2001 Intrepid, 2.7

It was late on the evening of July 3, 2006, 500+ miles from home, with 79,000+ miles on the car, and with no warning, when it happened. Just driving at normal highway speeds, when the engine started missing and had a major loss of power. When I pulled over, the car died. Only after I tried to re-start it did the check engine light come on, I also noticed that the temp was fine. I then noticed that the coolant was leaking from the weep hole in the water pump, and the oil was also filled with the coolant. Many dollars later, we finally got home. (We rented a u-haul truck with a car dolly.) Now for my question...what am I looking for when I tear this engine down??? What should I check when rebuilding it??? Any help would be appreciated!

Do not rebuild it, the 2.7l is junk.
Many people have the same problem.
Even if you rebuild it or get a new 2.7l you still have a junk engine.
Take a look at:
http://intrepidconversions.com/
For about the same price as fixing the 2.7l, you can have a 3.2 or 3.5.

Convert it to a 3.2/3.5 and you will feel the results of the 2.7 to 3.2/3.5 conversion.You will have more power and get a donor car instead of the kit.The advantage of the donor car is you have the parts on hand instead of going back and forth to the nearest auto salvage yard a number of times.Jasper does rebuild the 2.7 with updated parts,one part of the warrenty is to change the oil EVERY 3,000 miles and NOT over 3,000 miles.Jasper is the best one out there.You have to keep the reciepts for the oil changes too.The parts for the 2.7 are expensive and break the bolts loose by hand,the bolts round off real easy if you do not.The crankshaft is junk and the 2.7 eats up crankshafts.

From what I hear and seen the 2.7 is junk. 3.2 or 3.5 is a better engine

Well, I did rebuild it for around $1,000.00 in parts and some tools. The engine is difficult to rebuild, a challenge, but it runs fine now. I did all the work myself, therefore saving labor costs. If I had known about the 2.7, I would NOT have purchased the car. I did buy the factory service manual for it, and the AUTOTAP product so I can monitor the engine with my laptop.

An used 2.7 goes for $2,000 to $2,500 from an auto salvage yard if you can find one and they are hard to find with NO warrenty