Infamous 3.6 Pentastar oil cooler strikes

[2014JKUdavis]

So, I noticed oil in the driveway yesterday. 2014 JKU, 45,000 miles. wet with oil underneath. Couldn't find the source of the leak. Dipstick reads full. Weird. So, I took it to the dealership for a diagnosis this morning. Cracked oil cooler. Guess how much the jeep dealer wants for the service and to replace the oil cooler? $1330.

 

[GMBoy]

WOW! $1330?

You can do this yourself in an hour to 2.... Get the cooler and intake gaskets, do plugs while you are there if you want to...Will cost ya $300 in parts

 

[JTK]

Thanks for posting the update on that!

Good grief that's a lot of money for this job and they charged ~$71 for an oil change as well.

I can't find any Grand Caravan or Ram 1500 pentastar threads on oil cooler replacement, but I want to say those were half that cost at a dealer.

Maybe another Jeep thing? As soon as the word "Jeep" is mentioned, the cost goes up 2-3x?

 

[2014JKUdavis]

Good grief that's a lot of money for this job and they charged ~$71 for an oil change as well.

I can't find any Grand Caravan or Ram 1500 pentastar threads on oil cooler replacement, but I want to say those were half that cost at a dealer.

Maybe another Jeep thing? As soon as the word "Jeep" is mentioned, the cost goes up 2-3x?

This is an Army town. Everything is over priced in Army towns. But yeah, $600+ for the labor, $300+ for the oil cooler, $200+ for the 12 gaskets, $20 in coolant for the bleed, the $70 oil change, tax- it added up quick. Yes, I could have probably gone out and paid for everything myself, but I only purchase OEM when I do work myself, so it would have cost me pretty close to the same in parts. The only thing I would have saved on is labor. I didn't have to lose a days work to fix my kids Jeep, so I guess it balances out...

 

[GMBoy]

This is an Army town. Everything is over priced in Army towns. But yeah, $600+ for the labor, $300+ for the oil cooler, $200+ for the 12 gaskets, $20 in coolant for the bleed, the $70 oil change, tax- it added up quick. Yes, I could have probably gone out and paid for everything myself, but I only purchase OEM when I do work myself, so it would have cost me pretty close to the same in parts. The only thing I would have saved on is labor. I didn't have to lose a days work to fix my kids Jeep, so I guess it balances out...

No, it does not balance out. The cooler was $200 at my dealer and the intake gaskets were $26 off rock auto. You can still get OEM - order online. This is a major rip off - the hourly labor does not add up by hours to do the job or labor rate - I would report them.

 

[Mazomopar]

Most mopar sites list the genuine Manifold Gasket - Mopar (5184331AC)
2011-2020 Mopar for 11.60 each so at $24 and change they are making bank..

 

[JTK]

There was just a thread on a Ram board I frequent where a fella there owns a 2014 Ram 1500 with the pentastar and had an oil leak. Low an behold it was the oil filter / cooler housing. A non-dealer shop charged him $1100 to replace it. This just seems insane to me for this job. I mean.. You can get a timing belt replaced for less than that can't you?

You can buy aftermarket filter/cooler assemblies online with all the gaskets needed for $125 w/ 4-5 star reviews (if you can believe them). Yeah I know.. you spend your money and take your chances, but can they really be worse than OEM? Who knows.

 

[pezzy84]

Originally Posted by dwcopple
I'll have to see if I can find a video of this swap on a FWD application. I don't understand how this is an "oil cooler" though when everything calls this the oil filter housing. I guess YMMV.


It is an oil filter housing and cooler in the SAME assembly. You can call it anything you like and it is referred to by both names depending where you look for parts. Regardless - the oil COOLER portion is what failed on me and is the weak point.

The engine coolant cools the oil....engine coolant is colder than oil so it pulls heat from the oil and cools the it. Look at your own post with the Rockauto photo and you will see. The oil filter portion is in front where you see it. The cooler sits behind it and the plumbing is all underneath.

I was schooled on this years ago on a VW forum for calling it an oil cooler as it works in both directions, in cold weather the coolant actually helps bring the oil to temperature faster than if it did not have the oil to coolant radiator. . Sorry not to split hairs here.

On the other hand this Pentastar design looks overly complicated for what is ultimate function is - definitely looks like an engineering "contribution" from Mercedes.

 

[OVERKILL]

There was just a thread on a Ram board I frequent where a fella there owns a 2014 Ram 1500 with the pentastar and had an oil leak. Low an behold it was the oil filter / cooler housing. A non-dealer shop charged him $1100 to replace it. This just seems insane to me for this job. I mean.. You can get a timing belt replaced for less than that can't you?

You can buy aftermarket filter/cooler assemblies online with all the gaskets needed for $125 w/ 4-5 star reviews (if you can believe them). Yeah I know.. you spend your money and take your chances, but can they really be worse than OEM? Who knows.

The OE assembly is less than $200.00, FWIW.

 

[The Critic]

Thanks for posting the update on that!

Good grief that's a lot of money for this job and they charged ~$71 for an oil change as well.

I can't find any Grand Caravan or Ram 1500 pentastar threads on oil cooler replacement, but I want to say those were half that cost at a dealer.

Maybe another Jeep thing? As soon as the word "Jeep" is mentioned, the cost goes up 2-3x?

No, it does not balance out. The cooler was $200 at my dealer and the intake gaskets were $26 off rock auto. You can still get OEM - order online. This is a major rip off - the hourly labor does not add up by hours to do the job or labor rate - I would report them.

1 hr for diag, 2.5 hr for replacement. 3.5 hours at $176/hr. Seems reasonable.
Parts were sold on some type of matrix. Intake gaskets were at 2x list, oil cooler was at 12% over list.
Oil change was not included in the repair operation so that would be separate.

Not seeing anything out of line here. Perhaps you are not used to seeing labor rates at this level in combination with parts mark-up?

 

[GMBoy]

1 hr for diag, 2.5 hr for replacement. 3.5 hours at $176/hr. Seems reasonable.
Parts were sold on some type of matrix. Intake gaskets were at 2x list, oil cooler was at 12% over list.
Oil change was not included in the repair operation so that would be separate.

Not seeing anything out of line here. Perhaps you are not used to seeing labor rates at this level in combination with parts mark-up?

I see your point there. The $176/hr mechanical rate is very high - average rate where I am is $80/hr with dealerships around $120. I do probably 1 or 2 Pentastar coolers a month and I charge $650 total which even includes spark plugs too since I am in there. It takes me an 1.5hrs. No way anybody should be paying $1000+ for this repair.

 

[4WD]

I see your point there. The $176/hr mechanical rate is very high - average rate where I am is $80/hr with dealerships around $120. I do probably 1 or 2 Pentastar coolers a month and I charge $650 total which even includes spark plugs too since I am in there. It takes me an 1.5hrs. No way anybody should be paying $1000+ for this repair.

Will you toss in a plant tour ? … last time I was there they were still building the GTO !

 

[JTK]

Not seeing anything out of line here. Perhaps you are not used to seeing labor rates at this level in combination with parts mark-up?

Normal for you Sir with those crazy west coast dollars and such.

Independent shops are still in the $80-100/hr range in my area. Dealers are $120.

 

[fr7500]

Hello, I am new to your forum but I believe I just had this same issue happen to my 2016 Journey which has the 3.6 pentastar engine. I had my oil changed last week at NTB and noticed a few small drips in the driveway last night so I got under the car and noticed oil covering the bottom of the oil pan and transmission and running all the way to the back of the car. I traced it all the way up and around to the top of the transmission and found a pool of it around the bottom of the oil filter. The dipstick still was in the middle of the "safe" zone. So I took it back to NTB and they said that the "rear main seal" was definitely leaking and that the oil on top was just an accidental spill and I need to go straight to an engine shop right away.

Anyhow, I took the car to my regular mechanic who is working on it now and he says it's more than likely the oil filter assembly since it's pooling up there and ran across the valley and down the transmission. Says he should be done by the end of the day because Dodge always keeps this part in stock and he's fixed them before on a lot of other pentastars. I was just freaking out because a rear main seal is a lot more expensive than an oil filter assembly and I did read that the rear main seal does happen to some 3.6L Jeep owners so I worried a little.

I just wonder if NTB broke it or if it was pooling already and NTB spilled some and "filled" up the valley beyond 1 quart and it started going over and down the block/transmission at that point.

 

[4WD]

Hello, I am new to your forum but I believe I just had this same issue happen to my 2016 Journey which has the 3.6 pentastar engine. I had my oil changed last week at NTB and noticed a few small drips in the driveway last night so I got under the car and noticed oil covering the bottom of the oil pan and transmission and running all the way to the back of the car. I traced it all the way up and around to the top of the transmission and found a pool of it around the bottom of the oil filter. The dipstick still was in the middle of the "safe" zone. So I took it back to NTB and they said that the "rear main seal" was definitely leaking and that the oil on top was just an accidental spill and I need to go straight to an engine shop right away.

Anyhow, I took the car to my regular mechanic who is working on it now and he says it's more than likely the oil filter assembly since it's pooling up there and ran across the valley and down the transmission. Says he should be done by the end of the day because Dodge always keeps this part in stock and he's fixed them before on a lot of other pentastars. I was just freaking out because a rear main seal is a lot more expensive than an oil filter assembly and I did read that the rear main seal does happen to some 3.6L Jeep owners so I worried a little.

I just wonder if NTB broke it or if it was pooling already and NTB spilled some and "filled" up the valley beyond 1 quart and it started going over and down the block/transmission at that point.

Welcome … many of us here formerly had others change oil but no longer
For me the day came when an unknown gear oil cost me a 62k rear axle

 

[JTK]

I just wonder if NTB broke it or if it was pooling already and NTB spilled some and "filled" up the valley beyond 1 quart and it started going over and down the block/transmission at that point.

If you had no signs of leakage or oil smell before, it more than likely broke/began leaking when they tightened the cap this last time. That's the issue with pentastars and having quick places change your oil for you. Even dealers for that matter. You have no idea if they're using too much force or not.

Out of curiosity and if you don't mind, post back with the findings and total cost.

 

[fr7500]

If you had no signs of leakage or oil smell before, it more than likely broke/began leaking when they tightened the cap this last time. That's the issue with pentastars and having quick places change your oil for you. Even dealers for that matter. You have no idea if they're using too much force or not.

Out of curiosity and if you don't mind, post back with the findings and total cost.

Sure I will do that, I had noticed nothing unusual prior to this time. I usually get the oil change done at a different "quick change" place that is also a car-wash and they only do oil changes and car washes. I had previously done 3 successful changes (about 27,000 miles) worth of changes with no issues there. I only went to NTB this time to get my tires rotated and alignment done, screw that, never again! I will do this in my own driveway from now on to be safe.

 

[fr7500]

My mechanic charged $640 and confirmed it was the oil filter assembly that was cracked.

 

[sloinker]

My mechanic charged $640 and confirmed it was the oil filter assembly that was cracked.

That's square in the ballpark as far as cost goes. It is a relatively simple home mechanic project with a few hand tools and watching the SouthMainAuto video on youtube among others. Too late now but for future reference. Hand tighten the filter cap only.

 

[fr7500]

That's square in the ballpark as far as cost goes. It is a relatively simple home mechanic project with a few hand tools and watching the SouthMainAuto video on youtube among others. Too late now but for future reference. Hand tighten the filter cap only.

Right now we are living in an apartment and don't have the space to work on it ourselves. The mechanic pulled a quart of oil out of the "valley" of the engine block. He's a great guy!