2002 Grand Cherokee through a rod

I have a friend with a 2002 grand cherokee and calls me up to ask me if it is a
bad thing if a piston goes out through the oil pan. I thought that he might
have gone through a huge puddle or someting but that want the case. It turns
out that there was sludge in the oil pan so the dealer will not honor the
Warranty. Now I know that this guy did change his oil on a regular basis,
never exeeding 4k miles between oil changes, and it surprised me to hear that
there was sludge in the engine.

I've heard recently that chrysler has had a problem with oil pumps on some
engines could there be a reason that might cause this particular engine to
generate more sludge inside it that cause the oil pump to fail? And what would
be the best course of action he can take to make chrysler more acountable for
this failure.

Thank you all

 

It turns

Simple. Demonstrate to the zone rep that the oil was changed at regular
intervals by supplying copies of the receipts for the work and/or materials.

--Geoff

 

Which engine type?

Was the car still under warranty? If so and the dealer is claiming
"neglect," I would have an oil analysis done on the sludge. If it turns
out to be coolant in the oil, rub their nose in it and make them honor
the warranty because an internal coolant leak triggered the failure. If
it isn't, learn never to use that brand of oil again.

 

What kind of oil did he use? What was his driving style? Lots of
highway or mostly stop and go and long periods of idling?


Matt

 

| I have a friend with a 2002 grand cherokee and calls me up to ask me if it
is a
| bad thing if a piston goes out through the oil pan. I thought that he
might
| have gone through a huge puddle or someting but that want the case. It
turns
| out that there was sludge in the oil pan so the dealer will not honor the
| Warranty. Now I know that this guy did change his oil on a regular basis,
| never exeeding 4k miles between oil changes, and it surprised me to hear
that
| there was sludge in the engine.
|
| I've heard recently that chrysler has had a problem with oil pumps on some
| engines could there be a reason that might cause this particular engine to
| generate more sludge inside it that cause the oil pump to fail? And what
would
| be the best course of action he can take to make chrysler more acountable
for
| this failure.
|
| Thank you all
|
|

Always keep receipts OR use the dealers "quick-lube" service so they can't
use that excuse...

 

funny thing
recently at my dealer we had a customer come in with a lib. that had a engine
knock and there was 17k on the clock.the car is owned by a d.c employee we call
it a 062 plan meaning even flat tires are covered under warranty. the tech that
looked at it noticed the oil filter has( factory installed) in white letters on
it meaning it came from the factory with that oil filter and the owner swears he
has changed the oil even though the oil is all sludged up, well we called our dm
and had the warranty restricted meaning this dc employee now is buying a new lib
engine and it's not offered in a long block! even though we could prove the oil
was never changed he insisted he did have it done funny thing was when he
brought it back in for the engine work there was a new fram oil filter on it
so unless the pcv system failed he might of went to long between oil changes

 

There are several engines (some Toyotas, some Hondas, and teh Chrysler
2.7L) that have gained a reputation for sludging up and self-destructing
(i wasn't aware of a problem with the GC engine). I suspect there are
some common design elements/lessons learned that the industry is sharing
among itself but not with the general public. I sure would like to know
what it is.

Bill Putney
(to reply by e-mail, replace the last letter of the alphabet in my
address with "x")

 

Was the customer able to produce receipts? Let's say the customer did take his
vehicle to be serviced regularly and it was a crappy shop that didn't bother to
change the filter. The average customer would never know that the filter wasn't
changed. (The oil is more obvious because you can see the color difference at the
dipstick.) Now I'm sure a shop would never ever do this, right?

 

So what do you do other than change the oil regularly to prevent sludging?

KS

 

This is the best defense. The next best is to drive the vehicle fairly
often and occasionally for at least 20 miles at a decent speed to get
the oil good and hot and get rid of any accumulated moisture.

Apparently, some engines, one Toyota as previously mentioned, have some
design characteristic that makes them more prone than normal to sludge
build-up. I have no idea what that characteristic is, but sure would
like to know.

The other thing I do is use synthetic oil.


Matt

 

Avoid all Toyota engines and 2.7L Chrysler engines.