I had my '14 in to the dealer for them to tear apart the dash and replace the HVAC gate motors. They informed me I had a read main seal leak, that it wasn't urgent but to keep an eye on it. That was at 100k or thereabouts. At 110k I started getting occasional codes about the oil pressure sensor.
I then had some oil smoking from underneath while climbing steep grades on trails. I figured the rear main seal leak had finally gotten to the point of needing to be done. Took her in to a transmission shop, as they do these more often, on every job, basically as they are dropping the trans out. The shop told me it wasn't the rear main seal but the oil cooler, which sits in the valley of the V, and the leak eventually rolls off the back, down past the rear main seal and onto the trans housing. The cooler is something the shop doesn't do.
So I gathered up my courage and took it on myself. There are a number of youtubes about it, and also changing spark plugs, and between them you get to see it all, as both jobs require pulling the upper manifold, which is the most troublesome - although simple - part of the job.
The Dorman was out of stock but I bought another aluminum unit off the A.
Long story short, the oil cooler was easy enough. The valley has pockets that were 3" deep full of oil and coolant. I extracted with a large syringe, then stuffed paper shop towels into each pocket. Did that a few times to soak it all up, hit the whole thing with brake cleaner (per the Chilton book) and soaked that up with shop towels again.
I didn't find any cracks, but the seals were mashed oddly flat in a few spots, so I presume that is what leaked. I'm happy to have changed it. It came with new sensors.
In the process, I discovered a previous "repair" had been done on one coil pack - it had no wiring connector and was spliced directly from the harness. I am guessing that the plastic connector broke, or was chewed on, and instead of replacing the connector, they chopped into the coil pack and spliced it all and then wrapped in tape.
I spliced in a new connector, then replaced the coil pack. While I was there, I replaced all the coil packs, and the spark plugs, since I didn't know whether/when they had been done (it was new to me at 90k). When I pulled the fuel rails I saw a modest amount of fouling on the injectors, so I did those as well. OEM through Mopar they wanted $250+ each, but I got Bosch parts for $50 each.
I was unable to effectively reach the PCV screws with any leverage at all, so I abandoned doing that at this time. I'll wait until it starts showing symptoms, then decide whether to try again myself or let a shop handle the "simple, 2 screw" job.
The extent of my previous engine work was replacing a carb on my lawn mower. If you are at all handy with tools it is doable.
The best tool I bought for the job was a topside creeper, which allowed me to have comfortable and safe access to the entire engine bay. If you have the space for it, worth every penny of the $250.
I couldn't get it out even with the intake and filter housing off.
