When is there going to be a class action suit against chrysler over the 2.7?

[RT DAVE]

Every other intrepid with a 2.7 liter motor on ebay has a blown motor.   When is DC going to recall that thing or stop manufacturing it.  Are the new ones any better?  I got a 3.5 in mine, so I'm not too worried about that happening to mine.   Anybody out there have problems with their 2.7?

[twilt]

I am surprised there hasn`t been a major suit yet.  I did a water pump (driven by timing chain) on one a few months ago for a regular customer. If i didn`t know better, i would have sworn that they never changed their oil. They did change it every 3000 miles.  Less than 80k miles and the motor was sludged up terribly. I wont touch one again, you can bet on that. If you have a 2.7, either get rid of it or at VERY LEAST use synthetic motor oil.

[bull]

When HLPAG gets what it has coming to it or when hell freezes over, whichever comes first.

[694spdRT]

We have a wrecked '99 Intrepid with a 2.7 that we used as a parts car several years back for a 2000 Intrepid ES with the 3.2L engine. The 2.7 had 98,000 on it when wrecked but, I have no idea if it had any trouble before that. The 3.2 has not given any problems and it has 75,000 on it now.

[General-lee-66]

When HLPAG gets what it has coming to it or when hell freezes over, whichever comes first.

My 2 cents.... Hlpag passes off cars that been dead for years in a junkyard as General Lee's replicas, I know for a fact that he buys decals from phoenix graphix and they are not even close to the originals...  He really needs to upgrade those cars! those cars don't even have straight body lines! He needs to send the cars to IRAQ, they would have something to shoot at! 

[73dodge]

I have a 99 Intrepid with the dreaded 2.7L I have 125,000 miles on it. Burns about a quart of oil every 3k and still gets about 15mpg.

The thing with these cars is you must change the oil regulary at 3000 miles WITH Mobil1 or some other synthetic oil because of the high detergant contant of the oil.

The water pump has to be changed at about 100k because the design is rotten, it sits connected to the timing chain and if it leaks the water goes directley into the oil pan causing sludge. Also the Transmission fluid must be changed every 50-60k miles and you MUST USE ATF+3 or +4 anything else will cause you to detonate the tranny after about 2000 miles.

So far in the 6 years I have owned this car I have had to change the Input/output sensor on the tranny the Camshaft position sensor and the oil sending unit.

It's not a bad engine if you maintain it meticulosly but most owners don't do that. 


Oh and one more thing every oil change I pump in about a half a can of seafoam into the intake and the oil pan before I change the oil that stuff works really well in cleaning out the gunk, especially the carbon deposits on the valve.

[hemigeno]

Oh boy, you guys have me all worried now.  We just bought an '04 Stratus Sedan for my daughter to begin driving lessons in (no WAY are we turning her loose with the wife's HemiDurango!!!).  It has the 2.7L and 66,000 miles on it already.  My plans were to have the transmission & cooling system flushed soon, maybe I'll have them check a few other things out while they're at it now...

That makes perfect sense about the water pump leaks and sludging up the oil.  That's not the only one of MaMopar's newer engines that is prone to sludge though.  IIRC there was some guy a couple of years back with a V8 Durango that was supposedly going to burn it in protest since it had so many problems including sludge.  I suppose that the head gaskets could leak water into the oil also, so a sludge problem could be caused elsewhere too, dontchathink?

I figure every drivetrain has its quirks though.  We had a '96 minivan with the 3.8L, and we had to have two transmission rebuilds in 125k miles.  And no, I wasn't doing neutral drops with it...   

[greenpigs]

The X has an 01 sebring convertible with the 2.7, the only good thing for her is her brother works at a jiffy lube and she changes the oil every 3K or so.

[twilt]

Changing the oil every 3 thousand miles on a 2.7 is not enough to prevent sludging. Using a synthetic is a must.
The sludging has nothing to do with the water pump leaking coolant into the oil underneath the timing cover. Any coolant leaking   from the water pump weep hole is channeled thru a passage in the side of the block. The sludging is due to pick up tube and oil passage design flaws. The oil doesnt circulate well enough and is literally cooked inside the block. Google search  2.7 oil sludge, you'll be amazed at how bad the problem is.       

[BigBlackDodge]

148K on my 2.7 2000 Intrepid. Gets 25 to 30 miles a gallon, burns a little oil but not bad. I've replaced 2 timing chain tensioners and a oil sending unit since I bought it with 70k on the clock.

I can't complain much.


BBD

[Silver R/T]

so thats why people are not into them that much, wasnt aware there was an issue like that.

[twilt]

148K on my 2.7 2000 Intrepid. Gets 25 to 30 miles a gallon, burns a little oil but not bad. I've replaced 2 timing chain tensioners and a oil sending unit since I bought it with 70k on the clock.

I can't complain much.


BBD

tick, tick, tick     good luck

[blackcharger]

we have an '04 Intrepid w/ the 2.7, 70,000 miles and a leaking water pump..............other than that it's been as good car. The '99 w/ the 3.2 was a MAJOR lemon. engine,trans,radiator, the trans died again and that's when we dumped it.

[nh_mopar_fan]

My 02 Sebring Ragtop has 84K on it. 35K of it in the last year. So far so good.

[andy74]

i see a lot of 2.7 intrepids with engine trouble at the dealership,but oddly enough,ver few stratus?im not sure if there are any differences,dont seem to be-new engines are much better(according to dcx)

[73dodge]

I think after 2003 they improved the engine design not sure though I know the early ones were prone to destruction

[Mike DC]

   
It's crazy that the engine got put into production with that kind of design problem anyway. 

Detroit can't keep doing stuff like this and then act like they're serious about competing with the Asians' rep for quality. 
People tend to remember it when the company's flagship large car platform is barfing engines every 80,000 miles.

 

[greenpigs]

Wonder why the Not so BIG three are in deep poop now?

I guess DCX is doing ok in comparison to Chebby and Ford.

[BigBlackDodge]

148K on my 2.7 2000 Intrepid. Gets 25 to 30 miles a gallon, burns a little oil but not bad. I've replaced 2 timing chain tensioners and a oil sending unit since I bought it with 70k on the clock.

I can't complain much.


BBD

tick, tick, tick     good luck

BOOM! lol

The tech guy said the inside of the motor looked very clean which makes me sleep better at night! Mine must have been built on a wednesday.

BBD

[adauto]

I gotta luv 2.7's , we sell every good one we get!!! 

But the otherside is this... from what I've heard the oil ports are too small. Not enough oil changes/cheap filters/ect clog the journals. Toyota had the same problem w the 3.0 in the pickups and 4 Runners. Doh another money maker! ...... sorry I couldn't resist

[Spike]

http://www.allpar.com/mopar/new6.html

[Redchargerman]

We have 2000 Intrepid with 66000 miles on it.Last Sat. the 2.7 went out while the wife was on her way to S. Carolina from Jax. Fl.I had to go to Savannah Ga. to pick her and the car up. It's been rattling for the last 10,000 miles...oil change every 3000 mi.so that wasn't an issue. I checked it before she left an had to add 1 qt.so it does leak a little, but I knew that by looking at the garage floor.Just changed the cam-shaft sensorand had the tranny checked. I'm wanting to put a 3.2 in it as soon as I can find a good one.Any ideas or tricks I should know about the conversion? Any thing you know will sure help!

[NICKA]

Had a Dodge Intrepid with the 2.7 with low miles that had the oil issue.  When I checked the internet and noticed problems with the 2.7, so I traded it in for a 300m 3.5.  No oil problems and I've got 150K on the 3.5 motor.  A much better motor.

[Plumcrazy]

I've seen several 2.7's that self destructed where I work.

I wouldn't buy one or recommend one to someone I know.

[adauto]

FYI  3.2 conversions are being done.. just get the harness and computer to go along with it! 

But keep it our little secret.. 

[1970440RT]

   
It's crazy that the engine got put into production with that kind of design problem anyway. 

Detroit can't keep doing stuff like this and then act like they're serious about competing with the Asians' rep for quality. 
People tend to remember it when the company's flagship large car platform is barfing engines every 80,000 miles.

 

     You'd be surprised what the Mfr's put into production.  All company's have their issues with design flaws.  Speaking of, I hope all you GM owners have gotten rid of your 3.1 liter cars!!  Just did another intake manifold gasket on a Malibu last weekend, lucky for the owner the coolant leaked to the outside of the block and not to the inside. 

     My good buddy was, until recently, a wrench at a Dodge dealership and said that the 2.7 is a poor design but as long as the oil is changed EVERY 3000 mi. it will live.  My neighbor's 2.7 Intrepid is at 120k and still good.

[twilt]

My good buddy was, until recently, a wrench at a Dodge dealership and said that the 2.7 is a poor design but as long as the oil is changed EVERY 3000 mi. it will live.  My neighbor's 2.7 Intrepid is at 120k and still good.

Buddy is wrong. changing the oil every 3k isn`t enough. Regardless, the factory suggested oil change interval is more like 5-6k. Stick to that guidleine and you will be lucky to see 70k. Truth is that 120k miles isn`t much by todays standards. Note that all the techs and shop owners that have contributed to this post agree that it is a POS and/or would not recommend anyone buy one.

[hemigeno]

From what I'm reading though, it seems that the problems are confined to the earlier iterations of the 2.7.   Correct me if I'm wrong here, but according to Allpar.com the design was supposedly changed sometime between 2002 and 2004 to eliminate the sludge problem.  Has there been enough experience with the newer models to say if that is true or not?

[1970440RT]

Buddy is wrong. changing the oil every 3k isn`t enough. Regardless, the factory suggested oil change interval is more like 5-6k. Stick to that guidleine and you will be lucky to see 70k. Truth is that 120k miles isn`t much by todays standards. Note that all the techs and shop owners that have contributed to this post agree that it is a POS and/or would not recommend anyone buy one.

     I also agree that it is a pos and would never buy one.  The factory manual...Therin lies the problem.  Most people with out car do it yourself skill will get an oil change at the mfr. recommended interval if even that.  People like us change the oil ourselves in our driveway, so we know when we did it, more than likely every 3k miles ( regardless of what the mfr. interval was)  we would be way ahead of the game.  My neighbors car apparently falls into this category since he's had it since new.  120k is doable, at least in this case.   
    In a related incident, a Hyundai will not go 17k without an oil change.  My douchebag brother in law is now the proud owner of an imported boat anchor, despite me reminding him every family get together to get the oil changed.   He also is wondering how the Hyundai garage knew he never changed the oil.

[twilt]

Happened to see one of my old service manager a couple of days ago, who now works at a Chrysler dealership service dept.. He stopped by to show me his new 06 Charger, which i have to admit looked pretty sharp.... a burnt orange R/T with 5.7 L Hemi. I mentioned the 2.7 and his eyes rolled into the back of his head . He pretty much said that they see a lot of them in with oiling  system related engine problems. He said to stay away from 2004 and older.

[glenh2nd]

From my experience as a Parts Manager I would not buy a used vehicle, pre-2003, with a 2.7L. I haven't seem any problems yet with 2004 and above models. As most have suggested, if you do own one, using synthetic oil is the way to go. The 2.7L is also one of the most expensive remanufactured engines we sell with a price tag of $4700!

Ouch!

~Glen

[twilt]

Update- I found out that one of my customers was able to receive a sizable settlement (3-4k)  in regard to their 2.7L intrepid. I had encouraged them to do some internet searching in regard to the oil sludging problem and potential class action lawsuits.  Apparently chrysler has hired an outside company to negotiate settlements. I will follow up with more specific information.   

[Charger_Croatia]

I have owned '01 Sebring Sedan 2.7 LXi which was sold with 35k on it two years ago. As far as I know buyer didn't have any complaint so far. Oil change interval was 7500 miles, with 10W40 synthetic oil. I never found any sign of sludge so I guess oil quality is an issue here; even when change oil was not black but brown and clear. Also I must say that we have 95 octane as regular fuel so maybe that is more suitable for this engine. There was once fuel issue with local fuel supplier and there were engine failures with those who refueled cars with that s**t (European cars, Japanese cars etc). Among them was one Sebring owner who only needs to clean injection system, no serious failure like on other cars.

Right  now I have '05 Sebring Convertible with 2.7 with 10k, oil change interval remain 7500 miles, oil remain synthetic but now I'm using 100 octane fuel (sulphur free). So, I have only good experience with 2.7 liter engine.