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Engine Locked Up...

MaxCarnage

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#41
That hasn’t gotten you very far on here.:LOL:
Haha, I guess so. I've only been here for a month now though? lol. So far what I've learned outweighs the negative peeps, so all good.
 


Hickster

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#42
In the past year mine has been in the shop more than on the road. Chrysler even sent their service engineer down twice to go over the car service tickets. They, not me, about pulled the plug on this new car. They spent a ton of monies with viper tech at the dealership on this car. They did the right thing and replaced every thing more than once. Instead of pointing the finger at me and looked at sumtin I may have done, Chrysler and the dealer went straight for the problem. I was never contacted concerning the problems till it was fixed. I have a stack of service tickets that tell the tale, but they stepped up and fixed it. New engine,,, good,, go for it. Like mentioned, new engine great, go thru the lemon law and associated directions, not so good. Good luck,,, I have 7,200 miles on mine.
 


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Thread Starter #43
That and a pic of the front of the crankshaft to make sure it wasn't pinned. But as the OP said, the car was bone stock with low miles. Weird....you'd think it would have failed much quicker if it were assembled improperly. Almost seems like the valve itself failed and broke....more of a material issue maybe? I wonder if these failed engines go back to FCA for an autopsy, or does FCA just direct the dealer to junk them??
I'm thinking the valve came apart or a broken valve spring.

And yes, the service mgr told me they go back for eval...
 


Confuzed1

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#44
They go back to the WPC for evaluation
That's good! At least they can find out what the cause was - material or assembly - and hopefully correct it then.
I'm thinking the valve came apart or a broken valve spring.

And yes, the service mgr told me they go back for eval...
I'm just guessing, but I doubt it was a broken spring since they could see that right away, no boroscope needed. I suppose the valve locks (keepers) could have come off allowing the valve to be sucked into the cylinder, then the piston came up and snapped the stem, damaged cylinder walls and most likely the cylinder head too. It would be nice to know exactly what the cause was!! Hopefully they'll let you know..
 


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#45
Probably valve guide galled or was too tight on the stem. Valve stuck open and piston tagged it. Second guess would be spring/keeper failure. I haven't seen a valve tip snap off in awhile, but that's my distant third guess.
 


rdlsrt

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#46
Tell me more about this. Mine also failed on cylinder 7.
I started to hear it in the morning engine cold. As I decelerated I would hear this loud ticking noise, kinda like a lifter tapping. Once it warmed up a little it would stop. After about a month it got worse. Took it to the dealer and of course they didn't hear anything. So, went down there myself one morning to look at it together... and bam there was the noise. They narrowed it down to #7, and replaced the piston.

It ran a little rough for about 2 weeks, then it seemed fine. Not sure why it would do that, any thoughts?? For this reason, i dont want to add any additional power.
 


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#47
Not directly related, but does bring into concern that any aftermarket parts "may" void your warranty. Not relevant to this particular issues since it is all stock, but first time I have heard of them asking for pics on intake and crank pulley
 


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#48
I started to hear it in the morning engine cold. As I decelerated I would hear this loud ticking noise, kinda like a lifter tapping. Once it warmed up a little it would stop. After about a month it got worse. Took it to the dealer and of course they didn't hear anything. So, went down there myself one morning to look at it together... and bam there was the noise. They narrowed it down to #7, and replaced the piston.

It ran a little rough for about 2 weeks, then it seemed fine. Not sure why it would do that, any thoughts?? For this reason, i dont want to add any additional power.
Interesting. If it ran rough for 2 weeks after the new piston was installed, I'm not sure what would cause that. You didn't get any pics of the piston they took out by chance?
 


rdlsrt

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#49
No speedy, I didn't get any pictures.
 


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#50
If the buy back is easy, just do that and start over. If they make it a pain to do a buyback get a new engine and then like others have said argue depreciation loss/extended warranty coverage. You will now have a vehicle that doesn't have it's original engine (that matters to some people). Did the dealer give you an ETA on repair time? I'd imagine it's going to take awhile until it's back up and running again. I'd fight for as many things as you can get.

My lady went threw 2 years of issues with her last Subaru (multiple electrical issues). She barely got to drive it because it was at the dealer so much. While she didn't get a buy out "officially" the dealer and Subaru between them "bought" it back as long as she was willing to get a new Subaru from them. They kept the payments the same, gave her a killer interest rate, free 8 year bumper to bumper warranty, plus tons of other extras at their cost or free. She was kind and had patience, and in turn the dealer/Subaru was very generous with what they offered back. Point being I'm sure this would be frustrating, I know I'd be upset, but take a deep breath and push threw it. I find being kind to people usually gets me farther than being an ass.

I'm sure it will all work out for you. Good luck!

Just to reiterate, I very recently (last month) finished my buy back process. It is anything but easy. In fact, FCA sent out an engineer and completely ignored the overarching complaint, closed the file, and forced me to start over at ground zero. It was at that point I got a consumer lawyer and settled within 60 days. At a minimum I would open an SRT complaint and have them give you an extended warranty on the drivetrain. If you want to do a buyback and start from scratch I HIGHLY suggest you just go ahead and get an attorney.
 


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#51
I've been through the buy back process and it's not fun. If they've agreed to put a complete, brand new engine in the car, I would be tickled pink. Certainly "build up" a concern for the reliability of these engines and whether this could happen again, and then work a 100,000 warranty into the deal. Go straight to SRT for this. This is beyond dealer ability.
 


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#52
Damn, I would want the dealer to buy it back too if I were you. But, a new engine isn't a bad alternative to consider.

I bought my Chrysler 300S brand new off the delivery truck a few years ago, with all the wrapping still on it. 2.5K later, my mom noticed some weird liquid under the car that looks similiar to oil. Took it to the dealership and they advised that my transmission is bad and I'll need a new tranny. There goes 3 weeks of the car being left at the dealership. Shit happens man, wishing you goodluck.
 


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#53
Intake pics are probably looking for a CAI but could also be looking for signs of water. A contaminated filter (water or otherwise) could tell them that it’s an insurance claim and not a warranty claim.
 


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#54
Any updates?
 


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Thread Starter #55
Update:

Dodge approved replacing the engine. The long block came in last Monday & I went to see it. Everything has to be transferred to the new engine. Believe they are installing now. The engine looks green and never run on a dyno, but then how could it with no SC, throttle control, etc.

My contact at the SRT Hotline advised that initially Dodge has denied my Buy Back. SRT says Dodge wants to install the new engine first, and then we can talk about options, i.e. possible Extended Warranty, Buy Back, covering my Lease Payment, etc. Seems Dodge is not concerned about an engine replacement always following my HC or if it will devalue my HC or that I am concerned it will never be the same or that this should have never happened. I also told the SRT Hotline that considering what this car costs and the image Dodge promotes for these HCs, Dodge should be more willing to step up considering the unnecessary engine failure and be more willing to take care of HC owners. My feeling is Dodge doesn't care about my concerns in these areas. She's been down now for 34 days as I write this and still don't have an estimated completion date.

My SRT contact seems like he is just hedging and purposely being non-committal, but someone higher up than him is making his decisions for him, and thus me. Not getting a good feeling about SRT for now.

Also sent a letter to FCA advising the engine failure/lock up and the other issues it had from the factory that a HC should not have had. Have not heard back from FCA as yet.

@DodgeCares
 


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SpecOps Veteran

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#56
Thanks for the update. Again, document, document, document. At the least they should have no issue with extended drivetrain warranty. I would not be happy without a time limit free warranty. As in, 50k miles over factory warranty with no time limit. Honestly though I feel in this case you will be fine. You can see the issue I posted about and had to deal with for 9 months for the most extreme case and years for the others. I don't know why I keep buying Dodge. Oh, yes I do; it's because of Ford Dealership's ADM's. Sigh.
 


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#57
Blickie, problems like this DUE happen and they can happen with just about any car make that is out there. FCA is taking care of it. YES, it does take time, as there are fraudulent people out there who will take advantage of warranties. FCA needed to make sure the problem is legitimately their's and now they're taking care of it, and a new engine cannot be overnighted via FedEx. You'll likely be compensated for the down time and get an extended warranty. Let this take it's course. Personally, I don't see the problem with this "following" the vehicle if this is just a leased vehicle, especially if it is an FCA lease (?)
 


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Thread Starter #58
Update:

The new motor is in. Looked at it today and got to talk to the tech who did the work. Underhood looks like it never happened. Tech ordered a new starter assy because the original one didn't sound right. He told me these starters do not like trying to turn over a locked engine and overheats/hurts the starter windings. Should have it back first of the week.
 


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#59
Good news.
 


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#60
Good to hear. You beat me out of the starting gate. Problem of the problem, one of em. The more people involved the worst it could get. If the dealer was able to take care of it great, but beyond his ability to order and install a new engine. A starter locked up yes, but. This kinda goes way beyond that. I am sure FCA took care of it ass fast as them dudes could do. They treated me that way. Sent the rep down twice to check out my H/C more than likely knowing I will purchase another. They do have a great PR dept, but good for you and you can break this one in.
 




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