Hello Everyone, I really need your help to understand what went wrong with my 3.6L engine. I went on vacation last week and drove about 650mi. Prior to leaving I changed the oil and checked my fluids. I did a coolant flush with recommended purple coolant, it was orange/red and had some corrosion in the reservoir. The engine never ran hot. Stayed at ~190 degree or a quarter way up the temperature gauge. I parked at a hotel for the night with no indication of what was about to happen. The next morning I go out to start my vehicle and the engine wont crank. I hit the push to start button a second time and a noticeable puff of smoke is coming from under the hood. I did some troubleshooting in the parking lot and declared it was a bad starter. I put a jump box on it and even replace the starter relays in the fuse box. I attempted to replace the starter in parking lot until I got to the point where it seemed the motor mount needed to be pulled in order for the started splines to clear the housing. Long story short, I had it towed to a local shop, who finished the job for $1000 and told me it was unsuccessful because the motor is locked up. I got the vehicle towed to a Dodge dealership about a mile away to get a second opinion. They confirmed the engine is "locked up" and needs to be replaced. More specifically the dealer said the engine wouldn't rotate clockwise but was able to rotate the engine ~220 degree counter clockwise before hitting a blockage. What did I do to this engine that would go from idling in a parking lot, turned off, and the next morning be considered "locked up" by two shops?

 

Gotta say, that is odd.....I would like to think that if it tossed a rod, or even dropped a valve seat, you would have heard SOMETHING the previous day...... In the end though, it just doesn't matter..... The truck needs a replacement motor. If you are really curious, could have 'em yank it, and tear it down, to see what happened....

 

I did have some strange things happen the day before. First the auto start stop service light came on. I turned the engine off and back on and the light was gone. Also I heard something from the right side of the engine close to the cylinder head but to me it sounded like "putt" from vacuum more then a tap. I'm going to pull the engine apart once I get it to see what went wrong. I guess the engine just failed for no good reason.

 

How many miles on it??

 

108,000

 

You should not be blowing the motor at that low of mileage...... Was there a recall on those???? Or was that later years?

 

There was a few recalls but nothing related to engine failure. There is even a class action law but it's related to the tail lights. I agree the engine shouldn't have blown. I shouldn't have been able to go 650 miles, park at a holiday Inn and the next day wake up to a blown engine. It's hard to belive honestly.