Owner states: "I didn't hear anything unusual, it just lost power." Mechanic turns key on and is immediately deafened by the 150db of noise coming from the quartet of 15 in subwoofers in the back seat.
The rod damaging the starter reminds me of a Ferrari press release many years ago. Ferrari, being ever anxious to downplay engine issues, stated that their car had retired because of alternator failure. That was strictly true but more than a tad misleading - the alternator "failed" when a rod came through the block and smashed the alternator.
After 50+ years as a mechanic I have only seen 2 or 3 of the 3.3/3.8 blown up. Those engines all burned a bit of oil because of low tension rings. I have seen one with over 900.000 on it as a cab. I could barely hear it run. I drive a Caravan every day with over 300.000 on it and it still runs well. I take care of it and that helps a lot. The engine will outlast the body.
Uncle Rodney said "I get no respect. I went to my doctor, Doctor Vinnie Boombatz. I told him I'm working in a Chrysler plant. He says from now on, you pay in advance."
As someone recovering from a saw related hand injury, please be safe man. I know you're being goofy for the sake of us viewers, but it's not worth the risk. Stay safe.
Hand injuries never quite no away. There is always some part that was broken that doesn't point the same way. I had my right forefinger torn in half. The surgeon got it put back together but the joint is locked. Having a stiff finger takes time to adapt to. Cue the jokes of the wife liking that.
I am totally surprised that you did not do battle with your nemesis, the oil dip stick tube. How could you ignore it. OK I know it was out of the way but that battle is one of your mainstays of the videos!
I have a 3.8 jku with 207,800 on it! Still running like a champ, the key with every engine is maintenance and for the love of jesus oil change every 3,500 not at 7k when the dip stick only have oil on the tip cough my cousin cough 😅
An engine built so well that my 30 years being a mechanic, the only repairs I've done are as follows. Spark plugs, wires and coils, oil pan rotted out, low coolant pipe rotted, starter, alternator, belt, tensioner and last but not least, valve cover gaskets. Now they're all gone as the vehicles they came in are miled out or rotted away where i live
You forgot the 30,000 mile lower intake gasket! (Belly pan gasket) LOL . I have 3 of these vans and run them hard, I consider the water pumps and belly pan gaskets as the only real engine wear items.
The smaller 3.3l was also a great engine, probably the closest Dodge got to a Buick 3800 in reliability. If you see a rusted out bubble Caravan still going, I almost guarantee it has a 3.3.
Here in Europe only surpassed by the 2.0 and 2.4 5-speed versions you did not get in the US. Saw a 2.0 the other day with incredible 580 000 kms, first engine and tranny (but 2 clutches and 1 new head gasket owner stated 🙂)
My parents own an '04 Town & Country which is rusted to s**t, but the 3.8 is still chugging along without a care in the world. I wish I could have that much confidence in modern powertrains.
This is a really nicely designed engine, shaft mounted rocker arms nice intake and exhaust port location and design. Cross bolted center mains. Nice crank shaft design. These engines in minivans lasted forever, even when neglected. 300k plus all day long
As someone who drives Jeeps a lot, the road noise those things make would drown out a small explosion, especially JK and older. JL has enough insulation to allow for a conversation at highway speeds.
I was on a pit crew for a small circle track racer and we put a piece of sheet metal over a hole that big and went racing! Obviously, fixed the internals but the block was good. Lasted the rest of the season that way.
There's a legendary Formula Ford engine that raced for many seasons - nicknamed "patch" for obvious reasons. It was actually very successful and had many famous drives e.g. Aryton Senna, Roberto Moreno, Mark Blundell etc.
I had a Jeep Comanche of the 89 vintage with the 4.0L...! It was two-wheel drive and was used as my run around truck for my lawn service, but my main trucks were small block Chevy 80-90s Silverado's, but they were gas hogs...! I feel in love with that straight six and then I remembered an old 88 F250 work truck an old boss had... Nowadays I have a fleet of 94-96 f-series with the 300cid/ 5-speed drive trains...! I can't say which one is better, the 4.0L or the 4.9L(300cid)... they're both bulletproof...!!! And that is the exact reason that they are not produced anymore...!!! Planned obsolescence can't work if the engines won't blow up...!!! Thanks for sharing... Keep up your awesomeness...!
oh this is easy, the Ford 300 is the better engine. I've seen people TRY to blow them up and the engine flips them off and says "please sir, can I have some more?". Jeep 4.0L is a great engine in its own right, but that head will warp in a quick minute if it gets too hot which is really its only bad spot overall. Then again, I think ANY of the old school Inline 6 engines are great, the 225 Slant 6, 200 and 250 from Chevy, the 300 Ford, 232/258 AMC (which is what the 4.0L is born from). The biggest weakness of any later I6 engine is when they change out that cast iron head for aluminum, it introduces a weak point moreso than the iron heads.
Your sage advice about engines not healing themselves took me way back to when I was a college kid driving a wascally 1980 wabbit . Pretty sure I ran the oil level on one of my old man’s cars, not sure if it was that one, a different wabbit, or even a different car entirely but I’m pretty sure he had at least one engine overhauled at some point. Fast forward 35-plus years to now and I live in constant fear of my rice rocket blowing up if I go 3005 miles between oil changes. Getting old sucks.
As a guy who used to change oil for a living on everything from econoshitboxes to semi trucks....... Modern oil and filter tech is leaps and bounds better than it was in the 80s and 90s even. I wouldn't stray far from the 3k mark on conventional oils, but most stuff now requires at least a synthetic blend. On that, with a good filter, easy 5k. Personally I run a full synthetic high mileage oil, and a long life filter and run 10k change intervals. Have done this for many years now, had engines apart for maintenance and found spotless crankcase and oil systems.
@@t-yoonitI am not sure how many vehicles and engines there are but suffice to say that there are many. There are additionally hundreds of different oils. Oil change interval is NOT one-size-fits-all based on the odometer.
I saw the debris laid out on the table and immediately thought "that's how a skeleton is laid out". Demolished "head", various bits & pieces for the "spine" & a shattered pelvis.
When these came out we laughed at them. Then the jk got the pentastar jeepers everywhere though “this is the one” well….in hindsight the 3.8 was probably what you wanted when the warranty was up.
Say what you will about these engines, if you take care of them, they are some of the most reliable engines Chrysler designed. I had a 3.3L engine (same engine, smaller displacement) in my 92 Chrysler Town and Country, and that thing had well over 650k on it when the 5th transmission finally went out in it and we finally retired it. It ran just fine though. One of the biggest issues with these later model engines is the aluminum heads. They will blow a head gasket really quick because there aren't enough head bolts. The engine was designed for a cast iron head and very little was done to replace them with the aluminum heads. The old 4.0L had similar issues, just not nearly as bad since it had way more head bolts.
The JK is just universally a step from the simple tough as nails go anywhere jeep to the mall crawling duck dashing visage of modern jeeps. This engine isnt really that bad, it just happens to be attached to a damn 4 door wrangler.
The 3.9 Dakota is what your talking about, a 318 with two cylinders cut off and has a 90 degree V. The 3.8 is a 60 degree V which first appeared in the intrepid as a 3.3.
The owner didn't hear it blow, because he has 35"+ mud tires with chopped tread growling so loud no one within 4 blocks can hear anything else either. Luckily, the mud tires have also never seen anything but pavement. There is also a 75% chance of a "Trail Rated" and "Salt Life" sticker somewhere on the Jeep.
I've had so many of the 3.3/3.8 engines around my life, all of them were solid. My '96 has 255k, 05 and 07 are around 155k. A friend has a 07 3.8 with 260k (Town and Country), and another friend's had like 220k before he got something newer. Fam had a 97 Caravan that we took to 158k before selling, and a 91 3.3 that went to 163k before donating. The 91 was the 1st iteration of the 41te and the only one I ever saw that needed rebuilt.
We had one of these in our 06 Chrysler Town and Country. It blew the water pump then a head gasket extended warranty company redid the head gaskets. Then it blew the radiator out. That was replaced also. Then we hit a 300 pound buck with it destroying the radiator front engine mount and totaling the van. The freaking engine was still good.
I hit a buck a month ago and the damage was surprising given that I slowed down some and he walked away from off the top of my hood. The only thing "broken" was the Chinesium side mirror which are disposable one-year mirrors on my car.
I have a jk 3.8 174000 ml . This video was awesome,to see a full breakdown makes me more confident I can rebuild mine .if only I could get a cam with a lower rpm torque peak
I had a 2005 caravan 3.8L pushrod and it was great engine. BUT I kept the oil replaced in very timely fashion. I wish I had that old dodge caravan w 4spd auto.. It was bulletproof compared too all the GDI, turbo, 4 banger, low tension rings, high blowby pieces of crap !
Out of “malice in the combustion chamber” and “ forbidden glitter” I reckon it’s always the best when the motors attempt to “self gap” the spark plug on their own.. The thing is when you leave the motor to self adjust the gap it always gets it incredibly wrong!
My 2009 Wrangler self-destructed at 3 years/29,000 miles. I bought it new with a lifetime powertrain warranty and they still tried to make me pay for it. Burned oil from day one. The 3.8 was underpowered for the jk unlimited, but my rebuilt engine was solid. The 3.6 is much better.
I once had the new yorker with the 3.3 and an oldsmobile alero with the 3.4 and to me the two v6 families were so similar I often accused chevy of copying chrysler when it came to compact 60° v6 engines and come to find out its actually just engineers moving between the two companies during the 80's causing the most basic design from both leading to the similarities in sizes and power
I've seen a lot of valve seat problems in these engines. Always front pass or rear driver sides. Usually the block and pistons survive fine with just a few scratches. Just do head replacement and send them back out for the next 120k miles. Used to know one that survived both at separate times and still drivin by the same owner to this day . Seems to happen around 120 and 240k miles on most of them. Overall good engine if you put a good set of heads on them and maintain them without going crazy.
..Same thing with the inspection hatch happened to me with the middle cylinder on an Audi inline 5. I crammed some cardboard over the hole and managed another 40 miles back to town, where it finally seized..
I had a 3.8 JKU with a cracked head, the dealership had tried to ignore it by resetting the CEL. But they ended up having to replace the head under the Chrysler Extended Warranty. It was still really gutless. Wow, this one looks filthy.
I think it would help if anyone who doesn't really understand how an engine works would watch a few of Eric's videos. Even then, I just don't think many folks have a clue how fast the pieces in there are moving and really why there is oil in an engine.....it's just a black box that makes the car go.
I have the same engine in my wife’s Chrysler Town and Country I love it it’s very reliable other than oil consumption it’s approaching 227,000 miles and still going the main thing is that you got to stay on top of the oil level on these engines they are prone to consume a quart of oil every 700 to 1,100 miles these engines were built in Mexico 🇲🇽. They will consume 2 quarts of oil every 3,000 miles before oil change interval and filter. The only engine oil that I found that usually keeps it from consuming that much is Castrol high mileage synthetic blend 10w30 or 10w40 and always use a WIX Filter always WIX. Thank you Eric for sharing this.
My first ro with an inspection port was a 1995 4Runner with the same V6 that was recalled for head gaskets. That owner said the same thing. "It lost power and stalled" I remember because of his description compared to what was wrong. I put a breaker bar on it and it didn't turn over. It had a hole from the thrown rod. This was maybe 1999.
Always love hearing how some of the best motors ever built in American history are all older engines that got "discontinued" due to emissions regulations.
Ooooh! Another fixit channel! Thanks. I also like Bruce in Aus. He finds old machines out in Queensland amongst the snakes, spiders, crocodiles and other lovely Ozzie wiy
@@lsswappedcessna I pulled one out of a Hesston 6450 windrower that was so worn out you could have knocked the ring ridge off and put .030" oversize pistons without boring it. It only used about 1-2 quarts of oil per day. did a leak down test, 85% leakdown rate
@@austincjett They where making v8 amounts of power with the power pack in the 60-70s. They had 170hp variant. With some work they are actually really powerful.
I put about 145k miles on a 3.8 in a 2dr JK. It had a 6-speed and factory 4.10’s. It ran good. Only thing I had to do were intake valley seals and patch a crack in one manifold. Amazingly that JB weld-like metal paste stuff worked great.
Best benefit of the doubt I can give the owner is maybe they were driving on the highway with the top off. It'd still be hard to miss the smoke screen and clunking but if you're already half deaf in a flying brick with no top...maaaaayyyyybeeeee
It took Ford a bit to iron out their problems with the head gaskets on the Essex V6, but having said that, they thankfully got it fixed once they installed the MLS head gaskets.
My thought, as soon as seeing how clean that engine was, is that the original owner took really good care of this car, but he sold it to some idiot who just put fuel in it and drove it.
I got to work on a blown Mitsubishi V6 in school. It blew the #6 rod out above the filter. The coolent and oil stayed where they should be and it actually ran decent.
I had this engine in that fore mentioned van. Decent running thing, almost 200k on it before I had sold it for a much newer whip. It moved my family 3 times as the moving truck and took me karting a bunch. I miss it.
I've seen several of these engines ruined in JK's and JL's just by doing what a Jeep is designed to do - go off roading. At times, owners get the Jeeps into extreme approach and departure angles, sometimes for several minutes at a time as they negotiate steep obstacles on the trails, and during those times, the angle can get extreme enough to uncover the oil pick-up in the sump. Or, when a Jeep goes turtle and the driver is not quick enough to shut it down immediately. That's how bearing foil gets it start.
Had a couple 3.8's over the years. One with over 260k that was never touched and ran like a top. Another that I sold with 135k that sipped on oil a little heavy, but overall extremely reliable engines.
High school friend had a 1985 plymouth gran fury with the 318 smog motor and while driving thru town we started hearing metal on metal/ting ting ting noises and instead of pulling over he gunned it. Tranny blew up later that day in a Target parking lot. We were going to take the tires off and put it on blocks and just leave it there (it was the 90s).
All that damage on the crank counterbalance and a wrecked wrist pin makes me think that the wrist pin and the counterbalance decide to battle to the death.
Owner states: "I didn't hear anything unusual, it just lost power."
Mechanic turns key on and is immediately deafened by the 150db of noise coming from the quartet of 15 in subwoofers in the back seat.
YEP 👍!
I hate chrysler / jeep
I mean, it's obvious that the speaker in the restaurant drive-through lane the car was idling in was *far* too loud for him to hear what happened. 🙄
I don't know what you're talking about. These NEVER get turned into pavement princesses. haha
18:03 milwaukee in nutshell
The rod damaging the starter reminds me of a Ferrari press release many years ago. Ferrari, being ever anxious to downplay engine issues, stated that their car had retired because of alternator failure. That was strictly true but more than a tad misleading - the alternator "failed" when a rod came through the block and smashed the alternator.
Let's not jump to conclusions! The alternator could have bumped through the block and broken the rod!
I have seen pictures of two cat V8 motors in a Boat. One thew a rod and kicked the starter into the other engine. It cracked the block.
😁
After 50+ years as a mechanic I have only seen 2 or 3 of the 3.3/3.8 blown up. Those engines all burned a bit of oil because of low tension rings. I have seen one with over 900.000 on it as a cab. I could barely hear it run. I drive a Caravan every day with over 300.000 on it and it still runs well. I take care of it and that helps a lot. The engine will outlast the body.
Uncle Rodney said " screw this, im going home ! " ( in cartman's voice )
Uncle Rodney said "I get no respect. I went to my doctor, Doctor Vinnie Boombatz. I told him I'm working in a Chrysler plant. He says from now on, you pay in advance."
Screw u guys, i'mmm goin home (in Cartman's voice)
The word you are looking for is "the bearing sea" 🙂
As someone recovering from a saw related hand injury, please be safe man. I know you're being goofy for the sake of us viewers, but it's not worth the risk. Stay safe.
Shake hands with Danger!
Oh wait. Sorry. Shake hand with Danger.
Have you heard ‘the tales of the safety tote’?
If not, I highly recommend watching some older videos with belt tensioners in the dismantling process
@@aaronlarsen4674oh I'm very familiar. RIP that forklift driver.
Ouch
Hand injuries never quite no away. There is always some part that was broken that doesn't point the same way. I had my right forefinger torn in half. The surgeon got it put back together but the joint is locked. Having a stiff finger takes time to adapt to. Cue the jokes of the wife liking that.
I like the utter contempt in Eric's voice when he says "...now they have THIS..."
I am totally surprised that you did not do battle with your nemesis, the oil dip stick tube. How could you ignore it. OK I know it was out of the way but that battle is one of your mainstays of the videos!
I thought the same thing, went a whole video without a dipstick tube battle.
I too missed the battle of the dipstick.
I honestly got to the point to where I was expecting him to smack it out after he removed the oil pan
I have a 3.8 jku with 207,800 on it! Still running like a champ, the key with every engine is maintenance and for the love of jesus oil change every 3,500 not at 7k when the dip stick only have oil on the tip cough my cousin cough 😅
I actually love these motors, they're slow, noisey, they leak from every possible orifice but, they just keep going. Also so goddamn simple
seeing that saw compliation, you're insanely lucky to still have 10 fingers. jesus. Please be careful so you can keep sending us videos!
technically speaking its eight fingers and two thumbs
@@SHADOW.GGG- No it isn't.
Remember, impact wrenches are finger operated! Just put that saw under safety tote for the sake of us all.
Do we need to send blue on vacation anytime soon? He’s working awful hard here lately.
Blue is union man. Member of the International Machinist Union Local ERIC. Blue gets Healthcare and a pension, lucky tool.
I’d like a copy.
@@dennisyoung4631harbor freight. I have 2 sets
An engine built so well that my 30 years being a mechanic, the only repairs I've done are as follows.
Spark plugs, wires and coils, oil pan rotted out, low coolant pipe rotted, starter, alternator, belt, tensioner and last but not least, valve cover gaskets.
Now they're all gone as the vehicles they came in are miled out or rotted away where i live
You forgot the 30,000 mile lower intake gasket! (Belly pan gasket) LOL . I have 3 of these vans and run them hard, I consider the water pumps and belly pan gaskets as the only real engine wear items.
The smaller 3.3l was also a great engine, probably the closest Dodge got to a Buick 3800 in reliability. If you see a rusted out bubble Caravan still going, I almost guarantee it has a 3.3.
Here in Europe only surpassed by the 2.0 and 2.4 5-speed versions you did not get in the US. Saw a 2.0 the other day with incredible 580 000 kms, first engine and tranny (but 2 clutches and 1 new head gasket owner stated 🙂)
My parents own an '04 Town & Country which is rusted to s**t, but the 3.8 is still chugging along without a care in the world. I wish I could have that much confidence in modern powertrains.
This is a really nicely designed engine, shaft mounted rocker arms nice intake and exhaust port location and design. Cross bolted center mains. Nice crank shaft design. These engines in minivans lasted forever, even when neglected. 300k plus all day long
It's nice to see a "regular" looking engine. Reminds me of the GM 4.3. Old school U.S. engine.
#5 piston needs to be placed in the witness protection program.
The meme of the dog saying 'It's fine' while fire surrounds him comes to mind.
Looks like the crank weight beat that wrist pin like it owed it money.
As someone who drives Jeeps a lot, the road noise those things make would drown out a small explosion, especially JK and older. JL has enough insulation to allow for a conversation at highway speeds.
I wouldn't be so quick to call out the driver in this case, I've heard that the JK's have really really good radios.
alpine audio system is one of the best, it also helps the jeep doesnt have a lot of insulation
My sister had a dodge dart that had a slant 6 engine. That engine will run and run forever.
I was on a pit crew for a small circle track racer and we put a piece of sheet metal over a hole that big and went racing! Obviously, fixed the internals but the block was good. Lasted the rest of the season that way.
There's a legendary Formula Ford engine that raced for many seasons - nicknamed "patch" for obvious reasons. It was actually very successful and had many famous drives e.g. Aryton Senna, Roberto Moreno, Mark Blundell etc.
The oil is bass boat paint... gotta love it
That right there is a great example of Mopar quality.
I really like your introductions, presenting the year models of where the engine was used in, etc 🙂
What happened to the mandatory battle with the dipstick tube?
Yeah, Eric, what about the dipstick tube? I kept waiting for the wrestling match.
I thought same thing, Eric danced around it the whole shoot and I was thinking yeah this is going to be epic new gag.... Waited and waited.
These do run forever. The 3.3 and 3.8 just keep on going.
I had a Jeep Comanche of the 89 vintage with the 4.0L...! It was two-wheel drive and was used as my run around truck for my lawn service, but my main trucks were small block Chevy 80-90s Silverado's, but they were gas hogs...! I feel in love with that straight six and then I remembered an old 88 F250 work truck an old boss had... Nowadays I have a fleet of 94-96 f-series with the 300cid/ 5-speed drive trains...! I can't say which one is better, the 4.0L or the 4.9L(300cid)... they're both bulletproof...!!! And that is the exact reason that they are not produced anymore...!!! Planned obsolescence can't work if the engines won't blow up...!!! Thanks for sharing... Keep up your awesomeness...!
oh this is easy, the Ford 300 is the better engine. I've seen people TRY to blow them up and the engine flips them off and says "please sir, can I have some more?". Jeep 4.0L is a great engine in its own right, but that head will warp in a quick minute if it gets too hot which is really its only bad spot overall. Then again, I think ANY of the old school Inline 6 engines are great, the 225 Slant 6, 200 and 250 from Chevy, the 300 Ford, 232/258 AMC (which is what the 4.0L is born from). The biggest weakness of any later I6 engine is when they change out that cast iron head for aluminum, it introduces a weak point moreso than the iron heads.
@@MichaelAStanhope yep...
Your sage advice about engines not healing themselves took me way back to when I was a college kid driving a wascally 1980 wabbit . Pretty sure I ran the oil level on one of my old man’s cars, not sure if it was that one, a different wabbit, or even a different car entirely but I’m pretty sure he had at least one engine overhauled at some point.
Fast forward 35-plus years to now and I live in constant fear of my rice rocket blowing up if I go 3005 miles between oil changes. Getting old sucks.
Concur - paranoia (about life in general) is a matter of life experience. You get experience with Age.
As a guy who used to change oil for a living on everything from econoshitboxes to semi trucks....... Modern oil and filter tech is leaps and bounds better than it was in the 80s and 90s even. I wouldn't stray far from the 3k mark on conventional oils, but most stuff now requires at least a synthetic blend. On that, with a good filter, easy 5k. Personally I run a full synthetic high mileage oil, and a long life filter and run 10k change intervals. Have done this for many years now, had engines apart for maintenance and found spotless crankcase and oil systems.
@@t-yoonitI am not sure how many vehicles and engines there are but suffice to say that there are many. There are additionally hundreds of different oils. Oil change interval is NOT one-size-fits-all based on the odometer.
PCV....
Positively
Crankcase
Ventilated!!
Eric, you should have done a chalk outline on Sir Rodney in the piston lineup, because that looked like a crime scene.
I saw the debris laid out on the table and immediately thought "that's how a skeleton is laid out". Demolished "head", various bits & pieces for the "spine" & a shattered pelvis.
I had the 3.3 liter version of this i a Chrysler Minivan ran trouble free when traded in at 140k miles.
When these came out we laughed at them. Then the jk got the pentastar jeepers everywhere though “this is the one” well….in hindsight the 3.8 was probably what you wanted when the warranty was up.
ehh the 3.6l is one of the most popular engines on the road, a lot of them have a lot of mileage
The early ones came with gasket issues @@mails5054
Say what you will about these engines, if you take care of them, they are some of the most reliable engines Chrysler designed. I had a 3.3L engine (same engine, smaller displacement) in my 92 Chrysler Town and Country, and that thing had well over 650k on it when the 5th transmission finally went out in it and we finally retired it. It ran just fine though. One of the biggest issues with these later model engines is the aluminum heads. They will blow a head gasket really quick because there aren't enough head bolts. The engine was designed for a cast iron head and very little was done to replace them with the aluminum heads. The old 4.0L had similar issues, just not nearly as bad since it had way more head bolts.
I thought it looked somewhat familiar to a 318.
The JK is just universally a step from the simple tough as nails go anywhere jeep to the mall crawling duck dashing visage of modern jeeps. This engine isnt really that bad, it just happens to be attached to a damn 4 door wrangler.
The 3.9 Dakota is what your talking about, a 318 with two cylinders cut off and has a 90 degree V. The 3.8 is a 60 degree V which first appeared in the intrepid as a 3.3.
If it’s not an engine thing or a transmission thing…..it’s the same ole thing…..dodge/Jeep….
Thx for the info,
Recently bought an
01 mini van, wow,
I was very impressed 😊
The owner didn't hear it blow, because he has 35"+ mud tires with chopped tread growling so loud no one within 4 blocks can hear anything else either. Luckily, the mud tires have also never seen anything but pavement. There is also a 75% chance of a "Trail Rated" and "Salt Life" sticker somewhere on the Jeep.
Another excellent video, I couldn’t stop watching. Great Job !
I like when you recommend other channels you like 🙂
Woohoo, I asked for the 3.8l jeep engine back when you started doing tear downs! Thank you! Very cool to see the inside of my engine.
I've had so many of the 3.3/3.8 engines around my life, all of them were solid. My '96 has 255k, 05 and 07 are around 155k. A friend has a 07 3.8 with 260k (Town and Country), and another friend's had like 220k before he got something newer. Fam had a 97 Caravan that we took to 158k before selling, and a 91 3.3 that went to 163k before donating. The 91 was the 1st iteration of the 41te and the only one I ever saw that needed rebuilt.
They always seemed like such quiet engines for being a relatively low-tech V6
We had one of these in our 06 Chrysler Town and Country. It blew the water pump then a head gasket extended warranty company redid the head gaskets. Then it blew the radiator out. That was replaced also. Then we hit a 300 pound buck with it destroying the radiator front engine mount and totaling the van. The freaking engine was still good.
I hit a buck a month ago and the damage was surprising given that I slowed down some and he walked away from off the top of my hood. The only thing "broken" was the Chinesium side mirror which are disposable one-year mirrors on my car.
JB Weld the hole and you've got a 5 cyl 😮
I was thinking similar
RIP, Uncle Rodney. Egad, what carnage. Good one, Eric!
Love the videos mate, great entertainment 👍🏻
Awesome tear down today.
I have a jk 3.8 174000 ml . This video was awesome,to see a full breakdown makes me more confident I can rebuild mine .if only I could get a cam with a lower rpm torque peak
Now I want to rewatch the GM 3800 tear down. And hope to see a ford 3.8 in the future. Preferably the Thunderbird supercharged version.
Another funny, informative and entertaining episode. Thank you
The word you were looking for for the content of the oil pan is Smorgasbord. Because it contains a little bit of everything! 😂
"I could sell this for money". Hilarious. Thanks for the video.
I saw an Equinox pulling a travel trailer at altitude in NM. Good lord, I hope that was a leased vehicle.
Love the extra videos this week!!🎉❤
I had a 2005 caravan 3.8L pushrod and it was great engine. BUT I kept the oil replaced in very timely fashion. I wish I had that old dodge caravan w 4spd auto..
It was bulletproof compared too all the GDI, turbo, 4 banger, low tension rings, high blowby pieces of crap !
Out of “malice in the combustion chamber” and “ forbidden glitter”
I reckon it’s always the best when the motors attempt to “self gap” the spark plug on their own..
The thing is when you leave the motor to self adjust the gap it always gets it incredibly wrong!
I loved this one. I have always wondered what the inside of the Dodge V-6 looked like. Thanks!
My 2009 Wrangler self-destructed at 3 years/29,000 miles. I bought it new with a lifetime powertrain warranty and they still tried to make me pay for it. Burned oil from day one. The 3.8 was underpowered for the jk unlimited, but my rebuilt engine was solid. The 3.6 is much better.
I once had the new yorker with the 3.3 and an oldsmobile alero with the 3.4 and to me the two v6 families were so similar I often accused chevy of copying chrysler when it came to compact 60° v6 engines and come to find out its actually just engineers moving between the two companies during the 80's causing the most basic design from both leading to the similarities in sizes and power
Thank you for the circular saw safety video!
"It's fine. It'll be fine"
Haha! Great work with Ray Mackinlay. And when are we going to see some 928 videos?
I've seen a lot of valve seat problems in these engines. Always front pass or rear driver sides. Usually the block and pistons survive fine with just a few scratches. Just do head replacement and send them back out for the next 120k miles. Used to know one that survived both at separate times and still drivin by the same owner to this day . Seems to happen around 120 and 240k miles on most of them. Overall good engine if you put a good set of heads on them and maintain them without going crazy.
My Grand Caravan had the 3.8L V6 in it. It was still running great when I traded it in at 220K. If you take care of those engines they will last!
i had an 07. it needed a few things replaced but i sold it with everything it needed, plus new tires, wheels & lug nuts. the tires it did need.
Ah i have an 09 JK with this engine. I actually really like it. I run either 5w40 euro spec oil or 10w30 full synthetic with no issues.
07 JK and usually run the 10W-40 synthetic but have ran the 5W-40 Euro when finding it on sale.
@@greggc8088 how many miles do you have on yours? Just crossed 112k on mine.
179K.
Mobil 1 0w40 European oil in an 08 with 185k so far
My van 3.8 was great. 1qt oil/10k miles. Solid. Great job Eric!
..Same thing with the inspection hatch happened to me with the middle cylinder on an Audi inline 5. I crammed some cardboard over the hole and managed another 40 miles back to town, where it finally seized..
Love those Mopar rocker shaft setups. Just like a LA V8. So easy to service.
The rockers reminded me of a sl/6.
Great video, thanks for sharing 👍.
The water pump treatment variety never gets old!
Thank you Premier in Illinois,
I had a 3.8 JKU with a cracked head, the dealership had tried to ignore it by resetting the CEL. But they ended up having to replace the head under the Chrysler Extended Warranty. It was still really gutless. Wow, this one looks filthy.
Watching you tear things down is the best
Love your fascination with wristpins! Bet your great at puzzles!
When will people listen to you about oil changes?????
I think it would help if anyone who doesn't really understand how an engine works would watch a few of Eric's videos. Even then, I just don't think many folks have a clue how fast the pieces in there are moving and really why there is oil in an engine.....it's just a black box that makes the car go.
I have the same engine in my wife’s Chrysler Town and Country I love it it’s very reliable other than oil consumption it’s approaching 227,000 miles and still going the main thing is that you got to stay on top of the oil level on these engines they are prone to consume a quart of oil every 700 to 1,100 miles these engines were built in Mexico 🇲🇽. They will consume 2 quarts of oil every 3,000 miles before oil change interval and filter. The only engine oil that I found that usually keeps it from consuming that much is Castrol high mileage synthetic blend 10w30 or 10w40 and always use a WIX Filter always WIX. Thank you Eric for sharing this.
My first ro with an inspection port was a 1995 4Runner with the same V6 that was recalled for head gaskets. That owner said the same thing. "It lost power and stalled" I remember because of his description compared to what was wrong. I put a breaker bar on it and it didn't turn over. It had a hole from the thrown rod. This was maybe 1999.
Must have had a very loud stereo system installed in that jeep. Didn't hear a thing from the engine!
38:30 That advice is the opposite of Derek @ Vice Grip Garage, who says lets power through it. LOL
Always love hearing how some of the best motors ever built in American history are all older engines that got "discontinued" due to emissions regulations.
"The lifter holder downer"...it's a technical term. 🤣
Looks like Cylinder 6 had enough of their shit and left the conversation!
Those are really good motors 3.3 l 3.8 l pretty indestructible
I have one of those now in my 2005 Chrysler town and country 3.8 it's the best engine Chrysler ever made hands down
Ooooh! Another fixit channel! Thanks. I also like Bruce in Aus. He finds old machines out in Queensland amongst the snakes, spiders, crocodiles and other lovely Ozzie wiy
Since you're tearing apart excellent engines that have blown up, maybe you could do a Chrysler Slant-6?
My favorite engine, the leaning tower of barely enough power.
The problem is finding a slant 6 that has blown up.
@@lsswappedcessna I pulled one out of a Hesston 6450 windrower that was so worn out you could have knocked the ring ridge off and put .030" oversize pistons without boring it. It only used about 1-2 quarts of oil per day. did a leak down test, 85% leakdown rate
@@austincjett the Australian Valiant had a slant 6 that was beefed up pretty well.
@@austincjett They where making v8 amounts of power with the power pack in the 60-70s. They had 170hp variant. With some work they are actually really powerful.
I love this channel!!!
I put about 145k miles on a 3.8 in a 2dr JK. It had a 6-speed and factory 4.10’s. It ran good. Only thing I had to do were intake valley seals and patch a crack in one manifold. Amazingly that JB weld-like metal paste stuff worked great.
Best benefit of the doubt I can give the owner is maybe they were driving on the highway with the top off. It'd still be hard to miss the smoke screen and clunking but if you're already half deaf in a flying brick with no top...maaaaayyyyybeeeee
Nice to see the engine that's in my Jeep get torn down to see all it's goodies!
Just JB weld that hole back up, slap the engine back in and you'll have a nice 5 cylinder, just like an Audi! Lol! 😂
Seems like 3.8 litres was a magic number for reliability and ubiquity of application for all of the Big 3.
It took Ford a bit to iron out their problems with the head gaskets on the Essex V6, but having said that, they thankfully got it fixed once they installed the MLS head gaskets.
30:26 it is 1am and I am cackling!
My thought, as soon as seeing how clean that engine was, is that the original owner took really good care of this car, but he sold it to some idiot who just put fuel in it and drove it.
I got to work on a blown Mitsubishi V6 in school. It blew the #6 rod out above the filter. The coolent and oil stayed where they should be and it actually ran decent.
I had this engine in that fore mentioned van. Decent running thing, almost 200k on it before I had sold it for a much newer whip. It moved my family 3 times as the moving truck and took me karting a bunch. I miss it.
From an absolute tank of an engine to a minivan mommy mall mover motor.
Great teardown! You crack me up hah.
I've seen several of these engines ruined in JK's and JL's just by doing what a Jeep is designed to do - go off roading. At times, owners get the Jeeps into extreme approach and departure angles, sometimes for several minutes at a time as they negotiate steep obstacles on the trails, and during those times, the angle can get extreme enough to uncover the oil pick-up in the sump. Or, when a Jeep goes turtle and the driver is not quick enough to shut it down immediately. That's how bearing foil gets it start.
Had a couple 3.8's over the years. One with over 260k that was never touched and ran like a top. Another that I sold with 135k that sipped on oil a little heavy, but overall extremely reliable engines.
0:34 He forgot to put new batteries in his hearing aid.
High school friend had a 1985 plymouth gran fury with the 318 smog motor and while driving thru town we started hearing metal on metal/ting ting ting noises and instead of pulling over he gunned it. Tranny blew up later that day in a Target parking lot. We were going to take the tires off and put it on blocks and just leave it there (it was the 90s).
wasn't really expecting to not have to fill in "wrist pin fine" on the bingo card. that's normally a guaranteed square.
All that damage on the crank counterbalance and a wrecked wrist pin makes me think that the wrist pin and the counterbalance decide to battle to the death.