2014 Jeep Cherokee - Needs an engine

Maintenance/Repairs
21

Common sense says if the oil on the dipstick is 2 quarts down, it would have to be going somewhere. The cars.com link implied it is going into the intake manifold, but if it did it would then get burned up inside the engine. The two scenerios I can guess for oil getting into the intake manifold is a faulty pcv system, or the egr is routing oil contaminated exhaust gasses back into the intake manifold. The latter would be caused by incontinent piston rings, which I expect is the main cause for the oil loss. In any event the oil loss must be due to it being burned up inside the engine, after which it goes out the tailpipe, possibly damaging the catalytic converter.

22

So I ask the following questions.
How often do you change the motor oil both as to time and miles?

How often do you raise the hood to check the motor oil level?

Engine sludging which can lead to lack of lubrication in the top end is caused by not changing the oil often enough.
Running an engine chronically low on oil contributes both to sludging and oil consumption. This is a car owner fault if the oil is not being checked regularly.

We had a VW towed in once with a fist sized hole in the engine block and 2 connecting rods sticking through it. The owner said it was a faulty engine; at least that’s what he told corporate VW who was considering a warranty replacement.
When corporate VW found out that the oil had never been changed and that the owner never raised the hood to check the oil since the car was new they told him to take a hike. This car had a measly 17k miles on it.

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23

That’s why (and as it was told above) if @RobertaCarothers can not produce every single oil change receipt and these receipts add up for the totally impeccable adherence to the maintenance schedule, both mileage and elapsed time wise, getting lawyers involved will immediately void the generous Chrysler offer to replace the engine and will make her pay both to fix the car and for the failed lawyer attempt to get something from Chrysler.

Unless all the maintenance receipts are in order, I would stand in the front of the dealer’s repair department early morning, 5 minutes before they open.

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24

I say in addition to paying the money and getting the new engine, keep all the paperwork, documentation. When/if the class action lawsuit is settled, they would most likely extend the warranty and refund your money. Loosing too much sleep over this would cost you more in time/energy and possible therapy costs.

I know easier said than done as I get all worked up about some lines of BS I get fed when they decline warranty claims, but then realize got to choose my battles.

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25

I had to prove last December that I got regular service during any gaps that a M.A.D. didn’t do the work. MOPAR actually standz behind not changing the full synthetic oil until 5000 to 7500, but your warranty isn’t voided until going 10,000! True story. Ive seen to it that the car has been taken car of very well. 78000 in just shy of 6 years. And believe it or not, the brakes that came on are still in great shape.

26

Was an oil consumption test performed in December? When you brought the oil usage problem to the dealers attention for what reason did they not perform the repair?

27

Yeah, it sucks to have an engine fail at 78,000 
 particularly if you’ve (as I assume) not abused it and given it TLC.

But I’d consider myself darn lucky that they’ll go that far to make it right and pay the $1000.

As for why would they cough up approx. $5000 that technically they might be on legal ground to weasel out of paying anything, or just go with a “so sue us if you want, we’ll be in court with good lawyers” stance:
Ever hear about customer relations and corporate image. Or even possibly a “do the right thing” mentality? Also
 It probably costs them less than the $5000 you’d have to cough up if you covered the rest of the $6000.

What’s more
 Their thinking on wanting you to put some cash in might be something like “look, you may not like it, but like most automakers, we only promise you 60,000 miles on the powertrain. Once you get the new engine in, given that you’re up to 78,000 already, odds are great that you’ll be good for at LEAST another 60,000 miles
 total of almost 140,000 miles virtually guaranteed. Where else can you get someone to essentially give you a additional 60,000 mile warranty on a car with 78K on it for only $1000?”

Alex