Need advice on 2001 with 2.7

I just purchased a 2001 Intrepid SE with the 2.7 about 2 weeks ago without knowing the history of the car. After I had bought it is when I heard the horror stories. It has 109,000 thousand miles on it and I have no history on maintence. It runs great, no problems at all. But after reading these stories I would like to know if putting additives in the oil or having it flushed would extend the life of the motor. (If it is the original motor). And if they were not using synthetic before will it cause harm to it start now. Also just to verify, best I can tell 2001 was the first year they "said" they had the problems fixed. Is this correct?

A 2.7 engine is VERY sensitive!!!! Make sure you use the correct weight oil! Make sure you change it every 3000 miles. They are know to develop a ton of sludge throughout the engine. No, it would not hurt to flush the engine with a can of engine flush before the next oil change, in fact I recommend it. It will last a long time as long as you dont neglect it, think of a 2.7 as a newborn baby.

whatever you do, don't put any additives in the engine, those only cause things to get even worse. Just put 5W-30 motor oil, preferably synthetic, and you'll be fine.

Well I put synthetic in it and drove about 200 miles and changed it see if it would be dirty. It wasnt too bad. I scraped the inside of the pan and didn't see any sludge so maybe it's been taken good care of. It's a great car as far as I can tell though.

I have the same car, and also bought it before knowing of the horror stories about it. It’s been a very good car and hasn’t given me any problems yet (knock on wood). I saw a bad sludge problem and did some research. I found a specific type of machine that power flushes the engine and removes the sludge. Go to http://www.autoprofit.com/index.html (http://www.autoprofit.com/index.html) . Take a look at the entire site and if you think it will help you, call them and ask where they have sold one of these machines in your area. I did this and the oil is “Superclean” with no more sludge in it. It’s probably a good idea to go with 5W30 oil anyway.