I recently crossed 30,000 miles on my Challenger SE and the Check engine light came on. First time at dealer they just ran diagnostics and said it was a “service update” code that they ran and turned off the light. They said this explained why it was running very rough on idle. When the light came back on, I took it to another mechanic and they got the same code, but said one of the cylinders was misfiring. Back at Dodge, they are now replacing the cylinder today under warranty. My question is: with a car this young, what would cause this to occur, and how can I take steps to protect the new cylinder and prevent this for happening again?
Check with the dealer and get details on what they are actually doing. It is a warranty repair so perhaps you really don’t care what they are doing? Even folks who pay for repairs are sometimes unsure of what they are actually paying for.
You don’t replace cylinders, they are cast into the engine block. Your shop will likely replace an injector and/or the spark plug and then see if it fires properly. There might also be a problem with a valve lifter.
+1 for Docnick.
Ah, thanks Docnick. I was going by what they told me on the phone, although they are the same people who told me that turning off a light would fix the engine… I definitely do want to know both what they are actually doing and what caused the problem, even though it is warranty work, because soon it will no longer be under warranty.
When you get your invoice for this, see if it has the code listed. If it does not, have them list the code on the invoice. The code will be a P followed by 4 numbers, like P0306 or something like that. It should be on the invoice since they need it to get the factory to pay them for the repair.
The tell us what the code was and the parts they replaced and we can advise you from there.
I will definitely do that. They are replacing the cylinder head. It seems to match up with what this article describes, although they won’t tell me much at this point. I am due to get the car back tomorrow. Thanks all. torquenews.com/106/chrysler-replacing-cylinder-heads-select-pentastar-v6-powered-models
"You don’t replace cylinders, they are cast into the engine block."
In geometry Doc, I learned that it’s very easy to replace cylinders…actually they are free.
It sounds good for you so far. @thessalian
The dealer sounds like he went to bat for you with the company.
If your car had a 6 year, 60k warranty on it, I would suggest that you ask that the motor or replace parts at least be warrantied go to 90k. I would thank them sincerely on one hand and try to negotiate a free extended warranty for as long as your great personality will get you. As others have stated before in other posts, if the motor has already proven itself to be problematic, it would be good to have a little more assurance…then 30k more miles.
Well, it was not so much the dealer stepping up to the plate. It was a Chrysler design issue that has resulted in thousands of early engine failures. The heads do not flow coolant properly and overheat and cause burned valves. I hope this is not a repeat of the thousands of Chrysler 2.7 motors that burn up due to running hot and poor oil circulation that literally grinds the guts out of the motors.
Perhaps this is a 2011 Challenger, the Pentastar engine wasn’t available in the 2010 Callenger.
I’m not familiar with this cylinder head problem but hopefully any redesigned head will not open up a can of worms leading to different problem.
It seems a bit ridiculous for a company spokesman to state this problem which may involve misfires and stalling does not render the car inoperable. The PR department at its finest… 
The tsb mentions 1 of the heads on the v6 motor has cooling ports that are too small and they think this results in that head possibly overheating and leading to burned valves. There are not enough replacement heads available so there is a backlog of cars waiting to e fixed.
Wow, you’d think that overheating and burned valve problem would have shown up in their testing phase, during pre-production. I’m wondering if it is a single casting mold that is the problem, and it only affects cylinder heads made with that particular one. That kind of problem might be difficult to spot in pre-production, but if they’re all overheating, it’s confounding how it could be missed.
I got the car back last night, and this is what the invoice says. “Cyl #3 EX Valve not seating properly, ran star scan test. “CLY #3 MISFIRE” P0303. Ran Compression test 140 on #3. Leakdown on #3 is 25% out the Ex. #3 EX Valve not seating on seat. Defective valve seat. Replaced Rt. side Cyl head.”
The car now has much more pickup than it has since I purchased it, which is great. I mostly hope that this will be a long-lasting fix, not something that will continue to be problematic in the long term. Thanks to all for the input
@Nevada_545- It is def a 2010, so if that is the case then then problem must be related to something else.
A friend bought a 1 year old Dodge RAM (2010 or 2011) with a 4.7. He had the same problem, check engine light came on and both heads had to be replaced at <40k miles. The dealer did step up and provide a loaner for the entire time the truck was in the shops. It was in the shop for a few weeks waiting for the replacement parts.
He is not one to abuse his vehicles and the truck appeared to be well-maintained by the first owner. Design problem?
Ed B.
Big job. Remove intake, head, install all new gaskets. Does this motor have OHC design or pushrods? Chrysler does things oddly. If it is OHC, u got new timing belt? Sure, reusing old stuff is ok for warranty work. If u paid for it, dealer would encourage u to replace everything with new parts.
I do not see timing belt on the list. Head cylinder, Gasket cylinder x2, Seal cams x2, “Gasket IN”, “Seal Spar.”