As far as I Know, There is Nothing different about the dowels....The purpose of the Kit, was to put the FULL assembly In a Box, without having to order 8 pins, 12 rockers, 8 bolts...etc.... Its all in the package now....

As for a second failure..... When it comes apart...look carefully at the valve springs....You will probably find a few of them "Cocked" to one side......An indication of worn valve guides....The "Off centered" thrust, is just enough to snag the rocker on the shaft, and instead of returning to closed position, it Drags the shaft with it, eventually twisting it enough to break the pins.

Also look at the shafts when they comme out...any scoring or gouging on the "Pivot areas" is usually a good indication of oil starvation. The shaft will grind away long before any lifter noise is evident, so just because its quiet , doesnt eliminate an oil pressure issue.

 

Thanks for your comments Djinn-n-Tonic.

The "new & improved" was something I've read posted on other forums by non-Chrysler mechanics. My Dodge/Jeep/Chrysler service manager that I have a 17 year relationship with didn't think there was anything new & improved either.

Is this because it is such a common service?

First thing we did when the noise presented was to check oil pressures. No problem there. My trusted service manager reports that there is no evidence of worn or grooved parts. They are only planning on replacing the pins. I'm a bit concerned that this might be just treating the symptom and not the root cause.

As for your worn valve guide hypothesis, wouldn't I be seeing increased oil consumption if that were the issue? I agree with you that there is probably something happening that is causing the shaft to bind. I'll bring your comments to their attention when I speak to my service manager on Monday (when the pins should be delivered to the shop).

Thank you for taking the time to comment and share your experience.

 

No its because Us mechanics have gotten lazy in our old ages......

Actually.....If you have ever seen the shafts off of the car, the dowels must be "EXTRACTED" to disassemble the shafts and rockers. More often than not, the pins would shear off during removal, leaving you a shaft and rocker set that could not be dissassembled, and certainly not re-installed.

As opposed to spending the time of drilling them out, and risking further damage...We ordered 12 rockers, 8 bolts 4 pins...etc,. I for one, and I'm sure many others, were absolutely thrilled to see the full assembly in a box, ready to bolt on and go....

As for oil consumption.....3.5's suck oil anyway, but maybe not.

There are still shaft seals on the intake valves, and if you think about it, an exhaust guide CANT suck oil, just by the nature of the beast.There are exhaust gasses being forced out while the valve is open, so any oil that made it out past a guide would likely be forced back up. "Anyone remember the 3.0 L that smoked three packs a day, but NEVER fouled a Plug???" This is exactly why.

 

My shop replaced the two pins on the exhaust rocker arm shaft at the end pedestals and then they went a step further.

A resourceful tech realized that there are holes in the shaft that line up with holes for pins IN THE INTERMEDIATE PEDESTALS (the pin inserts from the engine block side)

So now I've got 4 dowel pins holding that shaft still instead of just 2. This might result in longer life, or it might result in a failure of the next "weakest link in the chain" if indeed there is something bad happening on occasions that applies excessive torque to that shaft. We shall see.

I called the shop back and spoke with the tech to give him a thank you for being resourceful.