Sad Day

Spartan · Dec 1, 2022

jandersendo said:
What’s the ETA?

The service tech had no idea. He said it depends on how quick they get the engine delivered to the dealership.

5h4g · Dec 9, 2022

Quick update on my 392 with the loud knocking valve sound: Dealer had it for 5 days, but could not reproduce the sound, after various conditions, heat cycles, hard pulls, etc. They can take it apart unless they know if it is the L or R side of the engine, as warranty won't cover their work or my cost if they picked the wrong side. Don't know why the couldn't do a leak-down test to at least determine that, but not part of their process apparently. Prognosis: Drive it like you normally do and if /when it happens again, don't shut it down this time and drive to the dealership directly so they can hear it and assess.
Got an oil change (4500 miles) and I will say she is idling smoother than she ever has in the past. I got on her hard several times on the drive home and couldn't reproduce it either, so ... <shrug>.

Robr651 · Dec 9, 2022

5h4g said:
Quick update on my 392 with the loud knocking valve sound: Dealer had it for 5 days, but could not reproduce the sound, after various conditions, heat cycles, hard pulls, etc. They can take it apart unless they know if it is the L or R side of the engine, as warranty won't cover their work or my cost if they picked the wrong side. Don't know why the couldn't do a leak-down test to at least determine that, but not part of their process apparently. Prognosis: Drive it like you normally do and if /when it happens again, don't shut it down this time and drive to the dealership directly so they can hear it and assess.
Got an oil change (4500 miles) and I will say she is idling smoother than she ever has in the past. I got on her hard several times on the drive home and couldn't reproduce it either, so ... <shrug>.

Stuck / collapsed lifter maybe that freed up?

justinB · Dec 9, 2022

Dral97 said:
I don't think they stamp VINs on the engine anymore, do they?

Yes, they still stamp VIN's on the engine, they are a different VIN than what's on the body of your Jeep though.
E.g. My engine VIN starts with a MTNAPENJLM... whereas my Jeep's VIN starts with a 1C4JJXSJ0MW...

Spartan · Dec 9, 2022

5h4g said:
Quick update on my 392 with the loud knocking valve sound: Dealer had it for 5 days, but could not reproduce the sound, after various conditions, heat cycles, hard pulls, etc. They can take it apart unless they know if it is the L or R side of the engine, as warranty won't cover their work or my cost if they picked the wrong side. Don't know why the couldn't do a leak-down test to at least determine that, but not part of their process apparently. Prognosis: Drive it like you normally do and if /when it happens again, don't shut it down this time and drive to the dealership directly so they can hear it and assess.
Got an oil change (4500 miles) and I will say she is idling smoother than she ever has in the past. I got on her hard several times on the drive home and couldn't reproduce it either, so ... <shrug>.

Glad they didn't find anything but I would be on edge driving it after that. I am still going to be leery of the new 392 for the first few thousand miles.

Papa392 · Dec 9, 2022

JustinB

justinB said:
Yes, they still stamp VIN's on the engine, they are a different VIN than what's on the body of your Jeep though.
E.g. My engine VIN starts with a MTNAPENJLM... whereas my Jeep's VIN starts with a 1C4JJXSJ0MW...

JustinB, are you sure you're viewing a number etched in the correct location?
Just to verify, the engine VIN is passenger side very front and bottom of the block. Etched on machined surface.
Should consist of 8 (possibly 9) characters. Which is the exact same as last 8 of the VIN found on a-pillar (& Trans, & possibly one more on body).

5h4g · Dec 10, 2022

Robr651 said:
Stuck / collapsed lifter maybe that freed up?

Great question, I don’t know enough about the internals on the HEMI to even guess. Is that a common occursnce on them? What causes it to stick?

Robr651 · Dec 11, 2022

5h4g said:
Great question, I don’t know enough about the internals on the HEMI to even guess. Is that a common occursnce on them? What causes it to stick?

Not common but definitely possible. Dirty oil can sometimes block the tiny passage in the lifter. It would make a racket like you described and once freed back up would go away. A dropped valve or something catastrophic would make noise constantly leading pretty quickly to engine failure.

5h4g · Dec 11, 2022

Robr651 said:
Not common but definitely possible. Dirty oil can sometimes block the tiny passage in the lifter. It would make a racket like you described and once freed back up would go away. A dropped valve or something catastrophic would make noise constantly leading pretty quickly to engine failure.

based on this alone, sounds like the most plausible scenario. Still unable to reproduce now after 10 drive cycles myself, so feeling as good as I can about it, and not going to let it affect my driving style. It truly is idling MUCH more smoothly after its first oil change, so maybe dirty oil or whatever oil they might use from the factory during break-in was the culprit. They did look at the oil for any signs of metal, and did not find any.

justinB · Dec 12, 2022

Papa392 said:
JustinB

JustinB, are you sure you're viewing a number etched in the correct location?
Just to verify, the engine VIN is passenger side very front and bottom of the block. Etched on machined surface.
Should consist of 8 (possibly 9) characters. Which is the exact same as last 8 of the VIN found on a-pillar (& Trans, & possibly one more on body).

Greetings Papa392,

There may be an etched engine VIN, I haven't noticed it yet though. I went by this sticker.

Papa392 · Dec 12, 2022

justinB said:
Greetings Papa392,

There may be an etched engine VIN, I haven't noticed it yet though. I went by this sticker.

Ahhh, I see. My guess is that the barcode sticker is used at the powertrain plant and then the assembly plant for tracking and verification purposes.
There are quite a few of those on many components throughout the vehicle.
They probably should use a different identifier like AIN (Assembly I D) or EIN or simply Engine Ass'y: .........

Spartan · Dec 19, 2022

Got the 392 back today. They did a long block repair so it still has a matching vin on the engine block. Now for another break-in period. Also, they gave me a 2023 Grand Cherokee that I broke too. Maybe I should just bike for awhile.

jandersendo · Dec 19, 2022

Spartan said:
Got the 392 back today. They did a long block repair so it still has a matching vin on the engine block. Now for another break-in period. Also, they gave me a 2023 Grand Cherokee that I broke too. Maybe I should just bike for awhile.

Oh wow. Why that vs a new engine?

Spartan · Dec 20, 2022

jandersendo said:
Oh wow. Why that vs a new engine?

So there was a misunderstanding between me and the service manager. I asked about the VIN matching and he said that they would match because they did a rebuild. I got the invoice today and they got a long block and put it in my Jeep. I will need to look at the VIN on the block. I will report back when I get a chance to look. Unfortunately the Invoice doesn't show anything aside for zeros under both cost and labor. My salesman said that it took one full day to pull the engine and at least one full day to put the new one in.

Robr651 · Dec 20, 2022

Spartan said:
So there was a misunderstanding between me and the service manager. I asked about the VIN matching and he said that they would match because they did a rebuild. I got the invoice today and they got a long block and put it in my Jeep. I will need to look at the VIN on the block. I will report back when I get a chance to look. Unfortunately the Invoice doesn't show anything aside for zeros under both cost and labor. My salesman said that it took one full day to pull the engine and at least one full day to put the new one in.

I wouldn’t worry too much about numbers matching. I’d prefer the long block replacement as opposed to them rebuilding your old one, but that’s just me. Badass that they’ve got you back on the road / trail.

jandersendo · Dec 20, 2022

Robr651 said:
I wouldn’t worry too much about numbers matching. I’d prefer the long block replacement as opposed to them rebuilding your old one, but that’s just me. Badass that they’ve got you back on the road / trail.

What about option 3 of a new engine. That's what I think I'd prefer if I'm ever in this scenario

Robr651 · Dec 20, 2022

jandersendo said:
What about option 3 of a new engine. That's what I think I'd prefer if I'm ever in this scenario

A long block is basically a new engine

Spartan · Dec 21, 2022

Robr651 said:
I wouldn’t worry too much about numbers matching. I’d prefer the long block replacement as opposed to them rebuilding your old one, but that’s just me. Badass that they’ve got you back on the road / trail.

Frankly, I don't care if its numbers matching but a few people on this thread were discussing it. I hope to drive it until the wheels fall off. Fingers crossed that doesn't happen for another 20+ years.