Detroit – Good news for 2011-2013 Jeep JK Wrangler owners plagued by the left-cylinder head cracking issue. Chrysler Group has extended the 5-year/100,000 mile warranty out to 10-years/150,000 miles on the left-cylinder head for customers who purchased a segment of the 2011-13 vehicles with 3.6-liter V-6 Pentastar engines.
In a small percentage of these engines, the left cylinder heads have failed due to excessive wear. Chrysler will extend its 5-year / 100,000 mile engine warranty to 10 year/150,000 miles. All other engine components will still be limited to the automaker’s 5-year/100,000-mile powertrain warranty.
According to Chrysler, around the time of a 2012 design change, approximately 7,500 engines were susceptible to the cylinder head failure. Chysler’s spokesperson would not say whether the estimated affected engine count still holds true however Head of Quality, Doug Betts, said that the cylinder head problem has been found in an estimated 1/2 of 1 percent of Pentastar equipped vehicles.
In 2012 Chrysler was made aware of the problem soon after customers began filing complaints of a “ticking sound” and other related issues including an illuminated check engine light. Chrysler’s months-long investigation of the issue tracked the problem down to what they refer to as a combination of contributing factors including poor-quality fuel and specific driving conditions that resulted in excessive wear on the left cylinder head of the affected engines. Chrysler said in a written statement about the extended warranty, “A small percentage of these 2011-2013 model year engines may be susceptible to an engine misfire which is caused by a combination of rarely occurring factors, including drive cycle and fuel quality.” “The issue does not disable the engine. Dealers will replace the left cylinder head with a new part with a minor design modification.”
According to Chrysler, a cylinder head design modification was made in August of 2012. Since the design change the company says they have not had any reports of the issue happening in 3.6-liter V-6 Pentastar engines manufactured after that time.
See your dealer for details on the warranty extension.
Source: Motor Trend
