Is it worth it?
 

Have a 2002 Dodge Intrepid 2.7L. Neighbor sold me the car for scrap value. Pretty sure the water pump is shot. I drained 4 gallons of "Oil" out of the car. 136,764 miles on the engine.

The car is in excellent condition. I drained 4 gallons of oil out of the engine... The car runs but there is ticking coming from the front of the motor. I was considering doing timing chain, water pump, oil pump and such I changed the oil, threw some synthetic oil in the engine and the ticking has lessened. If it comes to it I'd change the connecting rod bearings. Hoping the damage isn't that great though. Engine ticking, not knocking.

So is the $200 car worth another $200 and the time?

4 gallons of oil out of the engine? Through the oill pan drain plug? How is that possible?

That was what I thought. Yeah, it all came out of the oil drain plug. Had to empty the pan twice... dumped it into a 5 gallon bucket. It took nearly an hour for it to all drain. The engine must have been about filled to to brim.

From what I have found. The timing chain rubs through the water pump housing when the hydrolic tensioner gets swamped with coolant. After that, coolant just pours into the engine.

The "oil" wasn't yellow but almost a chocolate moose color and consistency. My guess is the water pump is shot and they kept adding water.... Never bothering to check the oil. The poor PCV valve couldn't evaporate water that quickly.

I'm going to rip the engine apart this weekend if I have time. Morbid curiosity I guess. The body and interior on the car is mint. Would be a pity to scrap it. Does need rear brakes though.

What are some basic tests to know if the engine is destroyed? Should I drop the oil pan while the front of the engine is open and check the connecting rod bearings. If anything it sound like timing chain slap. Most of the noise is coming from the front of the engine. That or the front rocker arms are noisy.

Have done rebuilds before but this is my first 2.7 engine. That and have never seen so much water in the oil.

I just ripped the front of the engine apart. Only took about two hours.

Culprit for all of the noise... The timing chain was loose as heck, the water pump sprocket had come clean off of the shaft. It was just wedged in there. Think the engine is salvageable. Amazed that the car still ran under it's own power.

Not much sludge but the "oil" is in terrible condition. Didn't run it after the change other than to move it around the yard. I was too afraid it would jump time or goodness knows.

Finding TDC... or 60* is going to be a pain. Imagine I can hammer the sprocket back on and try to turn. As is it impossible to rotate the crank. The engine can make things move. I can't though even with a 2' breaker bar.

Did videotape most of the teardown... though poorly. Maybe it'll help others. Youtube vids on the work, not much or they never really show.

NO.............

End of video... 24:00 oil pump is fried. Going balls deep baby!

Got the car about 90% together and it's running!

At about the 34:00 minute mark the car is running. After about an hour of running the CEL lights went out. I never disconnected the battery terminals during the rebuild. Had a trickle charger on to keep the battery charged. Was getting camshaft position sensor, O2 sensor codes.
After running and driving the car the codes went away. Right now it'll pass inspection save for the bad brakes.
The Code reader said the codes had been present for a little over 400 miles.

I can hear a slight knock. When I have time plan on pulling the oil pan again and checking the bearings.
If the car last the winter I'll be happy. Only really plan on using it as a secondary vehicle. Then I can trade or part it out, maybe throw another engine in next spring. So far I have less than $500 into the car including parts and what I payed for it.

The oil light is off when I first start the car but comes on when at operating temp... The sensor for the oil sending unit s leaking oil. But with the slight knock I'm betting the bearings are about gone... At Idle and warm the oil light comes on but above 1,000 RPM it goes off. Can rev the engine up to or above 3,000 RPM There is little or no noticeable knock from inside the car. Revved the car to about 4,000 RPM in the video and you can hear. Very optimistic but I think the engine may be salvageable or at the very least it may last the winter. Bad oil sensor or worn bearings or both

The water pump failed. The oil pump failed. Even with new WP, OP the engine is most certainly not long for this world unless I replace the crank. Simple enough to replace the crank but I don't have the time. And for the price... may as well replace with a more reliable engine. I'd like to see what the crank or connecting rod bearings look like to gauge the life expectancy of the engine. I'm hoping to see 50 miles a week out of the car.

I put the car on the road and added roadside assistance to the car insurance in case I blow the engine and need a tow. Hope for the best... prepare for the worst.

Yeah, everything I read says the 2.7 Is crap. I can get a 3.2 or 3.5 engine from the salvage yard for $150. I just don't have the time. Winter is coming... and I don't have a garage to work in.
If I could i'd put the 2.0 or 2.4 from a Dodge Neon in the car. A 2.4 with a 5 speed manual transmission would be sweet. Great engines and easy to work on.
I really would trade the Intrepid for a Neon strait up. Love those cars. Talked to the owner of a salvage yard which is only two miles away. Asked him to look out for a Neon. They're typically a favorite in local crash up derby and as stock cars though... He said he would. I'd trade him strait up for the Intrepid or a 2003 Ford Taurus.

I'm also trying to get the Taurus ready. Replaced the Windshield and the steering rack. Still have to replace the brakes/rotors all round. Body is in great shape. As is the engine. Another candidate as a secondary vehicle... though I don't like working on Fords.

So far the car runs great. Small things... brakes/rotors, coolant overflow tank need to be replaced. If it lasts ten days (inspection) I'll sink that into the car. Which is another $200

Story I got was there was a coolant leak. They took it to the shop and they wanted $900. Water pump. The car was not ticking... When they picked the car up the engine was ticking LOUD. Oh god it was loud but it was mostly timing chain rattle and the sprocket from the water pump grinding on the timing chain cover. Typical engine, this is salvageable. Should have done my reading before buying but I was thinking typical engines which I have worked on before.

Don't regret buying, just looking for tips. Very bad odds of successfully replacing piston rod bearings. So should I bother or just drive it into the ground or trade her in? Or should I inspect the piston rod bearings to gauge how much damage there is? Another $20 and an hour or two... if it gives me six months or a year.

Cluster problem fixed.
 

My 2003 Dodge Ram 1500 was having the cluster battery drain issue for months. Also the horn stopped working. After months of research and trying to figure it out, I saw so many people changing out everything, from the cluster to the entire fuse box and wires and were still having the same issue, I finally found on a thread that changing the clock spring fixed the problem for someone. I ordered one on eBay for $37 with shipping, and it fixed my cluster battery drain and horn.