My 2.7 Chrysler didn't blow up!

[ledslinger]

Drove my 2000 Concorde 1500 miles this weekend and it performed excellent in every way. Comfortable ride, roomy, and superb fuel mileage. Had a tail wind both ways and got 30.5 mpg. Much of it going 75 with the A/C on. It sure loved the summer fuel in OK and TX. I'm running M1 0w-40 and there is no apparent hit for fuel mileage over the specced 5w30. These are pretty good engines, although not real peppy at accelerating. At least until they blow up.

My wife's 2001 Accord gets 34 mpg on the highway, 2.5 better. This is small difference when you compare the two cars. Full size vs compact, longitudenal V6 A/T vs transverse 4 cyl M/T. In several ways the big Chrysler is a more impressive vehicle. The Chrysler loves to be warmed up once and hit the highway, it will lose much more mileage than the Honda on short trips and stop and go.

 

[eljefino]

 

[john_pifer]

Does it use oil? Mitsubishis are notorious for that.

 

[ADFD1]

Why would it blow with one of the very best oils in it?

 

[dishdude]

The 2.7 is a decent motor when running!

 

[ledslinger]

The 2.7 Chrysler is a domestic engine, not a Mitsubishi. It uses around a quart during a 5K change interval.

It gets sludger intervals of 5K with synthetic.

 

[otis24]

We put a new water pump in a 1999 Dodge or Chrysler with the 2.7. Cost was about a $1000. Perhaps they are a good engine when running. But repairs can be costly.

 

[oilmutt]

sience when is honda accord a compact car?

 

[artificialist]

Originally Posted By: otis24
We put a new water pump in a 1999 Dodge or Chrysler with the 2.7. Cost was about a $1000. Perhaps they are a good engine when running. But repairs can be costly.

I had to do that repair to a 2.7. The reason it is costly is because the timing chain, alternator, 2 engine mounts, ac compressor, and intake manifold must be removed to reach the pump, plus on the transverse engines, there is less room to work.

 

[Kuato]

Originally Posted By: oilmutt
sience when is honda accord a compact car?


Hahaha since "they" resized everything. Full size used to be a Ford Crown Vic, now it's a Malibu.

Also, all Hondas are compacts if you are tall.

 

[ledslinger]

sience when is honda accord a compact car? [/quote

They were when they came out until 1989. They were called mid size until 2008. Now they are full size.

I was going by my memory of the window sticker that I think said compact. That may have just been the EPA classification. I'm sure a 2001 Accord sedan is best classified as a mid size.

 

[kkreit01]

My Dad had an '01 Intrepid with same motor. He ran it over 100k miles with 0 issues. He also used a high-quality oil, and changed every 5K. It was slow in initial acceleration, but had nice passing speeds -- kind of like my current Pentastar.

 

[double vanos]

I had to do that repair to a 2.7. The reason it is costly is because the timing chain, alternator, 2 engine mounts, ac compressor, and intake manifold must be removed to reach the pump, plus on the transverse engines, there is less room to work.

It appears that Fords 3.5 Ecoboost is the same way; water pump is located behind the timing chains. Man, I hope Ford spec'd a top shelf pump for that engine. I guess if it starts leaking, put some Bars leak into it and trade it off.....

 

[SLCraig]

Originally Posted By: double vanos
I had to do that repair to a 2.7. The reason it is costly is because the timing chain, alternator, 2 engine mounts, ac compressor, and intake manifold must be removed to reach the pump, plus on the transverse engines, there is less room to work.

It appears that Fords 3.5 Ecoboost is the same way; water pump is located behind the timing chains. Man, I hope Ford spec'd a top shelf pump for that engine. I guess if it starts leaking, put some Bars leak into it and trade it off.....


I had to change a water pump on my folks VQ30 about 2 years ago. It was not that bad of a job, BUT, they were kind enough to give it a service cover on the main timing cover. The job was only about 3 hours start to finish.

I really do much prefer external pumps but they don't seem that common in my findings.

 

[doitmyself]

Originally Posted By: double vanos
I had to do that repair to a 2.7. The reason it is costly is because the timing chain, alternator, 2 engine mounts, ac compressor, and intake manifold must be removed to reach the pump, plus on the transverse engines, there is less room to work./quote]

They also changed (improved?)the water pump design, so a whole new timing chain kit with new sprockets is part of the repair bill.

 

[grampi]

My wife and I leased a new Intrepid with the 2.7 back in '98. By the time we arrived at the end of the 60 month lease the car had 60K miles on it, and it burned a qt of oil every 500 miles. I changed the oil and filter every 3K miles and used nothing but Mobil 1 full synthetic. It was my determination that the 2.7 was a bad engine...any engine that was pampered like I pampered this one should've easily lasted several hundred thousands of miles...

 

[Hokiefyd]

Originally Posted By: SLCraig
I really do much prefer external pumps but they don't seem that common in my findings.


You'd enjoy the water pump job on a Northstar. It's run off a small belt on the rear of the left hand (front) cylinder bank. It takes a special tool, but it's really quite easy to do. It can be done in about 40 minutes if you're quick about it.

The Northstar gets a bad rap, mostly from people who've never owned one. But it really had some nice features about it, and despite its (inaccurate) reputation as a DIY nightmare, it's really quite easy to maintain and repair as a shadetree mechanic. You simply have to use the correct parts and the correct procedures, none of which are all that expensive or difficult.