2002 chrysler 2.7

[Volvohead]

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This engine beats the helll out of oil : 24 valves, 4 camshafts, 3 timing chains and 8 sprockets = high shear load and high oxidation. 210 - 230 deg F coolant outlet temps, sky-high skin temps on the heads and oil passages routed right beside the combustion chambers = high oxidation load plus high-temp deposit load.

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You forgot to mention the casting flash issues in the head return passages that cause the oil to collect and fry. And that the Chrysler techs would rather hit themselves in the head with a tire iron for an hour than work on one of them.

Really, this is a dog of an engine. Woof woof. They come in sludged up and blown up with under 50k on them. You deserve a medal for stretching yours along as far as you have.

Couldn't agree with you more; this is not the engine you try to stretch the OCI with. Full synthetics only, no doubt.

OTOH, you can run any old dino SM 10w-30 in the 3.2/3.5s with nary a care.

 

[1nighttrain]

"va3ux" thanks for the links lots of info , when i got this car used there was no owners manual with it i now have one wow ! no wonder every one was thinking i was crazy for going 5000 miles for oil changes i now know the normal oci is just 3000 miles and it calls for 5w/30 or 10w/30 , thats what i get for asking the guy behind the counter at autozone , i wonder what he was looking up when he put my info into his computer,at least he was right about how much oil the motor takes

 

[va3ux]

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"va3ux" thanks for the links lots of info , when i got this car used there was no owners manual with it i now have one wow ! no wonder every one was thinking i was crazy for going 5000 miles for oil changes i now know the normal oci is just 3000 miles and it calls for 5w/30 or 10w/30 , thats what i get for asking the guy behind the counter at autozone , i wonder what he was looking up when he put my info into his computer,at least he was right about how much oil the motor takes

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You're more than welcome. The Owner's Manual has an "A Schedule" for maintenance that says you can use a 7500 mi OCI for Normal driving conditions; just tear those pages out of the manual and forget you ever saw them. Everything is Severe Service for this engine. Those are actually the words of the Service Manager at the local Chrysler Dealer. He said this when I first went in to buy a PCV valve shortly after I got the car back in March 2003. At that point, I knew nothing about the 2.7. His comment prompted me to research the 2.7.

Personally, I would do a couple of AutoRx treatments on your engine for good measure.

My sister has a '99 Intrepid with a 2.7. She has about half the mileage I do but she hasn't had any trouble with hers. Oh, she's had a sensor fail here and there but nothing serious. I had several Intrepids as company cars with 2.7's prior to changing jobs and then buying my own in 2003. I never had any trouble with any of them. Mind you, they were always traded in by the time they about 60K miles. But I never paid any attention to the engine and I just had regular oil changes done. On the other hand, back in 2002 my boss seized his 2.7 solid with just 19K miles on the clock. He only did one oil change at the first 5K miles. Sales guys !!

 

[va3ux]

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You forgot to mention the casting flash issues in the head return passages that cause the oil to collect and fry.

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I'd forgotten about that but I think they'd identified and corrected that by 2000 or 2001. They beefed up the oil pump in 2001 and also installed the heater (heat exchanger) in the PCV line by that time too.

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And that the Chrysler techs would rather hit themselves in the head with a tire iron for an hour than work on one of them.
Really, this is a dog of an engine. Woof woof. They come in sludged up and blown up with under 50k on them. You deserve a medal for stretching yours along as far as you have.

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Yea, they're tough to work on if you have to go into the engine for anything. It's a nice smooth running engine that gets great gas mileage. However the antique design of the good old cast iron, cam-in-block, 12 valve GM 3.8 basically does the same thing and it runs forever on plain dino oil. And the Chrysler 3.2/3.5 are basically trouble-free as you mentioned.

 

[va3ux]

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va3ux,

I believe the best Amsoil product to run in this motor would be their Series 3000, 5w30 and not their 0w-30, although that's picking nits. The S3000 is going to be even more shear stable and the add pack is more resistant to oxidation and nitration, both of which are concerns in this motor.

Based on local testing of Amsoil formulations in this engine, I'd stick with a maximum 16,000km/1 yr, service interval....TD

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TD - thanks for the info. I was actually wondering about this. I got a pile of Amsoil 0W-30 at a very good price and that's why I'm using that particular one. I've never bought Amsoil before. But I later got looking at the Amsoil website and then started to wonder whether the S3000 might be a better choice.

I intend to sample (but not change) the oil at 7000 km and have it tested. I had already decided that I would not go over 16,000 km (10k miles) no matter what anyway.

My oil analysis from Wear Check has always included Oxidation/Nitration/Sulfation. My numbers have always been dead steady. I'm curious as to what info you might have that relates specifically to the 2.7. Sounds like you might have some history.

 

[lght1]

Hi

There are several used Chrysler Sebring LXis in town with decent miles..nicely equipped with very attractive prices.

But all thise talk of the 2.7 v6...

The first is a '01 red sebring with a sliding roof..beauty with 68,000 miles. I noticed the engine had a bit of a rattle on cold start.

The second is a '04 Sebring, jade green with 56 k. I have not driven this one yet.

I like the mpg these cars seeme to return, but I have driven the 3800 Series II engines of what seems ages..with hardly a hint of problems.

Are the '04 engines free of issues ?

 

[va3ux]

The Sebring is a nice car. Was the rattle a real 'rattle', more of a brief ragged whine ? A rattle could be the main chain. The ragged whine I speak of is somewhat common and I'm not sure where it comes from; possibly the PS pump or belts but only when it's cold.

You're right about the GM 3800 engines : they produce gas mileage that is similar to the Chrysler 2.7 (sometimes better) , and they seem to be bullet proof.

Supposedly the '02 or '03 and up 2.7s are much better; apparently less failure prone. But since Chrysler denies that there was ever anything really wrong with the design in the first place, they could not admit to improving or changing the design to correct a problem that never existed, so we'll never know.

Reminds of my days in chemical sales : we'd call on a plant to discuss possible solutions to any problems they might be having with stack emissions, and we'd immediately be referred to the Plant Manager. If we heard something like, " oh, we're meeting all the Federal limits for emissions of XYZ.....and we're working *very* hard to improve those numbers...", that translated to 'we're have a helll of a problem but we can't say so. What have you got that might help us'.

Someone on Dodgeintrepid.net noticed that 2.7 failures in Sebrings seem to be rare or non-existent, compared to the failure rate of 2.7s in Intrepids and Concordes. No one knows if this is actually true or just a preception.

 

[lght1]

Hi

I just came back from that site. its very informative, ty.

But due to the water pump issues and the overall engine design, i believe i will stick with GM's pushrods for now. I might become daring and try a 3500 v6.

BTW, perhaps the sebrings arent as well represented due to it being a intrepid site. too bad about the 2.7 as it seems like a fun engine to drive.

 

[va3ux]

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Hi

I just came back from that site. its very informative, ty.

But due to the water pump issues and the overall engine design, i believe i will stick with GM's pushrods for now.

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Don't blame you. I'm thinking about a Grand Prix with the 3800 for my next car. Either that or a Chrysler 300M with the 3.5L.

 

[va3ux]

One year's worth of UOA for my 2.7 are now posted in the UOA section. The most recent analysis is for Amsoil 0W-30 that was referred to early in this thread.