My 2016 Grand Caravan, 109k miles, 3.6 engine, is experiencing lifter tick. I've owned the vehicle since 28k miles. Oil changes were synthetic oil changed per OLM; which tripped around 10k miles. I've read that earlier iterations of the 3.6 had lifter issues but this was supposed to have been rectified by redesigned heads. Dealership cost is going to be around $1000 whether I replace one lifter or all (mostly labor). It has a fresh oil change and I am running Seafoam. Is this a common problem with these engines? Is the Seafoam likely to help? Can I let the problem go and replace later if the problem persists? My next oil change I will add Liquimoly Lifter Additive.
2016 Grand Caravan lifter tick
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Nick1994
$100 site donor 2024
Let's hear it on video
We have 16 Caravans (2015) in our fleet, and every single one has suffered from this. Unfortunately, it won't go away, and more than likely end up damaging the cam if you let it go.
I hear more and more of these. Oil seems not to matter nor mileage changed at. I hope they got it fixed with mine but I am not holding my breath and I have a long time as I do 7k a year so 15 years or so I will know.
the head issue you’re thinking of is different, some heads had a mfg defect and would cause misfires and DTCs and such. If afflicted, the engine got a new head gratis.
the ticking of the valve train you hear is probably not going to be damaging unless it already is. The difference between the damaging ones and the ones that don’t end up causing damage is a ticking that gets progressively louder and more pronounced.
If the ticking never gets any worse, you’re likely fine with leaving it alone. If the noise begins to get worse, it will need to be addressed with mechanical intervention.
Bearing is shot in the rocker.
$1000 seems steep for that repair...$120/hr * 2 = $250 (rounded up to make math easy) + rocker@$150 (IDK, just guessing) = $400
Where is the other $600 being charged? Oil, filter, gaskets, and shop charges can’t be more than $200. That’s only $600 total, and most of my estimates are quite generous.
$1000 seems about $300-500 too high for the work that appears to be involved...
Where is the other $600 being charged? Oil, filter, gaskets, and shop charges can’t be more than $200. That’s only $600 total, and most of my estimates are quite generous.
$1000 seems about $300-500 too high for the work that appears to be involved...
The shop didn't diagnose the problem. They gave me a quote on my "misdiagnosis" of lifter replacement. Bad rocker bearing seems more likely. Will have to get a quote for that.
JTK
$100 Site Donor 2025
Did you use 5w20 the whole time you owned it?
You do see a thread in regards to this from time to time, then you see vidoes of Pentastars with 626K miles on them..
FWIW, I ran mostly synthetic 5w30 in my pentastars and couldn't bring myself to go beyond 6-7K miles between oil changes. I never kept them beyond ~75K though, but they were silent aside from their normal sewing machine appliance type sound.
You do see a thread in regards to this from time to time, then you see vidoes of Pentastars with 626K miles on them..
FWIW, I ran mostly synthetic 5w30 in my pentastars and couldn't bring myself to go beyond 6-7K miles between oil changes. I never kept them beyond ~75K though, but they were silent aside from their normal sewing machine appliance type sound.
I think that was always true--even back in the 70's, every once in a while someone would come along with several hundred thousand on the clock. I always assumed that, with the wide run of tolerances, that that particular engine managed to roll the dice and get just the right clearance numbers with the right metal hardness with the right oil with the right driver... Then you have guys who do everything right and yet suffer some catastrophic issue all the same.
Some of this I think is just luck of the draw.
Did you specify lifter replacement as part of the procedure to get the quote on? Because if you did, I would have expected a competent shop tech to realize those engines don’t have lifters.
Where you get that information? You can buy lifters for the 3.6 in numerous places.
https://www.enginepartsonly.com/2015-dodge-grand-caravan-3-6l-lifters-lif1169-e54/
OVERKILL
$100 Site Donor 2021
They may call those lifters, but they are HLA's.
Yeah but not them DNJ pieces of crap. Easy work to swap them out.
OP. Try a bottle of Rislone high mileage for a full OCI. Bring the RPM's up to 2500 for about 3-5 min driving, drop a gear if need be.
Many vehicles have this issue and this is an OE fix for some of them. If that does not help time to go further or leave it be.
Sometimes it’s a bad lifter sometimes it’s a back rocker. Seriously if the cams are good do all 12 of each on that head
very common 3.6 problem even though others want you to think 600k is normal lol
very common 3.6 problem even though others want you to think 600k is normal lol
I took the vehicle to the shop this morning. It would appear that the tick had gone away. I've been running a pint of Seafoam in the oil. I will do an extended drive tomorrow to see if the tick is indeed gone. Then I will do an oil change.
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Very disappointing that Chrysler has never fixed this defect.
Rocker arms should last longer than 100,000 miles.
Rocker arms should last longer than 100,000 miles.
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my neighbor has a 2011 caravan, OCI is every 5-6000km, it didn't matter
both the rocker arms and the lifters went at 170. 000 km,
now the head gasket is leaking
the 3.6 pentastar is just a garbage disposable Mopar engine (the Eco Diesel is biodegradable too)
both the rocker arms and the lifters went at 170. 000 km,
now the head gasket is leaking
the 3.6 pentastar is just a garbage disposable Mopar engine (the Eco Diesel is biodegradable too)
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