3.6 Penstar Poll!

[Zachanadandy]

The 5.7 would be great!

I personally would stick with the Pentastar for its durability, longevity, and reliability, however, the Hurricane I6 would be just right for this thing, IMO. It should be light weight, pull like a 392 from idle through redline, and deliver superior fuel economy, to boot.

I was a little surprised they didn´t throw a 392 in these at least for a limited run, though.

If the Gladiator sticks around, I would bet we´ll see a Hurricane option somewhere down the road.

I wonder if the 4xe version will use the 3.6 or if they will put the 4 cylinder with it, as in the Wrangler?

5.7l was dead reliable for all 120k miles I owned that truck and I flogged it in the desert at speed up to 110mph. Nothing more than oil changes. I trust it over the pentastar personally.

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[DesertDog]

I currently have both an Ecodiesel and a Pentastar. I also have a 2.0 E Torque turbo in a JLU Rubicon. The Pentastar is unacceptably gutless in western mountains but it has proven to be the most reliable.
The published towing numbers for the Pentastar are ridiculous unless you’re ok with “safely” towing at 45 MPH @ 4,500 RPM.
I love the Ecodiesel and I’m considering grabbing another one before they’re all gone.

 

[DanW]

5.7l was dead reliable for all 120k miles I owned that truck and I flogged it in the desert at speed up to 110mph. Nothing more than oil changes. I trust it over the pentastar personally.

I get it and the 5.7 has a great and well deserved rep. I´d love to have one, if it was an option. I´d have jumped on one if available and reasonably priced. What a joy that engine would be in this Jeep!

But the 3.6 is dead reliable and plenty durable, especially in gen 2 form. I´m in 2 Jeep clubs with around 200 members, and its rep there is sterling. Lots of them past 200k. My best buddy ran his gen 1 for over 180k on the original spark plugs! He has about 240k on it now. Lol, the new plugs did make it run better, but it ran shockingly well on the old ones. It still pulls strong and feels just like the newer gen2´s in my Jeeps.

There was one guy in one club who said he hated the Pentastar. I asked why and he said it had blown at only about 30k miles. Turns out he ran into water up to the bottom of the window sills and he hyrdo-locked it. Other guys tried to explain, to no avail, that the engine was not at fault. He just could not wrap his head around the idea that the fault was his. LOL. He got a new engine installed and probably has north of 100k on it now. Still loves his Jeep, but rips it every time we talk engines.

 

[Redleg37]

I have three vehicles with the 3.6. I've not had engine issues with any of them. I've had nothing but issues with my Cherokee lately but they haven't been engine related. My Wrangler has been pretty solid over the last 10 years and 130,000 miles. My gladiator only has 8k miles but so far I haven't had issues with it.

 

[Redleg37]

My best buddy ran his gen 1 for over 180k on the original spark plugs! He has about 240k on it now. Lol, the new plugs did make it run better, but it ran shockingly well on the old ones. It still pulls strong and feels just like the newer gen2´s in my Jeeps.

I just replaced the plugs in my '13 JK at 130k miles. It pulls great. Just needs a re-gear.

 

[Banned]

I have a 2021 Mojave purchased new Feb 2021. It now has over 182,000 miles on it. Runs like it did when I bought it. Oil every 5-6k, clean my K&N air filter every other oil change. Stock gearing on 35s. On my 3rd battery. Wheeled it literally all over the country. Been a great engine for me in this gladiator. Had a 2015 Chrysler 200C with the same engine and it blew the head gasket at 165k. I know there will come a time it's gonna die, just hope it's on the road and not 20 miles from it...I have peace of mind because I have the Mopar max care unlimited mileage warranty until Feb 2028. That warranty is hands down the absolute best thing I have EVER bought. It has saved me at least $25k in repairsand comped rentals to date. They lost their ass selling me that warranty lol.

What was the 25K in repairs for?

 

[zuki_dan]

I find the 3.6 is adequate. If something happens to it I want to replace it with a 5.7 Hemi though. I feel that will be the perfect engine for this platform.

 

[OldSarge]

the motor is good, and well designed for longvity for a regular daily driver. For me it is under powered which is why I supercharged it. Now with 326 hp to the rear wheels (37's) it has the right power I feel it should have for the way I drive it, but again I'm not doing basic/simple daily driving, I'm pounding the shit out of it

Supercharging is interesting. I'm surprised a bit that the internals can take the stress. I figure I'll drive my 3.6 as long as it will go and if it needs a major rebuild, I'll do a V8 swap. I really love this truck.

 

[piroman683]

Supercharging is interesting. I'm surprised a bit that the internals can take the stress. I figure I'll drive my 3.6 as long as it will go and if it needs a major rebuild, I'll do a V8 swap. I really love this truck.

the Magnuson kit does about 7 psi of boost, which has been pretty good. There are concerns that the rods and wrist pints are the weak links for boosted applications so theres a few aftermarket forged kits available. When its time for a rebuild I'll be adding those just to add more margin.

 

[ShadowsPapa]

I currently have both an Ecodiesel and a Pentastar. I also have a 2.0 E Torque turbo in a JLU Rubicon. The Pentastar is unacceptably gutless in western mountains but it has proven to be the most reliable.
The published towing numbers for the Pentastar are ridiculous unless you’re ok with “safely” towing at 45 MPH @ 4,500 RPM.
I love the Ecodiesel and I’m considering grabbing another one before they’re all gone.

A naturally aspirated engine like these which are adequate at lower elevations of course will seem inadequate at elevations......... so it's hard for us plains people to compare to those in Denver and higher...

 

[Marc D.]

Decent motor if properly maintained. I had a '13 JKU that had 273K on it when I sold it. My '20 JT currently has 85K and running strong.

 

[MemphisMississipp]

It's a solid motor that just needs to be geared correctly for its application and power curve, like any motor.

Exactly

 

[PuddleJumper]

the Magnuson kit does about 7 psi of boost, which has been pretty good. There are concerns that the rods and wrist pints are the weak links for boosted applications so theres a few aftermarket forged kits available. When its time for a rebuild I'll be adding those just to add more margin.

supercharging is a more reliable application of boost imo. however my qualms with it lie in heat soak and running too lean. When i was talking to the guys at AMW4x4 they said to avoid the supercharged swaps as they cannot properly cool unless at highway speed. and that the issue is compounded more at altitude. I live at sea level but i regularly travel to high altitude for trips and spend a lot of time at offroad slow pace. Now I'm sure the 3.6 is adequately cooled regardless of forced induction. but in my case it starts to have one too many variables of things not in its favor. superchargers are great for altitude applications, until it gets hot. something we don't we see a lot of in sport cars as they are lighter therefore less load and they will generally be at speed for optimal airflow. After lengthy talks with AMW4x4 we decided that the best thing for my application would be a 3.0 hurricane but since no swap is available that the 392 is the next best thing. I see a lot of 3.6 superchargers working great and i wish it would fit my needs as it is cheaper. Now why 392 over the 5.7 or a supercharged option. a few major notes to point out.


1. the 392 isn't any plain jane 6.4 you'd find in a Ram 2500. Its a built crate motor with better internals for SRT applications. the 5.7 tho is not. Its the same motor in the ram 1500. the quality jump for a mere 3k, is a good one.
2. while the 5.7 is great, lighter and can run 87. Its really only worth its weight in a factory original orientation, not here ima spend 40k to mod my 50k truck.
3. Its NA, and while thats gonna lose power at altitude, its 505 hp, say you take a whopping 200 hp hit at 10k feet. you still got more than a stock 3.6
4. its generally gonna be more reliable than any boosted application on a motor that wasn't originally
5. this is con; its fuggin expensive.


edit: on a side not i forgot. fuel economy. a scatpack charger weighs about 4400 lbs and gets 18 combined. a gladiator weighing 4900 lbs with that motor swapped in might somehow fair better than a 3.6 in lifted + large tires application.

 

[Stan H]

Decent motor if properly maintained. I had a '13 JKU that had 273K on it when I sold it. My '20 JT currently has 85K and running strong.

Your in the same boat as me I just rolled over 88,000 today . I have no complaints . The Rubicon has 4.10's so I feel it does fine. As a matter of fact I put 35x1250's on it and didn't notice any lose at all

 

[piroman683]

supercharging is a more reliable application of boost imo. however my qualms with it lie in heat soak and running too lean. When i was talking to the guys at AMW4x4 they said to avoid the supercharged swaps as they cannot properly cool unless at highway speed. and that the issue is compounded more at altitude. I live at sea level but i regularly travel to high altitude for trips and spend a lot of time at offroad slow pace. Now I'm sure the 3.6 is adequately cooled regardless of forced induction. but in my case it starts to have one too many variables of things not in its favor. superchargers are great for altitude applications, until it gets hot. something we don't we see a lot of in sport cars as they are lighter therefore less load and they will generally be at speed for optimal airflow. After lengthy talks with AMW4x4 we decided that the best thing for my application would be a 3.0 hurricane but since no swap is available that the 392 is the next best thing. Now why 392 over the 5.7 or a supercharged option. a few major notes to point out.


1. the 392 isn't any plain jane 6.4 you'd find in a Ram 2500. Its a built crate motor with better internals for SRT applications. the 5.7 tho is not. Its the same motor in the ram 1500. the quality jump for a mere 3k, is a good one.
2. while the 5.7 is great, lighter and can run 87. Its really only worth its weight in a factory original orientation, not here ima spend 40k to mod my 50k truck.
3. Its NA, and while thats gonna lose power at altitude, its 505 hp, say you take a whopping 200 hp hit at 10k feet. you still got more than a stock 3.6
4. its generally gonna be more reliable than any boosted application on a motor that wasn't originally
5. this is con; its fuggin expensive.


edit: on a side not i forgot. fuel economy. a scatpack charger weighs about 4400 lbs and gets 18 combined. a gladiator weighing 4900 lbs with that motor swapped in might somehow fair better than a 3.6 in lifted + large tires application.

I have not had any issues with heat management, but that doesn't mean someone might. I am in the desert often but never had an issue with heat. I do also have a manual trans so that removes the need for the auto trans cooler which is a positve for me.

My torture test was in 2022 when I towed 6k lbs + 500 lbs in the bed to burning man and back (over 1100 miles round trip). From Long Beach CA all the way up throgh the eastern sierras topping out at about 8400 ft. during the hill climb I kept it in 4th and at about 70 mph, I forget the RPM's, but it was high. Oil temp reached a peak of 256 deg. and coolant held at 254 during the last 2-3 miles of the hill climb. As soon as we peaked and I shifted into 5th all temps fell below 220 in less than 2 minutes. I do NOT recommend doing this tesat as it is unnecessary to push it like that.

I've allocated most of my spend on suspension to go fast in the desert so the Supercharger was the best bang for the buck. I would love a V8, but this works great for now. I do agree the 392 would be the ideal swap since it is built for the abuse. The 392 has about 90 ft. lbs more to the wheels than the 3.6 supercharged version, and about another 75hp to the wheels which has got to feel awesome!

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