Durango oil filter/cooler housing leaking again :-(

[wwillson]

The infamous Pentastar oil filter housing/oil cooler on my Durango is leaking again. The original housing was replaced by the dealer at 60,010 miles (they we nice enough to write the work order with 59,500 miles) under warranty. This time the housing lasted for 108,000 miles. I am the only one that changed the oil filter in the entire life of the most recent housing. The filter housing was never tightened past contact with the base. This is just a terrible design. The proof of the leak is the oil spots on the floor of the garage and the pooled oil around the housing.

I ordered this Dorman kit, as Bill says they have had very good luck with the all aluminum housing, they've never had one come back leaking. Going to do the job myself.

Amazon.com

In case you haven't seen it, MCM has a great set of videos on how to properly do the job.




Pooled oil under housing:

 

[OVERKILL]

This is the "3-thread spark plug holes on the 2V modular" for the Pentastar. An otherwise excellent design hamstrung by somebody trying to save a few bucks.

 

[michaelluscher]

I hear the included gaskets aren't any good

Plan for alternatives

 

[el Nuke]

I hate to play Devil’s Advocate here, but the part lasted it’s full warranty both times. If we expect more, we should demand a longer warranty, and be willing to pay the extra cost associated with providing such, shouldn’t we?

 

[wwillson]

I hate to play Devil’s Advocate here, but the part lasted it’s full warranty both times. If we expect more, we should demand a longer warranty, and be willing to pay the extra cost associated with providing such, shouldn’t we?

The housing is well understood to be a bad design, so maybe we should also demand a better design?

 

[dnewton3]

Ugh - the job looks tedious. Not conceptually hard, just a lot of stuff to remove to do the job. If it were me, I'd seriously consider replacing that coolant hose at the back of the cooler, as well as the knock sensor, while the lower manifold is off.

 

[oldhp]

(Sarcasm folks) But couldn't you drill a hole in the valley and let the oil drain back into the engine???

 

[Number_35]

(Sarcasm folks) But couldn't you drill a hole in the valley and let the oil drain back into the engine???

Why yes, with a one-way valve and a wee filter, I think you'd be into something!

 

[xpeteyjtx]

Wwilson, what year is your pentastar? Is it the new version or the old?

 

[wwillson]

Wwilson, what year is your pentastar? Is it the new version or the old?

It's a 2014, it's the older version that doesn't have cooled ERG.

 

[Nick1994]

Knock on wood but the '14 Grand Cherokee that I had, now sold to my aunt and I maintain, still hasn't had any trouble with it. 156k miles. We bought it at 102k but I didn't see any service records about it.

 

[LouC]

I hate to play Devil’s Advocate here, but the part lasted it’s full warranty both times. If we expect more, we should demand a longer warranty, and be willing to pay the extra cost associated with providing such, shouldn’t we?

Actually we could expect a properly designed oil filter that depends on one (1) seal instead of a filter & housing & oil cooler that depends on nine (9) seals! And that requires removing the whole top of the engine to change (upper & lower intake manifolds). It’s such a turn off to me that I have resisted buying another Jeep with this engine. And no it doesn’t have to be designed that way.
We had the exact same problem on our 17 Wrangler Unlimited Sport at the same mileage.
Somehow modern engineering has taken a formerly trouble free component and given us an engineering nightmare and for what purpose exactly? I have been changing oil in all my vehicles & family members since 1972 and have never seen such a lousy piece of engineering. Shame too because I would like a newer Jeep!

 

[MSCH]

like everything else in the automotive world, a semi poor design may soldier on simply because it is cheaper to pay a few warranty claims than it is to fix the problem thru a production change..

or as I've heard it said regarding different products with common problems... 'THEY ALL DO THAT".

might not be acceptable to the end user but that is the way it is.

 

[KrisZ]

That's frustrating for sure.
However, I'm not entirely convince an aluminum cooler will last any longer. The way the ports are sealed is the weak spot. At the very least get the Mopar gasket set for it.

 

[el Nuke]

I think it’s absolutely reasonable to demand a better designed part, but my own personal opinion on that matter devolves into the whole ‘bean counters always win’ scenario.

 

[wwillson]

Dorman aluminum housing has arrived. It appears to be very well made and is pretty heavy. I will bet this one won't crack.

 

[RAR]

I’ve done this job three times now, and I can have the old one off and the new one in in about two hours. Because I’m taking my time and torquing fasteners carefully (those small E-torx fasteners can strip very easily).

I replaced the older oil filter cooler housing on a 2011 with the newer aluminum kit, and not a leak or worry with it. The van now specs 2014+ oil filters. Since I do the oil service, I know what to get in the future.

You won’t need to disconnect the fuel rails, but you will want something to sop up the oil and coolant mess in the valley. It will be filled with goop. I used a battery driven fluid pump I got at Menards to suck out the mess and pigmat to dry it.

This is also the time to get a set of upper and lower intake gaskets. Just change them out, even if the original set looks ok.

No, I didn’t use the Dorman kit, but a no name eBay one. It still works fine for only $60.

 

[demarpaint]

Ugh - the job looks tedious. Not conceptually hard, just a lot of stuff to remove to do the job. If it were me, I'd seriously consider replacing that coolant hose at the back of the cooler, as well as the knock sensor, while the lower manifold is off.

Yep, and the spark plugs even if they're within 50k miles of needing replacement. Flame suit on...

 

[JTK]

These plastic housings are so frustrating. Sometimes it's a crack in the plastic. Sometimes one of the glued in plugs on the base of them leak or they leak through the sensor mounts. Other times the leaks seem to originate from the O-ring seals at the base, but you can't tell for certain because of their location.

I would like to think aluminum would be more stable, thus preventing the O-rings from shifting, or distorting in such a way that they fail.

Keep us posted please.

 

[researcher]

Crazy it's a dorman part! But.. I'm keeping an open mind, the reviews looked awesome that I found.