3.5l Dodge Magnum Engine

[jmd1]

Hello, so i am looking for some help/info. I have a 2005 dodge magnum with 3.5l motor. The car has 43000k on it. Only driven a few miles each day by wife. The engine started ticking loud, took it to the dealer, the mechanic listened to it said yep that is a 3.5l rocker noise. He stated that they have issues with this as the material used to open the valves allows for carbon build up. He suggested STP oil treatment and if that did not work he would put a quart of transmission fluid in the engine drive it 30-40 miles then change the oil.

The thought of running trans fluid in the motor makes me nuts, he said if that did not work then we would have to replace parts.

Does anyone have any thoughts on this? This is also the dealer tech telling me this. There is a TSB but since the car is an 05 it is way out of warranty. Dodge will not help at all.

Thanks for your input.

Jeff

[Jeremy airjer W]

Half a can of sea foam will do the same thing as the trans fluid. Trans fluid is oil with a lot of detergent. Although your engine will not last long if filled with trans fluid instead of oil there is nothing wrong with running a quart for a few miles and then changing the oil.

If there is a problem with a hydraulic lifter than either of these would work. Typically the sea foam will work with the engine running at idle in less than 15 minutes.

[jmd1]

thanks for the quick reply, so if i put seafoam in it, simply let it idle, then change it out again? Do i need to dump a quart out prior to putting in sea foam? Never have used it before but have heard good things about it. Thanks again.

[Jeremy airjer W]

Dump a half a quart into the oil, start the engine, let it run until the noise stops, change the oil. It's that easy.

If the noise does not go away you have bigger problems.

[jmd1]

i will give it a shot this weekend. have you run into this issue with this motor? thanks for the help. Jeff

[Jeremy airjer W]

I have not run into this problem an that motor but I have run into it on the chrysler 3.3 liter in the minivan on occasion.

[jmd1]

I did get it fixed, it took about 10 emails to the top brass at chrysler but they agreed to cover both arms all labor and ensured noise was gone. I was just going to do it myself but did not want to spend 800 bucks on parts that i knew should be covered under a recall. No recall yet but it is only time. I see many chargers with 3.5 high output motor here in phoenix and many making the noise. If anyone has the 3.5 motor get ready for the noise.

The issue is the rear pin on the rocker arm shears off in the head and allows the oil tube to rotate. this over time starves the engine for oil as it is not going to the lifters and rockers the way it was designed. the new arms are mfg with a different angle that takes the torque out of the pin. Bad design from get go.

Thanks for all of the help. Thought i was just follow up. Jeff

[Jeremy airjer W]

Good info. I have not run into one yet making noise but I'll definitely keep this post on the radar!