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3.6L Etorque with hesitations/surges

Black_Pearl

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I got my 3.6l 4x4 about 8,000 miles ago. After a few hundred miles, I noticed a “hesitation” in second gear. It is more prevalent in in light to medium throttle. The truck also developed a vibration at idle on cold start that eventually smooths out after warmup. The Hesitation comes in the middle of the second gear acceleration And can be seen as a slight drop in the tach and a feeling like the truck has a loss of power, momentarily. Hard acceleration usually doesn’t produce the symptom. I’ve had the dealership look at it once but never got a resolution. I have been trying to make arrangements to take it back again, but the dealer hasn’t been able to get me a loaner.
Sometimes, I also get bucking or surging when speeding back up after slowing down.
has anyone else had this issue or think they know what it could be? Seems to be worse with less gas in the vehicle and also with higher outside temperatures. I feel like it could be improper proper delivery of fuel or Electricity although being the hesitation is around the same spot each time, It could be mechanical or vacuum related. Also terrible vibrations in the 25 to 35 mph range, especially if the truck is in gear five or higher. Fine if that speed at lower gears.
Thoughts?
 

OtterRam

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Every now and again when running at slow speed my truck will feel like it mildly stutters. Usually when I give it some more gas and accelerate faster it goes away (either way it’s very very short term), it hasn’t caused me any issues that I’m aware of.

I’ve never had the surging though, good luck in your quest for info!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 

jtothecruz

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I too have felt the symptoms on my 2020 Bighorn. I have always felt the hesitation when doing a very light throttle especially when going up a hill. I thought that I was not allowing enough air to enter for the amount of fuel that was being delivered so I just give the throttle a little more.
 

Black_Pearl

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I too have felt the symptoms on my 2020 Bighorn. I have always felt the hesitation when doing a very light throttle especially when going up a hill. I thought that I was not allowing enough air to enter for the amount of fuel that was being delivered so I just give the throttle a little more.

@jtothecruz
do you see a hesitation on the tach too? Check out this video I took of it. You can see the tach drops after already shifting to 2nd. After the shift, the rpm start to increase, hesitate and drop slightly, then continue increase.
move noticed it does happen less during heavy acceleration and, for some odd reason, less while the AC Blower fan is on high.

 

jtothecruz

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@jtothecruz
do you see a hesitation on the tach too? Check out this video I took of it. You can see the tach drops after already shifting to 2nd. After the shift, the rpm start to increase, hesitate and drop slightly, then continue increase.
move noticed it does happen less during heavy acceleration and, for some odd reason, less while the AC Blower fan is on high.

Honestly the hesitation does not happen all the time so I have not been paying attention to the tach. I will try to take my big horn out and see if I can recreate the issue but I have noticed this issue a couple of times.
 

Black_Pearl

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An update on this. I got my truck back today. Even though the dealer said it could not duplicate aany of the problems (cold start idle vibration, 1-2 shift hesitation, clunky transmission, bucking/surging after slowing and accelerating, and vibration at 20 to 25 mph only at gears higher than 5). They did update the TCM and another on the PCM. This just tells me they don’t take time to properly diagnose. Either way, the good news is that the throttle seems more responsive, the idle vibration is gone, the bucking surging was almost completely gone on the ride home, Most of the clunking was gone, and some of the vibration was gone. It did still hesitate once in second gear under light acceleration. Now, let’s see if any of it comes back....
 

orange01z28

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I've had that same thing happen, it feels to me like it's a bog when you don't downshift in a manual.

If I give it more gas it doesn't happen.

I thought I read on here that a Pedal Commander can smooth this out
 

jtothecruz

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An update on this. I got my truck back today. Even though the dealer said it could not duplicate aany of the problems (cold start idle vibration, 1-2 shift hesitation, clunky transmission, bucking/surging after slowing and accelerating, and vibration at 20 to 25 mph only at gears higher than 5). They did update the TCM and another on the PCM. This just tells me they don’t take time to properly diagnose. Either way, the good news is that the throttle seems more responsive, the idle vibration is gone, the bucking surging was almost completely gone on the ride home, Most of the clunking was gone, and some of the vibration was gone. It did still hesitate once in second gear under light acceleration. Now, let’s see if any of it comes back....
Sorry i have not really had a chance to take my BigHorn for 2 weeks. The only time was going down the road to the convince store so I haven't had a good stretch of road to test. From what I was able to test, as soon as I go to second my engine revs a little higher almost as if it is trying to get over a certain rpm so that it can finally switch switch to second. I have not had the hesitation for some time although my BigHorn only has 1k miles on the OD. It's good to hear that your truck is running better
 

Smerberj

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I hope I can help,

The new 3.6L etorque is notorious for this "acceleration surge", go to the Jeep forum, damn near everyone reports it. What the Jeep guys discovered is the surging is caused by a combination of the new EGR system, and how the new lifter system helps with MPG. This issue is written into the factory tune and the only way to get rid of it is with a tuner or if Chrysler ever releases an updated powertrain tune. It sucks to say but what you are experiencing is 100% "normal". Now as far as the idle vibration, I haven't heard of that issue nor does my 3.6L do it. The clunky 1-2 gear issue is also a well known issue with these 8 speeds, my truck did it the first 1,500 miles and hasn't done it since.
 

Smerberj

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Also, if you haven't already, turn off your hill start assist. For some reason doing this has fixed the problem for some users.
 

Black_Pearl

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It's a been a few weeks since the updates to my PCM and TCM. Throttle response is still better than before and jerky feel to the drive is mostly gone. Really, my only complaint is the vibration i'm still experiencing at some speeds. It's hard to describe too. There is a quick vibration at around 5th gear and 25mph when decelerating to a stop. Feels like you are running over rumble strips and only lasts a second. Real quick boom boom boom. Then between 25 mph and 45 mph at certain gears (usually 5th through 7th) i get an odd feel in town when holding light acceleration. It feels as if the truck is struggling a bit, like when it needs to downshift going up a hill and hasn't yet. This is accompanied by on and off vibration, sometimes worse than other times. Seems to be worse when hot outside. Lifting my foot from the accelerator completely removes the vibration and odd sound. only happens when accelerator is being applied.

Any thoughts on if this could be TC or driveshaft related?

3.6 has no MDS or ANC, so common vibration issues don't seem to be the blame.

I have appointments at two different dealerships for ride-alongs this week.
 

Lil'Mike

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Also, if you haven't already, turn off your hill start assist. For some reason doing this has fixed the problem for some users.
I second this. I turned of hill assist and my downshifts are much smoother. Although, from what I read, it shouldn't have anything to do with the problem. It has seemed to clear up with it disabled. I am too experiencing very sluggish acceleration below 20MPH, and a "surge of acceleration with constant throttle in and around 3rd hear 30-40MPH. I, supposedly had PCM and TCM updated back when I reported these issues in June. I am going to report the issues again at my first oil change to try and ensure my computer is up-to-date. I will also ask for software versions and post when I have them.
 

Lil'Mike

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It's a been a few weeks since the updates to my PCM and TCM. Throttle response is still better than before and jerky feel to the drive is mostly gone. Really, my only complaint is the vibration i'm still experiencing at some speeds. It's hard to describe too. There is a quick vibration at around 5th gear and 25mph when decelerating to a stop. Feels like you are running over rumble strips and only lasts a second. Real quick boom boom boom. Then between 25 mph and 45 mph at certain gears (usually 5th through 7th) i get an odd feel in town when holding light acceleration. It feels as if the truck is struggling a bit, like when it needs to downshift going up a hill and hasn't yet. This is accompanied by on and off vibration, sometimes worse than other times. Seems to be worse when hot outside. Lifting my foot from the accelerator completely removes the vibration and odd sound. only happens when accelerator is being applied.

Any thoughts on if this could be TC or driveshaft related?

3.6 has no MDS or ANC, so common vibration issues don't seem to be the blame.

I have appointments at two different dealerships for ride-alongs this week.
I would be interested to hear what you find out. I upgraded from a 4th Gen 5.7L to the 3.6 e torque and I am surprised how often the truck seems to have a hard time keeping speed, and struggles to cruise even on the slightest incline. It's an odd feeling, one that would make you believe the truck is decelerating with throttle applied, but the speedometer seems to report otherwise. I did not have this feeling with my previous Ram.
 
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Black_Pearl

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I would be interested to hear what you find out. I upgraded from a 4th Gen 5.7L to the 3.6 e torque and I am surprised how often the truck seems to have a hard time keeping speed, and struggles to cruise even on the slightest incline. It's an odd feeling, one that would make you believe the truck is decelerating with throttle applied, but the speedometer seems to report otherwise. I did not have this feeling with my previous RAM.

I’ll keep you updated. I’m regretting not getting the 5.7. I’m convinced my problem is definitely a driveline issue. TC, driveshaft, or u joint is where I’m leaning. I did turn off the hill assist and didn’t notice much difference so far, if any.
 

Black_Pearl

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I got the recommendation from someone to pay more attention to the RPMs when the vibration is occurring. In doing so, I noticed that when cruising along through town at light to normal throttle, the truck tends to try and hold around 1,000 RPMs in 5th, 6th, 7th gears. It may be just slightly above (1100 or so). This is when the vibrations and sound is at it's worst. If i push the gas just a little to increase RPMs, the vibration reduces a bit. Also removing foot from accelerator and letting it coast stops the vibration. The shudder on when coming to a stop is still consistently always around 20 to 25 mph and 5th gear.
 

Black_Pearl

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Went to get a second opinion today. Shop foreman described the problem before I did. He had a conversation with a second person yesterday about the same thing. He told me that this was, unfortunately, all in the way the trucks are programmed. They are programmed to run a higher gear than it should be for the lower speed it is trying to maintain. He said this was a complaint even with the hemis, but they weren’t as bad. He said there was not a thing that they would be able to do about it.

if this is the case, RAM should look at improving their programming while I work on trading this thing in on something that doesn’t scare me every time I drive it. I’m a little tired of “you have plenty of warranty.” $40k + prices vehicles should no be unpleasant and potentially dangerous to drive. Period.

@RamCares want to help me pick out a new GMC Sierra ?
 

RamCares

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Went to get a second opinion today. Shop foreman described the problem before I did. He had a conversation with a second person yesterday about the same thing. He told me that this was, unfortunately, all in the way the trucks are programmed. They are programmed to run a higher gear than it should be for the lower speed it is trying to maintain. He said this was a complaint even with the hemis, but they weren’t as bad. He said there was not a thing that they would be able to do about it.

if this is the case, RAM should look at improving their programming while I work on trading this thing in on something that doesn’t scare me every time I drive it. I’m a little tired of “you have plenty of warranty.” $40k + prices vehicles should no be unpleasant and potentially dangerous to drive. Period.

@RamCares want to help me pick out a new GMC Sierra ?

Thank you for taking the time to document your experience here, @Black_Pearl. I am deeply sorry for the frustration, as this is not at all how we expect our customers to feel. If it would be of interest, I would be happy to get your situation formally documented via a case. Our team is always a private message away and more than willing to look into your situation further to determine how we may best assist you.

Mark
RamCares
 

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