Engine Failure - Warranty Claim - DENIED

[Orion_Hunter]

Not an ideal first post, but I am hoping someone here will have some advice that will help me out.

My 2017 Ram with 47,000 miles that I bought new had the bottom end go out on Sunday while driving flat on the freeway at 65mph. The dealer said the main bearing on the connector rod went out, but I don't think they have taken the motor apart to confirm yet. They filed a warranty request to Chrysler to authorize a new motor Monday and today (Tuesday) I was told Chrysler denied the warranty request.The reason cited was that I had changed the oil at an interval of 10,170 miles for my second oil change which exceeded the 10,000 mile max interval. All oil changes were done at the dealer and all but that one were under the 10k mile interval. I was/am shocked to say the least that 170 miles over would even be considered as voiding the warranty.

The service manager does not seem interested in putting much effort in appealing the decision, but she indicated she would talk to her regional rep. I called the Chrysler Customer Care line and a friendly woman said she would look into my case and get back to me.

Does anyone have any experience appealing a warranty claim denial or have any helpful advice otherwise? The dealer threw out a figure of $28k for the repair. I cannot imagine having to foot that bill for a motor that clearly has an issue unrelated to my oil change.

Orion

 

[carlhenry]

welcome 2 the group i would change dealers 28 tho for a 5tho engine what a bunch of rip offs fmc doesn't give a rats ass about their customers

 

[hossman]

What was the cause of the bearing failure? was it from the EGR leaking coolant into the intake and watering down your oil?

 

[John]

Most bearing failures on the ED are factory quality control issues. There have been thousands to date. Perhaps somewhere around 6% of engines produced.

 

[hossman]

I don't know if I believe that. Oil gets extremely contaminated by the EDR valve. If you don't have a bypass filter or a delete kit you need to cut the oil life in half or run extremely good oil like Amsoil. Amsoil is rated for 20,000 miles on that vehicle but I will change the oil at 10,000. Bearings have tight tolerances on practically every motor out there it's a failure of the oil that ruins the bearings. Use good oil and change frequently the bearing should never wear out on any vehicle. VM Motori is a very high-end diesel builder they did not screw this up. It was screwed up when the American EPA demanded there shit Emissions system be put on this vehicle. https://www.reliableplant.com/Read/30255/reasons-bearings-fail The top 2 have to do with the oil that you can control.

 

[John]

Might want to reconsider your thoughts on the bearing failures. Do some research and you will find the ED bearing failure rate is 30X industry standards. FCA has admitted to as many as 215 failures per months at one point in time. If you don't believe it take a look at the two attached emails from FCA that were released according to the freedom of information act.

 

[F. P. Thompson]

ALL ECODIESEL OWNERS be advised the only oils that are approved for use in these engines is Mopar # 68001332PC or Shell Rotella T-6.
Use of anything else can get a warranty claim denied.

 

[John]

ALL ECODIESEL OWNERS be advised the only oils that are approved for use in these engines is Mopar # 68001332PC or Shell Rotella T-6.
Use of anything else can get a warranty claim denied.

Owners have not been officially notified of the change in the oil spec. Pennzoil although not the current recommendation will not void your warranty.

"We recommend you use 5W-40 synthetic engine oil such
as MOPAR or Shell Rotella that meets FCA Material
Standard MS-10902 and the API CJ-4 or ACEA E9/E7 or
ACEA A3/B4 engine oil category is required."

 

[F. P. Thompson]

Correct there are some other oils now available that meet the spec. My statement was based on info from 2016. The service bulletin FCA released 6-20-2016 only listed the Rotella 5W40 oil.

 

[Orion_Hunter]

Thanks for the replies. I have seen those emails and they will probably be useful if I have to take legal action.

The dealer hasn't even dropped the oil pan. The Chrysler District manager had said that the cause of failure was improper service and denied the claim with no evidence. Thet say if there is indication of wear on the bearings then it is not a defective part. This of course ignores the fact that the engine design seems to be flawed and/or the bearings are installed improperly which leads to premature wearing of the bearing then failure.

Orion

 

[Orion_Hunter]

Might want to reconsider your thoughts on the bearing failures. Do some research and you will find the ED bearing failure rate is 30X industry standards. FCA has admitted to as many as 215 failures per months at one point in time. If you don't believe it take a look at the two attached emails from FCA that were released according to the freedom of information act.

Do you know where these emails were first published?

 

[John]

Do you know where these emails were first published?

Click on this link.

In re: Chrysler-Dodge-Jeep “Ecodiesel” MDL | United States District Court, Northern District of California

www.cand.uscourts.gov

 

[TC Diesel]

Orion- Hunter....Your 3.0 would have failed regardless of the Lube used or even 5K-15K service..What!!! is 10K is some magic number if that was the case what about the 5000+ failed 3.0s with less than 10K miles service?

T-6 or whatever lubed used will not change the QC and Cento Italy.

 

[TC Diesel]

Some other advice stay off 1500diesel.com.

 

[hossman]

Again the failure rate is not from shit bearings or whatever your theory is. The EGR valve is dumping contaminated particles directly into your motor and even after 500 miles there's way too many particles that are smaller than 20 microns that will ruin your bearings. The main filter only traps 20 -30 microns of particles. You need a bypass filter to remove all particles bigger than one micron. This will eliminate any bearing wear off the contaminants that are dumped into this motor. The issue is not the motor again it's the EDR valve contaminating the bearings. Think about this how could a Italian high-end diesel motor company put the wrong bearings in this motor they're not stupid. But bringing that motor over to the US in adding the US emissions systems on is the issue.

 

[TC Diesel]

I have seen many OA, with no alarming insoluble, still puke... No doubt contaminates will impact all surfaces.... Yes I have eyewitness the spec being overlooked...Hossman if you are correct than every 3.0VM is going to puke if NOT deleted.

 

[Orion_Hunter]

Some other advice stay off 1500diesel.com.

I'm new to these forums. What's the issue over there?

 

[John]

I'm new to these forums. What's the issue over there?

Both here and there offer excellent resources.

 

[hossman]

Has anyone ever seen or heard of bearing issues on the motors with the emissions deleted?

 

[hossman]

Amsoil is approved to use in that motor the rotella T6 is just the min required oil. I would never use that brand.