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Old April 3rd 16, 03:07 PM posted to rec.autos.makers.chrysler
Steve Stone[_5_]
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Posts: 6
Default Is the Chrysler 3.5 engine any good?

Quote:

I don't claim to be an expert and this is just my opinion.
I've been in the automotive industry for the last 30 plus
years and learn something new every day.

I've had a fair amount of experience with the chrysler 2.7 ,
3.2 and 3.5 in their LH body cars.

I had a 2.7L , my personal car , seize up at an idle with no warning.
These are known for consuming coolant and it was my fault for not
fixing that problem , which led to the engine failure.

Back to the original thread topic . It seems as if Chrysler was after
some additional fuel mileage and HP when they built the 2nd gen.
3.5L engines. I have a 183,000 mile 3.5 that I put a set of rod brgs
in at 172,000. I had just purchased the vehicle and noticed an ever
so slight knock on start up only. After pulling the pan and looking at
the bearings , only the upper half was just starting to see copper, the
bottom half looked good for the miles.
If you look at the bearing width vs. the crank journal and conn. rod
width , Chrysler could have very easily used a bearing .100 wider to
help with the load carrying capacity, but that causes more rotating
friction. I'd rather give up 1 mpg than have to think about loosing
the bottom end.
I had nothing to loose but my time and the cost of a set of rod bearings
, so I polished it up and put it back together.
Now just a little more rambling,,,,,
- People think their doing a good job by going to a quick lube every
3000 miles . The oil they use it the cheapest crap they can buy !!
I'm not here to sell oil but you get what you pay for " most of the
time" do your homework , even some of the top advertised synthetics
aren't that great.
- Run a premium oil filter
- And from my own experience , when you have " ANY " amount of
coolant consumption , address it immediately.
I honestly believe because they have a weaker than average bottom
end that all of the above is super critical.
Again , Just my humble opinion and to end on a positive note , if I
didn't enjoy driving my car and I really do , I'd never put this kind of
work into it.

http://www.chryslerforum.com/forum/3...9-04-lh-18201/
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