AMSOIL 0W-30 / 78,000 miles / 2001 Dodge Intrepid 2.7L

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First UOA. 2001 Dodge Intrepid with the infamous 2.7L engine. Switched to synth at 65,000 miles.
AMSOIL 2000 0W-30 1 year/11,000 miles
SDF filter change @ 6 mos
added 1 qt during year
Oil Analyzers Inc did testing

Iron: 498*
Chromium: 5
Lead: 1
Copper: 138*
Tin: 0
Aluminum: 31*
Nickel: 6
Silver: 0
Silicon: 22
Boron: 26
Sodium: 26
Magnesium: 621
Calcium: 1897
Barium: 0
Phosphorus: 1001
Zinc: 1284
Molybdenum: 22
Titanium: 0
Vanadium: 0
Potasium: 0

Fuel %: Water %: 0
Glycol: NEG
Viscosity: 13.48*
TBN: 6.80
Oxid: 28.0
Nitr: 27.0

*Rated ABNORMAL by Oil Analyzers
---What does it take to get a CRITICAL?---

Car used primarily for very short trips with many cold starts. Discovered and corrected air filter problem when oil filter was changed at 6 months. Oil changed at time sample was taken. Will resample @ 2k and adjust OCI.

I have been unable to find any reports from other 2.7L engine owners to compare this with. The Intrepid's 2.7L engine has a terrible history. Feedback of all types is appreciated.

[ March 16, 2005, 02:20 AM: Message edited by: TPup ]
 
Looks like a # of different issues here ....


Pre-existing sludge deposits that incapsulated some of these iron particles....

Piston scuffing possibly due to stuck rings....

Dirt and road salt ingestion - note the nickel from your intake valves, as well as high levels of silicon and sodium.

Some of this copper could simply be leaching from an oil cooler. Lead and tin are very low, so this may not be bearing wear. Hard to tell without knowing the metallurgy of this engine.


The oil is actually in decent shape, but it's loaded up with contaminents; hence the very high oxidation/nitration. I'd run the Amsoil engine flush and start over with a short 3000 mile oil analysis test.

Tooslick
 
Wow!

This is absolutely why I never recommend an extended OCI first time out. You have issues, and it isn't the oil choice. 2X or 3X AutoRx. Followed by another short OCI. You should be ok after this, but....
 
Yikes! I almost spit coffee all over the computer when I saw this.Like you I've got a 2.7L in an 04 Concorde that I bought last summer before I knew about the problems with this engine.From what I've been able to research they supposedly corrected some of the sludge issues after the 01 model year. What is the oil capacity of yours? I'm gonna put in Mobil 1 the first of April and run it for six months then do a UOA.Since mine is still probably breaking in it might not be real valuable but it'll at least be a baseline to compare to.You might provide a little more info on previous oil change history such as type used, change intervals etc. There are some really well educated folks on here that can help you out if they have the data to work with.
 
I would use shorter OCIs until your wear metals stabilize. The air leak and the cleaning are hopefully temporary issues.
 
I am not the original owner of this car. I bought it from a local car lot with 64,000 miles on it. Carfax.com reveals that it was used as a fleet car. No service records were available, but service records were available from another Intrepid with the same year and owned by the same company which showed OCIs of 7500mi which is consistant with the owners manual for normal service. That company buys a lot of Intrepids and dumps them after 3 years when the warrenty runs out.

About a month after purchasing the vehicle, I started seeing all the horror stories online about the 2.7L engines sludge problems. Terrified, I immediately switched to M1 which I used for 1,000mi. I then used AMSOIL Engine Flush and installed the AMSOIL 0W-30. My car has always run great, I am just startled by the analysis report. Obviously, I need to start taking more frequent samples for OA. I think TooSlick is onto something with the pre-existing sludge deposits considering this engine's reputation. Oil capacity is 5 qts.
 
TPup,

You stated that the oil was changed at the time sample was taken. What oil & filter was used?

I would definitely use a round of Auto-RX.

I agree with you on what does it take to get a critical! 498 ppm of iron & this is only abnormal? Did they at least recommend changing the oil? I believe it might be better if OAI's comments weren't included on the report.

As previously suggested, you might want to get Terry's take on your situation.
 
quote:

Originally posted by benjamming:

You stated that the oil was changed at the time sample was taken. What oil & filter was used?


I again used AMSOIL 0W-30 with AMSOIL's SDF-42 filter.
 
quote:

Originally posted by TPup:
I am not the original owner of this car. I bought it from a local car lot with 64,000 miles on it. Carfax.com reveals that it was used as a fleet car. No service records were available, but service records were available from another Intrepid with the same year and owned by the same company which showed OCIs of 7500mi which is consistant with the owners manual for normal service. That company buys a lot of Intrepids and dumps them after 3 years when the warrenty runs out.

About a month after purchasing the vehicle, I started seeing all the horror stories online about the 2.7L engines sludge problems. Terrified, I immediately switched to M1 which I used for 1,000mi. I then used AMSOIL Engine Flush and installed the AMSOIL 0W-30. My car has always run great, I am just startled by the analysis report. Obviously, I need to start taking more frequent samples for OA. I think TooSlick is onto something with the pre-existing sludge deposits considering this engine's reputation. Oil capacity is 5 qts.


This is something I've seen discussed on other forums like Allpar. Maybe the rental company or whatever "fleet" it was part of it changed the oil at 7,500. Or maybe at 17,500. Or maybe at 27,500 and again at 47,500. Who knows? Intrepids are used by a lot of rental companies which usually means they are driven from someplace like Wisconsin or Michigan at 95 MPH to Florida and then 95 MPH back after a week.The normal service schedule for the 04 version is 6k/6mos so it looks like Chrysler has backed off the 7500 recomendation.Good luck.
 
That looks more like a sample from a truck differential than an engine!

That iron level is sky high, does it still run? I would ask them to verify the results and then I would cut open the filter and look in the pleats for debris.
 
This S2000/S3000 formulations contain a fair # of ester and will do a good job of cleaning, but you have to get them hot for an extended period of time. If you can do some long highway drives on the weekend, you'll clean out these deposits more quickly.

I'd keep an eye on oil consumption and change the Amsoil filters every 3000-4000 miles with this batch of the Series 2000. At the end of this service interval, I'd put on a new oil filter and run the Amsoil flush for a full 30 minutes @ 2x the normal idle speed.

If you have corrected the air leak and there are no pre-existing mechanical problems, these numbers should steadily improve.

Tooslick
 
Good thing is not a Redline UOA or 3/4 of this site would be insisting that it was all Redlines fualt and that it was destroying your engine. If it was M1 the other 1/4 would insist that M1 qas cause your iron to spike!!!
banghead.gif


I think this is a perfect example of how an oil with a higher then average ester content can have a major cleaning affect! It has been my observation that the higher the ester content the more likely this is to happen in a dirty engine! So Series 2000 and 3000 Amsoil, Redline, Synergen, Motul 300V, Penrite, Fuchs Titan XW20,Delvac-1 etc..... if put into a dirty engine are goin to produce this cleaning effect! If put into a clean engine they might sligkty eleavate the number the first two or three time or they may not.

I do not think any one with any comon sense would every tryto tell yo it was the Amsoil as this is not a typical Amsoil S2000 signiture!! If it were my vechile I would do an AUto-Rx ASAP! Then after following the directions I would probably go to one of the following Amsoil S3K or Redline for the next two or three oil changes. After two or three oil changes you should be able to use any synthetic you want to includeing M1. I personely belive that the key to continued cleaning with out sacrificeing all lubpricity is ester content and lots of additives!
 
This is the "exact" reason I traded in my 2004 Chrysler Sebring LXI with the 2.7l V6. I bought it brand new at Chrysler and traded it in 7 months later with 10k miles. I always brought it in to the dealer every 2500k miles and had my little maintenace book filled out by the oil change tech and stapled the receipt to it. However, I heard too many stories of the Dealer STILL denying warranty assistance even after all of the oil change documentation!! Forget that! I was a loyal DCX driver. I traded it in for a 2002 GMC Envoy SLT (autoride, heated leather, etc) That was last October. Love the Envoy, and whenever I hear about the 2.7l chrysler "sludgemonster" I cringe.

I do think your regimen of Amsoil 0w-30 is excellent. I would do like somebody suggest and flush the engine with the Amsoil, or AutoRX flush. Gotta get any crap out of there "now" before its too late (is it already with those high iron #'s?)
 
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