3.6L Pentastar Problems?

[ShadowsPapa]

Ah, your background - makes SENSE.

I assume you saw the deal with my wife's 2021 800 mile WK2
Never set the MIL, didn't store codes, had to catch it in the act.
Spark plugs.............
I love the logging abilities I have with the BT OBDII device and software. The dealer people were scratching their heads - no codes, and yet I provided printed proof - they had little choice but to chase it down and they did.

Am I correct in that the ESS system will not function if misfires are detected?

Have been working in aviation for close to 35 years and oil/fluid analysis is an everyday thing that transposed into my personal vehicle maintenance habits. I try to do one every other oil change to see trends.

Totally makes sense! Similar to how working in shops - getting paid good money to do what I did shaped how I treat my own vehicles and those of others even today. You take that stuff with you.

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[legacy_etu]

Have been working in aviation for close to 35 years and oil/fluid analysis is an everyday thing that transposed into my personal vehicle maintenance habits. I try to do one every other oil change to see trends.

This time with my Gladiator, I have had an intermittent once in a blue moon “Start/Stop System Disabled” indication and icon show up on the instrument cluster. Discounted it as a low ESS battery issue and never deep dived it for the longest time because it would go away on next restart. Never had a CIL indication either and never really noticed any performance issues or misfire when driving.

About 2-3 months ago, this “Start/Stop System Disabled” indication would become a now once a week affair. Using JScan as a rudimentary scan tool, I would do an initial scan and there was a pending but never posting P0304 #4 cylinder misfire code. I would then do a PID scan of all 6 cylinders and the #4 cylinder would have a misfire count of 25-65 misfires with the other cylinders either zero or single digits.

The #4 cylinder misfires would only happen on a cold like sitting for 8 hours or more start and would almost never count any higher for my 45 minute commute. For a few week, I would hook up JScan and monitor my misfire count on a cold start and found the #4 cylinder always has a double digit misfire count compared to the other cylinders regardless. “Start/Stop System Disabled” indication only seems to come on when the misfire count gets about 40 count with anything less not setting it.

I know not getting a proper check engine light (CIL) with the P0304 code posting and only a intermittent pending that clears after a couple of restarts, dealing with the dealership service was going to be a donkey show like you are going through. That leads me down the path of usual suspects and getting coolant concerns figured out and hopefully out of the way. If my oil analysis shows nothing to be concerned in regards to coolant, I am coming up on the 30K mile mark here soon and have already bought new spark plugs, intake gaskets and fuel injector o-rings and plan to replace the spark plugs and move both #4 cylinder fuel injector and ignition coil to two different cylinder and see what if anything travels. If nothing travels and seems fixed, call it with the spark plugs. If the moved ignition coil or fuel injector had a misfire on the traveled two cylinder, then call either item to be replaced. If after all that, my issue remains on #4 cylinder, then I am looking at head or valvetrain issues and that will be a dealer visit for warranty and playing that donkey show with them.

Great troubleshooting plan. Wish the dealers had these kinds of skills.

 

[Hootbro]

Ah, your background - makes SENSE.

I assume you saw the deal with my wife's 2021 800 mile WK2
Never set the MIL, didn't store codes, had to catch it in the act.
Spark plugs.............
I love the logging abilities I have with the BT OBDII device and software. The dealer people were scratching their heads - no codes, and yet I provided printed proof - they had little choice but to chase it down and they did.

Am I correct in that the ESS system will not function if misfires are detected?



Totally makes sense! Similar to how working in shops - getting paid good money to do what I did shaped how I treat my own vehicles and those of others even today. You take that stuff with you.

Yeah, seen your post about your wifes issues when researching my issue. That put spark plugs and the TSB for the bad bath of them on my radar. Started to collect everything to do a spark plug change and decided to put the brakes on that until my oil analysis report came back to see what the coolant situation is. No sense in going down the other path if I have a coolant leak issue.

As to ESS being disable, do not hold me to it 100% but I seem to recall any "pending" powertrain code will disable the ESS system as a safe guard in addition to disabling remote start. Not just for misfire codes.

 

[Maximus Gladius]

Was just updated on when my camshaft is coming in for my misfire repair. -August 12th. He said there is over 362 cams currently being unpacked in the US and designated to go out to specific dealerships and mine has the “rush” designation. That’s a lot of cams. ?

 

[Discount Dave]

Was just updated on when my camshaft is coming in for my misfire repair. -August 12th. He said there is over 362 cams currently being unpacked in the US and designated to go out to specific dealerships and mine has the “rush” designation. That’s a lot of cams. ?

whats your build date?? good luck

 

[Maximus Gladius]

whats your build date?? good luck

August 2020

 

[ShadowsPapa]

Was just updated on when my camshaft is coming in for my misfire repair. -August 12th. He said there is over 362 cams currently being unpacked in the US and designated to go out to specific dealerships and mine has the “rush” designation. That’s a lot of cams. ?

So far, that's the defacto "try this" for misfires on that bank. Apparently it's resolving a lot of them as well. It won't be THE fix for ALL misfires, but Jeep has found "a problem" and the cam appears to be it. Weird - think of it - the cam itself can't grow or change over time other than wear DOWN, and all they can do is change the cam timing while it's running and change valve lift (but not via the camshaft itself) so how is it holding the valve open sometimes and not other times? (Maybe Dave knows......) because the cam's base circle - as long as the followers/lifters behave, is small enough to allow the valve to close. A cam can't hold a valve open sometimes and not other times. The cam profile isn't capable of changing, only the timing. (and again, lift through other means)

 

[ShadowsPapa]

Was just updated on when my camshaft is coming in for my misfire repair. -August 12th. He said there is over 362 cams currently being unpacked in the US and designated to go out to specific dealerships and mine has the “rush” designation. That’s a lot of cams. ?

Make sure you document everything anyone has said connected to your JT's issues. Times, dates, who said what, and make sure they have RECORD, and ask to see those records, of your coolant loss.
Maybe the cam will resolve the misfires, maybe not - hopefully it does - that way you can then concentrate on where the hell is all that coolant going! That's just plain not normal. Doesn't matter what it's causing, damage or not, misfire or not, you have coolant loss.
So make sure that fact isn't getting lost in this game of chasing wild geese and the dealership hoping some of them get lost.

 

[Osteodoc08]

I get Blackstone Oil Analysis on most my oil changes. Including my Yamaha jet boat with twin 1.8L HO motors. Peace of mind if nothing and can detect early troubles otherwise. Never had any of my vehicles show coolant in the analysis.

 

[Maximus Gladius]

I get Blackstone Oil Analysis on most my oil changes. Including my Yamaha jet boat with twin 1.8L HO motors. Peace of mind if nothing and can detect early troubles otherwise. Never had any of my vehicles show coolant in the analysis.

I never did either so its been a bit disheartening

 

[Osteodoc08]

Hopefully you can get it figured out. There is a kit you can buy to determine if there are blow by gasses (blown head gasket) in the coolant. Not too expensive off Amazon.

 

[Osteodoc08]

They should also have done a leak down test on that cylinder.

 

[ShadowsPapa]

They should also have done a leak down test on that cylinder.

Leak down test, and pressurize the cooling system and watch for it to hold pressure.
There were actually times where we applied air pressure to a cylinder and watch teeny bubbles appear in the radiator (take a trip back in time - when you removed a real radiator cap and looked down into the radiator and saw coolant, the radiator tubes, etc.)
We also tested for combustion gases in the cooling system.

 

[Osteodoc08]

Sounds like they’re trying to figure it out but bubbles indicate to me a small head gasket leak. Which is what was already suggested by the oil analysis

 

[Jt-wrx]

Ok, i got my sport s, 6-spd dec 28, 2019, now at 30,000 miles (50,000 kms as it's in Canada), a few thousand miles ago engine light came on while on highway, which isn't new, i've had more engine lights come and go since i've owned it that i've lost count, seems a permanent feature, so thats 20 months of ownership now. I put 140-150,000 kms on pentastar 8-spd in 2014 ram 1500 and not sure i even had 1 engine light come on? Even when the oil thing broke and puked half my oil out in short order at the tail end of warranty period. Never had to add coolant to it either!

I've had those p0304/2 type codes so many times. Hmmm, so a few thousand miles ago, as i was saying, i decided to take it in for the engine light just to be sure, it was low coolant and they had to top it up, i'm now watching it and have a couple lines marked. Every highway trip the engine light will trip on, usually attributed to being on cruise control and pulling a hill (loading up) is when it will come on and only well into the trip. When back from trip after couple days it goes away. Then next highway trip it happens again.

Truck runs great, i just thought it was computer issues and first year JT glitch i'd have to live with but this thread has me connecting some dots now, especially now that they had to put coolant in it. Will have to check the record on it to see how much they had to put in. It sure doesn't seem like a big leak, levels maybe at the bottom end of my sharpie mark now. I run a log on the Jeep so have all the mileages and dates when things happen, when i service etc.

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