3.8l death & warranty replacement.

[wanabxtrm]

So long story short I'm glad to say that jeep honored their lifetime power train warranty on my 08 rubi after my engine ate itself. I decided to come out of the woodwork to post for a few quick things. 1- it turns out that according to the lead mechanic that jeep considers 1 qt of oil burn per 750 miles acceptable, which shocked me, and is quite ridiculous imo. 2- once I gave them my reciepts and maintenance log they didn't ask for more before telling me they had a new engine on order the next day (not sure if that's due to a good dealer or dumb luck?); i was prepping for a knock out drag out fight. 3- to get opinions on anything extra I should do re maintenance while the everything is pulled. The vehicle is just shy of 95k.

My current punch list I'm having them do:
Inspect/flush transmission and transfer case.
Coolant and steering fluid flush
Spark plugs
Belt

All accessory powered items except the water pump get transferred to the new crate engine.

Any other items I should consider doing while it's all exposed?

Thanks for the input.
Cheers

 

[Dan Grec]

Wow, interesting to hear that.
Kind of bad news, but I guess also good news you'll get a brand new engine!

Any word on what went wrong and why it failed?
i.e. what can I do to prevent mine dying, now that it's closing in on 100k miles.

-Dan

 

[wanabxtrm]

I'll know more next week and let you know the outcome.

 

[nwoods]

I'd offer the dealer an extra $1k for. 5.7L upgrade?

 

[Jurfie]

I'd offer the dealer an extra $1k for. 5.7L upgrade?

A dealer wouldn't know how to do that...

 

[Jeep or Tacoma]

Uh oh i

I have 145000 on my 08. But I never kept receipts for oil changes. I just got it done. The main reason I am keeping mine is the lifetime warranty

 

[Charles R]

When it comes to warranties, a paper trail of maintenance goes a VERY long way.

I had a VW customer get hosed because he couldn't show decent evidence that the oil services had been done. 40K miles and his engine lost a thrust bearing. We told him to go back to every place he had ever gotten service done and get whatever copies of receipts he could... But he had done much of the work himself, and had very little evidence.

Bottom line... if you still have any warranty... keep all your receipts.

 

[Outside somewhere]

A dealer wouldn't know how to do that...

Depends on the dealer. I know several that have can and will do 5.7 and 6.4 swaps. Even warrantied sc bolt on's. Granted they all charge the typical outrageous stealership markup for said things but hey some idiots like $1200 per month jeep payments.

 

[wanabxtrm]

I have 145000 on my 08. But I never kept receipts for oil changes. I just got it done. The main reason I am keeping mine is the lifetime warranty

-Fwiw the first thing the service manager did was call me and ask to bring in my mx paperwork (excel spreadsheet and receipts for oil/etc-I did most mx myself). I told him that I'd have to dig around abit to find the most recent as it hadn't gotten filed yet. He said of any that was the most important, but they needed at least the last 2 years, so my advice if you don't have all your receipts, at least keep your most recent through 2 yrs old. Though without a lengthy paper trail starting from purchase I'm guesskng there'd be a much lengthier conversation on whether they'd cover it or not. Just my $0.02.

 

[wanabxtrm]

Googled the swap cost before the tow truck even showed. If it were 1k I would have, unfortunately it's abit more than that.

 

[Ridge638]

My 08 was spending more time at the dealer than on the road at 7 years old and 88,000 miles - very poor performance, overheating (melted all my wire covers and kept causing electronic failures) , and loud engine tapping the dealer offered to tear into the engine and fix it but warned that they only go so far as the problem and that opening the engine would likely cause other issues. I got sick of taking it in there and they got tired of seeing it. The head mechanic told me that he hadn't seen many of the 3.8's getting past 100,000 miles. Loved that Jeep but traded it on a 2016.

I would suggest, if your pocket allows, selling it as soon as they put the new engine in and getting a new Jeep.

 

[dstock]

Interesting article regarding the 3.8, a longer version was published awhile back in Jp Magazine after they tore down a couple 3.8's with a 100K+ miles on them. Too many issues for a modern motor.

http://www.fourwheeler.com/how-to/engine/1508-3-8l-jeep-wrangler-jk-engine-problems/

My 2010 started consuming oil at around 36K despite regular maintenance. I decided I didn't want to deal with the oil consumption tests and was already unhappy with lack of power of the 3.8 so I took the opportunity to trade up while my 2010 was still worth something to a 2013 Rubicon with the pentastar and never looked back. The 3.6 is night and day better then the 3.8, so, so glad I made the change.

 

[jacobconroy]

The curse of the 3.8 is not a myth. My 07 spun the main bearing at 60K. No warranty at that point (they hadn't started to offer the 100K powertrain warranty at that time). I hired a local shop (that hired a local yokel to rebuilt it), and the rods were making noise 300 miles later. The yokel swore up and down that some part in the "oil bypass" was backward when he disassembled it according to his documentation. I never did get him to clarify if he installed it the way he found it, or reversed it.

Anyway, after 45 days of waiting around I told them that "enough was enough" and located a complete 17,000 mile engine, tranny, and all the trimmings from the AEV install shop that used to be in Missoula, MT on a pallet for $1500.00 and had the mechanic shop install it. In the end, I paid $4500 to have a $1500.00 motor installed. I still kept the Jeep though and it's running strong (or as strong as a 3.8 can).

I guess the moral of my little story is to avoid any replacement engine that has been touched by anyone other than Chrysler.

 

[wanabxtrm]

-After much internal debate I'll likely hold onto it until next year or 2019, to see what the new JL and pickup look like vs the F150 diesel. That said I'll probably shop it around to see what they'll offer in trade on it with the new motor, if they make it worth my while I may find myself swapping it out. I mostly just don't want a new car payment. Should hopefully be able to get it back today or tommorrow and get the final details on it.

 

[jsreid1]

After 7 years on the Lifetime warranty, Jeep decided to void the entire Lifetime warranty. None of the modifications caused the problem but was told that any modification would void the warranty. So, be careful, the death blow comes when the send the Jeep Inspector to look at the vehicle. My Dealer and Service Managers have been great and were not aware of the modification clause.