2005 Pacifica with bad rod bearing??

[westea49]

My daughter in law has a 2005 Pacifica with a 3.5 L engine. She was driving home when she heard a loud "clucking" noise. A mechanic said that it sounded like a rod bearing went out. THis car only has 71,000 miles and has not had any symptoms that would explain this sudden failure: no oil light, no valve clatter and no check engine light. The mechanic says that Chrysler does not have an anti-knock sensor so the check engine light would not come on until significant damage occurs. The problem is that he says she will need a new engine.

Another mechanic says that if the rod bearing did go out it was probably related to a bad oil pump but again I would expect valve clatter and she swears that she did not hear anything and has been diligent about the oil changes.

I will probably drop the oil pan and look for "bearing parts" but I am really confused about how an engine with only 70K miles could have this problem. I listened to the motor and it does sound bad. My original guess was the timing belt BUT it runs good even with the noise so the rod bearing "seems" to be a good guess just confusing.

[westea49]

The car had a bad rod bearing. Replaced it with an engine with 40K miles and hope that this does not happen again.

[shaferichard]

I am having this exact same problem just curious as to how it cost to replace the engine?

[sub006]

Originally Posted by shaferichard

I am having this exact same problem just curious as to how it cost to replace the engine?

Labor should be around $1000. Before parts and labor for a transmission rebuild, it's about $2000 to pull and replace the trans, because it also requires engine removal and replacement on most FWD vehicles, including this one. Since the trans will stay in place for this job, labor should be about half.

While you're at it, make SURE the trans is in EXCELLENT shape before puttting the replacement engine in! You don't want to do this job twice, and back in the '80s and '90s, 100,000 miles was the typical life for a Mopar minvan automatic. I'm sure 2005s are better, but find out average life expectancy before deciding whether to roll the dice on your 71,000-mile gearbox.