My dealership repair says that the 2.7 engine in my '99 Intrepid that they replaced new and only has 20,000 miles on it over 3 years, ran out of oil, failed to show oil or check engine light, and blew up because it was completely out of oil. I think, since it was a quiet death at 40mph and I had just traveled at least 50 miles without a sound or miss, that like my old engine the timing chain broke after the "tensionor" broke. I change my oil religously every 3000 miles--the dealer repair said that it's been over 3 months since last oil change and that's what did it (it was 5 months and 500 miles away from 3000). What do you think?

 

thats eff'ed up. they dont know what caused it, they are making that up. do you have any type of warrenty on it?

 

The whole story began with a loud racket under the hood. Took it to dealer service, they said it was either the tensioner or sludge build-up. They said they wouldn't know until they tore it down, but they were sure it was the sludge build-up. Well, I took the chance and had them tear down and it was the tensioner. Eleven months later (12 month warrantly on tensioner), the tensioner broke causingmy engine to blow (was a silent death). I didn't even have the chance to complain. My dealer service guy made a few calls to Chrysler and they installed a new engine for free.

Now today, almost 3 years later, after having my oil changed religiously every 3000 miles and with less than 20,000 miles on new engine, the same things happened. Loud racket and within 10 minutes I was sitting on the side of the road at 4am. My dealer seems to think that this new engine burned all that oil. I'm not that stupid. There would have been a smell, there would have been smoke coming out of the back. And I had just driven 50-60 miles before it blew with no indication of trouble. No oil light,no check engine light. Like I told my service guy, had I known there was a problem, I would have stopped and definately not made the trip.

I'm convinced by the way it blew that it again was the tensioner. My dealer says he can break it down and see what happened but I don't have the money to put in a new engine myself. They said I didn't have any warrantly on this engine because it was installed under warranty from the tensioner piece. This I really don't understand. If a part was replaced under warranty, then that part no longer has a warranty????