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Reliability of 2.0T versus 3.6 etorque?

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NorthernJeep

NorthernJeep

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Totally impressed by the responses and logic. Really looking forward to (eventually) getting our 2022 Wrangler
And love the Fiat 124 and the Fiat X1/9 (but never had one myself). Thank you for guiding me in making a good decision
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NorthernJeep

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Kind of strange to go from an SRT to a Wrangler (my third) but we also have a 2018 Mustang GT manual convertible, a Ducati M1200R and a Corvette C8 convertible ordered donkey’s years ago (god knows when we actually get it)

I like character and the fun factor in our cars (did not always find that in our Audis, BMWs. In our 997. Yes)

And Jeeps are people friendly
Everybody likes them😊
 

aldo98229

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Totally impressed by the responses and logic. Really looking forward to (eventually) getting our 2022 Wrangler
And love the Fiat 124 and the Fiat X1/9 (but never had one myself). Thank you for guiding me in making a good decision
“My other car is a Fiat”
Jeep Wrangler JL Reliability of 2.0T versus 3.6 etorque? 6F061B34-3473-4604-89DC-89CAAA6E4B35
 

The_Irish_Weaver

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The 2.0T has proved surprisingly solid so far. I might buy it new if push came to shove. But I wouldn’t buy it used; still too many unanswered questions for my comfort: short history on the market, designed and built by Fiat, relatively small displacement for a 4,500 lb vehicle, more moving parts, higher compression means greater stresses, etc., etc.

I find the engine sound itself far from reassuring.

PS - I own a 124 Spider with the Fiat 1.4T: it is a brilliant, peppy little engine; makes sounds like it thinks it is a V8. I bought the car new and am very happy with it. Not sure I’d have bought it used, though.
i just got out of the Renegade with the 1.4T (manual transmission) - same as the Abarth - god awful - worst vehicle ive ever owned. From the transmission replacement, heater coil leaking into the cabin, turbo replacement, engine replacement, and then oil-leaking turbo finally made me ditch it at 64k miles!. Owned it 4 years and 19 months of the time it was in the shop. Ive shared this on other thread - buit id never ever ever recommend a FCA small turbo engine. Jeeps history with 4 cylinder engine wrangler was abysmal - hard NO from me on the 2.0
 

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aldo98229

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i just got out of the Renegade with the 1.4T (manual transmission) - same as the Abarth - god awful - worst vehicle ive ever owned. From the transmission replacement, heater coil leaking into the cabin, turbo replacement, engine replacement, and then oil-leaking turbo finally made me ditch it at 64k miles!. Owned it 4 years and 19 months of the time it was in the shop. Ive shared this on other thread - buit id never ever ever recommend a FCA small turbo engine. Jeeps history with 4 cylinder engine wrangler was abysmal - hard NO from me on the 2.0
Yeah, my brother owned a 2015 Renegade: that thing was in the shop every other week.

Ironically, everything on that thing broke, including the transmission, but not the engine.
 

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As others have said this topic has been beat to death on these forums. I don't think you can go wrong with any powertrain.

I went with the 3.6 Pentastar because I preferred to row my own gears so FCA made the decision for me. Nothing like being in 2nd at around 2600RPM and just letting it rip up to 6k. Pulls like a freight train and makes a great sound doing it.

Edit: As for reliability, I had a friend with a Dodge Journey with a 3.6L Pentastar. They replaced the head at 40Kmi because of a valve issue. Early Pentastars are known to have valvetrain issues but it appears that Chrysler has improved the reliability during the evolution of the engine.
 
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four low

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Don't like the 2.0T engine e sound at start up ? Play a burbly V8 recording, like Ford does with the 4 cyl Mustang.
End of Issue.
 

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Its not "engine sound" or "exhaust note". It's a concept called "NVH" and it affects many aspects of a vehicle. The difference in harshness and solid feel between the 2.0 and 3.6 is striking. The 2.0 feels like a 1998 Hyundai accent. I can live with a crappy exhaust note. I cannot live with the engine vibrating the crap of of everything and everyone in the vehicle (and in the house when pulling in the garage).
 

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I’ll counter and say I recently test drove a 2.0 and it felt laggy. I know that’s really not it’s reputation but it (to me) felt like it needed to spool up to pull at all. It was noisy and rattling. Hard no for me (coming from two prior trouble free 3.6L models). Ordered the 3.6 etorque
 

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The sound of the 2.0T engine seems like a cross between an electric car, a big diesel engine, and a whoosh of air. The nice thing is that it is quiet, even under full acceleration (giving it a bit of a sleeper factor).

The bad part about that is that it doesn't make those cool growling engine noises you'd want from a powerful engine. If you want those cool noises on the 2.0T, you'll need one of those "it probably doesn't increase your horsepower but really does sound better" add-ons. You might begin with one of the cold-air intake replacements that are designed for greater airflow. (Your 2.0T Wrangler will already have a cold-air-intake, you're just replacing it with a new one that has a bigger airway.)

Maintenance of the 2.0T is officially the same as the 3.6L except the spark plug changes are about twice as often. That's it. You can run any octane gas you want (87 - 91 or better, but none of that E85 "flex fuel" style gasoline) . Generally, the more expensive grades will have better additives to help keep things clean. Nobody has seen any such requirement for the detergents found in higher octane fuel, but you will see an increased performance from higher grade fuel... particularly during high loads (such as towing) and the summer heat. There's no evidence you'll need any of the do-it-yourself additives (and there's the potential for some of them to actually do harm).

If you want to baby your turbo, give it a few minutes of casual driving before you go hard on the accelerator. (I'm sure that won't be a problem.) Also, whenever your engine bay is particularly hot (from weather, or from heavy use of the turbo), you might let your vehicle cool down for a few minutes instead of abruptly shutting it off and walking away. The added cooldown will give the coolant system more time to pull heat away from the turbo (specifically) which otherwise would have intensified as heat soak with your engine off. But again, nobody has shown this to be any real requirement of this engine. We're talking about babying it.

The 2.0T engine really is a lot of fun and the rated HP/torque specs undersell it (in comparison to the 3.6L). Keep in mind that all specs can vary based on atmospheric conditions, different test equipment used, and different people performing the test.
The 2.0L has several coolant systems besides the main engine. Both the turbo and EGR/throttle body are cooled post shutdown. You can hear this pump running up behind passenger front inner fender for a few minutes if you listen for it. It seems to be controlled to a set point to turn off; and not just a timer; as mine will sometimes run for awhile on hot days after a long spirited drive.

If you have the 48V eTorque system on the 2.0L it also gets cooled if needed; even post shutdown.
 

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Its not "engine sound" or "exhaust note". It's a concept called "NVH" and it affects many aspects of a vehicle. The difference in harshness and solid feel between the 2.0 and 3.6 is striking. The 2.0 feels like a 1998 Hyundai accent. I can live with a crappy exhaust note. I cannot live with the engine vibrating the crap of of everything and everyone in the vehicle (and in the house when pulling in the garage).
You came across a bad one. The rpm needle on my 2.0's tach is the only way to confirm its running because of how smooth it is. Of the 100+ Jeeps I test drove, I had 1 rough idling 2.0 and 2 rough 3.6's. Since it's not the norm, this is the 1st time I've felt the need to mention the rough idling 3.6's. I personally prefer sticking to normal engine characteristics and performance when comparing the 2. It's far more valuable info to someone looking for info that's actually beneficial. Such as the 3.6 feeling gutless until it's revved higher, whereas the 2.0 has a low and mid range torque advantage which makes it feel like it doesn't have to work hard to get out of it's own way.
 

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Its not "engine sound" or "exhaust note". It's a concept called "NVH" and it affects many aspects of a vehicle. The difference in harshness and solid feel between the 2.0 and 3.6 is striking. The 2.0 feels like a 1998 Hyundai accent. I can live with a crappy exhaust note. I cannot live with the engine vibrating the crap of of everything and everyone in the vehicle (and in the house when pulling in the garage).
Pure FUD. The 2.0L has no such issues and a close version of it used in several upscale Alfa Romeo luxury products.
 

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The 2.0L has several coolant systems besides the main engine. Both the turbo and EGR/throttle body are cooled post shutdown. You can hear this pump running up behind passenger front inner fender for a few minutes if you listen for it. It seems to be controlled to a set point to turn off; and not just a timer; as mine will sometimes run for awhile on hot days after a long spirited drive.

If you have the 48V eTorque system on the 2.0L it also gets cooled if needed; even post shutdown.
Yeah, there's definitely a thermistor reading temp and it'll shut down at whatever set point was programmed. I've found that I have to drive mine very spiritedly to get mine to run after killing the engine. On the hotter than typical days is when mine will run post shutdown, which I take as an indication of how efficient the cooling system is at removing heat.
 

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The 2.0L has several coolant systems besides the main engine. Both the turbo and EGR/throttle body are cooled post shutdown. You can hear this pump running up behind passenger front inner fender for a few minutes if you listen for it. It seems to be controlled to a set point to turn off; and not just a timer; as mine will sometimes run for awhile on hot days after a long spirited drive.
You learn something new everyday. But I wonder... for the turbo pump alone, is it just running a recirculation pump, or is it also running a radiator fan while the vehicle is at rest?
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