Blown engine tear down - Pentastar 3.6L that bought the farm

[ShadowsPapa]

Very cool video

I gotta say, I normally can't stand most youtube videos by the clowns that put them on, full of themselves, bad or crap info, clickbait and so on. I can't usually sit through such a long video (ADHD has me bored and wanting to move on)
but this guy had me watching the whole thing.
Perfect blend of fact, discovery, comparing and humor. His "this is still good" while he tosses it across the room, the 5 feet of extensions so he didn't need safety glasses, his dry humor without being over the top.......... I can't believe I actually watched it beginning to end with only one break for another coke.
He'd be a good fun guy to work with. Where was he when I was working in a shop?
He also showed just how well built the engine actually is.

I'd be really curious as to why that pan was off of that engine in the past - and if that would be related to its eventual demise...........

Sponsored

 

[DAVECS2]

I would be willing to bet the pan was off due to an earlier cam failure. I would also be willing to bet the engine died due to the fact the cam or cams were not where they were suppose to be, and the cylinder pressure exploded the piston. Jeep needs to add a mass airflow sensor and a couple more oil pressure sensors, then the engine control module could determine when the cams are off and take the necessary action. I have a strategey now but it is not full proof, as rapid changes in map sensor can mean alot of things beside cam position failure.

 

[Medical_Bartender]

Years old. Had a old guy come in for a tune up in his straight 6 Ford Falcon. Did the usual plugs, wires, fuel filter, air filter, cap, rotor, pcv, set timing, adjust carb. Still didn't feel right. Did a compression test. #5 cylinder was zero. Pulled the head. #5 was sitting at TDC, with another piston. Turn the engine over by hand. #5 didn't move. Everything looked fine on top. Drop the oil pan. Turn the engine over by hand. Couldn't see anything broken. Decided to unbolt the rod from the crank and push the rod and piston up. Found that the piston broke right at the top ring. Didn't hurt anything. Ended up putting a new piston and rings in. That's it. The car ran like a champ after that.

I can only imagine the mess of codes, limp mode, and diagnostics time if that were to happen to a modern engine. Likely wouldn't even drive and would have to be towed.

 

[jjdustr340]

Yeah, pretty rare you ever get to see such a thing.



I've worked on totally trashed engines where the bottom end was mush, busted block and busted crank, and put the heads over on a shortblock (after a thorough cleaning and inspection, of course)

I know of an older couple who drove their car with an I6 back from CA to IA and in NE, they felt a lurch, a funny feeling and sound, and the engine just didn't have the pep it used to have. Brought it into the shop where I worked to have it checked out. As I was prepping to check out why the misfire, I noticed oil running down the side of the block from about halfway down and a funny bulge in the side of the block.
Tossed #3 rod and kept on driving. Rod end split the side of the block. 5 cylinders, losing oil out the crack, a bit low on power, didn't run as smooth as it used to, but they drove it hundreds of miles to get home.
Amazing the stuff that can happen.

225 Slant 6 by chance? That damn thing was nearly indestructible!

 

[ShadowsPapa]

225 Slant 6 by chance? That damn thing was nearly indestructible!

Yeah, I grew up with the slant 6. My parents had a 1960 Valiant, a 1968 Valiant, and a 1970 Valiant. The cars all had other issues (body rot, etc.) long before the engines gave up.
Zero engine troubles with those cars.

Actually, it was a Rambler American with a 232 (could have been the 199, I guess, same block, can't recall)

 

[Lunentucker]

I told my wife that our Jeep has a Maserati engine. She said, "That explains a lot".

 

[ShadowsPapa]

I told my wife that our Jeep has a Maserati engine. She said, "That explains a lot".

My friend who works for Mercedes has shared a lot of tech with me, and years ago, when it was Daimler-Chrysler, we compared key fobs - my Grand Cherokee fob was identical to his Mercedes fob. We compared front suspension - he said the Grand Cherokee got the same suspension and steering technology 1 year after it was introduced in Mercedes. We compared steering knuckles and other parts and you could see the family resemblance.

 

[Boatsnjeep]

Reminds me of having to pull apart one of the diesels generators on my ship last year. The guy I relieved refused to run it after he couldn't get it to start. The boss said that you just had to get the crank in the right position and it starts without issue. The teardown revealed the previous crew had turn the engine into a reciprocating water pump. Cause was a blown charge air cooler.

 

[Rusty PW]

My friend who works for Mercedes has shared a lot of tech with me, and years ago, when it was Daimler-Chrysler, we compared key fobs - my Grand Cherokee fob was identical to his Mercedes fob. We compared front suspension - he said the Grand Cherokee got the same suspension and steering technology 1 year after it was introduced in Mercedes. We compared steering knuckles and other parts and you could see the family resemblance.

The Grand Cherokee was designed by MB when they took over Chrysler. Like the Chrysler Crossfire. That was pure MB with Chrysler badges.

 

[TheRealStreetcommander]

The Pentastar is a much better engine than we give it credit for sometimes. Every now and again, one let’s go and we attribute it to X, Y, Z. To me, this failure looks due to a mistake by an external action of someone who went inside it. The rest of the engine was in very good condition.

Rough numbers: Mopars’ made 11 million Pentastar since 2011. For some context, Ford has made ~40 million F series pick-ups since the beginning of human time, 1950ish. It is reasonable to consider the possibility that the Pentastar may be THE most durable and most reliable engine ever produced. It’s very likely that there are more vehicles powered by Pentastar on the road today, than by any other engine platform —perhaps by a margin of 50 or 100:1. The fact we don’t see more failures is a testament to how great the engines really are.

 

[redriderjf87]

Teardown videos are fun to watch. Except a couple Ford Ecoboost ones I saw, which just swore me off of Ecoboosts forever haha

 

[ShadowsPapa]

The Grand Cherokee was designed by MB when they took over Chrysler. Like the Chrysler Crossfire. That was pure MB with Chrysler badges.

Yeah, the switch to IFS and rack and pinion came with the WK series and the MB effect.
The WJ was still AMC/Jeep solid axle, recirculating ball steering gear, etc., then things changed.
But - the WJ was itself a bit of fun when it came to diagnosing as I never did find any OBD reader - none, even other people brought devices over and tried to help - not a single thing could read the ABS system of a 2004 WJ.
It was Mercedes tech, and I contacted AlfaOBD, JSCAN and others - hey, can you help? Nope, can't read anything prior to 2005.
Engine systems, yes - no problem. Diagnosed O2 sensor issues and other stuff, but could never read the brake system codes.

 

[Josh00333]

Piston Nuggets

 

[moleman]

nice glad i watched this cause i blew my 20 jt both sides of upper pan lost weight wonder what else from Maserati would fit

 

[Blade1668]

The Pentastar is a much better engine than we give it credit for sometimes. Every now and again, one let’s go and we attribute it to X, Y, Z. To me, this failure looks due to a mistake by an external action of someone who went inside it. The rest of the engine was in very good condition.

Rough numbers: Mopars’ made 11 million Pentastar since 2011. For some context, Ford has made ~40 million F series pick-ups since the beginning of human time, 1950ish. It is reasonable to consider the possibility that the Pentastar may be THE most durable and most reliable engine ever produced. It’s very likely that there are more vehicles powered by Pentastar on the road today, than by any other engine platform —perhaps by a margin of 50 or 100:1. The fact we don’t see more failures is a testament to how great the engines really are.

I hope the Pentastar is, when I was getting the first oil change at dealership they had one on pallet to go back. It had a catastrophic failure that was in 2020. I have no details on it.
I'm a diehard fan of inline 6s 4.0 especially, any N.A. inline 6s. I've had 6 4.0s without mechanical engine problems. My cousin had old Ford P.U. running on 5 of 6 cylinders it was still running around for a few more years, it was a farm truck.

Sponsored