Gladiator 2020 3.6 Pentastar (Import from US to Germany) Oils and Advice

discovered that the hard way with the Bronco.
For sure

I also like the 4xe.
People need to realize that it is marketed for saving the planet etc and so on but as soon as you forget about the marketing you realize it is well engineered for performance, yes u will still burn through gas, still less than on the 392, but have similar power and some fun gagdets. I just would not want to repair it.
With the older stuff its proven and also easy to replace repair.
My wife loves driving it and has now instructed me to lift it and put 35's on it
You sir have done everything right and must be thankful every day :cool:

I am lucky and happy Carly and I are on the same page, we are the few that got that lucky!
 
FWIW, that Etorque works extremely well. I'm no electrician, but I'd guess the power output on that generator is massive. So running a winch or whatever won't make it break a sweat. I've also not heard of anyone having any issue with it. Seems pretty stout.

That said, there are a couple of guys that claim they know of Rams with the 3.6 Etorque who are pushing well past 100k and so far so good. But I'm keeping ours for as long as we can buy gasoline, so I'm willing to sacrifice 1mpg in favor of low bearing wear.

My wife now has about 13k trouble-free miles on hers. I just put a Tazer JL Mini on it and the ESS is now off unless selected. So we're ready to settle in for the long run with this thing. My wife loves driving it and has now instructed me to lift it and put 35's on it.

I think it will go the distance. In fact, the fit/finish and quality of her Jeep is as good as any vehicle we've ever owned. I've not found even the tiniest flaw. That's saying something considering it has a fiberglass removable top. It has to be hard to get those things just right. Ford has discovered that the hard way with the Bronco.

I do know that the manual doesn't have it. I've got 4 trouble free years with my 2018/manual 3.6. Looking forward to many more.
I'd be thrilled to give up even 2 mpg not to have any of the garbage tech [my opinion of it] to be honest. Can ESS still be disabled with a vehicle equipped with eTorque to save the bearings? I believe it's the ESS that kills the bearings, even the alleged beefed up bearings. I'm still doing my homework, and at some point might consider it. Sadly when this type of tech is forced on a person like it or not they have to take it if they want a new vehicle. A stick would slove the eTorque issue, but my wife enjoys driving my Rubicon and is not a stick fan. I also like the ZF8 speed transmission.
 
Can ESS still be disabled with a vehicle equipped with eTorque
I am certain that the tazer mini keeps the ESS *(Start Stop) disabled on all available vehicles. All it does it is digitally disabling it fort you, almost the same as getting in and first thing pressing the button.
 
I'd be thrilled to give up even 2 mpg not to have any of the garbage tech [my opinion of it] to be honest. Can ESS still be disabled with a vehicle equipped with eTorque to save the bearings? I believe it's the ESS that kills the bearings, even the alleged beefed up bearings. I'm still doing my homework, and at some point might consider it. Sadly when this type of tech is forced on a person like it or not they have to take it if they want a new vehicle. A stick would slove the eTorque issue, but my wife enjoys driving my Rubicon and is not a stick fan. I also like the ZF8 speed transmission.
The Tazer Mini JL makes it so that if you turn it off or on, it remembers it the next time you start the vehicle. So turn it off and it stays off. I think Superchips and AEV both have programmers that can disable it. There might be another that is solely used to disable it.

Supposedly they put an advanced coating on the pistons and possibly the bearings to counter the wear. Hopefully it works. If it does, then we may never wear these engines out, LOL!
 
The Tazer Mini JL makes it so that if you turn it off or on, it remembers it the next time you start the vehicle. So turn it off and it stays off. I think Superchips and AEV both have programmers that can disable it. There might be another that is solely used to disable it.

Supposedly they put an advanced coating on the pistons and possibly the bearings to counter the wear. Hopefully it works. If it does, then we may never wear these engines out, LOL!
Thanks. Being able to turn off ESS I'm aware of. Are you saying you can disable eTorque as well? I'm still trying to learn about it, and I learned that I don't want it lol. I can live with it if I'm forced to I guess, knowing it can be shut off would make me feel better. OTOH my 2016 Rubicon has been great, and is still in mint condition so I can certainly hold off. ;)
 
Thanks. Being able to turn off ESS I'm aware of. Are you saying you can disable eTorque as well? I'm still trying to learn about it, and I learned that I don't want it lol. I can live with it if I'm forced to I guess, knowing it can be shut off would make me feel better. OTOH my 2016 Rubicon has been great, and is still in mint condition so I can certainly hold off. ;)
As far as I am aware you cant disable etorq. It subtly supports the engine here and there... surely eking out a few more mpg and thus lowering the fleet emission score
 
Last edited:
As far as I am aware you cant disable etorq. It subtly supports the engine here and there... surely eking out a few more mpg and thus lowering the fleet emission score
I didn't think you could disable eTorque, but there's a lot going on in the aftermarket. Being able to turn off ESS is a plus which I was aware of early on and something I can live with. I'd be turning it off about 2 seconds after the engine fires up. ;)
 
I didn't think you could disable eTorque, but there's a lot going on in the aftermarket. Being able to turn off ESS is a plus which I was aware of early on and something I can live with. I'd be turning it off about 2 seconds after the engine fires up. ;)
I know down in Canada they are deleting all the dpf, adblue etc out of the new diesel gladiators. Like you said, aftermarket is a wonderful thing (y)
🍻
 
Thanks. Being able to turn off ESS I'm aware of. Are you saying you can disable eTorque as well? I'm still trying to learn about it, and I learned that I don't want it lol. I can live with it if I'm forced to I guess, knowing it can be shut off would make me feel better. OTOH my 2016 Rubicon has been great, and is still in mint condition so I can certainly hold off. ;)
The E-torque only works when the ESS is on. It actually gets you moving while restarting the engine for a brief second, providing 90 ft. lbs of torque. Once the engine fires and takes over, it stops providing the torque. When the engine is running and you are just driving, it works as a generator and recharges the battery. It was origninally called a "belt start generator." Etorque became the marketing name. So again, it only works on the restarts.

Interestingly, the first cold start uses a normal starter and the regular engine battery. The E-torque has its own larger battery for the stop/start function, which takes over once the engine is warmed up.

So yeah, when the ESS is disabled, the Etorque does nothing more than act as a generator/alternator.

It is too bad that it likely causes accelerated bearing wear because this system works absolutely seemlessly and VERY well. It's a wonderful piece of engineering. In fact, it made Ward's 10 best engines in the world list when it was introduced.

Oil_Udder did say they used an advanced coating in the engine to mitigate ESS wear. I would assume that coating is on the bearings as well as pistons and possibly other parts. He told me awhile back that he's not sure how well it works and then later told me that ESS causes pretty bad bearing wear. But the guys on the Jeep forum are telling me they know of Rams with the Etorque V6 that are pushing well past 150k and going strong. Time will tell, but for now we're disabling ours with the Tazer.

The good news is that if you don't want that system you can get a Gladiator. It has the standard ESS without Etorque. The other option is a Wrangler with a manual transmission. I also believe the 2.0 engine no longer has Etorque but just standard ESS. The 2.0 is turning out to be a very good and reliable powerplant. I don't see any pattern of issues on the Jeep forum. They love their 2.0 turbos.

I will also note that the original 2.0 turbos with e-torque seem to be doing just fine after 3 years on the road. I've not heard of one complaint about any kind of issue with it on the Jeep forums. The owners appear very happy with them. I think in 2020 or 2021 they went to the 2.0 without e-torque. Not sure why. Maybe to push folks to the V6?

But our 3.6 Etorque is doing just fine with it disabled. I don't love carrying the big battery around underneath, but don't really think about it. The Jeep performs great.
 
Last edited:
The E-torque only works when the ESS is on. It actually gets you moving while restarting the engine for a brief second, providing 90 ft. lbs of torque. Once the engine fires and takes over, it stops providing the torque. When the engine is running and you are just driving, it works as a generator and recharges the battery. It was origninally called a "belt start generator." Etorque became the marketing name. So again, it only works on the restarts.

Interestingly, the first cold start uses a normal starter and the regular engine battery. The E-torque has its own larger battery for the stop/start function, which takes over once the engine is warmed up.

So yeah, when the ESS is disabled, the Etorque does nothing more than act as a generator/alternator.

It is too bad that it likely causes accelerated bearing wear because this system works absolutely seemlessly and VERY well. It's a wonderful piece of engineering. In fact, it made Ward's 10 best engines in the world list when it was introduced.

Oil_Udder did say they used an advanced coating in the engine to mitigate ESS wear. I would assume that coating is on the bearings as well as pistons and possibly other parts. He told me awhile back that he's not sure how well it works and then later told me that ESS causes pretty bad bearing wear. But the guys on the Jeep forum are telling me they know of Rams with the Etorque V6 that are pushing well past 150k and going strong. Time will tell, but for now we're disabling ours with the Tazer.

The good news is that if you don't want that system you can get a Gladiator. It has the standard ESS without Etorque. The other option is a Wrangler with a manual transmission. I also believe the 2.0 engine no longer has Etorque but just standard ESS. The 2.0 is turning out to be a very good and reliable powerplant. I don't see any pattern of issues on the Jeep forum. They love their 2.0 turbos.

I will also note that the original 2.0 turbos with e-torque seem to be doing just fine after 3 years on the road. I've not heard of one complaint about any kind of issue with it on the Jeep forums. The owners appear very happy with them. I think in 2020 or 2021 they went to the 2.0 without e-torque. Not sure why. Maybe to push folks to the V6?

But our 3.6 Etorque is doing just fine with it disabled. I don't love carrying the big battery around underneath, but don't really think about it. The Jeep performs great.
Thanks for the info! I've been saying for along time the ESS is going to cause wear, no matter what they did to prevent it. I caught flak about it too. LOL I can deal with eTorque now if it's disabled but turning off ESS, and enjoy a longer lasting engine as a result. It's a shame you have to pay for the technology even when you don't want it, but that's how it goes. A stick is out of the question since my wife will be driving it. I don't like the Gladiator, rather not have the I-4 Turbo, or the diesel. The Hemi is nice, but I don't need it. I love the 3.6L, and having an extra battery and generator won't be the end of the world now that I know the system can be disabled. I'm glad the 3.6L is not DI, yet. Maybe they'll leave well enough alone now with the push for EV's. Once this house is sold and we're situated I'll pull the trigger. Again, thanks for the info!
 
Thanks for the info! I've been saying for along time the ESS is going to cause wear, no matter what they did to prevent it. I caught flak about it too. LOL I can deal with eTorque now if it's disabled but turning off ESS, and enjoy a longer lasting engine as a result. It's a shame you have to pay for the technology even when you don't want it, but that's how it goes. A stick is out of the question since my wife will be driving it. I don't like the Gladiator, rather not have the I-4 Turbo, or the diesel. The Hemi is nice, but I don't need it. I love the 3.6L, and having an extra battery and generator won't be the end of the world now that I know the system can be disabled. I'm glad the 3.6L is not DI, yet. Maybe they'll leave well enough alone now with the push for EV's. Once this house is sold and we're situated I'll pull the trigger. Again, thanks for the info!
You are welcome! I love the 3.6, too. It's just a sweet powerplant and the easiest oil change ever, with the height of the Jeep and the filter being front and center under the hood. We love ours and I expect hundreds of thousands of miles out of them. Reliability and durability are priorities for me, as I take our Jeeps into very remote and rugged locations. I have great confidence in this powertrain. And I'm also glad it doesn't have D.I. It has plenty of power without it. My wife's is downright quick with the auto and stock 33" tires, too.
 
I like the 3.6L in my Gladiator a lot. At the moment I'm running 5w-30 in it with no issues. I push it off road and tow a trailer. I've seen my oil close to 240 degrees so I just feel better with a little thicker oil.

If you haven't found it yet there is a very good Gladiator forum here: https://www.jeepgladiatorforum.com/

Enjoy your Gladiator and best regards.
 

Attachments

  • 20220326_090634 (Medium).jpg
    20220326_090634 (Medium).jpg
    208.9 KB · Views: 18
I like the 3.6L in my Gladiator a lot. At the moment I'm running 5w-30 in it with no issues. I push it off road and tow a trailer. I've seen my oil close to 240 degrees so I just feel better with a little thicker oil.

If you haven't found it yet there is a very good Gladiator forum here: https://www.jeepgladiatorforum.com/

Enjoy your Gladiator and best regards.
Nice rig. Love the trailer. Thank you for sharing your experience, all ways great to see and hear from the peeps that use and push their vehicles 🍻
 
Back
Top