Information I have shows that early timing chain replacement was caused by oil sludge buildup, something I noticed around the oil filler cap soon after I purchased the used vehicle. Since the timing chain replacement, the car appears to still have sludge problems such as oil-starved knocking at idle and frequent instances of oil light coming on at idle. My mechanic did not know why, but a temporary fix was to put oil stabilizer (Lucas) that immediately quiets engine knocking and COMPENSATES for the reduced oil pressure.

well i am a 24 year old single mother of 3 children with no transportation. i got my income tax and went to this guy selling this car..well i had my lipstick on for this one...i purchased it on 2-06-09 and this is 4-28-09 and its still not fixed ..nobody wants to fix it for me much less even work on it..the guy i bought it from told me that it was just the water pump out, so i was like ok ill tow it and have that fixed..he sold me the car for $1400..well guess what the trade in value of this junk is...$100...yeah $100!!! I'm so mad..i got the water pump put in and really the water pump was bad but now there is a terrible knocking in the top of the motor and it is taking power from the car...needless to say its still not drivable...

I purchased this car in December 2007 as a replacement for my 1993 Suzuki Swift that got totaled. I thought I was getting a nice, reliable car that would get decent gas mileage. I was also very happy that the car was spacious enough to take my MR/DD clients in if there wasn't a company car available. I needed the car in a hurry, and at only $3000 I figured that I was getting a great deal on a good car. It even had one of those Carfax history reports that didn't have anything negative on it!!

About 3 months in, I noticed a ticking sound when I took my foot off the gas pedal. It sounded similar to a 10-speed bike coasting down a hill. I had a few mechanically inclined friends listen to it, and they assured me that it wasn't a big deal, nothing to worry about, don't waste money on a mechanic. 2 of them were even former Intrepid owners! On May 7, not even 6 months after I got the car, while driving down the interstate, the car began making a VERY LOUD knocking sound. I know that this is very bad, despite my limited knowledge of cars, so I got off the interstate as soon as possible. I made it to a stop sign where all I had to do was get across the street and straight into a park and ride lot. The car died and would not start again. I was forced to get behind the car and push it by myself across the road and into the parking lot. I can only imagine what would have happened if the car had died in the fast lane of the interstate.

I had the car towed to a local shop, and the mechanic was able to tell me within 5 minutes WITHOUT EVEN TEARING THE ENGINE APART that it was so clogged up with oil sludge that the engine was essentially seized. He did confirm this by tearing the engine apart later. My options: replace with a "remanufactured" 2.7 L engine at a cost of $4300. (the company that does the remanufacturing claims that they have corrected the problem with the engine, but I haven't been able to find enough customer input to quell my doubts.) Replace the engine with a 3.2 or 3.5 L engine at a cost of up to $3800, depending on the source for the engine, parts needed, etc. (From forums for dodge intrepid owners, I've found many success stories for this method, and the occasional problems from the switch over are easily solved.) Have my engine reconditioned (cleaned out) at a cost of $6000+. My last option: be stuck with a very nice looking yard ornament that has full auto coverage and a $150 per month car payment and walk or bicycle to work.

I've chosen to do the conversion, I can't be without my car and the bank won't finance me for any more money. I found a family friend to do the work, a conversion manual from ebay (search the motors section for 2.7 to 3.2 conversion manual, seller name daytrepper, only $20), and an engine from a junk yard for about $1000. If I'm lucky, I might be able to get out of this at around $2000. Thank god for the "Economic Stimulus Payment", that's going to pay for parts!

My advice: 1) Avoid purchasing the 2.7 L engine at all costs, no matter how well maintained or low mileage it is. 2) If you have one, use synthetic oil, keep all your receipts, and be on good terms with a mechanic you trust. 3) If you get "sludged" like I did, and have to fix it, don't replace with another 2.7 L engine. Even if you find one it's going to be more expensive than a 3.2 or 3.5, and the slight loss of gas mileage is worth it to have a reliable car.

Bought this car from a rental car dealership in Dothan, AL in 2001. Never liked the car when they first came out, but fell in love with the roomy interior and solid, comfortable ride. It had 22,000 miles on it when I bought it, and I continued to put another 150,000 on it. I recently had just got done filling it up with gas, then accelerated on the on ramp to the interstate when it made a real hard shift and then started to make a really soft ticking sound at low torque settings. Checked the oil, and there was none on the dipstick. So, filled it up and took it to get an oil change. I had always run full synthetic oil in it. That didn't make a difference. Still ticking. This progressed for about a month, then the ticking got more prominent and louder. Took to the Dodge dealership in Wheeling, WV, where they proceeded to tell me all about the problems with this engine. After talking with them, I came to the decision to drive it until it quit (I wasn't about to pay $6000 to put an engine in a car that was now worth about $5000). Well, I had a military school to go to that was 1000 miles away, so, like always, I drive my happy self to it. Car makes it with no further problems, but the same one. After about 5 days of being at the school, the ticking progresses into a knocking that can be heard halfway across post. The A/C isn't blowing cold air anymore, and the check engine light is coming on intermittently. Sooo...take it back to the dealer, right? I take off down the road (because it is still driving fine with the exception of the noise) and get about halfway to the dealership when I just can't take the noise anymore. I pull over and decide to call my roadside assist from my insurance to tow it the rest of the way. Before I get to shut the car off, as soon as I slow to idle, it begins to get the dry heaves and almost quits, with the oil pressure light coming on intermittently. So, it gets towed to the dealer. Same answer, except now they tell me that one cylinder is not getting compression (suspected rod breakage). New engine costs close to $8000 installed, so (no brainer) I proceed to look for a new car and find one. Now I am trying to sell the shell of a great car that gave me over 150,000 miles of reliability. Good luck, right?

I have read other complaints regarding the 2.7 . I purchase a 1999 Intrepid with 130,000 km. on it a year and half ago for my daughter to travel back and forth to school from a local used car dealer. Initially the car ran fine so when my son was looking for a car I went back to the same dealer and you guessed it I bought a 2001 Intrepid. It had problems from the start, oil light, engine light and the ever popular engine knock. It went back to the dealer where he " fixed the problems". To make a long story short I ended up replacing the motor at a cost of $5,000.00 dollars. My daughters car started to experience the same problems so back to the dealer we went. Again he " fixed the problems", changed sensors ect;. There was never any mention of sludge or problems with the 2.7, this is something that I found out about later on sites like this. These cars have left both my kids stranded on the side of the road in the middle of winter. As it stands now I've got one on the road and one in the driveway waiting for a new motor (maybe). It's bad enough that anybody has to be stuck with one of these pieces of s**t, but be thankful you don't have two. Chrysler never again.

We got this car from my Father-In-Law who bought it at an auto auction for $3,000 in mid 2006. He drove it daily for a year and a half and then gave it to us. It ran like a top, my wife drove it around town and even took some extended trips in it.

In January she drove 600 miles to visit me where I was working. No problems, she then drove home, no problems. Then, in February, she had a business meeting 325 miles away she drove to. When she arrived there it was running fine. The next morning she started it up and there was a loud tapping noise from the engine. She checked the oil and it didn't have any. She had just checked the oil before leaving home so it had ran out of oil during the 325 miles she'd driven. She filled it with oil and did her daily driving while there on her business trip. No problems. After the week had passed she was ready to come home. She checked the oil, it was still full and started driving home. Her family lives about half way between where she was on business and home so she stopped there to spend a couple of days. There she checked the oil, had to add 1 quart, and then headed on home, she got 100 miles from home and the engine started knocking really loudly, also loosing power. It was about a half a quart low on oil. We had it towed home and that's where it sits now.

I have contacted mechanics and I can't even get one to work on it due to this engines reputation. I had one guy tell me he would put a 3.2L engine in it for $3,000 (that includes changing the wiring harness and cpu). That's what my Father-In-Law paid for the thing in the first place.

I think I'm just gonna call the junk yard and tell them they can have it. Never to buy Chrysler again.