What am I doing wrong?

[StupidJeep]

So 2020 3.6 and a six speed transmission. I'm doing my second came and rocker replacement. First one was 2 on the driver's side intake, now 3 on the passenger intake.

I'm changing oil between 3,000 and 4,000 miles, the oil life gauge has never been below 15%. I'm not using cheap oil, Royal Purple with a Mobile 1 filter. Reusable K&N filter is cleaned about once every 3 months, plugs are changed yearly.

I don't rock crawl, a few easy trails a couple of times a year to go fishing or launch kayaks. Cruise just below 18,000 RPMs, shifting around 22,000 RPMs. I do all my own maintenance, it's only been in the shop for tires, so it's not like a tech is lieing about work done.

Am I doing something wrong with this motor? Am I missing something? I've got a 97 ZJ with 305,xxx on the clock so it's not like I don't know how to get miles out of a motor.....

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[Gren71]

I am absolutely not an expert in this field or subject. I do know that I had some strange engine noises happening for a little while that some people have called a “tick”.

I started putting infinity lube in after every oil change, and the sound went away immediately and hasn’t come back. I also use fuel ox with every single tank of gas.

I’m not sure it will fix whatever problems you’re having but it seems to have corrected, or at least kick the can on, whatever was starting to tick inside by engine. I’m currently at 96,000 miles.

Fuel Ox Infinity Lube Liquid Friction Eliminator - Premium Oil Additive - Lubricates, Conditions, & Hardens Metal - Reduces Friction Wear & Operating Temperature - 10oz https://a.co/d/7kHF0dA

 

[LouisvEarlleJT]

Sounds like a lemon motor. Or something in the top end is out of spec causing failure? That's incredibly frustrating.

 

[Jobofly]

I am absolutely not an expert in this field or subject. I do know that I had some strange engine noises happening for a little while that some people have called a “tick”.

I started putting infinity lube in after every oil change, and the sound went away immediately and hasn’t come back. I also use fuel ox with every single tank of gas.

I’m not sure it will fix whatever problems you’re having but it seems to have corrected, or at least kick the can on, whatever was starting to tick inside by engine. I’m currently at 96,000 miles.

Fuel Ox Infinity Lube Liquid Friction Eliminator - Premium Oil Additive - Lubricates, Conditions, & Hardens Metal - Reduces Friction Wear & Operating Temperature - 10oz https://a.co/d/7kHF0dA

What is this magic? Haha ive never heard of infinity lube before.

 

[ShadowsPapa]

So 2020 3.6 and a six speed transmission. I'm doing my second came and rocker replacement. First one was 2 on the driver's side intake, now 3 on the passenger intake.

I'm changing oil between 3,000 and 4,000 miles, the oil life gauge has never been below 15%. I'm not using cheap oil, Royal Purple with a Mobile 1 filter. Reusable K&N filter is cleaned about once every 3 months, plugs are changed yearly.

I don't rock crawl, a few easy trails a couple of times a year to go fishing or launch kayaks. Cruise just below 18,000 RPMs, shifting around 22,000 RPMs. I do all my own maintenance, it's only been in the shop for tires, so it's not like a tech is lieing about work done.

Am I doing something wrong with this motor? Am I missing something? I've got a 97 ZJ with 305,xxx on the clock so it's not like I don't know how to get miles out of a motor.....

Switch away from Royal Purple - not great at film strength. people believe expensive oil, fancy names, etc. are better and are often worse.
IMO, these valve trains need good oil. You need film strength for those followers.

Your air filter isn't helping you either, Those K&N filters are crap.

Put better oil with a better film strength in - the stock Pennzoil oil or Mobil 1 oil.
Ditch that K&N air filter - if you want proof I've got a handful of charts showing ISO scientific testing as far as how much dirt they let through and how restrictive they get if you don't clean them constantly. Good for racing, where you rebuild engines constantly anyway, not good for an engine if you want 100,000 miles out of it.

Seriously, why not use proven good oil? Price and color don't dictate quality.

Sorry, but this is a good reason to stick with the known things - and that's the factory parts or recommendations.
If you want to deviate from the recommended known good oil - at least go AMSOIL 0w20. It's also proven good.

 

[Gren71]

What is this magic? Haha ive never heard of infinity lube before.

Lol yea, i was skeptical to say the least. I completely assumed the FuelOx was snake oil. A friend where I work introduced it to me and ive used it ever since. %100 a believer in the products after seeing consistent mpg improvement when compared to not using it every tank. My dealership even asked what I used when i had my fuel injecters cleaned as part of the regular maintenance schedule.

I decided to see what else they sold and found the oil additive. The whole engine tick going away was just the icing on the cake for me.

 

[Jobofly]

Lol yea, i was skeptical to say the least. I completely assumed the FuelOx was snake oil. A friend where I work introduced it to me and ive used it ever since. %100 a believer in the products after seeing consistent mpg improvement when compared to not using it every tank. My dealership even asked what I used when i had my fuel injecters cleaned as part of the regular maintenance schedule.

I decided to see what else they sold and found the oil additive. The whole engine tick going away was just the icing on the cake for me.

Ok I’m sold. Ordering some now to try with my next oil change.

 

[ShadowsPapa]

I'd dump the royal purple. Rated way down on film strength, it's only "ok" oil. Any engine that there's any sort of known issues with, or where there's repeat problems, why not use better oil?
If you keep having trouble, sticking with the same-o, same-o won't change anything.
There's far far far better oils out there.

Good oil

& Hardens Metal

Not possible. False advertising for sure. There's just no way.

Good oils need no additives - there's only one out there that has been proven to improve film strength of SOME oils, others have actually reduced the film strength. Additives often react negatively with some oil's additives packages - and it's a spin of the wheel to know which until you find out later.

 

[Charles 236]

I would definitely use the recommended grade and weight of oil after a camshaft and rockers replacement. Also, and this is something that I like to do when I perform an intake camshaft and rockers on a PUG engine, I replace the EXHAUST rockers that correspond to the damaged intake camshaft lobes. The reason for this is that the exhaust rockers on the PUG are responsible for directing oil to both exhaust and intake camshafts. I think that this could be a way to help insure that the repair lasts. When I do an intake camshaft and rockers on a non warranty repair, I include the exhaust rockers as needed to complete the repair. On a warranty repair, I am limited to what FCA will cover.

 

[Minty JL]

Cruise just below 18,000 RPMs, shifting around 22,000 RPMs.

I found the problem.........LOL Valve float for sure @ShadowsPapa LOL

 

[smlobx]

^^^
That’s what I was going to say… Even F1 engines have never reved that high…

 

[SteveInOrlando]

You are missing one piece of information.

What is your current mileage?

These engines are going to wear out the cams. It is what they do. Everyone is acting like you have done something wrong, but depending on your mileage, this is normal wear and tear for these engines. The VVL cams are complete junk and there are no aftermarket replacements out there. The cams are soft, and the lobes flatten. Whether it happens at 50K or 75K miles it doesn't matter. Some people have had them wear out under 20k miles and be replaced under warranty.

Since you didn't mention warranty, I am assuming you are out of warranty. To me this means the wear is fairly normal.

 

[ShadowsPapa]

Reusable K&N filter is cleaned about once every 3 months

Here ya go - willing to do additives which can actually be a negative thing, doing multiple tings wrong, including letting more dirt into the engine - would rather try an additive unknown than what's been proven -

Look at the dirt PASSED through the filter and not stopped in the chart above.

You asked what you are doing wrong but likely will stick to the same things that aren't doing that engine any favors.


Use a real air filter,
use better oil,
skip the additives.

These engines are going to wear out the cams. It is what they do.

Actually if everything is done right, most do not. the cam issue is overblown by the internet. Mechanics/techs don't see it as that common an issue. Many reach 100,000 miles without trouble.
I've never had a Pentastar with cam issues, most don't and for someone to have multiple instances of issues - it's most likely something "going on" that's not being addressed to begin with.
Look at how few cam issues are reported in forums lately - almost all involve pre-2021 engines.
Right off the bat he's doing things that will shorten the engine life, not prolong it.

 

[ShadowsPapa]

I found the problem.........LOL Valve float for sure @ShadowsPapa LOL

Probably floated clean out of the guides. Look for upward dents in the valve covers?

 

[SteveInOrlando]

I've never had a Pentastar with cam issues, most don't and for someone to have multiple instances of issues - it's most likely something "going on" that's not being addressed to begin with.

He didn't have multiple issues. He had a single issue. instead of fixing both sides at once, the drivers side was fixed, but they didn't look at the other side and fix it at the same time.

This lead to him needing to have the other bank fixed later. A shoddy repair that only fixed half of the problem is not multiple occurrences. If the left bank had to be repaired twice that would be multiple occurrences.

As far as the concept that Jeep fixed this issue, I have friends that are Jeep mechanics, and they tell me they do this repair frequently. The other thing I have heard is if you have a vehicle that has the problem on one side, the other side will have the problem also. There is nothing magic here. If you only fix the one side, the other side will fail in short order!

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