Serious Engine issues 2500 miles after Rocker Arms and Camshaft replacement.

[BUZZHEAD]

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[PuddleJumper]

This makes no sense. Main coolant feed? Failed to high pressure and it's supposed to do this?
High pressure?
Too much missing information. Doesn't make much sense to me.
The only pressure in the system is what builds up due to heat, and then there's a pressure cap that releases excessive pressure due to over-heating.
So we still don't know why it overheated.


Again, what the heck is the main coolant feed?
Are they talking the hose from the coolant reservoir on the firewall? That little hose from that small tank?
It's not designed to come off or apart.

I'd let a real Jeep person look at it.
And if the dealership that did the cam and follower replacement messed up, it's on them if it can be demonstrated that it failed due to their mistake.



Millions of these on the road with no failures at all. Millions.
The 2020s had the highest failure rates, the failure rates have dropped dramatically in subsequent years.
Everyone screams LAWYER and "CLASS ACTION!" but few understand the hoops there. It has to be proven that it's a problem Jeep knew about and did nothing to correct.
Since they have made changes since 2020 model year and numbers have dropped, you'd have a lot of homework and discovery to do.
Good luck!

I was thinking the same, a lot of jargon and not a lot of sense. Sounds like BS being thrown at the uneducated, and probably for a dishonest reason.

 

[Skubyballs]

Crazy.
I have 53k on my 2020 gladiator and noticed slipping in the gears about 2k miles back. Called the dealer yesterday and they told me it may need a new transmission. Said they may need to keep it for 10 days to diagnose it and up to 6 weeks for install!! ?‍???
The only upside is I am luckily still under warranty.
Hope yours goes smoothly!

 

[ShadowsPapa]

I'm guessing that "main coolant feed" is coolant inlet at the thermostat housing, and that they screwed something up or left something out when they worked on it.
If you allow the dealer that worked on it before to assess what's wrong now, your chances at getting them to admit an error or failure are incredibly low.
Maybe ever so slightly better chances with another dealer.

Does it run well enough to catch on fire?

This must be regional thing - like calling every soda drink a "coke" even if it's Pepsi, or Iowans calling the merging and crossing of two major interstates a "mixmaster", that sort of thing, because around here, that's the upper radiator hose and thermostat housing.
And technically speaking, that's the output, the feed into the engine is the lower hose.
Whatever - sounds like "Bubba's Honest Engine Service" speak (not an ASE sort of thing) - and for sure, they'd not be working on it.

 

[ShadowsPapa]

None of the explanations make sense to me as I am not a mechanic.

None of them make sense to me, either, and I AM a mechanic - so don't even think about feeling bad for not getting what they are throwing out at you!

 

[OldSarge]

2020 had to be the crappiest year for the Gladiator. It's a shame considering basically they already had two years working everything out on the JL the JT is based off of.

And you know, it really doesn't make sense - they've been making the 3.6 for a longgggg time. I have a 2020 JT with 45K on the ODO. If the engine has any kind of major problem, I'm doing a 392 swap. "Sorry honey, we don't really have any other choice" ;-)

 

[ShadowsPapa]

I was thinking the same, a lot of jargon and not a lot of sense. Sounds like BS being thrown at the uneducated, and probably for a dishonest reason.

The more I think about it - IF they were talking the thermostat housing to hose connection, no, it's not meant to blow off - there won't be too much pressure because of the pressure cap on the reservoir. If that hose blew off, it was never properly installed and tightened.

 

[Blade1668]

Funny, I was talking with a guy who has a 2012 Wrangler he was complaining about having a oil leaks and changing injectioners and the shop charging him about $4000.°° and it's still leaking and running bad. The jeep has around 53000 miles and a lot of problems. He also said they have to take off intake and heads to fix one of the leaks at upper oil pan "????"
I made a comment on always doing oil changes and maintaining it, he responded that he wasn't a mechanic and don't know how to work on vehicles. I'm sure him or his wife had it worked on at "shaky bobs mekanic shop"

 

[Stan H]

Funny, I was talking with a guy who has a 2012 Wrangler he was complaining about having a oil leaks and changing injectioners and the shop charging him about $4000.°° and it's still leaking and running bad. The jeep has around 53000 miles and a lot of problems. He also said they have to take off intake and heads to fix one of the leaks at upper oil pan "????"
I made a comment on always doing oil changes and maintaining it, he responded that he wasn't a mechanic and don't know how to work on vehicles. I'm sure him or his wife had it worked on at "shaky bobs mekanic shop"

I laughed pretty hard at that one ? ? ?

 

[Gobi3xxx]

We have a 2020 Jeep Gladiator with the 3.6L gas engine with under 63,000 miles. It has always been maintained at the Jeep Dealership in Fargo, ND since we purchased it when it was one year old. During our last oil change/service we were told there was an issue with the rocker arms and likely the camshaft. We had them do the required service happy that it occurred while still under warranty, just under 60,000 miles. The repairs were made and we drove it about 2,000 miles when the Jeep started to overheat. We pulled over, had it towed to a nearby repair shop, not a Jeep dealer, there was not one close by. They checked it out and noted the main coolant feed had failed likely due to high pressure, according to the tech it is suppose to this. They noted there are serious issues with the engine that will cost a significant amount to repair. The miles the Jeep has on it now puts us just out of warranty. We are having it towed to the closest Jeep Dealership for them to look at. Because we have always had the Jeep serviced at a Jeep dealership and we use exclusively on road we are surprised to find we now have serious engine issues with mileage just over 62,300 miles. This current engine failure certainly should not be expected as normal use wear and tear byproduct and must be because of an underlying problem. The shop suggested that the recent camshaft/rocker arms repair likely is a cause or contributor to this engine issue, noting they repairs to the camshaft would have included disconnecting the main coolant feed. Has anyone else had a major engine issue after the Camshaft/Rocker Arm repairs? Any advice or experiences you can share are appreciated, anyone who can shed light on this or @JeepCares will see it.

Update, The Gladiator has been at the Jeep Dealer three days now. We know both head gaskets are bad, the shop is working with Jeep engineers to determine the proper repairs to make. Plan to keep people here updated on the status and progress. No answer as to why this would occur.

5/15 update: we are now past the teardown, are being told both heads are warped, we are being asked to decide between doing repairs on the heads or a compete engine replacement before Dealer/Engineers will decide to participate in repairs. We did request a full ECM report that wpould show the history of code and event for the vehicle. We received a summary scan and have been told we cannot get a full report, if we want one we need @JeepCares to provide it, seems strange as I thought that need to be run from the vehicles ECM scan port. Hard to make an informed decision without all the facts. The conflict between JeepCares and the dealer are constant throughout this process

The summary scan shows a P0300 fault, multiple cylinder misfire about 110 miles before everthing went array. No codes from the engine heating up or check engine lights from those event. As soon as she saw the temp rise she pulled over. when it would not go away even after adding fluid we had teh Jeep towed. Anyone know if a full ECM report is available from Jeep ECM? I know other brands can produce a report that shows everything during the life of the vehicle. Feel like the rocker arm/Camshaft replacement was valid but there was more going on inside the engine at that time, even told our local dealer at the oil change the engine still was making noises. In hindsight we should have pushed harder on this at that time, it was still under warranty then.

 

[Gobi3xxx]

We have a 2020 Jeep Gladiator with the 3.6L gas engine with under 63,000 miles. It has always been maintained at the Jeep Dealership in Fargo, ND since we purchased it when it was one year old. During our last oil change/service we were told there was an issue with the rocker arms and likely the camshaft. We had them do the required service happy that it occurred while still under warranty, just under 60,000 miles. The repairs were made and we drove it about 2,000 miles when the Jeep started to overheat. We pulled over, had it towed to a nearby repair shop, not a Jeep dealer, there was not one close by. They checked it out and noted the main coolant feed had failed likely due to high pressure, according to the tech it is suppose to this. They noted there are serious issues with the engine that will cost a significant amount to repair. The miles the Jeep has on it now puts us just out of warranty. We are having it towed to the closest Jeep Dealership for them to look at. Because we have always had the Jeep serviced at a Jeep dealership and we use exclusively on road we are surprised to find we now have serious engine issues with mileage just over 62,300 miles. This current engine failure certainly should not be expected as normal use wear and tear byproduct and must be because of an underlying problem. The shop suggested that the recent camshaft/rocker arms repair likely is a cause or contributor to this engine issue, noting they repairs to the camshaft would have included disconnecting the main coolant feed. Has anyone else had a major engine issue after the Camshaft/Rocker Arm repairs? Any advice or experiences you can share are appreciated, anyone who can shed light on this or @JeepCares will see it.

Update, The Gladiator has been at the Jeep Dealer three days now. We know both head gaskets are bad, the shop is working with Jeep engineers to determine the proper repairs to make. Plan to keep people here updated on the status and progress. No answer as to why this would occur.

5/15 update: we are now past the teardown, are being told both heads are warped, we are being asked to decide between doing repairs on the heads or a compete engine replacement before Dealer/Engineers will decide to participate in repairs. We did request a full ECM report that wpould show the history of code and event for the vehicle. We received a summary scan and have been told we cannot get a full report, if we want one we need @JeepCares to provide it, seems strange as I thought that need to be run from the vehicles ECM scan port. Hard to make an informed decision without all the facts. The conflict between JeepCares and the dealer are constant throughout this process

The summary scan shows a P0300 fault, multiple cylinder misfire about 110 miles before everthing went array. No codes from the engine heating up or check engine lights from those event. As soon as she saw the temp rise she pulled over. when it would not go away even after adding fluid we had teh Jeep towed. Anyone know if a full ECM report is available from Jeep ECM? I know other brands can produce a report that shows everything during the life of the vehicle. Feel like the rocker arm/Camshaft replacement was valid but there was more going on inside the engine at that time, even told our local dealer at the oil change the engine still was making noises. In hindsight we should have pushed harder on this at that time, it was still under warranty then.

 

[Gobi3xxx]

I have a 2020 gladiator that I purchased brand new. it has always been serviced consistently and on schedule if not ahead of schedule by Jeep dealership... it has the 3.6 L Pennstar engine... It has consistently had cold start misfires ticking sounds etc. vehicle now has approximately 38,000 miles and jeep is working on it again... Many days in the shop including a complete motor replacement around 27,000 miles approximately 10,000 miles later on the new motor #2... all the same problems as the first as far as I know, except the engine light doesn't come on... I used to get told there's nothing we can do the engine light is not on ...I took it to a different Jeep dealership. They were able to duplicate the misfire without the engine light coming on... im having the entire # 2 motor pulled out torn apart completely and photographed before anything further will be done ...vehicle still under warranty. I had an additional 50,000 miles put on the engine after the first engine replacement...

I love my gladiator don't love the motors PS my windshield didn't break, but my hinges rusted I had to have them repainted along with hood and tailgate.

I'm looking at buying another one. Does anyone have any suggestions as far as purchasing a year? Any changes made in manufacturing is there anyone else out there who is looking at Motor number three ??? oh by the way, I have never taken it off-road. Always use quality fuel.

 

[ShadowsPapa]

I have a 2020 gladiator that I purchased brand new. it has always been serviced consistently and on schedule if not ahead of schedule by Jeep dealership... it has the 3.6 L Pennstar engine... It has consistently had cold start misfires ticking sounds etc. vehicle now has approximately 38,000 miles and jeep is working on it again... Many days in the shop including a complete motor replacement around 27,000 miles approximately 10,000 miles later on the new motor #2... all the same problems as the first as far as I know, except the engine light doesn't come on... I used to get told there's nothing we can do the engine light is not on ...I took it to a different Jeep dealership. They were able to duplicate the misfire without the engine light coming on... im having the entire # 2 motor pulled out torn apart completely and photographed before anything further will be done ...vehicle still under warranty. I had an additional 50,000 miles put on the engine after the first engine replacement...

I love my gladiator don't love the motors PS my windshield didn't break, but my hinges rusted I had to have them repainted along with hood and tailgate.

I'm looking at buying another one. Does anyone have any suggestions as far as purchasing a year? Any changes made in manufacturing is there anyone else out there who is looking at Motor number three ??? oh by the way, I have never taken it off-road. Always use quality fuel.

The short of it - model year doesn't matter.
if buying used - the 2020s had the most cam issues, the number of failures appears to have dropped since then.
There's really no known manufacturing changes and for the most part, the public wouldn't be aware anyway.

Your hinges didn't rust because they aren't steel - likely the paint bubbled on the edges.
It looks like Jeep has new hinges for sale that have a zinc spacer to go between the hinge and the door.
If someone wants such a thing, I probably have a roll of zinc metal that could be used to cut such spacers.

 

[WranglerWillys]

2020 had to be the crappiest year for the Gladiator. It's a shame considering basically they already had two years working everything out on the JL the JT is based off of.

just spent 4200 bucks on cam and rockers for my 2020. 116k

 

[seven30]

I too had cam failure but no coolant issue. Over pressure can occur if coolant leak allows air to get into system causing hotspots that flash boil. These engines are a far cry from the old iron 4.0 six that was nearly indestructible (at least until FCA got involved).

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