Jeep 3.6 Pentastar

All I can say is 20k trouble free miles out of mine. I am now watching the hours to see oil change interval as mine is idled alot. Valvoline Advance Synthetic with Maxlife. Been averaging 4k severe duty changes.
 
I bought a 2020 Grand Cherokee with the 3.6.....sure i had rather have the 5.7 v-8 but not willing to pay 40k etc....I got a great deal on this one at 31k for a Limited.
Ive been a Ford guy most all my life ....had 4 Mustangs v-8's but I just dont like the 2.7 ecoboost in an Explorer.....not a fan of small engines with a turbo cranking out huge HP numbers in very heavy SUV's and trucks.
Most all my friends say the 3.6 is junk and will never make 100k miles etc......should have bought Ford or Toyota...
I dont see Jeeps or Dodge etc.....with 3.6 \'s littering the side of the road.
With proper oil chances the Pentastar should make 200k easy......question is my friends Jeep GC 3.6 says use 5w20.....two years later mine says use 0w20 .....I live in a very hot climate and will keep on using 5w20 Valvoline syn in my Jeep .....It sure seems to run better and smoother with 5w20 vs 0w20 in the summer months.
What is diff from the 2018 3.6 to 2020 to make Jeep change the the oil viscosity?

Wow, your friends apparently have very little knowledge of engines, particularly the Pentastar. It is an outstanding engine. You will find out as you drive that GC. You've got the updated PUG version, and it has about 14% more torque through most of the powerband than the previous version. I've got it in my 2018 Wrangler. It is just a hoot to drive.

I'd use the 0w20, as specified by Jeep, especially if using the ESS. Any major brand will do well. I've had great UOA's with Mobil 1 EP, AP, Pennzoil Ultra Platinum, and Shell Rotella Gas Truck. Any of those oils will handle the heat of a desert, so don't worry about it. Besides, your GC has an oil cooler, too.

Oh, and one other thing. I would NOT use the ESS.

If you have more questions, ask Kevin @OIL_UDDER . He's an engineer and was one of the designers of the Pentastar. He drives one in his Chrysler 300 every day.

Funny story from a couple weeks ago....I had a guy in a Jeep club tell me what a crappy engine the Pentastar is. I asked him why. He said his blew with only about 10k miles on it. I asked him how that happened. He said his son buried the Jeep in water halfway up the windows! Lol! Sounds like he knows as much about engines as your friends. 😅😂

Enjoy that Jeep! And you should easily get 300k out of it, and probably more if you take good care of it. Kevin says they do better when run hard, which is exactly what I've been doing with mine!
 
Wow, your friends apparently have very little knowledge of engines, particularly the Pentastar. It is an outstanding engine. You will find out as you drive that GC. You've got the updated PUG version, and it has about 14% more torque through most of the powerband than the previous version. I've got it in my 2018 Wrangler. It is just a hoot to drive.

I'd use the 0w20, as specified by Jeep, especially if using the ESS. Any major brand will do well. I've had great UOA's with Mobil 1 EP, AP, Pennzoil Ultra Platinum, and Shell Rotella Gas Truck. Any of those oils will handle the heat of a desert, so don't worry about it. Besides, your GC has an oil cooler, too.

Oh, and one other thing. I would NOT use the ESS.

If you have more questions, ask Kevin @OIL_UDDER . He's an engineer and was one of the designers of the Pentastar. He drives one in his Chrysler 300 every day.

Funny story from a couple weeks ago....I had a guy in a Jeep club tell me what a crappy engine the Pentastar is. I asked him why. He said his blew with only about 10k miles on it. I asked him how that happened. He said his son buried the Jeep in water halfway up the windows! Lol! Sounds like he knows as much about engines as your friends. 😅😂

Enjoy that Jeep! And you should easily get 300k out of it, and probably more if you take good care of it. Kevin says they do better when run hard, which is exactly what I've been doing with mine!

Im belong to a Mustang club....and own a 2007 GT with 67k miles and a 2014 GT with 34k miles.....so most all friends are die hard Ford fans....on top of Mustangs about half have F-150 trucks....
Like I said I bought the Jeep on Price ....Looks and I dont like turbo engines like in the new Explorer. So far I Love the Jeep and 290 HP is plenty for the size of it.
 
Of course Hitler was right … the 392 Hemi Rubicon has been announced

I'm sure it will be cheap!

We have a 2014 JKU with the 3.6, it has about 96k now with lots of off road. I have had to replace the oil control solenoid in the oil pump (that sucked), the oil cooler housing/pressure switch, and a radiator (if that is considered an engine part...). Aside from that the 3.6 been mostly reliable. I would probably buy another, especially with the newer updates.
 
I hope you have good luck with it. We have never had good luck with Chrysler products our Jeep engine blew at 108,000 never again buying anything from them also has some major electrical issues. They probably changed the viscosity to stay up with the times or the oil channels may have changed sizes.
 
I'm sure it will be cheap!

We have a 2014 JKU with the 3.6, it has about 96k now with lots of off road. I have had to replace the oil control solenoid in the oil pump (that sucked), the oil cooler housing/pressure switch, and a radiator (if that is considered an engine part...). Aside from that the 3.6 been mostly reliable. I would probably buy another, especially with the newer updates.
When I got the 2020 Rubicon … it was hard to find the options I wanted and the 3.6L … the 4 bangers covered the lots … I’m sure it’s going to be a good engine but I wanted something that’s been around a while …
 
Its a great engine. Bummer those opinions are still out there with it's proven track record. Will cross 200K on mine this summer without any issues....
My 2015 Charger 3.6 had a rocker fail and wipe the cam. 73k miles. Never went the recommended 10k miles and always used FS oil. Specifically I used Castrol Edge EP twice, Pennzoil Platinum for all the other changes. I changed the oil and filter ever about 5k miles and changed the engine air filter every year. Had a 2011 Durango 5.7L Hemi with 172k miles on it. Those are good engines
 
Haven’t seen as many issues with the update engines valve trains yet. But some.
The first version and still in vehicles yes. Probably anyone working on vehicles has put cams rockers lifters in them. It’s common plain and simple.

several a week at my shop. Oil Coolers even more

good smooth powerful engine though. I like the way they drive.

the transmissions are mostly reliable. I’ve put many valve bodies in them. Several transmissions. Those are really the only common place serviceable parts
 
You guys realize they've made nearly 11 million Pentastars. They may even be pushing 12 million by now. If a tiny, tiny percentage of them had a certain kind of problem, every shop in the country would say they see them all the time.

The vast, vast majority of Jeep owners in the clubs in which I participate will tell you the've had zero issues, and they've punished the hell out of them in extreme conditions. They love them. Even the most hard core folks.

My Dad was a GM engineer and got all the trade publications. They pretty much universally praised the Pentastar as one of the best production engines on the market, with a relatively low warranty claim rate and high reliability and long term durability.

Of all the engines you can buy right now, it is one of the safest bets. Rememer, too, it does not have direct injection, so no LSPI or fuel dilution issues. It is very easy on oil compared to its contemporaries with DI. Plus, it is one of the most versitile engines on the market. It works equally well in pickup trucks, sports cars, mini vans and Jeeps.
 
I still maintain the opinion that the 3.6 feels better driving around town than the 5.7 does. It doesn’t make as much torque as the hemi, but it feels like the torque in the 3.6 comes on way sooner than the 5.7’s does, very smooth feeling power band where the 5.7 feels more “peaky” to me. The 8 speed is also truly amazing.

Owned 2 vehicles with of the V6, a 2016 300 and a 2018 Grand Caravan, still have the van, and not a single engine problem so far. Traded the 300 for a Ram 1500 with the 5.7 because we needed a truck otherwise I’d have kept the 300.
 
I still maintain the opinion that the 3.6 feels better driving around town than the 5.7 does. It doesn’t make as much torque as the hemi, but it feels like the torque in the 3.6 comes on way sooner than the 5.7’s does, very smooth feeling power band where the 5.7 feels more “peaky” to me. The 8 speed is also truly amazing.

Owned 2 vehicles with of the V6, a 2016 300 and a 2018 Grand Caravan, still have the van, and not a single engine problem so far. Traded the 300 for a Ram 1500 with the 5.7 because we needed a truck otherwise I’d have kept the 300.

Having owned both a pentastar powered Ram 1500 and my current hemi powered 1500, I agree that the pentastar does feel better at stop/go, slow speed around town driving. To me it's because of the hemi's MDS system kicking on/off annoyingly at too low a speed, where the pentastar doesn't have cylinder deactivation and the annoyances associated with it.

It's not a huge deal on the hemi Ram given you can disable MDS with one button push. It's just something you've got to do every trip if you need to.

My pentastar powered 2017 Ram 1500 felt more powerful than our 2013 Dodge Grand Caravan. I guess it's all about that ZF8 vs. the 62TE 5spd AT in the grand caravan.
 
I hope you have good luck with it. We have never had good luck with Chrysler products our Jeep engine blew at 108,000 never again buying anything from them also has some major electrical issues. They probably changed the viscosity to stay up with the times or the oil channels may have changed sizes.
Probably you running 20W50 oil in it in the winter paired with Lucas Oil Stabilizer while puffing away in your Herbie the Love Bug Troll Mobile!!!!
 
Probably you running 20W50 oil in it in the winter paired with Lucas Oil Stabilizer while puffing away in your Herbie the Love Bug Troll Mobile!!!!
We run 10W-30 in it lol the bug takes 20W-50 the Jeep overheats after being shut off.
 
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How many of ya'll have a cold startup tick that lasts for about 1 second? Our 2016 has done it ever since we bought it used with 56k miles. Now at 96k. No issues other than a sporadic light stumble at idle.

I assume an HLA or two are dry.
 
How many of ya'll have a cold startup tick that lasts for about 1 second? Our 2016 has done it ever since we bought it used with 56k miles. Now at 96k. No issues other than a sporadic light stumble at idle.

I assume an HLA or two are dry.

Sounds like a sewing machine for the first second or two, every time. Doesn't seem to really affect anything, I agree with a lifters taking a second to fill up.
 
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