NHTSA Complaint #11222299 — 2011 DODGE CHALLENGER

MY CHALLENGER IS MAKING A WIERD TICKING NOISE COMING FROM THE LEFT SIDE OF THE ENGINE. SEE RECALL BELOW CHRYSLER ANNOUNCED THIS MORNING THAT IT WILL BE EXTENDING THE WARRANTY ON 3.6-LITER PENTASTAR V-6 ENGINES IN CERTAIN 2011-2013 VEHICLES DUE TO CRACKED CYLINDER HEADS ON EARLY VERSIONS OF THE ENGINE ACCORDING TO AUTOMOTIVE NEWS, ROUGHLY 7500 ENGINES BUILT AS THE PENTASTAR V-6 WAS FIRST COMING OUT IN 2012, WERE FOUND TO BE SUSCEPTIBLE TO LEFT-CYLINDER HEAD CRACKS, POTENTIALLY RESULTING IN ENGINE FAILURE. CHRYSLER FIRST DISCOVERED THE ISSUE WHEN CUSTOMERS BEGAN COMPLAINING THAT THEIR VEHICLES WERE MAKING TICKING NOISES, STALLING, OR THAT THE INSTRUMENT PANEL WAS INEXPLICABLY DISPLAYING A CHECK ENGINE LIGHT. THE 3.6-LITER PENTASTAR V-6 COMES WITH A 5-YEAR/100,000 MILE WARRANTY, WHICH CHRYSLER WILL BE EXTENDING TO 10-YEARS/150,000 MILES ON THE LEFT-CYLINDER HEAD. THE CRACKED LEFT-CYLINDER HEAD ISSUE POTENTIALLY AFFECTS ABOUT 0.5-PERCENT OF VEHICLES EQUIPPED WITH THE 3.6-LITER V-6. CHRYSLER DETERMINED THAT SUBPAR FUEL ALONG WITH A NUMBER OF DRIVING CONDITIONS CONTRIBUTED TO THE ISSUE. A DESIGN MODIFICATION IN LATE 2012 HAS REPORTEDLY FIXED THE ISSUE IN NEWER VEHICLES. THE 3.6-LITER V-6, THE FIRST OF THE PENTASTAR FAMILY THAT NOW INCLUDES A 3.2-LITER VERSION, COMES STANDARD IN NUMEROUS CHRYSLER VEHICLES. THE 3.6-LITER PENTASTAR IS STANDARD ON THE: CHRYSLER 300, DODGE CHALLENGER, DODGE CHARGER, JEEP GRAND CHEROKEE, JEEP WRANGLER, RAM 1500, AND RAM PROMASTER. IT'S OPTIONAL ON BOTH THE PREVIOUS-GENERATION AND CURRENT CHRYSLER 200, AND DODGE AVENGER.