Pentastar rocker replacement troubles

[KrisZ]

Want to share my saga in replacing the rockers on my 2015 Grand Caravan, so that others may avoid making the same mistake.

Basically, I wasn’t aware that third gen pentastars have a different rocker arm profile.
I ordered my parts from eBay, the seller claimed they were OEM and were the latest 5184296AH. Should’ve gone the Rockauto route or like I eventually did, a Mopar online store.

After installation the engine started a bit shaky and then died. Then it would be hard to start and once started there random misfires code P0300. There was a very strong smell of gas.

Immediately I thought it jumped timing and I missed it somehow. I dissembled everything for the second time only to find the timing marks how they should be.

After much research online I finally came across someone with the same symptoms as me and they had wrong rockers. I checked and sure enough, the eBay rockers were way different.

Left is the OEM rocker and right is the eBay one. It clearly has a lot more lift and the valves were not closing fully.

I ordered new rockers and everything is fine now, but this job was nerve wrecking all the way till the end. It was a big relief when the engine fired up properly.

 

[97K15004WD]

They had to have sent the wrong part, right? That's not even close.

 

[KrisZ]

They had to have sent the wrong part, right? That's not even close.

Yup, most likely. They guy is going to send me a return shipping label and give my money back, so at least he's doing the right thing.

 

[GSCJR]

I'm sorry you had to endure this, but thank you for the heads up.

 

[mattd]

Lucky you didn’t bend any valves.

 

[Donald]

Be careful with buying parts on EBAY. Or anything.

 

[demarpaint]

That sucks!! How many hours would it have taken you with the right parts?

 

[dbias]

OEM is your friend when it comes to critical parts.

 

[KrisZ]

That sucks!! How many hours would it have taken you with the right parts?

It took me about 5 hours to do the front head, which is the easier one. The third time it took me 3 hours.

 

[KrisZ]

OEM is your friend when it comes to critical parts.

That's what I though I was getting. The listing claimed it was original OEM, it was not.
It's good to check regardless. These things are almost identical unless you put them side by side at the correct angle, like I pictured. So even the parts store can mix them up.

 

[JavierH19]

Where did you order the new rockers and other parts from. Rockauto or Mopar direct?

 

[The Critic]

That's what I though I was getting. The listing claimed it was original OEM, it was not.
It's good to check regardless. These things are almost identical unless you put them side by side at the correct angle, like I pictured. So even the parts store can mix them up.

Yeah, never buy OE parts from eBay unless the seller is an actual franchised dealer.

 

[KrisZ]

Where did you order the new rockers and other parts from. Rockauto or Mopar direct?

I got them from MoparFactoryParts.com

 

[demarpaint]

It took me about 5 hours to do the front head, which is the easier one. The third time it took me 3 hours.

That's excellent time, from what I heard that job can be a royal PITA. In your case unfortunately it was a horror show!

 

[KrisZ]

That's excellent time, from what I heard that job can be a royal PITA. In your case unfortunately it was a horror show!

Thanks, I though it took a long time as I wasn't rushing. But in total, I did it three times, so that's close to 12 hours probably. Very frustrating for such a simple part mix up.

However I noticed a few positives:
- The intake manifold is actually quite easy to remove once you know the pins holding the airbox that connects to the throttle body.
- Chrysler remembers all of the settings, like radio station, trip, mpg despite having the battery disconnected for hours, unlike Mazda and Honda I have experienced.
- Spark plugs are very easy to replace once the intake manifold is out of the way.

 

[demarpaint]

Thanks, I though it took a long time as I wasn't rushing. But in total, I did it three times, so that's close to 12 hours probably. Very frustrating for such a simple part mix up.

However I noticed a few positives:
- The intake manifold is actually quite easy to remove once you know the pins holding the airbox that connects to the throttle body.
- Chrysler remembers all of the settings, like radio station, trip, mpg despite having the battery disconnected for hours, unlike Mazda and Honda I have experienced.
- Spark plugs are very easy to replace once the intake manifold is out of the way.

Over the years I had parts screw ups, it happens unfortunately and you learn by them. This however is not a job I would want to be doing more than once. You clearly have a lot of patience!!!

 

[nobb]

So this problem seems almost like an inevitability on these Pentastars? Not looking forward to having to do this on mine. I looked at some video tutorials and am always terrified of anything to do with timing chains and removing/getting the camshaft alignment all back into place.

Also, it looks like since you have to take apart the intake manifold that this would be a good opportunity to replace the oil filter housing with an aluminum unit since they're also known to inevitably go bad and leak.

 

[KrisZ]

So this problem seems almost like an inevitability on these Pentastars?

Not really considering there are over 10 million of these engines on the roads today. However it is something to keep an eye on, especially since if it's caught early on, the chances of cam damage are greatly minimized. But once you wait for the check engine light and misfire codes, yeah, the cams are gone at this point. And all that metal in the system may take out the cam phasers, the oil pump etc.

Not looking forward to having to do this on mine. I looked at some video tutorials and am always terrified of anything to do with timing chains and removing/getting the camshaft alignment all back into place.

Well, I did it the "unofficial" way. Which is locking the cam sprockets and loosening the cam cap bolts. It gives just enough play to change the rockers and lifters. You have to be careful torquing the caps back though as they will be working against the valve springs. I rotated the cam so that only two valves out of the six were partially open. And then I screwed in the cap bolts following the factory sequence a little bit at a time until they sat fully. Then torqued to spec.

Also, it looks like since you have to take apart the intake manifold that this would be a good opportunity to replace the oil filter housing with an aluminum unit since they're also known to inevitably go bad and leak.

I bought a gasket set to change them, however I found it to be bone dry in there so I left it alone. But it is definitely something to consider while doing this job.


All in all, I would still take this over something like Hyundai's 2.4 DI engines that seem to randomly consume oil and then blow up because there is really nothing that can be done about it and the fix is always expensive and beyond an average DYIer.
This at least can be done in a driveway with minimal impact to the overall engine health, if one pays attention to the clues.

 

[KrisZ]

Also, I forgot to mention, don't forget to check the oil galley cap bolts, they are known to get loose. Mine were about half a turn out.
Here is one, the other one is just north of the one I circled.