My Promaster 3500 repair.

[ntimevan]

We have all heard the Horror stories about Sprinters , Promasters ,Transits ..
This topic will shed some light on Promaster 3.6 engine repair ..

Van towed in this morning ..
On route from Laredo to Tn ..Thursday night south of Waco .. loss of power .. blinking check engine .. 30 seconds the light went solid on .. found no issues ... 800 miles later ..last night west of Nashville .. same issue blinking light .. 3 times over 10 miles .. the 3rd time there was loud ticking or knocking noise .. went off interstate to convenience store ..parked van .. called in to dispatch .. rescued load .. this morning towed in Dodge Ram dealer ..van went into shop 10.30 am .. meanwhile i was taken for rental truck .. when i arrived back at dealer .. Mechanic had front of van disassembled and top of motor ..

Problem found Rocker Arm Followers(2) over #6 cly. had went bad ..causing damage to Left Exhaust Cam shaft .. also causing # 6 misfiring ..
Ordered parts .. should be fixed by noon on Monday ..
OK.. while taking personal items out of van and putting in truck ... they discovered a Dealer in Nashville area had parts on hand .. bingo .. they went and picked up parts .. 1.20 pm the mechanic started reassembled engine .. by 3 pm test driven and interstate test driven.. purrs like new ...
I paid the $100. deductible.. plus 6 new spark plugs .... total ..$254.28
Without Chrysler 200,000 extended warranty bill was over $1100..
My point is excuses from Dealers waiting for parts and waiting for a week to do a repair is bad Service ...

Dealer name and address below ...
Bob Frensley Dodge
2210 Gallatin Pike N.
Madison, Tn.


... still pond hopping

 

[DollarSign]

There's the reason you always take out a extended warranty! You never know what's going to happen.

 

[BigStickJr]

So you have to hope for a $900 plus breakdown in the next 5x,xxx miles to come out on top of the $2000 warranty cost ?
And that's minus any finance charges on the $2000.

 

[BigStickJr]

Sounds like you lucked onto a good dealer.

 

[ntimevan]

So you have to hope for a $900 plus breakdown in the next 5x,xxx miles to come out on top of the $2000 warranty cost ?
And that's minus any finance charges on the $2000.

Nope ..lol... not worried about breaking even on cost... but some dealers over charge for same work done ... and some make you wait a week ... great service needs shared ...
Like in Toledo... its Wayne for Sprinters...
Why not share info for others

... still pond hopping

 

[FlyingVan]

Good to know that there is a good Dodge dealer in my neck of the woods.

How many miles on the Promaster?

 

[FlyingVan]

Good to know that there is a good Dodge dealer in my neck of the woods.

How many miles on the Promaster?

Never mind. I read the mileage in the location thread.

 

[DollarSign]

I know a driver that had a 2014 Promaster and had numerous engine work done to it. Now granted the first two times Dodge paid for it, but after that it came out of his pocket. We all know about the 2014.

 

[DollarSign]

So you have to hope for a $900 plus breakdown in the next 5x,xxx miles to come out on top of the $2000 warranty cost ?
And that's minus any finance charges on the $2000.

Again you don't know what's going to happen. That engine could have went ect. Hes got 55K left on the warranty. What did you drive when you were out here?

 

[BigStickJr]

40 years in class 8's. And a 350 dually /53 wedge.

 

[BigStickJr]

I believed in extended warranties until I sold cars for one of the big 3.
Buying a sprinter type vehicle for the mileage you guys run, on the thin margins, I'd probably buy a warranty too.
But then I doubt that I would ever have attempted to operate on those thin margins.
Example: the 2001 dually/wedge was 48 states, high mileage operation at $1.25 loaded and empty. In 2001-2002

 

[Kip life]

Why would you driver 800 miles after a check engine light? Is it that bad out there with vans?

Sent from my SM-N900T using EO Forums mobile app

 

[ntimevan]

Why would you driver 800 miles after a check engine light? Is it that bad out there with vans?

Sent from my SM-N900T using EO Forums mobile app

Nope ... stopped at Auto parts store Friday morning and had Code read ... #6 misfire .. but working fine ... was told Dealer only could reset check engine light ... i think their code reader was a Cheapo... and i monitored it while driving ...
My 2014 with 370,000 plus miles still on road being driven daily about once every 6 months has a check engine light come on ... sensors... no engine repairs ever needed ..

... still pond hopping

 

[Kip life]

Am glad this worked out for ya! I take my check engines seriously so far the only one I got was a low coolant -engine protect . Nothing big

Sent from my SM-N900T using EO Forums mobile app

 

[schwanman]

So you have to hope for a $900 plus breakdown in the next 5x,xxx miles to come out on top of the $2000 warranty cost ?
And that's minus any finance charges on the $2000.

Nope ..lol... not worried about breaking even on cost... but some dealers over charge for same work done ... and some make you wait a week ... great service needs shared ...
Like in Toledo... its Wayne for Sprinters...
Why not share info for others

... still pond hopping

Did they replace all cams? Also were you using an oil additive?

 

[ntimevan]

Like i said earlier .. i started this topic to try and help other Promaster owners and be informative ... i have a 2014 PM purchased in July 2014 with 370,000 plus miles .. no Engine repairs .. and it is still Expediting...
My personal PM (pictured) purchased first of Jan 2017 now with 143,000 miles ..
And another 2017 PM purchased in May 2017 with almost 70,000 miles on it ... and by end of Jan 2018 the 3rd PM will be paid off early and i will be payment free ..
I use only Full synthetic 5/20 oil with the best available synthetic Oil Filter .. changed at 12,000 to 14,000 mile intervals ... the mechanic yesterday commented on how clean the top end of engine looked .... he said too many people take shortcuts trying to save money while doing maintenance...
Ovm told me (laughing) yesterday i was opening myself up for Cheap Shots directed at me or Promasters .. I really don't care as i am a Hardened EO member ..lol
I didn't HAVE to POST anything or pictures and no one would know the difference .. and went my merry cheerful way .. but i have met several drivers out here that have bad luck or service when driving/owner of Promasters ,Transits ,Sprinters so i posted this for informative topic / discussion ... i do believe their is a Hino mechanic that posts on here trying to help others ...



... still pond hopping

 

[ntimevan]

Did they replace all cams? Also were you using an oil additive?

No... and i asked about that to mechanic .. his response was he checked the other 3 and they were fine ... Chrysler's warranty coverage is for repairs Needed ... what happens at Dealer repair shops if it is repairs out of Your Pocket they will tell you everything needs replaced .. Profit of Parts
Profit of Labor
thus more out of your pocket ..
This young mechanic (28) because i asked ..lol .. knowledge just blew me away on the 3.6 engine ... he is about 5' 7" 160 lbs...wet .. has a young family and is a workaholic ... after handing me my keys about 3.15 pm he started his next repair .. alternator in a jeep Cherokee .. after paying my bill and returning unneeded rental and putting personal items back in my PM... i seen mechanic drive jeep out of shop .. in about 30 minutes ... i smiled at him and shook his hand and asked when his day was done .. response was in 15 minutes.. we close at 4 pm .. most mechanic's would of stood around for 45 minutes and left repairs for Monday ..

PS ... the only additive is Lucas upper cylinder lube that is added into gas tank before fueling ... i start adding this into PM at. 100,000 miles ... does it help .. i don't know ... but it can't hurt either ...

... still pond hopping

 

[schwanman]

Thanks for sharing the info. Kudo's on the way you interacted with mechanic and building a fleet!

 

[OntarioVanMan]

I thinks there is an under lying issue here....some members have been told it was thier lifters/cam shaft and have been charged for a complete rebuild when the problem might have been a smaller but yet potentially destructive issue...This thread may be a great help when someone else suffers the same issues and not get ripped off..
We Sprinter guys take engine lights seriously....we buy a roll of black tape...no more light!

 

[Mailer]

Great job ntimevan !
Thank you for sharing.