how to get the most out of 2.7 litter

[brent07_07]

i have 120,000 miles on my car but its all i have for the next few years.. so i want to get all i can out of it .. what should i do? .. i'v been told to get an intake.. i would like to make my own if that is possible.. if you have plans on how to make one or anyother ideas please tell me . thanks!!

[ta0ba]

i am in the same boat as you so to speak... i am looking to get a custom aem v2 for my 96 but i am not sure how much it will be

[slantsixness]

change the oil A LOT!!!, so the motor lasts long enough for you to enjoy it before it sludges itself to death.

however, unplug the intake air temperature sensor , and replace it (put this resistor across the terminals) with a 100K ohm 1/2watt resistor. It will improve performance by maybe 10 HP, although some say it's as much as 20, (I think 20 is BS, but I don't have a dyno...) But you'll notice the difference. It really is just fooling the computer to think the air is cold all the time, allowing for more fuel delivery, and more HP.

Slantsixness

[danielthechskid]

How about synthetic oil? We have a 92 dynasty 3.3 with 212000 miles on it running mobil 1 10w-30 since 185000 and the engine is still going strong and is almost silent unless you floor it then it has a nice growl to it. It also has great gas mileage and will still do 110MPH easily. The only noise at idle is a slight timing chain rattle when the engine is hot but that was there before the switch to synthetic.

[xs29l]

Synthetic oil is a MUST. Synthetic oil not only disolves this sludge, but it will never build up the sludge again. I changed our 1998 Intrepid over to Mobil 1 at 40,000 miles and am very glad I did. If you use conventional oil, your motor will blow, I can guarantee it. Any synthetic is better than any conventional oil. Also, you need to use a good quality oil filter. A good choice is Amsoil, Mobil 1, or even K&N. These filters flow as good or better than the conventional oil filters, but actually filter to 10 microns. Fram (for example) filters to 40 microns letting anything else go right through. 40 micron grit can cause engine wear which will be noticable at around 100,000 miles. 10 micron grit will cause wear that will be noticable at 400,000 miles. I would like to hear from people who have used conventional oil in the 2.7 and have alot of miles. I've heard from too many who say theirs blew up at 80,000 to 100,000, but I have never heard of anyone using synthetic with this problem. Thanks,

[slantsixness]

Synthetic oil now won't cure 120K miles of sludge buildup, but it's probably worth the extra money. It will stop the sludge...mostly.

we used Castrol syntec for a short time (80K) in a '97 with the 2.7L and the motor was ok to 180K, but the trans went and the motor started knocking (from the slipping trans, I think). We sent the POS to an early grave in the hurricane last year when a 100+yr old oak tree got it pinned to the driveway at my uncle's house. It wasn't my car, but my uncle had to buy one snce my dad had one. He bought a 2.7L. I bought my dad a 3.5L ES. It still rocks, with just a water pump, fuel line recall and proper maintenance, always.

Slantsixness

[xs29l]

Actually there would be no cure for the damage done to an engine with that type of buildup, but synthetic oil will eventually clean an engine out completely. At 120,000 miles, it would be a good idea to change to synthetic and then change it again after 3000 miles. The 2.7 gets into trouble with sludge because the oil passages are too small. The oil can't flow and the top end gets starved. All motors will build up sludge to a certain point, but the 2.7 and the 318 seem to be worse than most for some reason. We took apart a 2.7 that had been maintained with synthetic oil and there was no sludge at all. A 2.7 would last indefinately with good oil and a bypass filter. I have one with 220,000 miles on it and it runs like it did when I boiught it (no sludge either).

[slantsixness]

Synthetic Man (xs29l),
Come on dude, lay off the synthetic oil posts....

Most of us know what synthetic oil does.
A lot of us know what a 2.7L does, despite the damn oil we use.

Synthetic oil isn't gold.
2.7L IS a big piece of doggy doo, and I'm sorry you have one that hasn't taken it's life-ending poo yet, but, even with synthetic oil, sooner or later it will.
They ALL do.

[BleedDodge]

Lol.

[Jporter12]

Chill out! I've seen too many of these 2.7's that do have many miles on them (well over 100,000) such as mine, with 110,000. I've had it for about the last 50,000 of it's life, and I've used conventional oil (10W30) and Carquest oil filters (Wix). I had to tear the heads off it (they're off right now) for a ticking noise, and oil burning. The oil burning is valve seals (could've fixed with the heads on the car) and the ticking is a few of the lifters are sticking. There is next to no sludge in this engine. The only sludge is in the front of the heads in the timing chain area, where the oil doesn't flow as fast and has time to sludge up. It's not much though.

I originally thought I had a valve guide problem (ticking, and oil burning made me think that way) but al in all, things are good! I'm putting in a new timing chain tensioner and if the lifters don't free up after soaking in solvent for the past 4 days, I'll replace the sticky ones.

Oh, yeah.....I plan to stick with conventional oil in it...

[Jporter12]

As for performance upgrades, there's not much you can do. I would NOT reccomend doing the Inlet Air Temp sensor mod. Too many things in the way the engine run rely on that input being correct, and contrary to what people say, you can hurt performance by doing so. More fuel is not always the way to more power..... That mod can take out some timing advance, which may decrease power.

[wafrederick]

Put a 3.2 in it's place.I have done this,my father bought one with a blown up 2.7.There is a whole bunch of changes though.You need the 3.2 engine and transmission(the gear ratio is differant),radatior and a/c condensor intact(bolted together),a/c lines,throttle cable,heater hoses,front of the exhaust and computor.After puttting the 3.2 in it's place,ran a whole lot better after my father test drove it

[katana1981]

just to be part of this post, I have a 2000 intrepid with the 2.7L. it has 253000 km now on the counter and I use 5w30 valvoline... never have problem but I use my car for business and personnal purposes.. every months I flush the oil and change the oil filter... doesn't have sludge in it too so maybe I'm lucky... but like someone said before.. CHANGE THE OIL A LOT :P