3.6 Engine Tick

[Minty JL]

Love the baseball card stuck in the spokes of a bike description

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[ShadowsPapa]

Love the baseball card stuck in the spokes of a bike description

If mine sounded like a baseball card in spokes, I'd be looking for the deer stuck in cooling fan or a rat in the HVAC fan. But then if the sound didn't start until 2500+ RPM, it's not going to tick tick tick and it makes sense because if it's running on the rollers of the follower on low lift, it might not make contact with the toast parts.

They did the PCV thing. Good to see.

 

[WK2JT]

Love the baseball card stuck in the spokes of a bike description

As I was telling the kid SA that, I was thinking to myself he will never understand that.

 

[WK2JT]

If mine sounded like a baseball card in spokes, I'd be looking for the deer stuck in cooling fan or a rat in the HVAC fan. But then if the sound didn't start until 2500+ RPM, it's not going to tick tick tick and it makes sense because if it's running on the rollers of the follower on low lift, it might not make contact with the toast parts.

They did the PCV thing. Good to see.

Yeah, I was surprised about that piece too. All for new parts while they are working on it.

They mentioned not seeing a valve cover oil leak. I told them that’s okay, you’ll be fixing it when you do the cam.

 

[WK2JT]

And when I was talking to the service manager about this, he just rolled his eyes and said, “that’s the pentastar for you” in referencing the cams. Said they do these all the time and have a stock pile of parts for it.

 

[ShadowsPapa]

And when I was talking to the service manager about this, he just rolled his eyes and said, “that’s the pentastar for you” in referencing the cams. Said they do these all the time and have a stock pile of parts for it.

And yet when I asked the dealers here about it - I got back that deer in the headlights look, and a "so what are you talking about? No, we don't see many cam issues here".
Most of the Pentastars sold around here are Challengers, Grand Cherokees and so on. There's a ton of Wranglers but they don't seem to be problematic around here, odd that some dealers see problems, others don't.

 

[TheRealStreetcommander]

My dealer said they work on Pentastar the least of all the engines they sell. My sons friend who works for a Mopar dealer has said the same. Your SM is a charlatan who couldn’t cut it as a tech so he had to try showbiz and storytelling.

 

[WK2JT]

Received the Blackstone report back. Iron 48 PPM vs their universal average of 18 PPM. Moot issue now that the cam has been replaced, but it definitely showed up in the analysis.

Guess I’ll stop being lazy and start doing regular samples each oil change in case it starts to go south again. Good to know they keep the cams and associated parts stockpiled for this issue. The Pentastar is a good engine, but at least the 2020’s had something going on with the cams.

 

[WK2JT]

So just dumped the oil after the cam replacement. Sure enough, the dealership overfilled it by a quart. Even after this long they are still overfilling these. I know, I know… my fault for not checking it when I got it back. Glad I only ran it a couple hundred miles.

 

[antwon412]

Easy fix. Do your own oil changes. Then you know it’s actually done right

 

[ShadowsPapa]

Really not sure why people freak out over that one quart. It's not going to blow the engine. It's not proper and correct, but it's not like driving it a few hundred miles or even more causes trashed 3.6 engines.

 

[Hootbro]

Really not sure why people freak out over that one quart. It's not going to blow the engine. It's not proper and correct, but it's not like driving it a few hundred miles or even more causes trashed 3.6 engines.

I do not seeing anybody freaking out about by just mentioning the point that it happened. I would not be dismissive of it regardless if it did not cause major issue.

 

[ShadowsPapa]

I do not seeing anybody freaking out about by just mentioning the point that it happened. I would not be dismissive of it regardless if it did not cause major issue.

OK, admit "freaking out" is a bad term - call it "overly-concerned", "excited" instead
This part - "glad I only drove 200 miles" - I have to ask - Why?
People drive thousands of miles with 6 quarts in them, it's not a huge deal.
It's been covered ad nauseam over the years here.
We know dealers have done this. We know that it's been going on since summer 2019. And we also know that the majority of Jeep buyers, even gladiator, don't do their own oil changes - many at least take advantage of WAVE freebies so you know a percentage of those have been running 6 quarts for many miles - until someone finally does a normal oil level check. I see it when waiting in line at the dealership for services - Jeeps of all sorts, including, Wranglers there for dealer oil changes.

Dismissive in that it's not "gee, I had better stop driving it and get that extra quart out at soon as I can".
Not dismissive in that the dealership messed up. Not a major mess-up, but bad enough they should know by now.

You know that thousands of miles get put on these every month with too much oil in them. There's a margin of safety. They'll handle it. Probably a tiny bit more drag dropping mpg down by .03 mpg but it's not whipping things into a frenzy.

For those who are really really bugged by it and just still feel it's going to cause damage, there's a simple solution and you don't even have to get under the truck or grab a wrench. You can do it standing upright in front of the truck.
Pull the oil out the same way I take oil samples. I take "before the oil change" samples - And I don't even get my hands very dirty doing it.

Warm the engine up - if using for an oil sample, a good 30 minute drive is recommended, if just to remove excess oil, drive it until the oil temp is up close to normal - 170+ so it can be pulled up a tube easily.
Pull the dipstick out.
Lay a length of vinyl tube (sized that will slide down the dipstick tube - forgot the size I use) next to the dipstick and line the end of the tube up with the dipstick.
Make a mark on the tube using tape or a black marker right about where the top of the dipstick and beginning of the handle is. That will be the mark showing you have the tube inserted into the dipstick tube far enough.
Don't cut the tube yet.
Slip the vinyl tube down the dipstick tube until it reaches that mark you made on the tube.
Leave yourself a comfortable length of vinyl tube sticking out of the dipstick tube to reach near the front of the engine bay.
Take a clean plastic or glass jar with a plastic or metal lid and make two holes in the lid just large enough to put a couple of hose barbs into the holes and secure them with nuts on the inside.
The vinyl hose in the dipstick tube will be pushed onto one of the hose barbs in the jar's lid and another length of hose will be pushed onto the other hose barb.
Apply a vacuum to the loose vinyl tube using a Mighty-Vac, Handi-Vac or whatever they are calling those hand pump vacuums sold for bleeding brakes, checking vacuum motors, checking vacuum advance units and so on, or even a small auto vac - it can even be done by using YOU as the vacuum source. You can pull an oil sample in seconds, and even a quart if you desire, in a couple of minutes or so. If you catch the over-fill right away, now you have a quart of oil to use later to top it off, or as part of the next oil change if you wish.

 

[WK2JT]

Just more of a data point… if they can’t get something such as the oil level correct, what else are they messing up when they have the engine apart… torque specs, parts, etc.

I do my own maintenance, but this was done while they replaced the cam.

 

[ShadowsPapa]

Not defending anyone, but looking back at my own experiences, it's pretty easy to get the engine right, maybe having worked on the 3.6 in Challengers, Grand Cherokees, Ram trucks and other FCA vehicles, and then come to the one of a kind oddity, the unicorn Gladiator - the oil capacity.
Been down that road. You do dozens of a certain thing and get damned good at it, then there's one difference that trips you up.
Imagine, the last 6 cams you have done it's so easy and routine you can do it in your sleep - then suddenly you run into one of these with their 5 quart capacity when for 7 years they have taken 6 quarts and 6 quarts is in your head along with torque specs, cam sprocket positioning and more. I've been there having done so many SBC engines I could assemble one even drunk and get the torque specs right without even looking.

I guess I've had much better luck in that way.

Like I say, I'm not defending anyone or any thing, just that it's pretty easy to see all sides when you've been in all sides personally. I can see it happening.

I wasn't there so can't really say how great a job was done or not done.
I understand that it "makes one wonder". Can't dismiss that. After such a job, I'd be watching for any little thing - I'd probably be looking daily for leaks, fluid levels and whatever.

Personally, after an engine is apart, I go over wire and hose routings, connections and look for things out of place. After getting caught one time on a hose that was in a clip below another, when the order should have been reversed, I guess I get really anal about making sure things are back in the factory path as much as possible. For some reason that one minor imperfection - not in operation or function, but in appearance, has bugged me for almost 50 years. I had an otherwise perfect score and a perfect written test. ONE tiny little detail in the final judging on an otherwise perfect car.

Yeah, I get it.

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