

It was a problem for multiple vehicles in 2014. They changed the housing that year and it was prone to breaking. They updated the part after that and I don't believe it is a problem on any other year.

 

[Haas]

It was a problem for multiple vehicles in 2014. They changed the housing that year and it was prone to breaking. They updated the part after that and I don't believe it is a problem on any other year.

So, you're saying you believe it was a problem with the 2014 year model only?

 

[Quyonmob]

It was a problem for multiple vehicles in 2014. They changed the housing that year and it was prone to breaking. They updated the part after that and I don't believe it is a problem on any other year.

This is the answer. New housing is retro to 2014 as well. Was a bigger issue with vehicles that got the pentastar earlier than the ram.

 

[CamperMike]

This is the answer. New housing is retro to 2014 as well. Was a bigger issue with vehicles that got the pentastar earlier than the ram.

There was a slightly different issue before 2014... 2011-13 occasionally had the bypass valve inside the housing break but not an external leak like in 2014. The 2014 design fixed that issue but early models had weak housing that was prone to leaking. They fixed that late in 2014 so ones after that don't have either issue.

 

[Haas]

ok, so 2015 or newer don't have that problem I take it.

 

[Xena1]

So, you're saying you believe it was a problem with the 2014 year model only?

The later year 3.6L motors still have fragile oil cooler housings. Not to mention left side head problems due to design. Had a number of Wranglers with this motor and would never buy another one EVER! Go with the 5.7L and save yourself the headaches.

 

[Quyonmob]

The later year 3.6L motors still have fragile oil cooler housings. Not to mention left side head problems due to design. Had a number of Wranglers with this motor and would never buy another one EVER! Go with the 5.7L and save yourself the headaches.

head issues were resolved by 2016 on wranglers, earlier on Rams.

 

[Haas]

The later year 3.6L motors still have fragile oil cooler housings. Not to mention left side head problems due to design. Had a number of Wranglers with this motor and would never buy another one EVER! Go with the 5.7L and save yourself the headaches.

Yikes, the 5.7 brings all new headaches. Cam follower failures and cam issues doesn't sound like saved headaches.

 

[Xena1]

Well I had a 2013 Ram with the 5.7L and had no problems with it at all. Not the case with six different JK's from 2012 to 2017. The other point that I would like to make is my Ram got better mileage than any of the JK's especially on trips. My latest Ram has the 6.7L with MT and with all the weight of the truck and motor displacement, it still gets as good mileage as any the 3.6L Jeeps we have owned.

 

[Haas]

Well I had a 2013 Ram with the 5.7L and had no problems with it at all. Not the case with six different JK's from 2012 to 2017. The other point that I would like to make is my Ram got better mileage than any of the JK's especially on trips. My latest Ram has the 6.7L with MT and with all the weight of the truck and motor displacement, it still gets as good mileage as any the 3.6L Jeeps we have owned.

I'm not so worried about gas mileage, so that's not really a concern. And the 6.7 I haven't heard of much trouble with those either.
Is "JK" a jeep of some sort? I'm not putting that together with anything.

There are a number of people with the 5.7 that have no issues, but if you google it and cam problems, you'll find auto mechanics that have you tube channels that are seeing a lot of them with that same issue. Too many to just be random failures. Chrysler has a problem with them that they are not dealing with. It's not all of them by any means, but it's enough to raise concern. Just trying to increase my odds of not having a catastrophic problem.

 

[JoeCo]

I'm not so worried about gas mileage, so that's not really a concern. And the 6.7 I haven't heard of much trouble with those either.
Is "JK" a jeep of some sort? I'm not putting that together with anything.

There are a number of people with the 5.7 that have no issues, but if you google it and cam problems, you'll find auto mechanics that have you tube channels that are seeing a lot of them with that same issue. Too many to just be random failures. Chrysler has a problem with them that they are not dealing with. It's not all of them by any means, but it's enough to raise concern. Just trying to increase my odds of not having a catastrophic problem.

How long do you plan on keeping the truck, and what kind of mileage is on the trucks you are considering? I'm on my third hemi, but don't believe in long term reliability with most newer vehicles for many reasons, so I trade them back in every 2-3 years. I'd be curious as to what mileage these trucks have where most of these failures are happening, the most miles I've ever had on any of my rams was 72k so I've never had any issues with the hemi, but that's not a lot of miles obviously.

And yes JK is a generation of wrangler. Followed the TJ I believe (that was the last wrangler I had). Always got a kick out of that JK part (just kidding), seemed like jeep was just kidding with a 4 door wrangler with power windows etc, at least it seemed like a joke to me at the time.

 

[Haas]

How long do you plan on keeping the truck, and what kind of mileage is on the trucks you are considering? I'm on my third hemi, but don't believe in long term reliability with most newer vehicles for many reasons, so I trade them back in every 2-3 years. I'd be curious as to what mileage these trucks have where most of these failures are happening, the most miles I've ever had on any of my rams was 72k so I've never had any issues with the hemi, but that's not a lot of miles obviously.

And yes JK is a generation of wrangler. Followed the TJ I believe (that was the last wrangler I had). Always got a kick out of that JK part (just kidding), seemed like jeep was just kidding with a 4 door wrangler with power windows etc, at least it seemed like a joke to me at the time.

the mileage for the failures is all over the map. Some people are having it as early as 30,000 miles, some are going over 100,000 and everywhere in between.

I tend to keep vehicles for quite a long time. I figure, we pay enough for them, I get everything I can out of them before I buy another.

 

[Haas]

Good video on this from a guy who's seen a fair number of these problems

 

[JoeCo]

the mileage for the failures is all over the map. Some people are having it as early as 30,000 miles, some are going over 100,000 and everywhere in between.

I tend to keep vehicles for quite a long time. I figure, we pay enough for them, I get everything I can out of them before I buy another.

I guess the next question would be, what approximate percentage of hemi's have issues like that with under 100k. Half ton trucks seemingly start falling apart around 100k (and the value seems to take a good hit around that mark too), but I certainly would expect things to stay relatively problem free until that point. Probably could find a low mileage blown motor by just about any car maker out there, but if it's a higher percentage then I could see being more concerned about it. Wondering what that percentage is on the hemi's.

I'm usually getting rid of mine a little before the power train warranty expires, since I like having the v8 I'll probably just stick to that process. The 3.6 sounds like a good motor overall from what I've read over the years on here, and most likely the better choice for long term owners by the sounds of it.

 

[Random_Walk]

Anyone who owns the Ram with a V6 Pentastar. Are any of you hearing of, or having a problem with an oil filter housing adapter cracking, and then leaking oil?

***ONLY*** if it was put on too tight. Also, it's not the plastic per se, but normally the o-ring between it and the engine. 99.999% of this has to do with using the proper torque and making sure that stupid O-ring is seated properly before you go past hand-tight.

I had a new kid at the dealership tear up the O-ring on mine when I did the last oil change there a few months back. You find out pretty quickly though if the filter was tore up, since the first symptom is the most obvious - everything smells like the inside of an oil tanker's cargo hold and there's these huge blue clouds of smoke bellowing out behind you as leaking oil burns on the exhaust manifold.

 

[Haas]

I guess the next question would be, what approximate percentage of hemi's have issues like that with under 100k. Half ton trucks seemingly start falling apart around 100k (and the value seems to take a good hit around that mark too), but I certainly would expect things to stay relatively problem free until that point. Probably could find a low mileage blown motor by just about any car maker out there, but if it's a higher percentage then I could see being more concerned about it. Wondering what that percentage is on the hemi's.

I'm usually getting rid of mine a little before the power train warranty expires, since I like having the v8 I'll probably just stick to that process. The 3.6 sounds like a good motor overall from what I've read over the years on here, and most likely the better choice for long term owners by the sounds of it.

Right, I'd like to know the percentages also. I'm sure that there are more Hemis that don't have this problem at all, than there are that do. But when the problems are happening often enough that mechanics are seeing it repeatedly, I see no point in me taking that chance. I know how my own luck goes. If there's about 15% of them that are bad, there's a 90 percent chance that it will be one that I buy. LOL!

Even on this forum, I browsed into the 5th gen category, and found one person who had a truck with less than 40,000 miles on it, and he had his lifter roller fail,and destroyed the cam. Could just be a fluke, but what are the chances that the fluke happens to be the same thing Chrysler just had a history of problems with?

 

[JoeCo]

Right, I'd like to know the percentages also. I'm sure that there are more Hemis that don't have this problem at all, than there are that do. But when the problems are happening often enough that mechanics are seeing it repeatedly, I see no point in me taking that chance. I know how my own luck goes. If there's about 15% of them that are bad, there's a 90 percent chance that it will be one that I buy. LOL!

Even on this forum, I browsed into the 5th gen category, and found one person who had a truck with less than 40,000 miles on it, and he had his lifter roller fail,and destroyed the cam. Could just be a fluke, but what are the chances that the fluke happens to be the same thing Chrysler just had a history of problems with?

I agree, it's never good to hear mechanics say they see a lot of problems with a particular brand/power train. And haha yeah I hear ya on the luck thing, with some things in life I feel the same way but overall with vehicles I've had pretty good luck. Regarding the odds in terms of seeing particular issues on forums, they might be higher than you think, just considering most people that aren't regulars come here looking for answers to problems they are having. Other than enthusiasts who are members and regulars on here, you don't see too many people coming here to say how great the truck is.

I've been on some other forums over the years and have seen similar things that would make you think there may be a big problem with certain vehicles, but it's hard to know the scale of it and everyone perceives things their own ways. Lots of variables, interesting to chat about if nothing else!

 

[Haas]

I agree, it's never good to hear mechanics say they see a lot of problems with a particular brand/power train. And haha yeah I hear ya on the luck thing, with some things in life I feel the same way but overall with vehicles I've had pretty good luck. Regarding the odds in terms of seeing particular issues on forums, they might be higher than you think, just considering most people that aren't regulars come here looking for answers to problems they are having. Other than enthusiasts who are members and regulars on here, you don't see too many people coming here to say how great the truck is.

I've been on some other forums over the years and have seen similar things that would make you think there may be a big problem with certain vehicles, but it's hard to know the scale of it and everyone perceives things their own ways. Lots of variables, interesting to chat about if nothing else!

Yes, agree whole heartedly. Sometimes I think I worry about it too much, and should just buy what I want and let the cards fall where they may. But, it doesn't hurt to do some research at least.