dodge 2.7L engine alert

I'm posting this as a public service announcement. If you have a chrysler/dodge 2.7L engine, watch out. They have had and are having extremely serious problems with this engine. More info is available all over the net. Basic problem is that the oil passages are too small and the engine runs at a high temp. Sludge is caused by the high temp which quickly clogs the small oil galleys, thereby destroying the engine. Most of these engines failed at 50k miles or so! By the way, the engines that seized usually had followed the 3k mile change interval. There were several reports of multiple failures. One guy was on his 3rd engine at 66k miles. These engine go for about $7k.

If this has happened to you, it looks like the best solution is to go back in with the optional 3.2L engine. It is not in such high demand so it costs about 1/3 the price of the 2.7L. But better yet, it does not have the design flaw(s) of the 2.7L. A class action suit is forming.

I have one that has managed to acquire about 125k on it. I plan on switching to castrol synthetic or mobil 1 on the next oil change. FYI, my engine used solely for highway miles to 75k on valvoline. After that we switched to normal driving and castrol gtx 10-30. I am still going to switch to synthetic even though that particular castrol oil rated extremely well compared to a syn oil (and better in some cases). I'm hoping the syn oil will break down some of the existing sludge.

darn that is sad,

Hello Turbodog,

I don't think Dodge is the only one with problems. I seem to remember Toyota having similar problems, and VW has just extended their warranty to take care of the same issues.

Tom

[ QUOTE ]
SilverFox said:
Hello Turbodog,

I don't think Dodge is the only one with problems. I seem to remember Toyota having similar problems, and VW has just extended their warranty to take care of the same issues.

Tom

[/ QUOTE ]

To complicate matters, Dodge is refusing warranty claims. They cite the sludge buildup as evidence of a lack of oil changes, thereby voiding the warranty. This is even with documented proof of service. Apparently this is a problem with AT LEAST 1996 to 2001 engines, maybe more. The engine is in the dodge intrepid/chrysler concorde and other vehicles.

I don't think that I would ever again buy a Daimler-Chrysler product. After approx. 50 years of having them in the family, their service, or lack of it, has soured us on them. Horrible service from any number of dealers and having to fight tooth and nail for warranty work sent us to other manufacturers and we will never go back. That's sad.

Now if I could find a brand new '63-'65 Dart with a slant six, I might reconsider...

My rep at the contracting company is fighting Toyota over the same type of problem. They refuse to warranty it as well.

is it a mitsubishi engine ?

turbo,

You might want to check out the bobistheoilguy.com where the geeks, nerds and extremely bright oil people chat about things such as sludge monster such as yours and what can be done about it.

I'd suggest frequest oil changes AFTER using a product called Auto-RX. They have their own site but it really cleans out the sludgef and with frequent changes you shouldn't have too many future problems.

BITOG is to oil what CPF is to flashlights.

my mom's dodge mini van has a mitsubishi engine in it.
so it could be a jap engine

turbodog do you have any data to show that petroleum based valvoline oil out preforms mobil one synthetic in any way ?
my mom's van had a major failure at 71,000 miles. (mitsubishi 3.0 dohc v6)(water pump-hard to get to but not as bad as an oil system failure)
your engine has not failed so it is doing better than my mom's engine.
I would install an oil cooler.

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markdi said:
turbodog do you have any data to show that petroleum based valvoline oil out preforms mobil one synthetic in any way ?
my mom's van had a major failure at 71,000 miles. (mitsubishi 3.0 dohc v6)(water pump-hard to get to but not as bad as an oil system failure)
your engine has not failed so it is doing better than my mom's engine.
I would install an oil cooler.

[/ QUOTE ]

No data on the valvoline, but I have seen some on the castrol.

Want to hear something funny.... the car has an oil cooler, transmission cooler and some other hydraulic cooler as well. They are all in the front bumper. Don't hit anything!

[ QUOTE ]
Flashlightboy said:
turbo,

You might want to check out the bobistheoilguy.com where the geeks, nerds and extremely bright oil people chat about things such as sludge monster such as yours and what can be done about it.

I'd suggest frequest oil changes AFTER using a product called Auto-RX. They have their own site but it really cleans out the sludgef and with frequent changes you shouldn't have too many future problems.

BITOG is to oil what CPF is to flashlights.

[/ QUOTE ]

Thanks,

I am looking forward to reading the entire site.

2 GM Products and a Ford product at this house.

Oldsmobile, Saab, Volvo.

Legendary 3800 engine in the Oldsmobile. Very very very few problems in the 70k we've put on the engine, that's 70k from 90,000 miles to about 160,000 miles.

The transmission did have to be replaced, however.

It's basically at the point that it's worth more to us than market value, but that's ok as there's one or two little minor things that need to be taken care of (Ok, so the bering is going out on the blower motor so it's LOUD) and then should (Likely) be good to go for quite awhile.

That's how this car has been, 1 year full of repairs, 2 or 3 trouble free years.