2.7L V6 Sludge Problem
#11
I had a 2002 Intrepid 2.7 3 years ago and I never had any engine problems. I knew about these engines so When I bought it in '04 it had 25,000 miles, I used synthetic every 3,000 (Castrol GTX) and replaced my PCV valve at 30,000. It ran perfectly until the day I sold it January '07 with 93,000 and the ONLY reason why I sold it was because the evaporator was leaking freon faster than I could recharge it.
When I used to work for Dodge, we had to constantly tell customers to ignore the factory recommend 7500 mile oil change interval, and go with the 3 month/3,000 mile interval. So many times people let it go 2 to 3 thousand over and repeated overages in the "severe" oil change category will lead to engine failures. You can run straight conventional, just don't go over; it's best to be under not over.
When I used to work for Dodge, we had to constantly tell customers to ignore the factory recommend 7500 mile oil change interval, and go with the 3 month/3,000 mile interval. So many times people let it go 2 to 3 thousand over and repeated overages in the "severe" oil change category will lead to engine failures. You can run straight conventional, just don't go over; it's best to be under not over.
#13
Doing an engine flush is a fantastic way to break all that garbage loose and pack it inside your oil pump p/u screen and starve your bearings for oil and sieze your engine.
That's called condensation mixed with PCV system oil vapor. You never had a sludge problem. 4.7L don't have sludge problems. That oil fill spout isn't even part of the internal engine.
there was an awful lot of sludge built up in the oil fill cap and fill spout. This indicates a sludge problem throughout the engine
#16
You never had a sludge problem. 4.7L don't have sludge problems. That oil fill spout isn't even part of the internal engine.[/quote]
I'm not sure about your area, but 4.7's sludge up in the upper cylinder heads quite frequently. At my Mitsubishi dealership, we have had several Raider V8's with 90,000+ miles and have had to take the heads off, because it sludged up.
#17
2.7 Dodge
Well it looks like I too made the big mistake of buying a dodge Intrepid with a 2.7 engine. I previously owned a jeep which served well but was rear ended on the FWY and the Jeep was totaled. Desperate to get another car to get back in business I bought what looked like a good deal on a 98 Intrepid. I have never owned a car that spun a rod bearing but this one did. I repaired it once with a shim to last 4 months then goes out again. I just went and bought a crank shaft used and may put it in over next few days. I have never had any car cause as many problems as this 2.7 Intrepid. The car has around 150k. The biggest issue to watch for I believe is your coolant level. If your loosing coolant and have no leaks its going in the oil which will cause sludge. I would suggest if your having problems to switch to a 3.5 liter but you also need to switch the tranny due to higher HP. Supposedly there's a water pump with an external weep hole (dodge fix). The water pump is internal which is one of the reasons for sludge but another I just read about said it was also caused by the engine ventilation system causing too many hydrocarbons into the oil and destroying the oil additives. Fixed around 2002-04. I personally have spent enough time trying to keep the car running with 2 broken rods and now a crank replace, I doubt I'll be buying another Dodge any time soon. LOL.