I found this statement on another site. "The 3.6 Pentastar engine was still a prototype when Daimler literally raped the company by taking everything good out of Chrysler including any good technologies and cash. The engine first came out with a host of issues with the most major being a design defect in the heads. The heads are prone to crack especially the passenger side. Chrysler, in it's destitute wisdom, came up with a fix rather than redesign the heads. The fix is thicker head gaskets. It does several things. It reduces compression enough to take the strain off of the metal. It also reduces running temperatures of the heads. While you'll probably read where they have new heads, the heads are the same design. It's not a very reliable engine and Chrysler knows it." Any truth to it, or is the writer delusional?
The 3.6 is a very reliable engine. As far as the heads go, I have only heard these two things: On early 2011-2013 Pentastar engines, there were cylinder head failures on the left bank. The underlying cause was overheating of the valve seats on cylinder #2. Fiat-Chrysler resolved the issue in mid-2013 with hardened valve guides and seats. They also did their best to make it right for customers. FCA extended the 3.6L Pentastar warranty to 10 years or 150,000 miles for the left cylinder heads on 2011, 2012, and some 2013 models. The heads of the engine are sand-cast, and sometimes certain engines would pass through quality control with remnants of sand stuck inside them.
I’ve never had a problem with any of the vehicles that I’ve owned with the 3.6 Ltr engine. All were very reliable. Maybe this author has an axe to grind.
It's a great engine. Driving our 2017 Pacifica right now and averaging 29 mph on a trip from SC to Florida and back. Engine performance is great even in the van. The problem is keeping the front wheels from slipping when accelerating from a stop. 0 problems with ours at 62k miles.
I think the writer is full of it! The Pentastar was developed strictly by Chrysler and when it debuted it was awarded the distinction of being one of the 10 best engines in the world, I'd say that's a mighty big compliment. As far as their dependability they are one of the most solid V6 engines available.
