3.6L Pentastar V6 Overview, Common Problems and Reliability

Let's take a closer look at the 3.6 Pentastar engine’s design, specs, reliability and common issues.

Timecode:
00:00:00 - Chrysler 3.6 Pentastar Info
00:00:47 - 3.6L Pentastar Engine Overview
00:03:00 - 3.6 V6 Pentastar Common Problems
00:05:10 - Reliability Summary

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[eddiea]

I have a 2013 Dodge Grand Caravan with the 3.6 Pentastar. I have taken excellent care of it for the last 10 years. No issues with it all for 10 years.

[christianobrien]

I currently own a 2013 ram CV tradesmen which is a Dodge Caravan cargo van basically. My vehicle has a 3.6 L Penta star V6 engine it is excellent excellent excellent. I currently have 481, 920 miles on this vehicle it run. Super smooth. It's very powerful and it delivers excellent fuel economy at about 26 on the highway in cruise control, and almost 20 miles to the gallon regularly around town. The body of the vehicle is excellent. The interior is excellent I have zero complaints on this vehicle.

[stevesmith]

Afew weeks ago I became the proud owner of a 2023 Charger GT "Last Call" edition. I have never owned a Chrysler Corporation vehicle but I've had more than my fill of GM cars and trucks and all the poor reliability and build issues associated with them. I was VERY tempted to go with an RT Hemi version with the sweet sounding 5.7 V8, but with gas prices uncertain, I took a chance that the 3.6 V6 would be all I needed. Never even test drove a car with the V6 so I had no idea what I was getting into. WOW what a pleasent surprise! That 300 hp engine moves my 4100 pound car quite rapidly!! And it's so SMOOTH you will have a very difficult time determining if it is runnning at all. Almost zero vibration. Probably the smoothest engine I have ever owned! I am sure I made the right choice, Now if it just had that awesome V8 rumble from the exhaust!

[CedroCron]

Some information from my dad who used to work in Chrysler's warranty department before he passed. The reason these engines are having failing rocker arms in years before 2019 is because the engines were originally designed for 30 weight oil and then were back spec'ed to 20 weight oils because of CAFE fuel economy standards. The problem is that 20 weight oils have a lower HTHS (High Temperature High Sheer) rating which means that there is less ability for the oil to keep parts separated under high load areas of the engines such as in the needle bearings used in these earlier rocker arms before they were switched to a solid large pin (no needle bearing) design in late 2019. You can buy these rocker arms. The MOPAR Part numbers end in AH. Anything earlier than this will still have the needle bearings and not the solid pin. A work around if your engine is lower mileage and not ticking is to choose a 30 weight oil (which the owners manual says you can use) which has as high of a HTHS rating as possible. 30 weight oils will be 2.9 or higher. Amsoil XL for example is the highest I've found at 3.3 HTHS. (Heavy Duty Diesel Truck Engines specify a minimum of 3.5 HTHS for cam loading for this reason) In a 20wt oil it's 2.6 minimum and this is too low to protect these needle bearings. The other thing that you can do to ensure you don't suffer from issues is to not idle your engine too long (lack of oil flow to the top part of the engine). You don't have to take my word for it, but it's an easy change to make to ensure you don't suffer from this in your 2019 and previous Dodge Caravan, Journey or Jeeps that don't use the PUG Gen 3 engines as found in things like the Grand Cherokee, RAM pick-ups, Dodge Durango's (not Promasters or Chargers), These engines with the PUG 3 design have the Variable Vale Lift and use a different Rocker Arm design to accommodate the VVL system and don't suffer from this same problem.

[BadVan]

Had a 2012 caravan with 220k on it before trading it in. Engine still ram quiet and flawless. We now have the PUG version in our 2019 wrangler, lots of miles off roading at crawling speeds. Engine has been perfect as well

Not the most exciting motor but very smooth and reliable

[HeavenBoundSaint]

I have a 2018 Ram 1500 3.6 4×4 flex fuel. 93, 000 miles runs great, no issues.

[earlkozak]

Had a 2013 JGC with the 3.6. It well over 200K trouble free miles whenwe traded it in for our 2021 JGCL. This 3.6 runs just as good. Change the oil regularly and these things run forever.

[geneo]

I have a 2013 Chrysler Town and Country we purchased new. It has been very reliable and still going strong.

[brendan_]

I have a 2018 Jeep Grand Cherokee with the updated 3.6 pentastar. I keep it regularly maintained, I’ve had no issues so far and it runs like a clock.

[keith]

Its cool reading the comments seeing all the years and models this engine is in. I just got a 2023 Wrangler JL with it.

[xotronic]

The 3.6 V6 is amazing, still feels fast for a Jeep wrangler, it’s actually pretty impressive that V6 almost had 300 HP and very torquey with the max power band coming in at around 1200-6000 rpm. Very good engine and easy to work on yourself with some YouTube tutorials at least for the wrangler cause it’s so much space in the engine bay to work on and can easily get under the car since it’s high off the ground…seriously I know the early 3.6 pentastar had issues but it’s better than a lot of engines now. Have 110, 000 miles and still runs strong. Just maintain yall car and will likely last 500, 000 miles easily

[MazichMusic]

I bought a former rental Pacifica Touring L a few months ago with 67k miles on it. I've done 3k miles on it myself. I love how it drives. There are no records of engine repairs on this vehicle.

[JustMe-ukfb]

I have a 2018 jeep jk with 3.6 star 74k miles

Mine drives flawless runs so quiet you can't even tell its running when it's on.

BUT I Change my oil every 1500 miles, always with marvel mystery synthetic not the original with royal purple, every 5 k I drop in a liqui moly molybdenum the $50 dollar one I leave it in a full interval. My engine is tight no tick noises no nothing. I'm about to change my coil packs & plugs I got NKG coil packs was $175 for 6 NGK laser iridium plugs $75

Although I have no oil filter housing problems I'm about to change it out to an all aluminum one amazon $160 I'm doing that the same time I change my packs & plugs because might as well bcuz everything will be in fingers reach. That's my 18 JKU.

Update I forgot to say that I had to take it back go the dealership twice for rear main seal & my rear dana 44 spider gears exploded so the dealership gave me a brand new whole rear end I didn't pay 1 cent . Besides those problems nothing else but if I'm on a trail and I flex the jeep in a certain way my driver door will pop open at first I thought it was funny. The driver door if you open it with the jeep parked the door chime will annoy you to death so I cut the wires. Ball joints ball joints JOINTS 😡 my ball joints blew out & I had crazy death wobble but I put in heavy duty ones .

[KFish-bwom]

Based on about 6 different Rainman Ray videos. Just immediately swap out your engine oil cooler for an aluminum one, or be prepared for a coolant/oil slurry to eventually hydrolock your pistons and make engine go boom.

[ralph]

My 2012 Challenger and 2014 300 S have the Pentastar. I hope these last until the wheels fall off. I wouldn't trust the new inline Hurrican six coming on line in 2024 2025. My Ram has the 5.7 old school V8. and that another impressive engine.

[zacklewis]

I just got a 2012 Chrysler 200 convertible with the 3.6 penastar, it seems to have a good amount of power for such a quiet engine

[robertware]

I have a 2014 jeep wrangler I’ve owned for two months the person neglected it, but I’m working on fixing it and keeping it up

[gabewl]

I have a 2015 Chrysler 200s w/ AWD and the 3.6L. I had about 125k and had to replace all my rocker arms and camshafts. Also had to replace the oil filter housing/cooler at about 115k miles.

Now that’s all been replaced, I hope it will last until 230k miles. Other than those very expensive issues, car has been great!

[thunderfox]

Got a 2017 dodge challenger gt with the v6 and I drive between Washington and California often I maintain the crud out of it and yes I change my tranny fluid...so far going on 400, 000 miles and engine still running strong but I am still surprised theres no buring oil

[stevet]

My 2011 Grand Cherokee w/3.6 Pentastar engine just passed 182k. No ticking, no oil leaks or burning. Amazing engine. I got my moneys worth already. Mobil 1 5w 30 oil every 5k.