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3.6L ENGINE RELIABILITY

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DUNE RAP

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Buy a Honda, or Toyota when you travel, the Jeep is fine, but since you have doubts you will never feel comfortable with one. Jeeps are not for everyone, so live on the wild side of life and enjoy the experiences. Some spend there entire life worrying about what could happen and for them it usually does, pass on the Jeep to get the better percentages for you.
No sir! My buddy’s have Tacoma’s and have all kinds of issues! I’m actually not worried about the jeep but these days we have a forum like this to share information. So I’m using the forum to educate myself.
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Ed Pursell

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As an owner of a 2012 JKU, a 2016 Jk, and now a 2021 JL, ALL brand new, never an issue with the 3.6 V-6. There were issues with the heads in 2012, didn’t affect mine, these 3.6’s were not used in Wranglers specific. When I ordered my 2021, I specifically wanted the 3.6 paired with the new 8 speed Auto. To me, it’s a nice running flawless engine engine considering how many are out there over the years. You’ll always have issues with anything from engines to transmissions, to dishwashers, but I stuck with the 3.6 because I had good luck with it. It worked for me!
 

Sanchese

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I have a 2012 jk with 3.6l that has not had a hiccup so far.
The engine has been great.
that's why I have a 2021 with 3.6l on order.
 

blnewt

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Just ask @cosine he knows!
and then you can pay someone 2-3k to install it?
I'll do it for some real good beer, and plenty of it :)

FWIW the 3.6 seems like a motor built for the long haul, good track record from what I've read, and from what Wards has posted for the last few years.
https://www.wardsauto.com/10-best-e...2020-wards-10-best-engines-propulsion-systems

I have a rear main seal leak that's been there for about a year, hasn't got worse and it's a very minimal dribble, not enough to risk taking it to my local dealer and having to worry every time I get in it if something was repaired improperly :(
 

DanW

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The 3.6 is one of the most reliable and durable engines on the market today, and it has been since its inception. It has been on Ward's 10 best production engines in the world list at least 3 and maybe as many as 5 times, with the Etorque being the latest. The 3.6 has one of the lowest warranty claim rates in the industry, and again, has had that since it came out. It was overbuilt from the start with large main bearings and a strong block because they intended to use forced induction on it, but never wound up doing so.

On top of all that, I'm in 3 Jeep clubs and they are universally loved by the hundreds of Jeepers in those clubs. A number of them have over 200k miles and at least one has over 300k. Nobody I know of has worn one out. The only guy in the clubs who I ever heard express otherwise was one who drove into water up to the windows and hydrolocked his engine. Somehow he blames the 3.6 for that one. :surprised:

I also know of a Canadian guy who has a fleet of minivans with the 3.6, and his experience is probably the top of the heap. He has had hundreds of them. Not one has had a major issue. He runs them to around 300k miles and then sells them, still running just fine. He has one for personal use with well over 300k miles on it. He LOVES the Pentastar.

It has some other advantages, too. It is not a direct injected engine, so it is very easy on oil and you never have to worry about the carbon buildup on valves that some early DI engines experienced. You also don't have to worry about low speed pre-ignition, or LSPI. Or fuel dilution. It's just an easy engine on oil, so you can run it until the oil life monitor gets to 0% with confidence. It also is the easiest oil change you'll ever do, with the cartridge filter being on top.

Run it with confidence and enjoy it. It loves to rev and to be pushed hard.
 

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DanW

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One more thing....There have been over 12,000,000 of them produced by now. That's a staggering number, when you think about it.
 

mwilk012

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I have a series of photos coming up for a 2015 JK that completely burned out the engine, a young girl owned it. I tell you, it got so hot the oil cooler partially melted.
 

JEEPIDON

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I have a 2018 JLUR with the 3.6 and the 6MT. I have just under 36,000 miles and no issues. I’ve owned it since new and have just done the normal maintenance.

I think the 3.6 is a pretty good motor and I would buy another.

Stetson
they have made nearly 11 million of them!
 

blnewt

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Just ask @cosine he knows!
I have a series of photos coming up for a 2015 JK that completely burned out the engine, a young girl owned it. I tell you, it got so hot the oil cooler partially melted.
There's always a few bad apples, seems like that's quite an anomaly w/ the 3.6 though :)
 

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mwilk012

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What started as a small radiator leak over time turned into a major engine failure. Excessively high temp resulted in overexpansion of the thermostat, blowing out the back of its plastic housing. This is not the first time I’ve seen this happen.

What surprised me was the melting oil cooler. The engine then pumped all of its own oil out in a matter of seconds.

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50DE6D30-F0D7-4A71-AFCE-A52D001A7D27.jpeg
 

zrickety

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I was so nervous, I foolishly bought a Sport with no power anything. Now, I have to explain to anyone under 50 how to roll down the windows.
Smart man. If I had to buy again, I would look for a unicorn like yours.
 

zrickety

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What started as a small radiator leak over time turned into a major engine failure. Excessively high temp resulted in overexpansion of the thermostat, blowing out the back of its plastic housing. This is not the first time I’ve seen this happen.

What surprised me was the melting oil cooler. The engine then pumped all of its own oil out in a matter of seconds.

Jeep Wrangler JL 3.6L ENGINE RELIABILITY 50DE6D30-F0D7-4A71-AFCE-A52D001A7D27


Jeep Wrangler JL 3.6L ENGINE RELIABILITY 50DE6D30-F0D7-4A71-AFCE-A52D001A7D27


Jeep Wrangler JL 3.6L ENGINE RELIABILITY 50DE6D30-F0D7-4A71-AFCE-A52D001A7D27


Jeep Wrangler JL 3.6L ENGINE RELIABILITY 50DE6D30-F0D7-4A71-AFCE-A52D001A7D27


Jeep Wrangler JL 3.6L ENGINE RELIABILITY 50DE6D30-F0D7-4A71-AFCE-A52D001A7D27


Jeep Wrangler JL 3.6L ENGINE RELIABILITY 50DE6D30-F0D7-4A71-AFCE-A52D001A7D27
Plastic parts are the worst 'advancement' of the modern engine.
I have seen plastic cooling parts fail across all makes. It doesn't matter how good the engine is if a $20 plastic pipe fails.
 

LarryB

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Smart man. If I had to buy again, I would look for a unicorn like yours.
I think on any other vehicle, the idea of an all-manual ride would be such a bad seller, it would never be made. People made fun of the lack of power windows on my Jeep XJ … in 1999! However, it doesn’t feel that out of place on a JL. I have never seen another one for sale in the Calgary region (about 1.5M people, at least 10 Jeep dealerships) in the past year.
 

DanW

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I think on any other vehicle, the idea of an all-manual ride would be such a bad seller, it would never be made. People made fun of the lack of power windows on my Jeep XJ … in 1999! However, it doesn’t feel that out of place on a JL. I have never seen another one for sale in the Calgary region (about 1.5M people, at least 10 Jeep dealerships) in the past year.
Lol, you are so right! I'd love to have a base 2 door Sport. It would be a throwback for me. My 93 YJ had no radio, no air, and soft top with soft upper windows with zippers! Hell, hand crank windows would've been an upgrade! But a Jeep is a Jeep and none of its true identity is in the luxury features!
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