Hi all,

My wife's 99 Intrepid with the 2.7 v6 has about 115K miles on it. At 90K, I took it in to our mechanic to have new belts/hoses/etc put on it and I asked him about replacing the timing chain. He said that, because it is a chain, it was good for about 200K miles and he recommended leaving it till then. According to the owner's manual, 90K is the recommended interval.

What are the board's thoughts on this? Is the manual simply being overly cautious or was my mechanic absolutely wrong and I need to get it changed tomorrow?

 

If you look at the owners manual it says timing BELT. Don't know why it says that but it does. Your mechanic is probably right about the timing chain not needing to be changed for 200,000 miles. However, with the problems that people have had with sludge and timing chains/tensioners going bad on them it may not be a bad idea to have it changed now.

 

I have never heard about a chain on a 99 Intrepid.
My 3.2 had a belt. I replaced timing belt, water pump, hoses, coolant and belts for less than $200 last Christmas weekend 2005.
Make sure you have a chain or it can be a very costly mistake.

 

i have a 99 intrepid with the 2.7 torn apart at this moment and it does have a timing chain. i have 85k on it but the chain guide broke recking havoc on the motor, heck the chain is still in good shape but the oil pump and bearings didnt like the added metal in the oil . and just a side note, my jeep had to have its timing chain done at 60k. sorry if i'm no help

 

The 2.7 has a timing CHAIN. This timing chain and "sludge" are the #1 reason for failure on these bad boys. You can try to get 200k but along with the service guide and your wallet I wouldnt suggest it.

Make sure you change the water pump too as they are known for leaking coolant into the oil.

 

I have a 99 Intrepid 2.7L. at about 110K miles I started getting misfires and dieing at idle. I finally found a good mechanic that through experience guessed that the chain had slipped. It was a gamble to take down the front of the engine. he said if he was wrong we wouldn't charge me. BUT, he was right. The chain had slipped 1-2 teeth throwing the timing off.

The point being I wouldn't count on the tensioner to last 200K miles. I would replace both the tensioner and the chain by 100K miles.