2018 Dodge Caravan - PentaStar 3.6L V6 Check In

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Originally Posted by MotoGuzzi
Regarding the oil pressure, the oil pump has a low and high side. The pump operates on the high side until the oil reaches about 150 F and when the engine is above 3000 rpm. After the oil reaches 150 F, idle pressure will be about 25 psi and above idle will run about 40 psi. These observations are based on my experience with a '13,'14 and '18 3.6. Good engines, zero oil consumption and good fuel economy. I change oil myself at 5 k using synthetic. Maybe overkill but it gives me an opportunity to give the vehicle a good going over and buying PP and a Mopar filter at Walmart it costs only $30. Note, the 11-13 3.6 uses a different filter than 14-18.


On the pentastar in my 2017 Ram 1500, the digital indication for engine oil pressure ramps up to 99psig on cold start (as high as it indicates). It does level out to ~35psig at hot idle.
 
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I'd have to convert that because mine reports in KPa (Kilopascal) being metric by default. It's really annoying for tires when our pumps have PSI indicators and the tire monitoring systems report in KPa.
 
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I was wrong with my above statement. Hot idle is ~25psig and normal operating temps cruising is ~35psig for the pentastar in my Ram 1500. But like said above, it's amazing the jumps in oil press in some conditions not consistent with engine RPM. The computer control doing it's thing to reduce pumping losses I presume.
 
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I recently had a few newer grand caravans in my possession and got to put a few miles on each vehicle. 3x 2017s and 3x 2018s. The 3.6 is a great engine for these vans but the transmission is still suspicious. Every single one of them had some weird moments of hesitation to downshift. Rough shifts at random and sometimes harsh banging between gears. This is not something I expected with vehicles between 10 and 30000 KM.

I found the econ mode makes it too rough of a ride for not much fuel savings. With econ turned ON I would get 13.5 L/100km. With econ OFF I get 14.2L/100km. That's with 50/50 heavy traffic and highway driving.

With econ off it seems to shift the best with the least number of hiccups. I'm still wondering why it even hiccups at all. Those rough/harsh shifts feel worse than what the old 41TE transmission would to do.

I must add one of the 2017s I drove for a couple of months had the scariest sounding transmission when accelerating up to highway speeds. There was a screeching/grinding sound when it would go into the higher gears. I put 7000km on that vehicle and had 32000km once returned. That one is likely to need a rebuild before 100000.

These were all rental vehicles I had provided by my work so when it was time for a service they just swapped the whole vehicle.

Would I buy one for myself? Yes, but only if I got it used for a great price with a good service record. Never buy from a rental company.
 
The transmission could use some refinement for sure but it is really durable in the 2012 and later models. They are canning this transmission after 2019 as they kill this model of Caravan.

My previous place of employment had a fleet of 95 and they all made it to 180K no issues with the exception of 1. The Econ mode just makes it skip gears on the upshift and it's the most useless feature out there, mostly everyone I speak with and the 4 we have in the family leave it turned off.

That said my 2018 has about 10K KM's (6K miles on it) and it performs like my dad's 2012 with 300K on it.

They are a great value vehicle for sure even if you paid the prices they are asking for them new. But they can be substantially cheaper 1-2 years old.
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I should mention that the 62TE is based on the 4 speed I had in my Journey and I found it shifted much better ditching the Mopar ATF+4 for a better quality synthetic. I have noticed this same difference in my dad's Caravan with the 62TE using Mobil ATF+4 in his so I plan to dump my Mopar ATF+4 at 30K miles (50K KM) for Redline C+ ATF (Want to try theirs because it has the same ad-pack as Mopar fluid). And if that is no improvement I will switched it over to Amsoil Multi-Vehicle Formula like I did in the Journey.
 
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