Towed In! Died on Highway! (Engine is Drowning Itself!) Dodge Ram Chrysler 3.6l 

That damned Y-pipe in the heater circuit started leaking on my 2013 T$C. I replaced it with a Dorman aluminum part before the engine was destroyed. When Dorman is higher quality than a factory part...ouch!

That critical part being made from plastic instead of aluminum was the company cutting costs on their end but not on the owner

This is why you don't ignore that temperature warning or the smell of burning coolant.

Not enough people are talking about how the intake manifold must be removed to change spark plugs. The designer would have been shot in the 60s.

My heart sunk realizing that engine was gone. I know how that customer felt hearing the news. Had it 3 times in my life.

Procedure for diagnosing a Chrysler: 1) Open hood. 2) Pull pin from grenade 3)toss grenade into engine bay 4) close hood and run. Guaranteed to solve all Chrysler problems. There can't be an engine problem if the engine is not there anymore. 👍

When you are driving and see steam under the hood or at least the temp starts rising pull over and shut it off.don't try to get to the next exit and find a good parking spot.engine damage could have been avoided I think.

Plastic for the win! I’m surprised that they didn’t notice the temperature gauge pegged hard over.

Driver blew it up. Slap the aluminum oil cooler and heater hoses on, change your oil like you should, and you'll get half a million miles out of a 3.6. We've retired several grand caravans from our pilot car fleet with 500-600k+

Classic quote suggestion - "She's dead Jim.". Star Trek.

“Piece of Stelantis” is perfect. At least they keep you in business. Seems like you’ve got a lot of bad engines lately.

I had a car early on that seemed to have one coolant leak or another. I became very paranoid of the smell of engine coolant, even when I was in traffic and it turned out it was another car. Always expect the worst with coolant leaks! Pull over at first sign of a leak! Save your engine!

I saved my engine!!! Same leak. Replaced part for $80. Pay attention to your temp gauge!!! This could have been avoided. My pentastar has 214k on it and still running! No pentastar tick either. I must have got one of the “good” ones😅

I had the same problem with our '08 Town and country with a 4 l V6, They use a plastic y connector and it cracked and breaks over time with the temperature swings. I had this happen twice to us (say what you want about Chrysler...but other than that our van was pretty good to us) I fixed it both times and the engine was fine because I caught it but they should have used a metal part in there. Too bad a little plastic connector totaled this motor.

Have the 3.5 V6 in our Journey. Had a thermostat fail 'closed' while on the highway. Overheated and cracked the Y pipe off the heater core to the rear HVAC. Snapped it clean apart. Replaced all the parts, and tossed in a waterpump and timing belt (it was overdue). All that work and it overheated within minutes with a stuck 'stat. I pulled off the road within seconds of hearing the 'chime' warning and shut it down. That's the only thing that saved it.

Good morning Ray, I’m very pleased to be here too.

Heater core hose could have blown out after the head gasket went and cylinder pressures got into the coolant circuit. This means there could be another root cause for the engine failure. Best check and make sure after rebuild that the engine cooling is functioning properly and prevent a repeat because the root cause was not remediated.

What surprises me is that some engines are known to give a lot of trouble (and expensive ones), yet people still keep buying them. I prefer to pay more, but in exchange I want something to last years.

I work in IT, so I would firstly recommend turning the car off and then on again and if that doesn't work, I would suggest a software update. That should solve the issue.

A couple of other possible scenarios: 1. The head gasket failed, over pressurizing the coolant system causing the fitting to fail. 2. A squirrel or other rodent gnawed on that part causing a weak spot which failed when the cooling system got up to its normal pressure. Either way, this vehicle was doomed from the day it came off the assembly line since it's a Chrysler product.

I had a run of bad fuel pressure regulators on GM engines back in the early 2000's. These were the ones on the fuel rail, controlled by vacuum diaphrams. I believe they used a rubber that wasn't ethanol resistant, but GM wouldn't admit responsibility. It took a couple of years before they released an updated design to fix the issue. Anyway, I had one customer with a Chevy Beretta with the Quad 4 come in on a flatbed because it hydro locked from fuel blowing through the regulator, up through the vacuum line and into the intake, down into the number 2 or 3 cylinder. Fortunately, it didn't cause any damage to the engine, since it wasn't running when the cylinder filled up. I pulled the spark plugs and spun the engine with the stater, which shot a jet of fuel against the bottom of the hood and deflected forward onto the wall, nearly hitting my wife. That could have turned out really bad, had there been a flame anywhere within 20 feet. I replaced the regulator, squirted a dab of oil in each cylinder, and it fired right up. Another customer with an Impala that went through multiple regulators until the updated part was released. They would last 13 months, just 1 month longer than the warranty. Thankfully, my auto parts store was able to warranty the failed regulator after the second failure. I believe it was the third failure when the new design was available, and I never had an issue after that one. However, my customers' son decided to slide the car sideways at a high rate of speed and turn it into the flying DeLorean in Back to the Future II. I had never seen a car with all 4 wheels bent over. I have pics of it. The customer decided not to fix it because it would have cost more than the car was worth. Also, along with his car, I had 3 Impalas in one season with bad blower motors/resistors. One of those customers had replaced the resistor twice, not knowing that the blower motor was causing the resistor failures. Always replace both as a pair. The resistors almost always fail because of a bad motor. If you lose one or more speed, having only off and high, the motor is bad (requiring too much current to turn, which burns up the resistor). The resistor is cooled by the airflow from the fan, so a slow spinning/ high Amp draw destroys them. It happens to us all at some point (unless you only keep vehicles for a couple years at a time). Certain things on cars should be done as pairs, like headlight bulbs, shocks, anything brake related (pads, calipers, rotors), and blower motors/ resistors! I've got 40 years of automotive repair under my belt. I've never charged for anything I've never fixed, charged the lessor of book or actually labor time, and even went to my customer's homes/work to pick up/drop off their vehicles. As an example, I had a customer with a Cadillac SRX with the V6 that had a bad timing chain tensioner. I replaced all three tensioners, chains, pensioners, guides, and gears. The book time was 19 hours! At dealer prices, the labor alone would have been over $2k, but my labor rate was only $50/hr at that time (working from home). He was retired and he clearly wasn't wealthy, having bought it used and it being his first Caddy. The parts were listed for $1,500, but through AZ were about $500. I agreed to do the job for $500, or 10 hours of labor. From start to finish, I was able to do the job done in 10 hours (with no corners cut). I have many stories like this, and some stories of shady dealer's shops. Maybe I should start a channel? Lol

The pentastar engine…😩

Super glad to be here again to take care of the people I love. Thank you Ray, just barely making it these days and I'm scared to death to go to the hospital. Ty brother and be well !

At least, the Air Filter looks new!

I miss the telephone ringing. How about bringing it back for a cameo appearance?

This is my favorite kind of auto repair. Step by step diagnostics with clear direction and judgement as to which problem to deal with first. Fixing that hose leak would have been tempting but in the end your focus on the most serious sign kept the bill low and came to the same conclusion.

Tough call thanks for sharing

Same thing happened to my 2012. The 'y' on the heater hose split and spewed coolant everywhere. Luckily I caught it in time and replaced the hoses with a metal 'y'. Almost 200k on my van now!

Chrysler has used that plastic Y pipe for ever, I’ve replaced a lot of them over the years. Yes a few had blown head gaskets and/or warped/cracked heads. “Plastic makes the world a better place!”….

You mentioned a couple videos ago considering getting a new scantool. I knew someone who loved his XTool. Free updates for three years, bidirectional control enabled. I used it to program the immobilizer keys on my 2004 Nissan Maxima.

Was towed in, sat in the lot for who knows how long and the temp gauge is still on point. Yer done.

Always nice to see a cheap 1970s alarm clock with a car wrapped around it ...

Nicely done Ray!

I am on the 4th set of heater hoses on my 2010. I have the 3.8 liter though. Finally have a set that has a metal Y. I don't know how anyone misses the cloud of steam and coolant stench. Just keep your favorite tow guy in your phone.

The key lesson is, boys and girls, if your engine starts overheating, shut it down. I wonder how long the owner drove the car with the temp gauge pegged.

Welcome back, Ray.

If that were my car, I wouldn't even consider repairing that engine as there's really no way to know if the lower end was damaged from hydro-locking without fixing the upper end first. That engine got real angry when you put coolant back in it. A good, used engine is the only repair I'd consider.

Good day to you too. Hope you are having a great day

Thanks Ray

when looking into #4, wiggle the engine to see little waves of coolant, and if the reflection moves! Works a treat when I'm checking if the Berrymans B12 is getting past oil clogged scraper rings of my 1ZZ or not!

I do love the analytical videos.

Nobody pays attention to gauges anymore either. Owners fault...

The last Chrysler product I owned was a “75 Dodge Maxivan B2500 w/ 360 V-8 . A great motor for me . Drove it 8 years sold it to my Partner , ( he love it ), he drove it 9 years . Motor still strong , the body was disappearing , we live in the rust belt . Stay safe , have fun .

Ray I'm glad that you are feeling better these days.

People never watch the temp gauge (if equipped) until it's too late.

The penstar motor. Its channeling the PT cruiser.

I just lost that exact van (accident) a couple of weeks ago, but I replaced that part *four* times in the 13 years I owned the car, finally finding the aluminum part on eBay after the third time (and the fourth time it happened when I was out of town, so I had to locate the part in the middle of nowhere taking care not to overheat the engine). Apparently at some point between the third and fourth times they finally started making an aftermarket part out of aluminum and as luck would have it it was in stock in the middle of nowhere and I was able to replace it with that. But IMO Chrysler should replace this engine. There's no way I believe the engineers somehow "didn't know" making a critical component in a high temperature application out of plastic was the wrong move. It's too bad the driver here wasn't paying more attention to the temperature gauge and let it overheat to the point it shut down. :(

Good morning Mr Ray hope y'all have a happy Friday 😊

Yo Ray, before swapping out the engine, you should do a little lesson on how to do a compression test with a compression test kit, as well as tell us some information about the engine. We all know there's some damage to.the engine, but the engine itself might not be bad. Only Cylinder #4 is causing problems. If you do a compression test on all cylinders, it could be saving the customer thousands of dollars. Like I said, the engine MIGHT be done for, but replacing the engine because Cylinder #4 has a crack? I would at least love for you to do a compression test, see what every cylinder says about its health

Guys remember most these companies are only wanting ur money and not ur Appreciation

Ford does the coolant-Y in plastic on the truck diesel 6.0L. I changed mine to a Dorman aluminum replacement to help avoid the possible coolant dump.

I noticed the fuel gauge was on very low but no doubt you will find out what it is as i have every bit of confidence in you ,thanks for the video

Chrysler is the Chrysler of Chrysler I used to sell them a couple decades ago. How they still have market share is amazing to me.

I had to replace the plastic y connectors with aluminum y connectors (Dorman in this case For the Win) when I had my 2014 Caravan. Chrysler's Bean Counters were getting cheap on certain parts with Coolant flowing through plastic.

My favorite question is the genius that made the decision not to require a transmission dipstick to check the level and condition of the " lifetime oil. "

Wonder how far Ray got into putting that intake back together before he realized he didn’t put the coil pack back on

owner doesn't look at temp gauge , yup once overheated and headgasket/ cracked head done for.

My personal car is an Australian dodge journey 2015. Same motor but only front wheel drive. 101024km on it, sorry I don't do freedom units. I have been a helicopter parent to it and it has never missed a beat. Mind you I did have to do the entire oil filter/cooler unit and I do not enjoy having to take off so much top end to get to it

So important to see coolant leaks fast on those crazy

Greetings from the European Florida, or Portugal, as some may say!

Almost the same thing happened to my 3.8L V6. It had a head gasket leak that just got really bad and started putting oil and coolant mix into the intake through the PCV valve, and the EGR valve. I did try to fix it previously with some sealants, but they never worked.

The "Y" connectors get spongey and brittle. They can blow out so quick the coolant is gone before you can react. I had a replacement last less than 200 miles. There are 4 of these on this engine. My parts stores did not have the metal replacements. Blew out multiple times.

Well I hope to see this one back on the channel again but if not it is what it is

I had 1998 town country with 3.8 v6 and that motor was strong.had over 190,000 miles on it. I should have kept it used it for trade in for durmax truck

People before committing criticism towards the owners please see the update on this vehicle. It belongs to a a family with a ton of kids and the mother has cancer. Ray and @I_Do_Cars are collaborating to get this thing running again for this family.

Ray, put a small piece of blue towel on the tip of the endoscope. The paper will, of course, absorb any liquid.

Gearbox never seems to makeup its own mind when I rented one of these

I over heated my old convertible (the most complex and expensive thermostat structure was responsible - $400 and aftermarket as factory had terrible design flaws - 2.7 Chrysler) and they told me I did things perfectly as no damage but most people misunderstand how quickly overheating will destroy the motor and keep driving.

I would think if there is no engine knock and has oil pressure, at a minimum would need head gaskets, if not a cracked head. If the head is cracked you would be right in assuming a used engine would be the best alternative for this vehicle. Customer is between a rock and a hard place on weather to invest that kind of money in this old of vehicle, or just cut his losses and move on to another car. This scenario plays out everyday in the auto repair business. Not a good place to be for this customer.

Seeing the puddle of coolant in that cylinder was heartbreaking.

I guess an evaluate on it being worth keeping that machine going - I like the dash shifter - maybe awkward in practice to use. Maybe it is a "trade as is" they will fix or replace the motor "in house" or it goes to become parts basically. Such a common motor - maybe there will be another video on it if the owner decides the best way forward is to keep 'er on the road' in some manner - if the body is in good shape still perhaps.

I find it real hard to believe the owner would not be able to smell this occurring. These trash plastic coolant Y's they use these days I've seen take out a couple Ecoboost v6s too.

Ouch. That hurts. Hey I can send some screen cleaners for that boroscope screen. Lol

I had a Check Engine light go on once, opened hood looked it was still there.

Good day Ray and hi to Dave

Hey rey, good afternoon first of all, and you forgot to honk for safety when u backed out the minivan 😂, but keep up with the amazing videos.

One good point, the body last longer then the K cars did.

I think it’s funny how Chrysler puts a Fine Jewel Clock on dash 😂😊😅

I can say the aftermarket heater hose assembly for that is aluminum

That plastic Y is a common failure point on those engines. Sad when this could have been easily avoided. Good diag Ray.

"Rainman Repairs, where Pentaatars go to be replaced" This is what the third or fourth one this year? Your averaging one a month Ray. 👍

I would recommend a total replacement as it overheated badly. Other parts of the engine have no doubt received damage.

Chrysler out here takin that planned obsolescence very serious!

At the end thougt you were goiung to say o look it start better now.😄

We had a 2006 T&C that nearly overheated. Cooling fans quit working and the stealership had them in stock. Turns out they were known to fail so the dealerships keep the fans in stock. Won't ever get another Chrysler vehicle.

"Piece of Stellantis" LOL!

My main concern is, clearly it was having an issue, no doubt the temperature gauge went to the moon, but they kept on driving until it shut off… if they’d stopped at the first sign of overheating they could have saved the engine and just fixed with a new hose and some coolant. People should do better

Have an awesome day tomorrow bud.

No way that there weren't warnings before things got catastrophic. Had the driver taken note of the temperature gauge hitting the top and the warning lamp, this could have been just a 'replace cheap piece of plastic crap' rather than 'replace engine'. Another "it just shut off".

The 3.6s expecially the earlier ones where prone to headgasket falure to begin with but typically was on cyl 2 from what i had seen. And very surprised it did have the penta star tick or the destroyed oil cooler.

I have a dodge dakota with a 3.6 misfiring on 4. Temps fine though. I think it may be injector. Already replaced/moved coils and plugs. Ran cleaner through the gas. Checked compression and all cylinders are within spec. A little low on spec bit still spec and all in same range as each other. So i beleive its injector. Just dont wanna tear it all apart to replace it. So much work for such a simple task.

Feel better ray ? Still sound sick

Yep, they may need Ray's easy payment plan !!

Hey the temp gauge is hi should I stop driving...... no no worries its going to be fine 😂😂😂😅

My 07 5.3 has the same type of plastic fitting on the heater hose. I think the fittings are pretty common.

Seems like a good overhaul project, unless owner wants an entire new engine installed, now days, we've become a throw away society, would be typical for a new install. Auto manufacturers make critical parts out of plastic because they want "us" the consumer to bring it in to a dealership, they don't like "mom and pop" mechanic shops to fix "their" product, it's been this way for a very long time now. I guess that's why many of the top brand names aren't selling as many vehicles these past few yrs, reliability and quality has really gone downhill. Great video as always, cheers :) P.S. For some odd reason, I can just "smell" that coolant odor from here, been there, done that and fixed it. :)

I noticed that there is a temperature gauge on this car unlike some manufacturers that seem to be deleting them, so the owner should have noticed that the temperature was rising you would think and stop driving. Also I wonder if the head gasket went before the plastic hose? Maybe???

‘Must have a mis-fire…’ 🤣🤣🤣👍

This adds another definition to Intercooler 😊 Ctysler did the plastic everything 'coz cheap and you'll buy another engine and other broken stuff

At about 4:30 I was thinking that a potential coolant leak might be "a problem", but not necessarily "the problem". Then going to about 19:30 after seeing liquid on the piston and about 20:30 seeing liquid near the cylinder wall realizing that was the problem and, as far as the engine was concerned, "it's dead, Jim"