2.7L Engine - Oil Sludge Trouble etc. etc. etc.

I am looking at purchasing a 2001 Intrepid from my local (and very reputable) Chrysler dealer. It was disclosed the 2.7 L engine was replaced and is brand new (out of the crate from Mopar).

This engine comes with a 1 year, 20,000 km warranty. The vehicle runs great!

Did some quick searching online, noticed endless web sites containing owners' 2.7L low mileage horror stories...especially the timing belt and oil sludge problems.

Questions...

Even though, the engine is new...am I at high risk for these troubles?

Will synthetic oil help??

Has Chryler fixed (or recalled) their defect?

Thanks and Regards, S

Reply to
yuck.fou
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This does seem to be a common problem for 2.7L engines. Using synthetic oil will reduce the sludging possibility.

-KM

Reply to
kmatheson

I would recommend Mobil 1 Extended Performance oil of the appropriate viscosity recommended by Chrysler for your conditions. If there was a timing belt issue one would think a running change has been made to address that issue. If confirmed, just change it a bit more frequently.

Richard.

Reply to
Richard

If you search this group using the group page of

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you will find that Chrysler did change the crankcase ventilation system and that was supposed to help. I don't know what year it was changed. If it was before

2001 obviously it did not do the complete job. If after, the new engine should have the fix and hopefully you will be ok.

Reply to
Art

I doubt very seriously that you have read of any problems with the timing belt in the 2.7L since it does not have a timing belt - it has a timing chain. I suspect the timing chain problems were related to sludging (tensioner getting clogged). If that is the case, then if sludging is prevented, you should not worry. I have a '99 2.7 with 165k miles on it. I chose to use Marvel Mystery Oil instead of synthetic, change oil and filter every 3000 to 3500 miles. The fact that I drive

80 miles/day probably has as much to do with lack of problems as anything.

Though DC has never admitted any problems, I would think that DC has fixed those problems that don't exist, else they are pretty stupid to have used it in their new platform. Your engine should have the upgrades in it - larger capacity oil pump, heat exchanger added to PCV hose to prevent clogging, possibly some other things.

Bottom line: Assume that the fixes are in your engine, change the oil and filter regularly, and relax about it. If you do that and drive mostly highway vs. short-trip stop & go, then you should definitely have no problems. Use synthetic if you want to - it's not a panacea, but if you're going to use it, don't wait until you have a lot of miles on it to do so.

Bill Putney (To reply by e-mail, replace the last letter of the alphabet in my address with the letter 'x')

Reply to
Bill Putney

It has a timing chain, not a belt. Any such issues were probably sludge related.

Bill Putney (To reply by e-mail, replace the last letter of the alphabet in my address with the letter 'x')

Reply to
Bill Putney

With a new or rebuilt 2.7 Liter engine and a 20,000 km warranty, I personally wouldn't hesitate at all. (where is it ? I might buy another one if you don't take it). You should be able have long trouble-free service from the engine if you are religious about oil changes. If the one you're looking at is truly a new crate motor, then I believe it will have all the modifications in it that eliminate the tendency to fail due to sludge accumulation. The engine still exposes the oil to some fairly high skin temps on the heads that can cause oil degredation. And the cooling system design can cause more than the normal amount of low temp sludging if there are a lot of real short trips. But today's SM rated oils are better at fighting that than anything we've had before

I have a 2001 Intrepid with the 2.7 L V-6. Currently has 233,000 km (145,000 mi). No problems so far. The engine still runs like a switch watch.

I am acutely aware of the sludge reputation of these engines and therefore I'm anal about oil changes, oil quality and filter selection. For non-synthetic oil, I've used either Castrol GTX or Valvoline Maxlife High Mileage 5W-30 with 5000 km oil change intervals. Oil Filters : NO Frams, (expect perhaps the Fram XG series which is good). I highly recommend the NAPA GOLD 1058 (made by WIX and their best filter). I actually use a slightly oversized filter on mine - the NAPA Gold 1068 (equivalent to a PH43). Purolator PureOne filters are also excellent but impossible to find if you're in Canada.

I am currently experimenting with synthetic oil in this engine and extending the oil drain interval. I have 2 oil samples from my engine in for lab analysis right now. Synthetic is definitely a good choice for this engine but hopefully I (we) can get the extra expense offset by doing longer oil drain intervals. Mobil 1 is an excellent choice for synthetics but not the only one. Valvoline's Maxlife Synthetic and Pennzoil Platinum Plus are also very good. And there are others too.

I recall one individual with a 2.7 L V-6 that ran Amsoil synthetic and did oil changes at 6K - 7K mi (9600 - 11,000 km). He had the water pump replaced at 190K miles and decided to replace the timing chains at the same time. He said the interior of the motor was absolutely immaculate; clean aluminum from top to bottom; not even varnish discoloration. So it can be done.

Sorry for the long post. Working with this 2.7 L V-6 has become a small side project for me.

Good luck....Phil

snipped-for-privacy@sympatico.ca wrote:

Reply to
Phil T

Sorry - this should have said NAPA GOLD *1085* (direct replacement for the standard filter)

Phil

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Reply to
Phil T

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g8tscott

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g8tscott

Reply to
Keith

First off, you should start using castrol syntec 5W-30 in the winter,

10W-30 in the summer, and K&N oil filters. Chyrsler recommends against using Mobil 1 Synthetics, for reasons I don't know. Oil changes at around 8-10,000 miles should be ok, unless your anal like me(5,000)... This engine can be a good engine if WELL maintained, but was designed poorly. Common problems are poor quality engine bearings, timing chain slippage/breakage, narrow oil passages, and the sludge problem..As for the sludge problem, the engine has "hotspots" in the head probably due to poor passage location/design. This causes poor quality oil to cook.
Reply to
corning_d3

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