Sebring Engine Flush

Pennzoil motor oil
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GreeCguy

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So, last year I thought to do something nice for my wife for her birthday. Bought her a 2004 Sebring Convertable. Cool looking car. Cool driving car. Had 50,000 miles on it. She loved it. I love it. Kids loved it. All happy.

About a month ago, water pump went bad. The more I read, the more I was horrified. Turns out these pumps are know to go bad and that these 2.7 motors are sludge monsters. YIKES!!!!

Had the water pump replaced along with some general work, (new hoses, new belts, new plugs and air filter).

Car now has 60,000 miles on it. Runs fine but I'm afraid of what I've read. Am wondering what I should do to flush the motor.

Option one: Change oil and filter every thousand miles with conventional oil for next year.

Option two: Change oil and filter every thousand miles with conventional oil for next year replacing one quart oil with a quart of Marvel Mystery oil. (I've used MMO for years and am very pleased and confident with results).

Option three: Switch to synthetic oil, (Mobile One, Royal Purple, Redline) and change oil and filter every three thousand miles.

Option four: Drain oil, drop oil pan, clean pan and oil pump screen, reinstall pan and refill with synthetic oil and change religiously every 5000 miles. (of course change filter).

Option five: Sell car. Break wifes heart. Make kids mad. Sleep on couch. Eat cold and [censored] dinners. Loose money.

I'm afraid of doing anything like a radical flush for fear of knocking some major gunk loose and ruining engine. I'm avoiding all harsh cleaners, (Gunk 5 minute motor flush type stuff). Marvel Mystery Oil appeals to me because I've used it before with good results and it seems to be a gentle cleaner, (and it smells nice).

What say you guys? Has anyone had any experience with these cars? What did you do?

BTW - when I bought the car, it had just had an oil change. Oil cap was clean. Cap is just now getting that gunky [censored] around the inside edges of cap, so this gives me an idea things are starting to get nasty inside.
 
The 2.7 is indeed a piece of junk. I owned one. What I did was run synthetic oil. PP and a Purolator Pureone. Once Maxlife. Always changed it around the 3000 mile mark. In that application I did not think it was too often. When the oil drained out I was always glad I did.
Regular PCV cleanings as well.
 
Looks like you are on the right track with the water pump ... wasn't there an issue where the water pump caused sludge?

Short OCIs on synthetic and keeping the PCV system up to date seem to work to keep them alive.
 
This one:

"Option three: Switch to synthetic oil, (Mobile One, Royal Purple, Redline) and change oil and filter every three thousand miles."

You don't know if you actually have sludge. This one will actually prevent sludge, and slowly clean out whatever is already there.

Don't panic. There are several members that have over 100,000 miles on their sludge prone engine.
The answer to these engines is quality oil and conservative oil change intervals.
 
My girlfriend has a 2003 Sebring Convertible 2.7L that too is a POS . Her engine has 120,000 miles on it, and is seeing 5k OCIs of Maxlife and PureOne filters - only time will tell if it has an impact on oil consumption and cleanliness.

I would recommend you be sure to change the PCV valve by 100,000 miles. We saw noticeable improved in replacing the PCV Valve and hose, which helped with the oil consumption.
 
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I would use PP and change at 3K to 5K.

But you need to pull the valve cover to check the condition.

No engine flush. Just let the oil do the cleaning.
 
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I vote for laying down the law and going with Option Five. Use some of the money from the sale to buy a foldout couch and take a cooking class. Kids are tough and they will get over it. The wife...well...

Maybe a combination of Options Two and Three: synthetic w/ 3,000 mile OCI with MMO added for the last 1,000 miles? Just spitballing from a guy with limited motor oil knowledge and who has been thus far afraid to use the bottle of MMO that has sat unused in his garage for 3+ months.
 
Originally Posted By: Donald
I would use PP and change at 3K to 5K.

But you need to pull the valve cover to check the condition.

No engine flush. Just let the oil do the cleaning.


+1 or PU
 
I've got an 02 Intrepid with the 2.7 and I have been following all of the details on this engine (and spend alot of time on a Dodge Intrepid site). My brother also owns a 99 Intrepid with the 2.7. he has 130k miles on it and sometimes uses amsoil, sometimes uses dino with 3k OCI.

KEEP the car! you will enjoy it!!! ( I also have a 1996 Sebring JX. )

many many users on the site (that purchased the car new, or new enuf to hope the the original owner maintained it) are able to get 150-200k out of the motor without sludge. I only use group IV synthetics in it. (Amsoil signature series) and change it every 5k.

part of the problem was resolved with the PCV system by adding a heater to the system. (look for heater/coolant lines going to the PCV hose)

kinda tough luck on the water pump. foolish design, IMHO. I'm not thrilled with the lack of torque on the engine; but I would not hesitate to buy another.

just maintain it! actually, I wish my Sebring had the 2.7. after replacing 3 head gaskets on the 2.4..... of course, I've had it since new and it has tons of miles on it.

quite a few here are recommending group 3 oils. personally I go "top tier" on this car. I dont mind spending a little extra. and while I would be disappointed to lose an engine, I like mine enuf that I would rebuild the engine and just move on. (or swap for a 3.2 or 3.5 - a common swap in these cars) while the 2.7 is alittle more expensive to rebuild (a little over 3k) it is not exhorbinant and certainly only a fraction of the price of a new car. I have had engines rebuilt in one of my other cars and also a truck - I never regret spending 2k for the rebuild and went on to put alot of miles on the new engine.
 
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I'd go the pp route. At 3000 miles add a quart of mmo then change at 4000 miles. Keep repeating until the oil looks fairly clean at 3000 miles and forget the additives and let the pp maintain cleanliness.
 
Run Pennzoil conventional with 1000 OCI with new filter all the time. saves u money and it actually gets the job done.
 
As noted, the sludge issue was supposed to have been resolved by the 2004 model year (my daughter had one).

IF they replaced the water pump with the new, improved version, then they would have had to replace all the timing gears/chains/etc., as the new pump has different gear teeth. Otherwise, they may have put in another old pump design.

My daughter's did not sludge up (from casual inspection).

Watch for the oil pressure sensor to go bad and leak oil profusely (a $35 part, easy to access).

Best of luck with the great ideas above.
 
Thanks for all the super fantastic replies! Considering everything that has been posted, here's what I'm going to do. For the next six months, I'm going to do an oil change every month with conventional oil and filter change. This should be good as it will clean out any gunk that might have built up from water pump failure and I happen to have an ample supply of 5W30 in my oil stash. (It also gives me an excuse to do two things, change my oil which I think we all enjoy doing and drive my wife's car as my ride is a 93 Ford Taurus). Following that, I plan on doing 3000 mile changes with a synthetic.

BTW - when they changed out the water pump, they also changed out the timing chain and all the other doo-dads that go with it so I'm assuming they went with the new design - I hope.

I thank you, my wife thanks you, my children thank you - now to sit down to a warm and yummy supper
smile.gif
 
My option,drain oil,fill with kerosene,let sit overnight,drain,refill with kero/mmo/thick cheep oil mix and run for a few min. Repeat a few times,replacing filter each time. Then run a 500 mile oci. Go to 1k oci then regular ocis
 
I agree with pulling the valve cover and/or dropping the pan to [censored] the situation before formulating a plan.
 
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