Oil filter adapter housing 3.6 Pentastar

[bigz1983]

I have a 2020 RAM 1500 Classic 2wd with the 3.6 Pentastar engine.
I have heard that the plastic oil filter adapter housing on top of the motor(intake manifold)is prone to cracking.

The truck has almost 170,000 miles on it and a friend of mine looked at it and he believes it's the original plastic oil filter adapter housing.
Is there a replacement oil filter housing made out of aluminum for the 3.6 Pentastar?
If not should I just replace it because it's most likely going to crack sometime in the near future?

 

[Rlaf75]

There are a couple companies that make aluminum housings. I believe Dorman is pretty popular. If youre the original owner of that truck and never replaced it already id leave it alone because I think you found a unicorn lol. I work on a fleet of promaster vans with that engine and were lucky to get 60k miles out of them nevermind 170k miles lol

 

[bigz1983]

There are a couple companies that make aluminum housings. I believe Dorman is pretty popular. If youre the original owner of that truck and never replaced it already id leave it alone because I think you found a unicorn lol. I work on a fleet of promaster vans with that engine and were lucky to get 60k miles out of them nevermind 170k miles lol

No I'm not the original owner I purchased the truck last year May 2025.
So it's most likely not the original oil filter housing?

 

[Sherman Bird]

I have a 2020 RAM 1500 Classic 2wd with the 3.6 Pentastar engine.
I have heard that the plastic oil filter adapter housing on top of the motor(intake manifold)is prone to cracking.

The truck has almost 170,000 miles on it and a friend of mine looked at it and he believes it's the original plastic oil filter adapter housing.
Is there a replacement oil filter housing made out of aluminum for the 3.6 Pentastar?
If not should I just replace it because it's most likely going to crack sometime in the near future?

Replace it, do the spark plugs too.

 

[Rlaf75]

No I'm not the original owner I purchased the truck last year May 2025.
So it's most likely not the original oil filter housing?

More than likely its been replaced. It is/was a common problem with those engines. The rocker arms and cams are another fairly common problem with high idle poorly maintained engines. I personally havent seen any penatstar engines with 170k miles.

 

[star_deceiver]

If it’s not leaking wait until 200k miles and do it when you do the spark plugs. At 100k miles mine wasn’t leaking but I did it anyways with the plugs.

 

[nstoolman1]

Mine went with 70,000 on her. It was covered under my extended warranty. The did charge for the plugs and trans service while they had it.

 

[Docwagon1776]

Don't gorilla tighten it and it'll last a lot longer. Torque spec is 18 ft/lb. Some people use witness marks vs a torque wrench.

 

[stenerson]

I work on a fleet of promaster vans with that engine and were lucky to get 60k miles out of them nevermind 170k miles lol

I did mine 2 weeks ago with 176K miles. Since I was down there I finally changed the spark plugs. First time for both. Engine running great, no ticks yet, knock on wood.

 

[Rlaf75]

I did mine 2 weeks ago with 176K miles. Since I was down there I finally changed the spark plugs. First time for both. Engine running great, no ticks yet, knock on wood.

Thats awesome. The fleet I work on usually gets abused pretty good. Keep doing what youre doing because it seems to be working for you

 

[Ritchie_Rich]

I have a 2020 RAM 1500 Classic 2wd with the 3.6 Pentastar engine.
I have heard that the plastic oil filter adapter housing on top of the motor(intake manifold)is prone to cracking.

The truck has almost 170,000 miles on it and a friend of mine looked at it and he believes it's the original plastic oil filter adapter housing.
Is there a replacement oil filter housing made out of aluminum for the 3.6 Pentastar?
If not should I just replace it because it's most likely going to crack sometime in the near future?

It’s only prone to cracking if you over tighten it.

 

[crackerjack1957]

Seals & sensors leak also from heat cycles........ even if upgrading to the aluminum adapter........

 

[Grams]

Plastic….is…well… PLASTIC. It becomes brittle with heat and vibration.

So…if YOUR engine …never gets warmer than room-temperature …and if it doesn’t vibrate…. you can safely leave that OEM plastic coil filter adaptor which supples LIFE-PRESERVING ENGINE OIL to your engine alone.

If you have the luck of my wife…. you’ll also be OK. (She had her oil changed at the dealer and then drove it 25 miles back home…and got all the way …almost…into the garage …before the Oil-Pressure Warning Light came on.

YEP! The Dealer re-installed the filter and tightened that plastic adaptor and CRACKED IT…and the engine spewed oil all the way home….25 miles of rural roads.

I swapped that oil filter adaptor out to an ALL ALUMINUM DOORMAN from O’Reilleys. $35.

I made the dealer refund the oil change to make up the cost of having to do it over myself.

 

[Docwagon1776]

Plastic….is…well… PLASTIC. It becomes brittle with heat and vibration.

So…if YOUR engine …never gets warmer than room-temperature …and if it doesn’t vibrate…. you can safely leave that OEM plastic coil filter adaptor which supples LIFE-PRESERVING ENGINE OIL to your engine alone.

Plastics are used in a ton of components subjected to heat and vibration. Why aren't they cracking? Are valve covers cracking randomly?

YEP! The Dealer re-installed the filter and tightened that plastic adaptor and CRACKED IT…and the engine spewed oil all the way home….25 miles of rural roads.

Why are they cracking during reinstallation specifically? Which goes back to the newest and dumbest guys are the lube monkeys at the dealership. If you're stuck using them, maybe look if anyone makes a cast iron one...

 

[EdGs]

Plastic….is…well… PLASTIC. It becomes brittle with heat and vibration.

So…if YOUR engine …never gets warmer than room-temperature …and if it doesn’t vibrate…. you can safely leave that OEM plastic coil filter adaptor which supples LIFE-PRESERVING ENGINE OIL to your engine alone.

If you have the luck of my wife…. you’ll also be OK. (She had her oil changed at the dealer and then drove it 25 miles back home…and got all the way …almost…into the garage …before the Oil-Pressure Warning Light came on.

YEP! The Dealer re-installed the filter and tightened that plastic adaptor and CRACKED IT…and the engine spewed oil all the way home….25 miles of rural roads.

I swapped that oil filter adaptor out to an ALL ALUMINUM DOORMAN from O’Reilleys. $35.

I made the dealer refund the oil change to make up the cost of having to do it over myself.

Wonder what kind of damage running on low oil did. How much oil did she lose?

If alot, that dealer should be married to that engine if it fails down the road.

Hope all is ok.

 

[star_deceiver]

It’s only prone to cracking if you over tighten it.

Cold winter morning, -35… driving to work, oil/coolant heats up, 210… repeat, that’s quite the swing. As far as I could tell, mine didn’t leak. The cap also never got torqued down. Spun by hand until it stopped, that’s it.

Considering it’s held to the engine with 5 small bolts, cranking on the cap could easily crack the plastic.