My 2016 Dodge Grand Caravan 3.6 is starting to get engine tick from the rocker arms, presumably. Is there a particular brand of rocker arms that would be more durable than the others?
Dodge 3.6 rocker arms
- Thread starter otis24
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I'm 99% sure they are all the same. I bought some Echlin ones from the local parts store and they had the Chrysler numbers printed right on them.
These manufacturers should be ashamed of them selves. Been building engines for over 100 years and now we can't keep cams and rocker arms together.
There is a good possibility that regardless of the aftermarket brand it is either going to be reboxed OE or Made in China.
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- Jul 14, 2020
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and they are all garbage, factory engineered to fail just after the warranty
my neighbour and her daughter have Dodge minivans, both engines failed around 160, 000 kms despite meticulous dealer maintenance
my neighbour and her daughter have Dodge minivans, both engines failed around 160, 000 kms despite meticulous dealer maintenance
We buy their products any way.
It would be interesting to know oil pressure of VVT to see if lower than engine oil pressure. I checked mine yesterday and it was identical. I don't have any problems at this point but I will keep an eye on it. Need a scan tool to get the readings.
I'd second Melling. They seem to have a good reputation. Normally I'd only go OEM but the factory valvetrain parts in these engines is a known weak area. There was a supposed rocker arm upgrade by Chrysler but that was supposedly in place by 2016, but this is not the first time I've seen this issue reported on a 2016 so their upgrade either didn't make it to all the 2016's, or it was what I'd call an inept-grade.
....could switch to Teslas?
It likely doesn’t matter which rockers you get probably get new lifters while you are at it hope a cam isn’t eaten yet either.
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Melling may actually be the OE supplier.
I have a pentastar in my promaster 2500. Some go 500k and some don't make it to 100k.
It really is poor quality. Other manufacturers have been using roller rockers for 30 years and have little to no failures. It seems the needle bearings are inferior. Once the bearing comes apart there isn't much time before the cam(s) are trash.
Good news is that FCA had made well over 10,000,000 of these engines, so used parts are plentiful.
Since the rollers don't get oil directly, it's a hard statement to blame engine oil for the failures.
I have a pentastar in my promaster 2500. Some go 500k and some don't make it to 100k.
It really is poor quality. Other manufacturers have been using roller rockers for 30 years and have little to no failures. It seems the needle bearings are inferior. Once the bearing comes apart there isn't much time before the cam(s) are trash.
Good news is that FCA had made well over 10,000,000 of these engines, so used parts are plentiful.
Since the rollers don't get oil directly, it's a hard statement to blame engine oil for the failures.
It's not the bearings that fail, it is the center pin they ride on that wears down.
*from my Jeep*
OVERKILL
$100 Site Donor 2021
Exact same as the HEMI lifter failures (the pin has improper heat treating, the needles groove the pin, then the needles pile up and the roller stops rolling), that folks blame on oil, poor engine design, and all sorts of other nonsense. Clearly, FCA and GM both have an issue with their valvetrain component supplier.
Could just be personal experience... however I see COUNTLESS Pentastar equipped vehicles come through my shop and I can count on one hand the number of rocker failures I've diagnosed. Same goes for the 3.7/4.7 lifter/rocker issue. Only a handful of offenders.
Again, this is a single data point from my own experience, however I've seen many more AFM lifter failures or 3x00 V6 rocker arm thread pulls than I have 3.6 rocker failure or PowerTech rocker chuckage.
Again, this is a single data point from my own experience, however I've seen many more AFM lifter failures or 3x00 V6 rocker arm thread pulls than I have 3.6 rocker failure or PowerTech rocker chuckage.
And we as a shop are doing them daily
I have a 2018 Wrangler with this engine, I have been debating a additive to combat this. The zinc additive from Rislone is readily available. The engine starts dry every time it sits more than a few minutes.
OVERKILL
$100 Site Donor 2021
Additives aren't going to prevent failure as the result of a mechanical/manufacturing defect. These are hardened surfaces, like the pin in the rollers on the lifters in the HEMI. If that hardening is improperly applied and there are spots that aren't as hard or aren't hardened, those areas are going to wear prematurely and create other issues.
Too much ZDDP is also corrosive, so keep that in mind.
That said, I'm not a big fan of the reduced phosphorous levels as mandated by the API so I tend to run full-SAPS oils with Euro additive packages that aren't constrained in that manner. These have higher levels of ZDDP right out of the gate, but this is in a properly balanced formula that's been tested to provide optimum levels of wear control, along with the other additives, which are typically synergistic. This is going to be much more effective, and doesn't risk the potential negative impacts of using a wizard in a can.
I still am waiting on someone to check vvt oil pressure. Curious if a small blockage in cam or the bolt for oil galleries is leaking causing the issue.
Our 2016 T&C ticks on cold start for 1 second. Usually silent on restarts the rest of the day. I think the lifters are surface treated inside to reject oil?
116k miles, done it since we bought it used with 59k.
