I purchased this car in April of 2002 from a Dodge dealer. It was a program car and had about 16,000 miles on it. The car was never run hard while I drove it and oil was changed approximately every 5,000 miles. This car was great and ran like a top for 2 1/2 years. In that time, the only corrective maintenance required on the car was minor brake work in September 2004.

October 8, 2004: Noticed a slight knocking from engine, so I decided to take it to Jiffy Lube for an oil change. They told me there was some oil deposit build-up and they would flush the engine before replacing the oil. Car still knocked after the oil change, so I called a local Dodge dealership in Danville IN to inquire about service. I was told to bring the car in on the following Monday (Oct. 11) for tests. I did not drive the car that weekend. Monday morning, I started the car, and it sounded awful, belching smoke. I was unable to move the car out of the driveway, so I called a wrecker service and had the car towed to the dealership. The next day, the service department called and informed me that there was excessive oil-sludge buildup in the engine "due to not changing the oil every 3,000 miles." I was quoted a cost of $4,560.00 to repair the engine, or $7,700.00 to replace it.

I don't claim to have religiously changed my oil; like I said, about every 5,000 miles. But this is no different than every other car (13) I have owned and they all lasted well over 100,000 miles or at least up to the time that I sold them. I still have 30 months left to pay on my 60-month loan, and owe $8,100.00. Dealers will only give me $500.00 in trade. I've decided to refinance the car over 72 months, which has cut my payments in half, and just yesterday purchased another car that I will also be paying for the next six years. I find it kind of ironic that I had never heard of the problems with this engine, but now everyone I talk to in the automotive industry has long known about just what junk Chrysler has put on the market in the form of the 2.7L V6.

Feb, 2008-My Wife was driving me to work so that I could pick up a company vehicle for a work trip. It was 5 something in the morning. The gas pedal lost most of its pressure and the engine oil light came on. Got the car to a gas station about 1/2 mile away and it died on the way in. We couldn't restart, so we called her dad to come look at it. 30 minutes later with him there, we restarted and it ran fine. Tried to get it home (2 or 3 miles) but the temp spiked within a hundred yards, the oil pressure light pops on again and with a little puff, the engine shuts off never to be restarted. We get the car towed to the garage and they start talking about oil sludge and bad engine. Well that is crap. I, like I'm sure everyone else did, replaced the oil and filter myself every 3,000 miles. I bought it used with about 60K miles on it ran great for 2 years. I did research on it back in early ' 06, nothing i found showed these kind of problems, but that was all on the major websites. When the engine blew, I did a search SPECIFICALLY for the 2.7L engine and anyone want to guess what i found???? So, still owed $4,000 on it and we bought a Nissan new and rolled over the rest of the loan (THAT SUCKS). Still have the intrepid, just a cool looking lawn ornament. I plan on fixing it with my father in law, and then trying to get something out of it.....moral of this story............................................NEVER BUY AMERICAN CARS AGAIN.....Love my nissan, after i finish fixing the intrepid, i will sell, and never own anything by the big three in detroit.....They are crap, the have crap cars, warranties, and customer service.....no wonder they are all going bankrupt.....these are the cars they sell......Honda/Toyota/Nissan etc. are not doing great in these times......but you don't hear them asking for a bailout.....do you?

my 2001 dodge intrepid start running badly lifters start rattling engine lost power,i complaint to Chrysler about this problem,the dealer told me that this 2.7 engine was a piece of crap.and Chrysler should have never put this engine in any of its vehicles.i pull the engine out and rebuild it,it was sludge every where oil return holes was clogged up.main and rod barons was scored very badly,i had the crank turned,at my machine shop and fitted with proper barons,that was alot of work ,i regret doing,now it run great,once more.the mileage at time of repair was 118.000 miles,it has 142.000 on it now.

For those of you that have this vehicle, I feel your pain! At around 70,000 miles I started having problems with this lovely 2.7L Intrepid. Sludge built up so badly we blew a Head Gasket while driving and the car caught on fire. Should have known then. Shortly after sludge build up diagnosed. I contacted Chrysler got the name of the rep in my area sent all the maint. records as requested. Chrysler said "sorry". They will not pay or replace this motor. They know it's bad!

$3000.00 later motor cleaned and rebuilt. 145,000 miles on car but never has run right since. I know I know I'm a glutton for punishment, I own two chrysler products.

My experience for what it's worth.

GMaine;

Let me say I grew up in a Dodge family. When we bought this car, it had 16000 miles on it. It ran like a champ for 98,000 miles and 4 years. I was at church discussing this car with a friend of mine who had the same model. He asked me how many miles I had on it and when I told him, he got this strange look on his face. When I asked him what the look meant, he told me to get ready because the engine was about done. If it wasn't a week later, my wife heard a loud noise and loss of power and we had to have the engine replaced to the tune of around $2700. We replaced it with a rebuilt engine that had 65,000 miles on it and we are at the 145,000 mile marker with minimal problems but we pray every day that it will get her home from work. This is a shame because we LOVE this car. Used to be very dependable, love the room and when it is running great, is a very good car. I'm with everyone else, though, why didn't Chrysler/Dodge fix this problem if they knew it was crap?

In July 07, I had a significant oil leak. When the mechanic removed the oil pan to fix the leak, they found a lot of sludge (which they cleaned up).

However, the leak continued because it was actually coming from the front seal -- not the oil pan. When they repaired the front seal the mechanic said that "there is a lot of GUNK" in the engine and told me that the Dodge 2.7L engine had an inadequate PCV and if I was thinking about getting a new car anytime soon, he advised that I go ahead and do it.

I decided to search the internet and I felt ill when I saw all the complaints about Dodge 2.7L engines failing. After I got over all the shock, I finally made a decision to drive it until it died since the car only had 67,000 miles on it. I immediately switched to synthetic oil and changed it every 2,000 miles. Last week, the check oil light came on intermittently. The mechanic told me that it needed a new oil sensor and to come back tomorrow when they had a replacement sensor.

I started driving to work the next day and the oil light came on -- no surprise, so I continued driving it. I was at a stop light and the engine quietly seized. The shop removed one of the valve covers and showed me the bad news. I was very surprised because I expected to see a gooey black sludge. Instead, there was some shiny engine metal with lots of (as my wife described) black Cheeto-like stuff embedded between engine parts. The mechanic chipped off a bit of this black Cheeto-like stuff and it was evident how easily an oil port got blocked.

I doubt if I will ever buy a Dodge/Chrysler ever again!!!

Yet another failed 2.7L Dodge Engine! Bought the car in 2003 used from a private party, with just less than 30,000 miles on it. A few thousand miles later (@ approx 34,000 miles), the engine died----chain failure, related to problems with engine sludge and a failed water pump, according to the Dodge dealership mechanic. But I lucked out, since it was still under warranty, and Chysler replaced the engine with a new short block free-of-charge, and I drove away, thinking "happy ever after...". Well, last December, it happened again: Loud knocking noises, engine oil light on....and then, complete engine failure @ approx. 63,000 miles. From that point on, same story as everyone else here (and on other websites where this problem is discussed), dealership pretending not to know about this common problem, and Chrysler company reps refusing to offer any kind of remedy/assistance, since the car was now out of warranty. I finally decided recently to get the car fixed myself, since nobody wants to take it off my hands (nothing else seems to be a problem mechanically, either), and am about to pay 3400 to an engine remanufacturing firm in Grandville, MI to get one of their remanufactured engines installed. They (Accurate Engines, Inc.) are giving me a 3-yr 100,000 mile nationwide warranty, telling me that they replace the substandard Chrysler parts with improved parts that in effect, prevent recurrence of the common problems associated with the 2.7L engine. Wish me luck!!!

IT IS A SHAME AND A DISGRACE THAT THE MAKERS OF THIS ENGINE HAVE NOT DONE ANYTHING TO TRY AND ASSIST OR RECTIFY THIS PROBLEM THAT QUITE OBVIOUSLY HAS PLAGUED MANY OTHER CONSUMERS!

I don't generally write in all caps, however it is so warranted in this case. I purchased this vehicle in good faith and was never told of this problem with the oil and sludge that could potentially build up. I was consistent and steady in keeping on schedule and changing the oli when required. NEVER IN MY WILDEST dreams did I think something like this could happen. When I attempted to locate a new engine (as did my mechanic), we found SEVEN (7) of them and ALL OF THEM WERE NO GOOD DUE TO THIS PROBLEM! Suffice it to say, I totally agree with all of the other complaints and maybe, one day someone will be able to do something about it.

I also am a senior citizen on a fixed income, so getting another vehicle has been a hardship to me and my wife. The biggest difficulty is, everything else on the car worked very well! For whatever it is worth, I hope the makers have made peace in their own minds about how fowl a production of this disastrous magnitude has been! I guess, keeping this from the consumer base is the American way..

I was shocked that my vehicle needed a new engine at 67,227 miles. Just over 2000 miles after my warranty expired? (Not sure if the warranty company would have helped with the repair costs anyway). Had two dealers look at my Intrepid and both agreed it needed a new engine. We even contacted a trusted family mechanic shop and was advised that this was a known issue with the 2.7 liter engines and advised to get rid of the car immediately (they would not touch it).

Robert at Autowest Dodge in Roseville, California, also admitted that this was a known issue with the Dodge 2.7 liter engines and that it just happens no matter how your vehicle is maintained but, offered no recourse with Dodge. He gave a small discount on the engine replacement at their dealership. The total for repairs including the discount totaled $8,175.00. What a brilliant scam. So I have another rebuilt 2.7 liter engine from the Manufacturer (Dodge) which is only guaranteed for 36 months.

The cost of repairing my car really created a hardship for me. I am a retired school bus driver and live on a fixed income and was faced with either replacing the engine on my car or purchasing a new car all in the same day. So folks please be aware if your check oil light comes on all of a sudden and you start hearing a ticking noise coming from your engine it's over. If you see metal streams in the oil this means that your bearings have broken down in your engine and it must be replaced.

Is there no standard for Manufacturing and selling cars anymore? Are sales so low that they now depend on defective engine replacements to stay in business?

I am a senior citizen on a fixed income, drive my vehicle less than average miles per year and take pride in maintaining my car. I know I am just one of many who have fallen victim to a scam by the Dodge Corporation. There must be some kind of recourse. The must be accountable for their mistakes. I am truly disgusted with my experience with my Dodge Intrepid. I will make every attempt to recover my $ and good luck to all of you whom are in the same situation.

I am sorry to be saying good bye to my beloved 2001 Dodge Intrepid. I have experienced the timing chain, cam sensor, oil sludge nightmare. I was going to take it in for a second opinion tomorrow, but after reading through so many similar experiences and ghastly repair bills, I guess I will be signing off on a huge new car payment. I have been one of the lucky ones who reached high mileage of 98k and thought my car would last for at least three more years while my son finishes college. I plan on further checking into what Chrysler has to say about this because as it states all through out the web, we are left with either useless cars or paying off car loans and maintaining insurance coverage. The two cars I am looking at are a Toyota and Chevy. It is a shame that Chrysler did not initiate a recall, because it seems that the majority of Intrepid owners truly did love owning them.

I have a 2001 Dodge Intrepid SE model with the POS 2.7L engine. I had no warning, the car started knocking, and then the engine blew. I was told that the oil pump had failed in the engine, which tore up the cam, and threw it into the engine destroying it. That was at 78k miles. I had the engine replaced under warranty (thank God), but now at 102k just 24k miles later the oil light is popping on when I idle, I know that the engine is going again, and have contacted Dodge and the dealership where I bought the car from, seeing as how it is no longer under warranty. If Dodge knew these engines were that bad, there should have been a massive recall on them, and replaced with an engine that works properly.

I was driving and my car eventually died. I started it and got it home. I checked the oil and it was significantly higher on the dipstick than it should have been. I took it to the place I had the oil changed and accused them of overfilling the oil. Their head mechanic took me in the back and held the dipstick in the light and showed me the glittering green of the anti-freeze that was in the oil because the seal was gone. I took it to the place I purchased the car and it took them five weeks to confirm what I had already told them.

My twin brother and I bought a 2001 Dodge Intrepid back in early '03, the car was barely 2 years old with 50k miles on it, I fell in love with it because it was a smooth ride. Well I used it for the last 4 years with no problems at all, I had its oil changed every 3000 miles, then I noticed the oil light started to turn on every time I used the car, and I would just have had the oil changed ,but it just wouldn't turn off. Then one day I let my sister and her husband borrow the car so they could go and do their grocery shopping when he came in and told me the car started shaking so bad. I immediately went to check it out and it did the same thing. The next day my dad decided to take it for a spin and check it out and the engine failed, it didn't want to start anymore. Now its in my backyard, it will start but it makes a real loud noise, good thing is that I was able to pay it off with my parents help because at the time it broke down I still had about 8 months to pay it off. I don't think I will ever buy any vehicle from chrysler ever again. So i don't know if i should even have the engine replaced or just get another car and start making all those payments again....

I got this car in mid 2005 and loved it. It was comfortable, roomy, and reliable (or so I thought). At the time its blue book listed value was around $4,000 and I was able to get it for $3,000. What a steal I thought. The car had previously been a company car and was very well maintained. The glove box was still full of Jiffy Lube receipts. That eased my worries of it having so much mileage on it. I kept the tradition of excellent maintenance going throughout my ownership of the car. One day the engine just started knocking on me. Immediately, I went and had the engine flushed and got another oil change, even though I had just had one two weeks before. This remedied the problem for all of about a week, then the knocking came back louder than last time. I drove to the gas station came out and tried to start the car and it wouldn't even turn. I took it to a friend of mine who is a mechanic at which point he told me this engine is toast. I replaced the engine at a cost of about $4,000 for a rebuilt one.