Warped Engine Block?!

25874 Views 95 Replies 45 Participants Last post by PacificaMinivanFan, 1 mo ago

spmatus

Discussion Starter · Jun 9, 2021

I have a 4-year-old Pacifica brand new off the lot. Now has about 67,000 miles on it, of course, just past the manufacturer’s power train warranty. At the 4-year old mark almost on the nose, without any previous issues, the check engine light came on & the car was running “rough” while in idle. Garage identified “head gasket issue.” We brought it to the dealer & filed a claim with Chrysler in shock this could happen to a 4-year-old car. Dealer has had it for a month now & diagnosed “warped engine block” and “needs new catalytic converter due to warped engine block causing coolant to leak into engine cylinder.” Has this happened to anyone?? It was a brand new minivan purchased at a an authorized Chrysler dealership. I am told $10,000 worth of parts & labor work, with a month backlog on parts. I am lost and angry!!! Any suggestions??

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pacificalife2022

· #49 · 11 mo ago

Owner of a 2017 Pacifica Minivan with 72,300 miles here. A few weeks ago check engine light came on with a P0305 code. Independent mechanic assumed spark plug or coil issue, moved spark plugs around, then after similar code found that the head gasket is leaking. Van is at the dealership and we're waiting to hear if it is "just" the head gasket or a warped engine block. We've been quoted 4,200 for the head gasket repair and $12,000 + change for an engine replacement (if needed). We are in the same boat as others being out of warranty.

We are considering asking for a trade-in rather than dealing with the repair. Anybody have any success trading in their van and getting a good deal on a new one?

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pacificalife2022

· #51 · 11 mo ago

peterweb said:
It would be interesting to see just how much a dealer would give for a vehicle they know might need the engine replaced. With the wide variance of fix options between just changing head gasket and changing the whole engine, they would likely offer you a trade based on the worst case scenario. You could win, or the dealer could win.

We haven't gotten the final word from the dealer on whether the engine is going to need replaced. If engine replacement is needed, I plan to ask about a trade-in, I am curious to see if they are willing to deal.

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pacificalife2022

· #53 · 11 mo ago

Meeks306 said:
I am going threw this now. took my 2017 Pacifica limited in 105k miles for its oil change etc. they said i had a cylinder 3 misfire and wanted $800 to do it. they also fixed the oil cooler under ext. warr. drove it 8 days and the car overheated on us, when it did we pulled over right away and started looking for leaks. come to find out i had no leaks and was 1.5gal low on coolant and 1qt low on oil. toped everything off and away we went. dealer was closed so had to wait till Monday. go back to dealer om Monday and they found coolant in cylinder 3 spark plug and said it needed to be torn down more. ext warr would cover this. so tore it down and found a crack between cyl 3 and 5. well ext. warr will not pay now because it overheated and they clearly stat that in the contract. the dealership kept saying they are not at fault for any of this and i needed a new motor. $10.5k so i got ahold of the area Chrysler rep and got a good faith and they are paying 80% and i have to pay the 20%. but told me that the dealership should be paying that since they were in the cooling system last (Oil Cooler have to drain and fill coolant to replace it). well after weeks of fighting they wont do anything and told me it would be 2-3mons before they got a new motor for it. so i called Chrysler and it was there within a week. The dealership also said it has 2 others in there with the same issue but they are cracked between cyl 1&3. now i am picking the car up 7-19-2022 with a new motor 3yr 100,000 warr on motor. I think Chrysler needs to step in and figure something out about these.

I'm sorry you had this experience, and I can imagine your frustration with having an extended warranty, and it not being fully covered. That is horrible customer service!

My 2017 van with 72,300 miles ended up "just" needing a head gasket repair ($4,100). For others following this thread, if your pacifica is showing a misfire on any cylinder I encourage folks to ask the dealer or your independent mechanic to look for a coolant leak. We have spent almost a month trying to get this diagnosed (and fixed) and a lot of $ on rental cars while waiting for service appointments and parts to come in. The sooner you know the less damage it will have done.

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