Oil Analysis To Help Understand Head Gasket/Engine Failure Issue

3186 Views 77 Replies 14 Participants Last post by lutorm, a moment ago

M0Par

Discussion Starter · 26 d ago (Edited)

Decided to send in an oil sample on a 2019 Pacifica with 27,595 miles. This may show early signs of whatever is causing these head gasket/engine failures. Have no idea what the results will show but I'll document it here when the lab provides results in a week.

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M0Par

Discussion Starter · #41 · 20 d ago

PacificaMinivanFan said:
Nuts! @gmfreak just killed my theory. I was hoping the cause was neglect of the cooling system where the engine coolant reservoir would be filled with the wrong fluid and/or would be allowed to run bone dry, thus letting air into the system.

So, yeah, if not owner neglect, that pretty much leaves manufacturing defect.

We're all screwed!

Statistically most won't be but it's a sobering possibility. It would give peace of mind if Chrysler would at least provide some insight into the root cause.

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jongri

· #42 · 20 d ago

M0Par said:
Statistically most won't be but it's a sobering possibility. It would give peace of mind if Chrysler would at least provide some insight into the root cause.

Wouldn't surprise me if Chrysler is as baffled about these Pacifica Engine Failures as we owners are.

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PacificaMinivanFan

· #43 · 19 d ago

jongri said:
Wouldn't surprise me if Chrysler is as baffled about these Pacifica Engine Failures as we owners are.

I would have agreed with that a year ago, but I've got to believe Chrysler knows why Generation 3 3.6 engines are failing in Pacificas by now. There have been so many of them.

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M0Par

Discussion Starter · #44 · 19 d ago

PacificaMinivanFan said:
I would have agreed with that a year ago, but I've got to believe Chrysler knows why Generation 3 3.6 engines are failing in Pacificas by now. There have been so many of them.

That could be. Maybe it's the dealers that are in the dark. They seem to act like it's never happened before with each time.

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gmfreak

· #45 · 19 d ago

M0Par said:
That could be. Maybe it's the dealers that are in the dark. They seem to act like it's never happened before with each time.

My dealer stated it was the first time that they've seen it in a pacifica so soon but it's common to see them in police vehicles and other models. So it's out there. My running theory is Chrysler knows all to well, it's just cheaper for them to bury their heads in the sand instead of addressing the issue.

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jongri

· #46 · 19 d ago

Interesting article by C.J.Tragakis on 3.6L Pentastar V6 Specifications & History (see link below)
cjponyparts.com/resources/pentastar-v6-specs#history
Trying to figure out what separates the Pacifica from the list of Mopar vehicles using same engine? GVW perhaps?

peterweb

· #47 · 19 d ago

jongri said:
Interesting article by C.J.Tragakis on 3.6L Pentastar V6 Specifications & History (see link below)
cjponyparts.com/resources/pentastar-v6-specs#history
Trying to figure out what separates the Pacifica from the list of Mopar vehicles using same engine? GVW perhaps?

I still wonder if it does not have something to do with the airflow under the hood of the Pacifica that creates hot spots around the bank with cylinders 3 and 5.

And another possibility is the ESS. If the engine keeps getting stopped on a hot day, there is no coolant circulation. Combine that with my suggested hot spot could cause isolated overheating on that cylinder head.

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M0Par

Discussion Starter · #48 · 19 d ago

peterweb said:
I still wonder if it does not have something to do with the airflow under the hood of the Pacifica that creates hot spots around the bank with cylinders 3 and 5.

And another possibility is the ESS. If the engine keeps getting stopped on a hot day, there is no coolant circulation. Combine that with my suggested hot spot could cause isolated overheating on that cylinder head.

Have we seen any hybrids affected?

PacificaMinivanFan

· #49 · 19 d ago

jongri said:
Trying to figure out what separates the Pacifica from the list of Mopar vehicles using same engine? GVW perhaps?

This is a question I have had for months. I can't help but wonder if Jeep and the other applications get their 3.6L V-6 engines from the two other manufacturing sites; in other words, not from Mexico.

I also wonder if the Mexican facility has, or had, an issue where the bolts on the right cylinder head were not being tightened correctly.

peterweb said:
I still wonder if it does not have something to do with the airflow under the hood of the Pacifica that creates hot spots around the bank with cylinders 3 and 5.

This is also a curious possibility. My '21 has a larger cutout on its bottom aerodynamic cover where the exhaust drops down than wife's '18, but that might be because mine is AWD and the exhaust had to be moved to accommodate the prop shaft.

peterweb said:
And another possibility is the ESS. If the engine keeps getting stopped on a hot day, there is no coolant circulation. Combine that with my suggested hot spot could cause isolated overheating on that cylinder head.

When I first saw mention of this theory, I set my instrument cluster display to Vehicle/Coolant Temp and monitored the temp during those times when ESS was activated. It only went up a couple of degrees during the longest stop light (about two minutes), but I imagine it could be a factor if one uses ESS a lot on a given urban trip.

M0Par said:
Have we seen any hybrids affected?

Not that I'm aware, but it is entirely possible I missed one. This is definitely something for which I have been watching.

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ThisSuckersElectrical

· #50 · 19 d ago

M0Par said:
Have we seen any hybrids affected?

I think one showed up here several months ago. We should not see many of those for some time. Mine that is out of service currently has 14,553. It only has 2,200 miles that the ICE has actually run. All other miles are all electric.

My previous 2018 only had around 4,800 miles on the ICE out of 18,000.

With the engines not running a lot of miles if they are plugged in all the time it will take more time to find out.

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PacificaMinivanFan

· #51 · 19 d ago

ThisSuckersElectrical said:
I think one showed up here several months ago.

Entirely possible. I recall one that was reported in a thread that used the word "Hybrid" in its title, but it turned out the be a gas version. Post #3.

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ThisSuckersElectrical

· #52 · 19 d ago

PacificaMinivanFan said:
Entirely possible. I recall one that was reported in a thread that used the word "Hybrid" in its title, but it turned out the be a gas version. Post #3.

That must be what I was thinking about. My bad.

Sea_of_Tranquility

· #53 · 19 d ago

I've been perusing the https://www.jeepgladiatorforum.com/ ; there seems to be something up with posts regarding codes on the 3.6L Pentastar. Very low mileage failures also.

jongri said:
Trying to figure out what separates the Pacifica from the list of Mopar vehicles using same engine? GVW perhaps?

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PacificaMinivanFan

· #54 · 18 d ago

ThisSuckersElectrical said:
That must be what I was thinking about. My bad.

Just put of curiosity, is your hybrid's V6 made in Mexico?

ThisSuckersElectrical

· #55 · 18 d ago

PacificaMinivanFan said:
Just put of curiosity, is your hybrid's V6 made in Mexico?

Yes

jongri

· #56 · 17 d ago (Edited)

ThisSuckersElectrical said:
Yes

I think you & @PeterWeb

hit the nail on the head with your observations concerning Cylinders 3 & 5 rear head gaskets being the ones most likely to blow on Pacificas

. It seems the Apple hasn't fallen too far from the tree so to speak having the Great Walter P. Chrysler as your Great, Great Grandfather

.

jongri

· #57 · 17 d ago (Edited)

Sorry about the screen shots couldn't insert the link too long

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PacificaMinivanFan

· #58 · 17 d ago

Sea_of_Tranquility said:
I've been perusing the https://www.jeepgladiatorforum.com/ ; there seems to be something up with posts regarding codes on the 3.6L Pentastar. Very low mileage failures also.

Can you please post a few of the actual threads in the above forum where folks talk about engine failures? I wasn't able to find much there.

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Sea_of_Tranquility

· #59 · 17 d ago

PacificaMinivanFan said:
Can you please post a few of the actual threads in the above forum where folks talk about engine failures? I wasn't able to find much there.

It's a very long (120 + pages) and wide ranging (2019 to current) thread. Interesting reading on the issues and causes.

https://www.jeepgladiatorforum.com/forum/threads/survey-for-those-with-misfire-issues.24853/

PacificaMinivanFan

· #60 · 17 d ago

Sea_of_Tranquility said:
It's a very long (120 + pages) and wide ranging (2019 to current) thread. Interesting reading on the issues and causes.

https://www.jeepgladiatorforum.com/forum/threads/survey-for-those-with-misfire-issues.24853/

Yes, very long. The thread appears to be related to nearly new engines that are throwing the P0300 diagnostic code. I didn't read through all of it, but I did skip through it and wasn't able to see anything close to the P0303 code at 60k+ miles and failed head gaskets/warped cylinder heads/cracked blocks that 120 Pacifica forum members (as of this writing) are reporting.

It does raise an interesting question, though. Are the Jeep Gladiator Pentastar engines built at a different factory than Pacifica Pentastars?

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