Grand Caravan V6-3.3L VIN E Flex Fuel (2007)
Piston: Description and Operation
DESCRIPTION - 3.8L
CAUTION: DO NOT STAMP the connecting rods during identification. The use of a scribe or a paint mark is acceptable.
NOTE: The 3.3L and 3.8L may have any combination of forged or cracked cap connecting rods. The cracked cap design is easily identified by
the connecting rod cap bolts rather than the traditional forged connecting rod cap nuts. The cracked cap design also has a different tightening
procedure and specification. The connecting rod caps must be paint marked or scribed to identify the accompanying connecting rod. All
connecting rod caps ARE NOT inner changeable between connecting rods.
The pistons are made of cast aluminum alloy and are a strutless, short skirt design. The connecting rods have either the standard forged caps or forged
cracked cap design. Both the cracked cap and forged cap connecting rod designs are interchangeable and may be found in any combination when
mounted to the crankshaft. The connecting rods ARE NOT interchangeable between engines. The 3.8L connecting rods can be identified by a raised
DOT in the center "I beam" area above the large end bore. The difference between the two different rod caps, aside from design, is the tightening
procedure and specification. The piston rings consist of two compression rings and a three piece oil ring. Piston pins connect the piston to the forged
steel connecting rods. The piston pins are a press fit into the connecting rod small bore. The piston, pin and connecting rod are serviced as an assembly.
