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2016 JK Cylinder head Issues?

24K views 49 replies 25 participants last post by  vanhalo 
#1 ·
My first post... hoping to get feedback from anyone else that has had issues... so... I have read that there were many problems with JK cylinder heads around 2012... well I have a 2016 Jk that is in the shop to have the Left cylinder replaced... it only has 17,000 miles on it... I thought that they had fixed the problem...
 
#4 ·
Well... I found out that my Jk had a code of PO304...#4 cylinder misfire... They preformed a compression test 150psi #4 cylinder ... preformed leak down test 32% on #4 Exhaust less on rest... bottom line... replaced cyclinder head... be aware that this problem that was very common in the 2012 jk models... seems to have not been completely resolved... FYI
 
#5 ·
I'm not totally surprised, although disappointed. I'm just curious, how do you drive it, easy, or do you get on it right away? I'd also be interested in the Julian date on the head.
 
#6 ·
Sorry, I do not have the Julian date on the head... My jeep is a 2016 so i would hope that the cylinder head is the newer design... I broke in my engine as recommended... had all maintenance and did light off road stuff... My JK has not had a tough life... I hope that this is a one off problem... what has me a little concerned is that the people at the dealer service department were not surprised that this happened to my Jeep...
 
#8 ·
My 2014 experienced the problem -- occasional loss of power for about 90 days that felt like you had a tank of bad gas. Then catastrophic failure in May of this year at 15,000 miles. No 6 ate a valve seat, a valve, and then stuck a con rod through the block.

They replaced the long block. Treated me right as far as handling everything (I was 1900 miles away from home; they paid for my rental, flatbedded the Jeep two hours to nearest dealer, car-carriered it home when complete). But I'd rather have been able to finish the trip in MY Jeep rather than a (very, very nice rental) from Twisted Jeeps.

But yeah, problem didn't end in 2012.
 
#11 ·
Welcome to the Forum.

Yep, this defect just continues on..very sad..
 
#15 ·
Hey guys, a question if I may,

My son picked up a '16 JKU last November, ~60k miles. No complaints or issues as yet, although he tends to be a bit hard on vehicles (ask me how I know).

The cylinder head issues are my concern; do they tend to show up at fairly low miles or doesn't seem to matter? With as many miles as it does have ( he's probably added 5-7k since) should we be penciling in funds for possible replacement or, since it has made it this far, are we out of the woods so to speak? Carfax indicates no major (dealer level) repairs since new.

It's his DD and off-roader in Phoenix.

Thanks,

Kurt
 
#39 ·
My 18 jku had 61,000 miles on it and 302 code popped up. Changed the plug, the coil pak. Then the code popped up again. Had to replace the head. Was glad I had the extended warranty or so I thought. They said because I put a 3" lift on it, that's what caused it. I called bs on that though.
 
#16 ·
Mileage doesn’t seem to play a part in it, very much. My Grandson had a 2016 that had the left head fail at approx. 40,000 miles. Some on the Forum have them fail way prior to his, and some fail over a 100,000. But please keep in mind, most don’t ever fail..FYI
 
#17 ·
As time rolls on, more and more exit the warranty. All the 14's are past 5 years now so the issues just keep coming. If a '14 looses a block that's a good chunk of the vehicle worth and many owners can't just lay down the thousands for repair. The could be salvaged for an issue FCA knew about for years. Yet the resale on the JK is solid.
 
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#18 ·
Agree...Unless, money is not a issue, one is better off to purchase the Mopar extended warranty..bite the bullet and be done with it. But, this is only applicable if one plans on keeping it long term. I plan on being buried in my 2013 JKR..LOL If I purchase another Wrangler some day, well then I will have two..:)
 
#19 ·
Time, miles, and mods prevent Mopar from writing a warranty on mine. They don't like lifts over 2 inches. At this point most of the driveline has been modified along with the suspension. The engine, trans, and transfer case are still factory OEM. Mine is like many, modified, no warranty, and the oil cooler and heads still original and waiting.
 
#21 ·
Yep, once we start modding that is the end of any warranty considerations. I knew mine would be modded over time before I even started looking. So far it has been real good other than the radiator and the oil pressure sender. If the head goes it will be time for a V8 anyway. Even as expensive as it is it is cheaper than a new vehicle.
 
#22 ·
You got that right Terry,,, as you know in Calif tax and reg is about 11% of the total price.
 
#25 ·
My left cycling head, and oil cooler all went just over 48K. 6 weeks to replace the head.
 
#27 ·
Welcome to the Forum! Once that the head is replaced, there have been very few repeats.
 
#31 ·
Wranglers 2012 through current have the 3.6.
 
#33 ·
I have a 2014 wrangler with 86,000 miles. Had a p0304 code and changed the injector, coil and all of the plugs. Code went away for a few days and returned. Vacuum check didn't show a problem so it went to the dealership. As expected left side cylinder 4 failed the compression test and is getting a new head. Vehicle is out of warranty on years so $2,800 later I get my jeep back and hopefully don't get to do that again. Chrysler needs to do more than they are about this issue.
 
#40 ·
I just had to replace the cylinder head on my 2016 Wrangler with only 57,000 miles on it. It started with a P0304 error that was traced to the cylinder head issue when it failed the leak down test. Since it is more than 5 yrs old FCA would not cover any of the repair. This is just another example of the fact that FCA never fixed the issue with the left cylinder head on the 3.6L pentastar engines but they are no longer extending the warranty.
 
#41 ·
Revisiting this thread later to record more head failures in my other post.
 
#42 · (Edited)
i have a 2016 jeep with 63K on it and i washed the P0304 code come up. took it to the dealer and he is telling me i need a new cylinder head. Does anyone know if they have extended the powertrain warranty for this? why is this happening n low mileage? Do i believe them and fix? Also the dealership quoted me 4200 for parts and labor and they say they reduced hours and labor fee. but still bottom line 4200. does anyone know if this is reasonable?
 
#43 ·
i have a 2016 jeep with 63K on it and i washed the P0304 code come up. took it to the dealer and he is telling me i need a new cylinder head. Does anyone know if they have extended the powertrain warranty for this? why is this happening n low mileage? Do i believe them and fix?
My Grandsons 2016 JKURHR, had the left cylinder head fail at 40K Miles. It was still under the powertrain warranty. No, there is no special extended warranty for a 2016. So unless you have the MOPAR EXTENDED WARRANTY POLICY, it will be customer pay the bill..ouch..
There has been several upgraded cylinder head castings. So you should receive the latest revision.
 
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#48 ·
Bought a new to me 2017 JKUR about 5 weeks ago and 1 week ago, you guessed it, #2 misfire… it’s at the dealer now getting replaced, at lest they are covering it. 67000 miles.
 
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