Problems with 2000 Dodge Intrepid ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING

While driving 37 mph, the vehicle stall without warning. the driver tried to restart the vehicle and was not able to do so. the vehicle was towed to a body shop for inspection. the mechanic informed the driver that the engine needed to be replaced. please provide further details. *nm

While pulling into a parking area consumer heard a loud grinding noise coming from the engine compartment. a few seconds later the engine stalled. dealer found that the pistons and rods were bent in the engine. *ak

While driving vehicle stalled. consumer managed to pull over and had the vehicle towed. dealership informed consumer that the problem pertained to the timing chain failure. *ak

2000 dodge intrpid with a blown enginie.

while driving at undetermined speed vehicle stalled. consumer towed vehicle towed to the dealer, and mechanic determined that engine failed. *ak

While driving at 40 mph consumer heard a noise coming from the engine. then, stalled on the highway. dealer thought the problem was the timing chain. *ak the hydraulic tensioner failed due to oil sludge in the engine according to the dealer. the engine was replaced. the driver door latch was noisy and inoperative. the door latch was replaced. *sc

engine failed at 56,000 miles. *ak

Sludge build up in engine. i also have a cracked piston. car started smoking from tail pipe so i took it to a mechanic and he said i would need a new engine ($5,000). car has been sitting in drive way for 3 months now. have contacted lawyer to file class action lawsuit.

Dt: while driving in a snow storm the engine failed in the middle of the road. one month prior to this engine failed while getting an oil change. the mechince noticed that there was sludge in oil. had it towed home, and consumer was told the engine was too small for this car. *ak

While driving at 60 mph consumer heard a loud noise, then vehicle stalled. towed vehicle to an independent repair shop, and technician stated that timing belt broke, and damaged the engine. *ak

While driving 60 mph vehicle stalled. consumer managed to pull over, and had the vehicle towed. *ak

While driving 40 mph, consumer noticed that oil light came on, and then vehicle stalled. consumer tried to restart vehicle several times,but to no avail. *ak

While driving at 35 mph and without any warning engine stalled. vehicle was taken to independent shop, mechanic indicated engine had a lot of sludge and needed to be replaced. dealer stated it was consumer's fault due tom poor maintenance. *ak

Upon entering the vehicle engine would not start. took vehicle to dealer, and the timing chain was replaced. the problem has recurred, engine won't start. dealer stated engine needed to be replaced. *ak

While driving at low or high speeds engine was knocking. dealer stated the need to replace the engine at owner's expense of $ 6,000 dollars. independent mechanic found alot of sludge in the engine. *ak

No real events leading. it just stopped. fine at red light. then when pulled out i heard ticking noice. i pulled into very next off road approx 1 block. vhenever ran again. mech advised oil pump. engine blew up. $7000 to repair. mech advised chrysler has known this problem since day one. chrysler refused to help. i am now paying the balance of a $8000 loan on a car i can not drive and had to buy another one. i work and drive the atlanta roads. when your vehicle stops in these roads. you are risking your life. *ak

While driving between 65 - 70 mph consumer heard a flapping noise. consumer pulled over and turned vehicle off to inspect. vehicle wouldn't restart. vehicle was towed to a dealership, and mechanic indicated that noise was due to engine failure. the engine had sludge build up. prior to the engine failure vehicle had had an oil change. this might have been caused by fuel pump failure. *ak

Oil sludge in 2000 dodge intrepid with 3.2 6 cyl engine. noted noisy valve in left cylinder head. during inspection of valve train found rocker arm shaft filled with sludge blocking oil passage to rocker arms. right valve trained also had a large amount of sludge in rocker arm shaft. cleaned shaft and inspected valve train for excessive wear. valve train wear still within limits as prescribed by chrysler/dodge. inspected oil pan and noted a large amount of sludge in the pan. further inspections revealed oil pick up tube 90% blocked, and the oil pump housing scored from damaged gear out of the factory. replaced oil pump assembly, pick up tube, crankshaft bearings, and connecting rod bearings. this defect was caught and corrected before any severe damage to the engine occurred. had it not, result would be an engine locked up due to lack of lubrication. this car is maintained regularly, with frequent oil changes, and has highway mileage on it. dodge denies any oil nitration/sludge problem on the 3.2 engine. noted several reports of the same problem from several owners. *jb

I purchased a new 2000 dodge intrepid april 15, 2000. while on my way to thanksgiving dinner, on the expressway, the oil light came on & 2 seconds later the car stopped. i finally was able to move it to the right lane (there is no emergency parking on the van wyck) when all lights including my hazard lights went out. my family and i almost died on the expressway. i had it towed to a dealer that night and after repeated calls to them they responded six days later telling me the starter needed replacing and i needed a new battery. when i called to find out when it could be picked up, they told me i had a seased engine and they did could not tell me why. my warranty was for 7 years or 50,000 miles; however, i now had 60,000 miles there fore i am no longer covered and must pay $7000 for a new engine. i owe $13,000 on my car note, the dealer told me to pay of the note and come buy another car. i have researched and found numerous cases of seased engines on the model. the manufacturer is aware of this dangerous condition, my family was almost killed and i am sure there have been cases where this condition has been fatal. something must be done. *la

While turning a corner at 15 mph the consumer heard a popping sound coming from the engine. the engine was idling roughly just before the vehicle stalled. the vehicle was taken to the dealer, who found that there was a build up of sludge in the engine. *ak

Engine on 2000 intrepid blown after 60,000 miles. mechanic said sludge is the contributing factor. have been very diligent about oil changes even before sludge was discovered by dealer in 2002. nevertheless, engine blew. cost to replace engine $5400. this is the 2nd chrysler car that required engine replacement. we are 3 time owners of chrysler products, and feel disappointed and disillusioned with chrysler products at the moment.*jb

While driving at 60 mph, the rpms raced up to 4000. then, the rpms fluctuated between 4000 and 2000 rpms. the vehicle finally stalled and would not restart. *ak the vehicle was towed and after the diagnosis was performed, it was determined the vehicle needed a new engine. *jb

While driving at 65 mph vehicle stalled and would not restart. vehicle was towed to the dealer, who informed the consumer that there was a build up of sludge in the engine. dealer blamed the sludge build up on the consumer, and would not repair the vehicle free of charge.*ak

Steering developed 'play' in late 10/03. by 11/12/03 it was clunking, wheel was cocked to the right. steering wheel would stick/lock up. contacted dealer in santa rosa, ca. was quoted $175 estimate. later, same day learned that rack was broken and pump was leaking and cost would be a minimum $2000 to repair. i opted to go to another mechanic and had the car towed away from the dealer shop.

I have a 2000 dodge intrepid with a 2.7l engine. my wife, with my daughter, was driving the vehicle in frankfort, kentucky when the engine began running extremely rough at a stop light. the car would barely move causing her great difficulty in getting out of the intersection. we had the car towed to the jeff sach's dealership in frankfort, ky for repair. we were then told that the engine would have to be replaced due to the engine type.they said that they could re-build the engine but could not guaranteethat the engine would last a week. this vehicle has 80,000 miles on it and is half paid for and chrysler says that the design causes it to be replaced once it goes bad. the dealership informed us that chrysler knew it was a poor design but that was the trade off for more power out of a smaller engine. we called chrysler and were informed that it was not under warranty so there was really no need to call them. in a day where tune ups are not required for the first 100,000 miles on most vehicles,one would seem to expect an engine that did not fail before then either. i have since discovered that this problem is extremely common. fortunately my wife was stopped and not driving in traffic when the engine failed. if that had been the case she would not have had power steering or brakes with which to control the car.

I have a dodge intrepid 2000 with a 2.7 liter engine and the engine made a huge noise and it was not drivable. it was towed to the shop and after talking to chrysler corp. they did find metal shaving in oil pan and they will go 50% on cost. i have talked to several repairmen and friends having this model and they all claim that their motors have blown too! why should the consumer pay for a faulty motor. if they are willing to go 50% then you know that chrysler knows that they are having problems with this motor. please investigate this there were no lives lost in my case, but what about the next person. thank you! *la

i was driving my dodge 2000 intrepid and suddenly without warning my car started making a loud noise and smoke was coming out from under the hood and the tail pipe of my car. my car stalled and the power steering and brakes locked up. my car was towed to the dodge dealership and i was later told that my engine had failed due to a sludge problem. i was told that my car's warranty had expired even through i have 2,000 miles left for the 36,000 mile warranty. i was told because i purchased the car in december 1999 my warranty was for three years or 36,000 miles which ever comes first. i made a phone call to the manufacturer to see if there was any recalls, since i had moved from my previous address, but there was not. i could not believe that this engine failure was due to something i did. i contacted a repair shop to find out the cost of repair. the repair person called me back and i was told that the manufacturer of a rebuild engine company was aware of a defective engine that caused a sludging problem and premature engine failure. the engine is a 2.7 liter that chrysler made between the years of 1998,1999 and 2000 and that the engine design had changed in 2001. i then went on line and discovered that i am not the only one with this problem there are quite a few people pursuing chrysler corporation for the same problem and there is also a class action lawsuit regarding the matter. i am now faced with this out-of-pocket expense and am looking at approximately $4,700.00 in replacement costs. this is placing a severe hardship on me. i am a dislocated worker and am presently living off of unemployment compensation and have recently went back to school for retraining. this is my sole source of transportation. i am also in the process of finding out how i can become invovled in a class action lawsuit that others have filed against chrysler in the hopes that i can gain some compensation or reimbursement for my loses. *ak

Bought this car brand new in 2000 and at 3 years old with just under 80,000 miles it is shot! did routine maintenance and changed the oil on a regular basis at 3,000 to 4,000 miles even though owner's manual states oil changes at 7,500 miles. in october, 2003 the day after i had my oil changed, i started hearing a slight knocking noise and took the car to my mechanic. mechanic proceeded to tell me that my engine had sludge build up in it and would have to be replaced at a cost of between $4k - $6k. mechanic also told me that this was a very common and "known" problem with the intrepid 2.7l v6 engine but that so far dodge has refused to recall the engine. told me that oil should actually be changed at least every 2,500 miles religiously and that we should use synthetic oil (owners manual does not say this - why?!?). mechanic was very sympathetic and said "don't take my word for it do an internet search for intrepid engine sludge and see what comes up". followed his suggestion and was absolutely shocked and disgusted at what i found! the number of people having the exact same problem as we are is just shameful! my wife and i paid approx. $22k for this car and now, 3 years later, the cost to repair the car is more than what it is valued at! finally, just this week, we all but gave away our 3 year old car for $2,000 because that is the best offer we had. my wife and i have worked hard for everything we have and we feel cheated and betrayed by dodge for putting out such a lousy product and then continually refusing to acknowledge this defect despite plenty of evidence to the contrary! please, do something to stop this!!!*ak

Overheating, motor died out while driving on the highway. struggled a lot to keep control. engine is no longer useful. got an estimate for $14,000 on a new engine. vehicle has 88,000 miles. very upset.... *la

Engine died while driving. *ak

While driving 45 mph engine seized then stalled. vehicle was towed. dealership was notified, but did not resolve the problem. *ak

Since i bought this car on october of 1999, i have taken it to the dealer 31 times to fix things. i have been without a car 100 days. i have paid out of pocket $3,137.64. i am now on an extended warranty. i still owe $8,000.00 on my car. it has 60,000 miles. i have maintained it every 3,000 miles as suggested in the owners manual. i only use 97 octane gas. i am a very cautious driver. i take care of the car but the car has left me stranded in the middle of highways putting my life and the lives of my passengers in danger. i never know when the car is going to break down again and where so i am always under terrible stress. i pray as i drive that i make it to my destination. this car has been a lemon since i bought it. the biggest problem is the engine blowing. my brother in law was driving and i was the passenger on south dixie highway (us1) in south miami when we were at a red light and then started to go when the light turned green and without any warning lights, noises, or anything the car stopped running. it died in the middle lane. we had to push it to the side. it was rush hour and this highway is filled with very aggressive drivers. they were all cursing, beeping, signaling, and driving so close to us as to almost touch us. i was petrified. i thought a car was going to hit us. i paid for the engine repair out of my pocket, because the extended warranty company told the dealer they could not cover it because there was sludge build up. they send an adjustor who reported it to them. the dealer told us to fight it because the sludge was normal for that type of engine. we provided the extended warranty all the receipts for the maintenance that we religiously did about every 3000 miles. we also had another mechanic go in and look at the car. the other mechanic said that these types of engines always had the problem of sludge build up and that it was normal for the engine and ...

Dt: 2000 dodge intrepid. consumer complained about engine problems about a year after purchasing the car. the engine overheated and caused the car to stall. took vehicle to the dealership 4 times and they said it was a sensor which they replaced the first three times free of charge. the last time took vehicle to the dealer and they said engine blew out. and it needed to be replaced. consumer did not have the engine replaced because could not find a replacement. the only place that could get an engine was from chrysler, and that would cost more that what the car was worth. *ak

While driving about 55 mph on the highway engine locked up and shut down on the highway. vehicle was towed to the dealership. mechanic told the driver that corrosion mixed with oil was the problem. engine had to be replaced.*ak

Dodge 2000 2.7 liter dohc v6 engine failure with only 80k miles. had to replace entire engine due to "sludge". bought used, told not covered under warranty. dealer stated this is a common problem with this engine (wish they had told us before purchased the car).*ak

Engine light comes on during a road trip with my daughter to woodfield,oh from columbus. mechanic says i'm lucky the engine didn't blew up before i got there. mechanic says there was only a pint of oil in my car yet i saw no signs of oil burning or leaking and an oil change had been done earlier in the year. mechanic puts new oil in, scans and resets the car so the engine light doesn't stay on. after that, i started my trip back home and everything seems fine, then 10-15 minutes in the trip the engine light comes back on so i turn around and head back to the mechanic. on the way back i could feel the engine kicks back and almost stall out. again, i was lucky to make it back to the mechanic. while car is parked and engine is running, you could hear the engine revving up and then it would idle back down. it would do this a few times and then stall out. mechanic does another evaluation and determines that a new engine is needed and the car cannot be driven. a week later i got my car towed back to columbus (the car broke down in woodsfield, oh) and had it checked again by a mechanic in columbus. they told me the same thing that the engine needs replaced because the water pump housing is damaged and there is no coolant in the overflow and felt that i could not have prevented this. so i called around to get estimates on replacing the engine and every place i called, they said that they've had lots of complaints about the dodge intrepid's 2.7 liter engine. they say that the oil is not getting to the top of the engine. one place told me they replaced this engine almost once a week. so now i'm stuck with having to come up with several thousand dollars to replace a faulty engine. the fact that the safety of my daughter and i was jeopardized because this is becoming a common problem, and that there isn't even an investigation going on, leaves me very upset. i hope something will be done about this soon. *la

2000 dodge intrepid threw a rod at 80,000 mi. having engine replaced from mid-atlantic. after they sent one to our auto shop, they could not get it to stop leaking in various places. sent it back now waiting for another engine for this car. been without this car now for 3 weeks. first engine failed now brand new engine could not work. *la

Timing chain wears out prematurely. *ak

While driving at 55 mph engine failed without warning. dealer refused to give consumer any type of information regarding engine defect. *ak failure occurred while consumer was driving on a busy highway. *ph

While driving at 25 mph, the consumer heard a rattling sound coming from the engine. a few seconds later the vehicle stalled and wouldn't restart. the vehicle was towed to a dealer, who informed the consumer that the engine had a build up of sludge. a new engine was needed at that time. the manufacturer is aware of the problem. *ph while driving at 25 mph vehicle experienced a rattling noise coming from the the engine. vehicle stalled and would not restart. vehicle was towed to dealer where sludge was found in engine.*mr

2000 chrysler intrepid with less than 70,000 miles used primarily by my wife for work. (85 miles per day). car started to knock. we brought it to the dealership for investigation and were told we had an engine failure. dealership replaced small block with what i was told as being a new as an after market part. we started to have oil changes done at dealership only every 3,000 miles(although owners manual states 7,000 for our the type of driving. at less than 40,000 miles the engine started to knock again. dealership would not stand behind product or repair again. i brought it to a local repair shop that was recommended to me by a friend in the business. this repair shop has had some luck with repairing the problem. unfortunately for me not this time. i have contacted chrysler several time with same results as mentioned, service not performed by dealership to bad, i was also told this by dale frank the service manager at the dealership. i have all my vehicles service at or before 3,000 miles. i fine it very absurd that the spark plug change is at 100,000 miles when this engine has no change of ever seeing that number of miles. *tr

Engine failure due to malfunction of oil distribution of the 2.7 liter engine.*ak

Early engine failure - timing chain tensioner failure in a 2000 dodge intrepid 2.7 with 56000 well maintained miles. car just upped and died with no warning. initial problem was repaired at great expense and more periferal problems are surfacing/

Serviced at 66000 miles for running hot and rough. mechanic found buildup of sludge on top of head over 1 in thick. timing chain worn from lack of oil. suggested new engine. mecanics had replaced similer engine previously on another car. they said this was recurring problem with the 2.7 liter due to poor head and oiling design. replacement engine was modified to correct this. internet search returned many similar problems.*ak

Air conditioning core went out @ 50,000 miles.*ak

Car would not restart after stopping for gas. i had the car was towed to a shop.i was told that the fuel injector was bad. had it changed--car still would not start. two weeks later, i was told that he could not fix it and i should take it to the dealer. he charged me $200 for the fuel injector & towing. the dealer immediately said it was the crank sensor and changed it. the dealer then called and said they changed the sensor and it still won't run. he told me "you have a bigger problem. your engine is slugged up." i asked how that could be and was told that i must not have changed the oil often enough or used the correct oil. that is totally wrong! i took very good care of the car and always had the oil changed regularly. to repair the car will cost $1100 just to allow them to take the engine apart and further diagnose the problem (no clue how much money after that) or $6000 for a new engine. i do not have the money for a new engine--nor can i afford to make payments on a car that will not get me to work. this was the last problem in a long list of problems in the two years i have owned the car. the driver window fell off track, the pulleys and belts were repaired or replaced repeatedly, several sensors had to be replaced. this car is a total lemon! *ak

Vehicle has sludge build up in engine.*mr the vehicle died on the highway. consumer thought the extended warranty would cover the replacement of a new engine. the mechanic informed the consumer the warranty wouldn't cover it as a result of "excessive sludge" and the work was estimated at $8712.37. *ph *jb

I have only had the car less than a year. regular oil changes. never any problems. it is a 2.7 engine. with 80,000 miles. we were driving down the hiway and the engine seized. no lights came on. no warning. mechanic said that the engine was blown the pistons pushed up through the heads. we changed our oil at a service center regularly. the mechanic said it has happened to people all over with intrepids.

Engine failure in 2000 dodge intrepid; car stopped while driving; there were no warnings or indications that anything was wrong with my car; i had just had the oil changed the day before. after researching on the internet, i have found that this is a common problem with the dodge intrepid, and dodge will not recall these cars to fix the problem. *la

November 2002 taken to dealership to replace cam position sensor. june 2003 taken to dealer for cam position sensor. complained to dealer of ticking noise. dealer told me that it was the timing belt and that the vehicle was in perfect running condition. august 2003 loud noise from engine. towed to dealer. dealer claims vehicle needs new engine if they are available for a cost of $7000.