Engine selection for reliability- 3.6/I4turbo/ecodiesel

[dabolay]

one thing Ive learned over the last few years is pennzoil PUP is a phenomenal oil. Agree with you for engine mods and whatnot. I’m not interested in a jeep for horsepower. Any modifications would likely be cosmetic or functional only. One thing I’m curious about though is an alignment every oil change? To me it seems a bit excessive, what’s your theory on this part? Certainly not a jab, just Wondering if I’m missing something.

Great question! Here in Oklahoma where I live, there is a tire company with a number of locations that I've used for many years. Probably 15 to 20 years ago I discovered that they offered a rotation and alignment service, if you will, that was good for as long as you own your vehicle. It is not expensive at all. One thing it does is to provide their customer base with frequent exposure to their tire shops. There aren't any, that I'm aware of, limits to how many times a year that a customer who purchases the service can bring their vehicle to their shop and get their tires rotated and aligned. Years ago I decided to just get a rotation and alignment about every 3,000 to 5,000 miles. Sometimes that didn't fit my schedule so I decided to just plan my oil changes and tire service to happen the same day. That has ended up working very well. What it's done for me is to catch small alignment issues very early so that I don't end up damaging the tire and thus shortening the life of the tire.

If I purchase a tire that's rated for 75,000 miles for instance, by doing what I'm doing, I am more apt to actualy get that many or perhaps more than the rated mileage.

Another vehicle that I have, a small pickup, I've been following this oil change regimen on it and it's a 1997 Ford Ranger with over 307,000 miles at this point.

I also might add that regarding my 3,000 mile oil change interval, I was first introduced to a 2,500 mile oil change interval by my father. He was an engineer and appreciated maintenance. I worked for him for a number of years beginning in my teens before I could drive. One of the jobs that I had was to change oil, filters, (air & oil), and lubricate all zerks on each of the fleet vehicles in the company every 2,500 miles. At that time we used Phillips Trop Artic conventional. The fleet had to be something we could always count on as there were lots of long trips by service people to oil field locations in a multi-state area. Vehicles in the fleet included cars, vans, pickups, and larger trucks. Since everyone was on call 24/7, reliability was always front and center. When I began using synthetic oils I was told by a number of very serious engine technicians that enjoy tearing engines down to examine wear... to always change the oil every 3,000 miles. I continue to find that same advice from knowledgeable engine mechanics to this day.

I hope that explains why I rotate and align and change oil as often as I do.

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[UncleJimmy]

I personally do not see the point of oil changes based on time alone. Everytime I've seen low mileage OCIs the oil appears brand new. I believe the worry is due to contaminants building up in the oil as it sits, but in practice I've never seen it first hand. Maybe it's environment dependent? Areas that consistently get below freezing might have water dilution issues from condensation. If the engine oil doesn't get hot enough it won't all burn out. Definitely a concern for those vehicles if it sits a long time and they only do short trips.



If you're doing 3k miles a year just change it once a year. You could do it every 2 years if you want, it isn't a big deal.

If it's fresh oil, then yes you can let it sit for a while and drive. But just ask any Porsche owner who knows anything, the worst thing you can do is change the oil for the winter, pull it out of the garage to start it every now and then, and then start driving in the spring.

Once you have run the engine for any substantial time, you have contaminated the oil. Fuel dilution, blow-by, moisture and the highly corrosive ethanol in gas will destroy an engine. This is the whole notion of short-tripping which is much harder on an engine than a vehicle driven for long trips and few starts.

Familiar with the 1,000,000 mi Tundra? That was an oil field hot shot who put a million miles on his truck in a very a short time driving long distances, the exact opposite of short-tripping/letting it sit for long periods with contaminated oil.

 

[UncleJimmy]

I also might add that regarding my 3,000 mile oil change interval, I was first introduced to a 2,500 mile oil change interval by my father. He was an engineer and appreciated maintenance.

2500 mi/3 mo oil change interval here, with filter every other OC.

4 changes per year with average OC $35; $140 per year.

Coolant and fluids 30,000 mi interval, every 2-3 years.

 

[UncleJimmy]

To answer the OP: Dan Grec drove three Jeeps around the world (100,000 plus mi/55+ countries). One from Alaska to S. America, a JK around Africa, and Gladiator around and through Australia. 3.6 primarily.

 

[alphawolff]

If it's fresh oil, then yes you can let it sit for a while and drive. But just ask any Porsche owner who knows anything, the worst thing you can do is change the oil for the winter, pull it out of the garage to start it every now and then, and then start driving in the spring.

Once you have run the engine for any substantial time, you have contaminated the oil. Fuel dilution, blow-by, moisture and the highly corrosive ethanol in gas will destroy an engine. This is the whole notion of short-tripping which is much harder on an engine than a vehicle driven for long trips and few starts.

Familiar with the 1,000,000 mi Tundra? That was an oil field hot shot who put a million miles on his truck in a very a short time driving long distances, the exact opposite of short-tripping/letting it sit for long periods with contaminated oil.

That's pretty much what I was saying. If the vehicle sits, it's fine. But if it's sitting and you're doing short trips it needs to be changed more frequently despite the low mileage. Short trips/extended idle is considered severe duty.

A 2500 mile interval is crazy, though. At the dealer the raw oil + filter is like ~$60-80 in parts depending on the engine.

 

[dabolay]

That's pretty much what I was saying. If the vehicle sits, it's fine. But if it's sitting and you're doing short trips it needs to be changed more frequently despite the low mileage. Short trips/extended idle is considered severe duty.

A 2500 mile interval is crazy, though. At the dealer the raw oil + filter is like ~$60-80 in parts depending on the engine.

Good point about cost of oil and filter today. However, when those 2,500 mile oil changes were done in the 1960's and 1970's, that general cost for conventional Phillips Trop Artic was in the $1.00 to $1.50 per quart range and filters were in the $1.00 to $3.00 range. I have seen quarts of oil that mechanics have kept on a shelf from that era that still had price stickers on them for less than $1. That made the oil and filter change at the time approximately $10.00 for parts. Most of those vehicles we used at the time had 5 to 10 zerks or so. I even remember when sealed bearing joints were used, it wasn't unusual to take the vehicle to a mechanic and have them drill and thread the joint and install a zerk just so that it could be manually lubricated. Unfortunately I don't recall what a tube of grease for a grease gun cost at that time... but a tube would lubricate a number of vehicles.

 

[UncleJimmy]

4 changes per year with average OC $35; $140 per year.

Using the least expensive Euro cert such as Mobil 1 FS or Castrol Edge Euro. I can get at Walmart in 5 qt jugs. Change the filter every other change equates to average cost of $35. That’s the best insurance anyone can spend on their vehicle.

 

[jadmt]

4 changes per year with average OC $35; $140 per year.

Using the least expensive Euro cert I can get at Walmart in 5 qt jugs. Change the filter every other change equates to average cost of $35. That’s the best insurance anyone can spend on their vehicle.

heck even using Pennzoil ultra platinum and oem filters it is only $40. generally get the PuP for under $30 via amazon and $10 for the mopar filter.

 

[Hookr26]

86k on 2020 jlu sport 2.0 we love it no issues. About the 10th turbo owned in our family cars and trucks from carb draw through's to these fancy fully injected. It's sporty and good gpm even with standard sport gearing and 35's. 18-21 mpg all around.

68k on 2021 jlu Rubicon 3.0 diesel/turbo 29/26 mpg nominal at purchase. Since fuel pump replacement with stock ko1's 27 good highway and 24 round town. Just went from 32" tires to 35's, now 21 mpg round town and haven't been on freeway with new tires to see what I get.

But love both of them! Both get off the line with 35's to freeway speed 70 mph "right now" as they should and crawl on bumpy dusty roads just fine. Love how the turbos make little engines perform with the big boy 8 speeds just fine for normal operating jeepin.

Just our 2 cents.

 

[TheRaven]

That's pretty much what I was saying. If the vehicle sits, it's fine. But if it's sitting and you're doing short trips it needs to be changed more frequently despite the low mileage. Short trips/extended idle is considered severe duty.

A 2500 mile interval is crazy, though. At the dealer the raw oil + filter is like ~$60-80 in parts depending on the engine.

With modern full synthetic, except for very extreme use cases, there is no need for anything shorter than 5k intervals. I argue that even 5k is excessively short, but if you are OCD and want to do that just because, I get that because i'm that way with other things. But 2-3k intervals with full synthetic is a silly waste of resources.

 

[Overwatch727]

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Well, circumstantially I landed with the 3.6. I negotiated my way and feel like I landed on a pretty fair deal. The Mustang will be gone, and this is the one I will bring home on Monday.

 

[Old Dogger]

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Well, circumstantially I landed with the 3.6. I negotiated my way and feel like I landed on a pretty fair deal. The Mustang will be gone, and this is the one I will bring home on Monday.

Good choice...

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