Hey there. I'm new to this forum and I'm hoping someone can steer me in the right direction.
I have a 2001 Intrepid 2.7 with 133k that we purchased new. At around 100-105k(the majority highway miles and having used Castrol Syntec 10W-30 since 40k), the trans went bad so I pulled the motor
and trans together. While I had the engine out I thought, given all the bad things I had heard about the 2.7, it would be a good idea to check and replace some of the internals. So I replaced the rod and main bearings even though they looked good, timing chain and tensioners, and water pump. Even though I found zero sludge anywhere, I also flushed out the oil pump and pickup, checked the oil return passages, and the passages to the oil filter and just to be safe, I pulled an old racer trick and slid a .050” shim under the oil pressure spring in the oil pump. Satisfied, I put it back together and drove off expecting to get another 100k.
At about 130k, my wife told me the oil light would flicker or come on at idle when the engine was warm, usually when she was stopped and in gear.
I checked my sources and read about the replacement http://<span style="color:windowtext...harness</span> for the oil pressure sender, then I read about a replacement for the oil pressure sender.
I replaced the sender with a Genuine Mopar Part from a dealer, but no change.
This last week, I installed an oil pressure gauge and it read 45 lbs at cold idle going as high as 75 lbs at 3000 rpm. But when it warmed up, at 2500 in OD, the gauge needle rested on the pin and the only way to make it rise was to shift back into 3rd. At 3000 rpm, I can get about 5-7 lbs.
I know I have (or had) the correct clearance on the new bearings, I checked them all with plastigage and none of the journals had any scoring (had it been any other engine, I never would’ve replaced any bearings that looked as good as the originals in this engine).
My question now is; should I have replaced the oil pump? Do these go bad on the 2.7? The engine is still quiet, idles without any noise, no clicks or knocks at all, and runs good. I was certain I had a faulty oil pressure sender and that is why I put a gauge in.
After checking around more, I have learned that the crank end of the rods can “egg out” and cause the low oil pressure issue. My initial thought was to replace the engine with used 3.2 or 3.5, but this appears to be outside my current budget.
So now my question is, where, and for what price, can I get replacement rods? Are they Genuine Mopar only, or is there a good aftermarket source. Is there a complete rod, crank and bearing package available?
I’m really frustrated with this. Any and all help is greatly appreciated.

 

I think they "egg out" when there is a sludge issue due to wear from friction when the oil is not flowing properly. I'm not really sure though...only a inference from a sludge issue, but as you mentioned there was no sludge. I am curious to the "old race car trick" you mentioned. On what engine was this done, and what gain was given by his trick?

 

This was a pretty common trick back in the 70’s and 80’s. If you wanted more oil pressure you only needed to shim the relief spring in the oil pump. Mopar offered a variety of high and low tension oil pump springs through “Direct Connection”, but a shim could be made from a washer of the proper thickness and diameter and on a B or RB (or even a Slant six) could be slid into place very easily (We also shimmed our valve springs to gain rpm).
I drag raced for several years and we would run high volume with a lower pressure (minutely lower frictional loss) but sometimes a spring would be a little too loose, so we would shim it.
Small blocks, especially the cast crank 360, would suffer with low oil pressure at hot idle. A shim was an easy fix.

 

i think my 2001 dodge intrepid se with 2.7l had the same problem you are writing about, my oil pressure light would come on during trips over 30 minutes. A mechanic told me that dodge actually issued a service bulletin regarding this problem, they advised using 5w 30 year round, not sure if this is the true solution to the problem but it did the trick for me. I do know the two times someone used 10w 30 after i had the sending unit replaced i had to have it replaced again....so there must be some truth to it. by the way very impressive that you have that many miles on the car. my 2.7's tranny went at 56k.... I bought a pontiac g6 out of spite, but i think when my lease is up i will be buying another 'trep i had a 95 trep, bought it with 97k, traded it with 140k, replaced stablizing link? and tires other than that 3yrs of ownership with no worries sadly i traded it in 2004 when my family moved 400miles away and my husband thought i should get something more reliable for the trips.... i think he was wrong

 

Thanks for the info. I guess I'll have to check out that TSB. I have a hard time getting my head around the thinner oil thing but if that's what will do it ; whatever.
PS, Sorry to hear about the Pontiac thing. I hope there is a cure for it

 

hey you're welcome, I know how puzzling it was for me, cuz that stupid light started coming on around 45k (i bought it with 40k on it). I am just glad I went to the right garage that day, also I forgot to add that the same tsb stated that you should not use any additives in the oil. i don't know how to get ahold of the tsb though, because I think several years and several chrysler products were included in it. but i can't remember which ones. anyway good luck with the trep and wish me luck in my shopping for a replacement for my crappy gm...