Great! One more thing to keep me awake at night!

What specific part or parts of the OFA fails?

I never like these new plastic oil filter assemblies. Nothing like the old metal spin on filters.
This reminds me of timing 'belts' another bad idea.

 

Just think of it as the oil filter adapter on XJs and their dried out rubber o-rings.

I much prefer timing belts over the complicated timing chain setups some of these engines have. At least the belt is designed to be serviced and rather cheap.

 

The dealership informs us that the crack/break has occurred somewhere within the housing of the oil filter assembly. So until the part comes in and it's installed I can't validate anymore than that. At least it's not the rear main seal which is what others have told me and what I thought it might have been. Look at what others have said on the carproblemzoo.com site.

I personally would like to see the return of the old fashion oil filter canister mounted on the rear side of the engine. I have been running an idea through the engineers. Asked if there's a way to mount plate/adapter made to take the place of where the OFA is located. This plate would have metal/tubes running through/between the engine heads out the back, down the side of the engine where an old fashion oil filter canister can be mounted. just a thought.

 

Thanks for the reply. So its the plastic cracking, what a surprise.
I like your idea of adapting a spin on filter. Lets hope the engineers go for it.

I had an oil filter leak fiasco last Summer from a dealership oil change.
The oil filter sprung a gushing leak and only noticed it when i got half way home.
Smoke, smell and the alternator quit working because of its oil soaked belt/pulley.
Rolled back into the dealership with only 11 to 13 psi of oil pressure.
The dealership said the rubber gasket split so they claimed.
I strongly suspect their oil jockey over torqued causing the gasket to split.

After they pressure washed the engine bay i demanded they replace the oil soaked fan belt with a new one and document the incident to my satisfaction.

 

We've been lucky as our oil leak is simply flowing out the back of the engine down the trans and onto the ground on the jeep's crossmembers, skid plate etc. Just went outside and sprayed Gunk degrease on the belly. I keep checking the oil level and the dipstick looks fine though I added some the other day. I just hope this doesn't continue for month/s. My problem is that I submitted a claim to Valvoline for incorrectly tightening the oil filter cap and they abruptly denied my claim.

 

This just happened to me, how did you get them to cover the cost and repairs. $895.00 for it to be fixed. POURED oil out of jeep once it was lift onto flatbed tow truck. It leaked all the way home then they came out said have it towed and remaining oil poured out on tow truck.

 

This just happened on my son's 2015 Cherokee Latitude. $300 part and 2 hours labor to repair. Kind of disappointing to know Jeep has known of this problem for so long and done nothing to remedy the situation ie recall.

 

You can no doubt include the 3.2 in this also; same set up but super easy to change the oil and filter.

 

Thank you @larrywal I was unaware of any other engines. But yes the OFA is interchangeable / upgradeable in the 3.2L engines also.

 

Motherfucker!!!!!!! Getting old, and thought I could let some kid change the oil from here on out..... Looks like your better off doing your own shit..... At least I care...... Thanks for the info!!!!!!!

 

Here's the latest.

JeepCares just got back to me on twitter, I asked several questions in reference to if this part is being redesigned (according to our dealership) and when can we see this part back in stock at major retailers. So unless JeepCares on this forum has something to added, here is what the Jeepcares twitter said:

Unfortunately, I am unable to speculate on whether or not apart is being redesigned, I apologize. That said, so I amunderstanding, has your dealership already ordered the part or willyou be purchasing from a third party? If you are purchasing through athird party, our team is unable to assist and will recommend you workwith them to obtain the part. Please let me know. ^KP

I informed this person that we're hoping to wait this out, but if it takes months for this part, we're either going to have to locate it third party or get rid of the jeep. This is unfortunate and when I confronted the jeepcares twitter account holder. I told them the reason there's a delay is prob because the part is or was made in China..

Yesterday afternoon,

Theres some light at the far end of the tunnel, Jeepcares (twitter) just got back to me later that afternoon. They asked me to call our dealership and make sure the part was ordered. Then they asked that I get the order number from the dealership and send it to jeepcares or have the dealership call jeepcares then they will attempt to expedite the part to my dealership direct.

IE: A case number was created and we were assigned a case worker to help us through this.

 

Here's something I discovered a few mornings ago.

Although we've been keeping tabs on the oil level and where the oil ends up on the engine, transmission and exhaust, I've been using the Gunk degreaser. But just ran out. I needed something to wash the oil off the bottom of the jeep and I've been turning to.. dawn.

I created hot soapy mix of dawn and hot wash in a seal bucket and took it out to the jeep. This combination is working better than the gunk product to clean up all the oil stains and leaves the jeep's belly supper clean and actually repels the oil. So I'm not see as much oil on the exhaust. I've done this two days in a row and the jeep's belly looks surprisingly better than expected.

So before you waste money on degreasing products just use your dish washing soap and some hot water. This mix doesn't even need to be washed off afterward like the gunk or super clean degreaser products. A small container of dawn from family dollar cost less than $1 dollar.

 

The silver lining to this story is with all that oil leaking out under your jeep the frame wont rust

 

here's the latest:

Called the dealership this afternoon and wanted to ask a few questions of the parts department. I wanted to find out what the part number they ordered for the jeep. My objective was to see if I could locate this part on my own. I was given the part number and that it Supersedes several other version of oil filter assemblies. The parts department also informed me that they personally order 15 of these assemblies and there is a nation wide demand for this part current total 5,678 of these oil filter assemblies are on back order.. So I shouldn't feel so bad thinking I'm the only one with this issue.

 

Can you post the newest part number? Thanks

 

Sounds to me like the design is not so much the problem but the material. Keep the same design but redesign with metal color assembly and metal oil filter casing assembly.

The biggest problem is the new FCA parent company that will try to cut costs and deny liability even further! Good luck but until the. Keep eye on oil and be careful tightening the filter housing.

 

It is being "remade" now????? Or that's what someone said could be done???? And the reality of plastic in the motor world still baffles me.... Intake maybe, sucking cold air stays cold???? But parts that take that kinda heat, and pressure...... And then have things wrenched on when there hot, change the oil and crank it back on..... And later when it all cools off, and contracts...... What was supposed to happen???? Thanks for the info brother.....

 

So is Jeep covering this issue out
of warranty? Why should I have to spend $200 (the deductable on my extended Jeep warranty) if this is a known problem and keep appears to recognize it?

This has not occurred yet on my 2015 3.6 JG with
50 k miles.

 

Knock on wood.... My 2014 GC is still tight with over 100,000 on the clock.

 

I swear, the more plastic they add to engine components the less the long term reliability.
Plastic + heat + cold + vibration + stress = eventual failure.

What the hell were the engineers thinking about incorporating an oil filtering system made out of plastic!

 

The engineers were thinking right.....perfect example of them most likely being outvoted by accountants and BOD....

if we had CEO’s that had a backbone and would stand up to bean counters and say enough is enough!

 

You have to remember something: Just because you had a Lionel Train as a kid does not make you an engineer!!!! A lot of engineering changes are made to justify the persons position. Most of these "ENGINEERS" are sitting in the CHAIR waiting for their next position and promotion. Ov\er half of them do not even drive the product let alone spend THEIR money on buying one of these pieces of CRAP!!!!!!!!!

 

To answer most of your question:

1) As to handing out any particular part number, I cant do that because we're waiting for the part just as bad as the next guy. So sorry to say dog eat dog here. But once the part arrives I'll be sure to post the updated version number as this new number supersedes 5 other/older versions.

2) As for if this is covered under the warranty, if you're vehicle is till under warranty this would be under the powertrain warranty. Sadly our warranty expired 10K miles ago.

3) Jeep has said to our dealership and according to others I've spoke with, this issue is not a serous enough issue to warrant a recall.

But I've been working on something to explain what might be happening. Although some has said that the lube shops or customer are over tightening the oil caps, in the earlier versions or those units that were mounted on the 3.2L had a metal housing (oil cooler) which was perpendicular to the engine heads or in a straight line. Our version for the 3.6L has wavy edges that fit snuggle between the engine heads. almost conforming to the intake ports. Jeep did this to secure the unit more so that it could withstand a tighter fit.

But still with the part being plastic, there is still a chance that if an extreme amount of force was used to tighten the oil cap, it can fracture below the oil filter cylinder as pointed out in image 1:

Take note of each one of these holes on the bottom of the assembly, there are rubber gaskets that could be failing at some point it was said that the over tightening would break one of these oil circulation tubes. But as I said, jeep widened the metal housing to better anchor the unit to the engine block.

Image 2 shows another point where there's a weak design and could cause a break.

This fill hole is the main circulation tube point that leads to the oil cooler unit is where the dealership is telling me where the issue is. There is a blockage or break within the forward tube which is not allowing the circulation of oil through the oil cooler (the metal plate device on the top of the unit).

However I've just developed a new theory, Take note if image 3

What you're looking at is an exit tube from the assembly. There is a rubber hose running from this tube to parts unknow or that I've yet to follow through. its been too damn cold for me to get under the jeep and follow this through. But this entire assembly is located under the intake manifold and it can't be seen other than the oil filter cap on top of the engine etc. I under the impression that the hose attached to this exit tube has come lose as it's a tension type fitting. In other words (correct me if someone has removed this unit can verify) that if the hose from this location without any hose clam simply blows back or has ruptured, this will cause the leak.

So my bet is on the rubber hose has simply fallen off the exit tube at the rear of the assembly.

Last bit of info. I was told earlier today (with no guaranties as not to get anyone's hopes up) that these newly revised units could be on dealership shelves or thirds party shelves sometime after march 12th 2021.

 

Giving out the part number is not going to interfere with your order, but ok

 

The 3.6 on the Chrysler T&C and Dodge Grand Caravan have the same problem. Always take my 2014 T&C to the same dealer for service. Had the oil leak problem at last oil change. Dealership did not admit liability but fix was covered by Lifetime Maximum Warranty minus $100 deductible.
I’m surprised there hasn’t been a TSB on this.

 

So I have 2014...... And maybe the plastic guy cared that day/month????? It's plastic, if it works it works..... Bad batch/manufacturers on a run or two???? Still good to know.....

 

2017 Jeep Wrangler TSBs | CarComplaints.com

160 Technical Service Bulletins (TSBs) have been issued for the 2017 Jeep Wrangler.

www.carcomplaints.com

 

I need everyone's opinion here, We're working on a new design which relocates this oil filter assembly. Basically one keeps the oil filter cooler in the current location, but runs lines out the back between the heads and down one side of the engine block. Then mounts to an old school oil canister adapter thus removing the plastic oil filter unit entirely.

Thoughts?

 

If you look at other posts on this subject hundreds of 3.6 engines have had this same problem.

 

According to carcomplaints.com & carproblemzoo.com and many online searches or forums relating to the failure of the Oil Filter Assembly (OFA), Jeep has discontinued the manufacturing of the Oil Filter Assembly (OFA) and may be opting for a redesign. What does this mean? It means that at some point within your Dodge or Jeep's history, the current 3.6L/3.2L OFA is going to fail and you're going to be left with oil spewing out the back of your engine, down onto your transmission and onto your exhaust system.

Some have said that this "could" catch fire as an end result. But let's clear the air. According to our Diesel expect, the only way oil can catch fire is if it under extreme pressure & heat. as this would not be the case under the jeep while driving etc. The worse that can happen is the exhaust will smoke.
View attachment 231805
With this part being discontinued, it's our belief that jeep may be redesigning this cooler assembly.

According to another post on the forum, this person is claiming that the oil is bypassing the oil filter entirely. our issues is not related to the oil filter but the oil cooler. So our oil is passing through the filter, but is not passing through the oil cooler. But without removing the intake manifold, The dealership can not verify what or how the oil is leaking other than seeing other jeeps with this same issue. According to jeep, this is not a dangerous or hazardous enough issue to warrant a recall.

You will need to take precautions to routinely degrease and wash this oil back flow off these components and maintain your oil level because there's no replacement on the market. Jeep themselves has known of this issue since 2014 and has not issued any recalls. It is also important to anyone performing your oil change on any of the 3.6L engines, DO NOT overtighten the oil cap as this can break the housing/assembly & seals on the assembly thus causing the leak.

View attachment 231686
Oil Filter Assembly (OFA)

So if you start seeing an oil leak like this on the engine/transmission, One might think it's the rear main seal. Have your jeep diagnosed as to verify if it's your OFA and not the rear main seal. As of one week ago, Our 2017 jeep Wrangler with 72K miles was diagnosed with a failing OFA without any ETA on when the replacement part will arrive. This failing part effects ALL Dodge & Jeep Models with either the 3.2L or the 3.6L Pentastar Engines.

View attachment 231687
Oil leak that looks like a rear main seal failure

I've been doing some cross-referencing of this part on several retailer's parts sites. None of these sites are listing this oil filter assembly or list the assembly as being on back order. The only sites that list this part as being available is eBay & Amazon. We're hoping to hold on any panic buying in order to have the dealership install this part as they will offer a lifetime warranty. Otherwise you can take your chances with using aftermarket parts or buying from sites like Amazon or eBay.

I've also contacted Jeepcares in another forum as well as on twitter and within their Jeepcares web site to see what can be done about this issue. if you're jeep is going through this same issue, then you need to either post you failure date on carcompleints.com or other sites and let others know this is unacceptable. We need this part redesigned and soon.

If your Dodge, Jeep or any other vehicle with the 3.2L or 3.6L engine has this leaking Oil filter assembly, send a contact to @JeepCares here:

Email Jeep
https://twitter.com/JeepCares

The engineers were thinking right.....perfect example of them most likely being outvoted by accountants and BOD....

if we had CEO’s that had a backbone and would stand up to bean counters and say enough is enough!

What was wrong with the old spin on oil filters they worked much better than those stupid canister ones .Never a problem with them

 

Help! 2012 through 2017 oil filter issues..BEWARE..

I was doing a routine oil change on my 2012, when things went very bad! I unscrewed the oil filter cap and lifted it out, when a spring decided to come with it. Then I heard something fall inside the housing, I found a small piece of plastic and a round metal looking piece. When I went to...

www.wranglerforum.com

One thing that may get readers of this tread confused is that they think they need a plastic tube mounting bracket with a spring. Only the 2012-2013 wrangler need this plastic piece with the spring. However, it would be beneficial to replace the entire old spring type unit with the new 2014-2018 unit as it doesn't require the plastic mount and spring. Just be warned if you take your jeep to lube centers that they know it's the undated version without the spring mechanism and the new unit will require the new drop in oil filter.

Also, found this for anyone interested:

https://www.mightyautoparts.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/tt-0180-chrysler-pentastar-engine.pdf