Chrysler Pentastar 3.6-liter V6 Racks Up 626K Miles Nearly Trouble-free
If this Pentastar V6 out of a Ram Promaster is any indication, 3.6 owners won’t have to worry about problems anytime soon.
The Chrysler Pentastar engine family has been kicking around since 2011, seeing duty in all sort of vehicle makes and models from the likes of Chrysler, Jeep, and Dodge. The dual overhead cam, 24-valve V6 has landed in everything from the Jeep Wrangler to the Dodge Grand Caravan, proving to be rather versatile power option. It isn’t, however, the first engine to come to mind when people make a list of the most reliable powerplants on earth. But perhaps it should be.
We say this because of what we’re witnessing in this video from YouTuber 86lowrider. The owner recently tore down a 3.6-liter V6 Pentastar engine that came out of a 2014 Ram Promaster, a commercial cargo van. Somehow, this not-too-old hauler has already accumulated an astounding 626,000 miles. But after all that use, the engine recently bit the dust.
It didn’t take long for our host to figure out what happened, but it wasn’t anything terribly crazy. “Besides the chains, it started throwing a lot of codes for crank correlations with the cams, right bank,” he said. “This side here was way off, seven degrees out of time. You can see the tensioner should be here, that’s how far that has gone.”
The plastic chain guides broken down over time on this motor, and the tensioners are clearly worn out. That led to the motor jumping timing, but this was apparently the only major failure. The owner found a bunch of broken plastic pieces everywhere after taking the engine out, including some chunks laying in the pan.
Thus, he begins to investigate further. “It didn’t use any oil, didn’t smoke, and ran smooth until this failure happened,” the owner notes. “In the oil pump, I don’t see anything that would concern me. I don’t see any bad scoring. Not a lot of wear on the cover either. Looking down into the cylinder, this still has crosshatch showing. You can see it’s perfect. The bottom of that piston is freaking spotless. It’s remarkable for 626,000 miles.”
We would have to concur. The overall condition of this Pentastar is simply amazing given the mileage and the amount of use that’s taken place in just six years or so. As we would imagine, the owner took great care of his high-mileage motor. He says that he’s changed the oil every 8,000 miles, using quality lubricants every time. It’s an encouraging sign for anyone that owns a Chrysler vehicle with one of these motors, and proof that the automaker is more than capable of cranking out a reliable powerplant, too.
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