Chrysler Pentastar V6 Subject to Cylinder Head Failure
A small portion of Chrysler’s one-size-fits-all Pentastar V6 engines are reported to have faulty cylinder heads, which are being replaced by the automaker under warranty.
Inconvenient as having a problem like that would normally be, the issue was further aggravated by the fact that Chrysler was unprepared to fix the affected engines. Consequently, some drivers have been stuck in rental cars for weeks. Reports suggest that some 1,300 cars were sititng at dealerships awaiting service in July.
“The biggest mistake we made is taking our eye off the ball on service parts,” said Doug Betts, Chrysler senior vice president for quality. “That always gets the dealers’ attention. Our intention is to always satisfy the needs of the service market ahead of production. This came to my attention a couple weeks ago. We have parts in the pipeline to remedy that shortfall.”
Now, sources close to Automotive News say the company “flooded” its system with replacement parts to eliminate some 1,300 service requests. But that’s far from enough to quell the rapidly rising demand. If Chrysler’s figures are accurate, one percent of all Pentastar 3.6-liter V6 engines are affected, which would translate to 7,500 units, though Betts said more could surface.
Moving forward, the company says it has implemented the newly-redesigned cylinder heads in newly-assembled engines, but that won’t keep the already-existing units from needing service. While the fix will be annoying, owners can take comfort in the fact that Chrysler is fixing the issue under warranty at no cost to consumers.
Chrysler won’t explain the problem fully at the moment, but complaints filed with NHTSA report a ticking sound from the engine’s left side with stalling, loss of power or misfires coming from cylinder number two.
Already an extensively-used engine in the Chrysler line, fixing the Pentastar’s problems with minimal hiccups will be essential for future sales success. If buyers get the idea that the powerplant is unreliable, it will be a black mark on every V6-powered vehicle bearing not only the Chrysler badge, but all of its subsidiaries.
[Source: Automotive News]
Luke is an energetic automotive journalist who spends his time covering industry news and crawling the internet for the latest breaking story. When he isn't in the office, Luke can be found obsessively browsing used car listings, drinking scotch at his favorite bar and dreaming of what to drive next, though the list grows a lot faster than his bank account. He's always on <A title="@lukevandezande on Twitter" href="http://twitter.com/lukevandezande">Twitter</A> looking for a good car conversation. Find Luke on <A title="@lukevandezande on Twitter" href="http://twitter.com/lukevandezande">Twitter</A> and <A title="Luke on Google+" href="http://plus.google.com/112531385961538774338?rel=author">Google+</A>.
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2/17/2013 just took my 2012( 21,000 miles on jeep) wrangler in for new head today .the engine lights been on for two months . been getting the runaround from service department for the last two months . hope their mechanic knows what he's doing. any more problems with this issue will be handled from my lawyers office.
I took my 2011 dodge charger with 32,000 miles on it about a month ago to get the ticking sound fixed,what they did was suspossedly replaced the head assembly,the left side intake and exhaust camshafts and the tappets also.When I picked the car up,it had the same problem as when I bought it in.I complained to the service manager that the problem still existed and he told me that the tappets had to have time to seat themselves so I would still hear some ticking so I would have to drive the car for awhile.Well,its been a month and 1100 miles later,and the ticking sound is still there and seems to be getting worse,I'll be taking the car back for service next week.it's very embarassing having a nice clean car andpeoplecoming up to you saying you may need to check your oil becauseit sounds like you might need some.I kinda hate hate I purchased a dodge product,I should have stuck with Cadillac,that was the last 2 autos that I owned.A 2000 eldorado and a 2007 sts4.