First the details:
- 2001 Dodge Intrepid ES (I Believe) R-Series 2.7L - EDIT: You know, it might be an SE. How would I tell, I can't seem to locate it anywhere on the body. Maybe the emblem fell off?
- Bought it with ~140k, currently at 153k
- I am the third owner. I'm told the first owner was an older couple that took great care of it. The girl I bought it from also claims to have taken really good care of it and it went to the shop everytime the check engine light came on.
- I have no idea if the water pump/timing chain(s) have ever been replaced and didn't know how important it was for this vehicle when I purchased it.
- I changed the oil the day I got it home (even though she said she just had it done. I found a quart of wal-mart oil in the trunk and it scared me) and every 3k miles since then. I've used only full-syn high-mileage oil with an XL filter (my local autozone loves seeing me walk through their doors LMAO!)
- So far, I've replaced the spark plugs (not the coil-on-plugs though), water outlet housing, upper and lower radiator hoses and the radiator (not the fan shroud or transmission cooler, just the radiator). I also replaced one of the PCM hoses that was in very bad shape with a section of rubber tubing and some clamps (no one had the exact part I needed )
- Vehicle is driven almost 90 miles a day M-F and sits most weekends.
- Occasionally, the CEL comes on. I finally caught it on one day and took it straight to autozone -- It's throwing a P0601 which I understand is a PCM issue so that is on the board for replacement also.
- I expect to do some repairs when buying a used car but this guy is wearing me out lol
BACKSTORY:
Hey, I was here not to long ago with some questions/concerns about the water pump replacement. Turns out it was just the outlet housing at that time, easy fix and on the road again thanks to some help from this forum, otherwise I would have done the water pump and timing chain and still had a problem!
I had yet another cooling issue and I thought for sure it was the pump that time. Turned out to be a bad hose. Replaced upper and lower hoses. While bleeding the system, I discovered the hose was just a symptom of the radiator being weak. With pressure built up and nowhere left to escape, the radiator gave out. Ran to the store and bought a new radiator.
After missing work on a friday and spending all that day and the rest of the weekend working on the car (seriously, the hardest part was the lower radiator hose -- WTF!?), I am on the road again for a month or two now.
So here I am with winter approaching and I know my luck. If this car lasts the season (really trying not to be pessimistic), I'm going to need to do the water pump. I would love to see the mileage on this car double but I don't have the time or money to do the project now.
WATER PUMP QUESTIONS/Misc
When I initially joined the forums, I had already ordered an Evergreen water pump and timing chain replacement kit from Amazon. Thankfully that wasn't the issue because I later learned that it came with the old style pump so I returned it and replaced the outlet housing as mentioned above.
Now, I'm re-entering the research phase for the water pump. I've read so many posts and stuff on this-forum-and-that, that I have so much contradicting information.
I did locate this post (dodgeintrepid.net/18-general-discussion-second-generation/202495-quality-new-mopar-timing-chain-water-pump-kit-2.html#post1785739 - Quality of New Mopar Timing chain/water pump Kit - Post 16) That guy has a '00 Intrepid 2.7L. Unfortunately, checking stevewhiteparts.com and just about everywhere else, the prices have gone up quite a bit. Namely, the oil pump which I hadn't even considered replacing originally.
Can anyone help me confirm if those are the correct part numbers for my vehicle and would it be recommended to replace all of that or could I get away with skipping the oil pump or anything else?
Part #s
4792443AB TENSIONER
4892425AA WATER PUMP SMALL PITCH GEAR (COMES WITH THIN METAL GASKET)
4792005AC TIMING COVER GASKET
4663618 TIMING COVER CRANK SEAL
68036788AB TIMING CHAIN KIT WITH SMALL PITCH GEARS AND GUIDES
4663745AC OIL PUMP
4792068 O-RING SEAL FOE OIL PUMP
That all adds up to $522.35 currently @ stevewhiteparts.com which is a whopping $300 more than I was paying for the kit on Amazon before and $100-$150 more than I told my wife to expect :dead:. Which leads to my next question; Is Evergreen OEM? When I google some of the part numbers, I come up with Evergreen parts and I can't tell if they included the OEM part number to make it easier to find cheaper alternatives or if they're genuine. If they're not OEM, any idea how trustworthy they are?
Don't get me wrong, I will pay OEM prices when it is needed. But, if I can save a few bucks buying after market on a not so important part, I would be overjoyed.
Additionally, does anyone know of a trustworthy kit that includes all I want to do and isn't going to come with the old style pump and chains?
Should I bother with the chains? I of course can't tell if they're in bad shape until I tear it down and I don't want to tear it down until I have the parts I need on hand. Sure the labor is the same chains or not but the price is significantly different.
I'm sure I'll have more questions, thankfully I have the replacement procedure down by owning the FSM and having access to these forums (actually better and more descriptive than the FSM, IMO)
:shitbricks:
Also, this vehicle seems to be VERY loud. I've researched this and have learned that the '01 can be very noisy due to a lack of soundproofing against road noise. But the loudness in my case is coming from the engine. It's so loud that I call it my 60 mph car because any speed greater than that is almost deafening. Is this normal or indicating another issue?
It of course loses oil and transmission fluid (is this every Dodge? our Caravan did it too before the tranny died because I was an idiot and used stop leak on it but thats another project for the distant future)
- 2001 Dodge Intrepid ES (I Believe) R-Series 2.7L - EDIT: You know, it might be an SE. How would I tell, I can't seem to locate it anywhere on the body. Maybe the emblem fell off?
- Bought it with ~140k, currently at 153k
- I am the third owner. I'm told the first owner was an older couple that took great care of it. The girl I bought it from also claims to have taken really good care of it and it went to the shop everytime the check engine light came on.
- I have no idea if the water pump/timing chain(s) have ever been replaced and didn't know how important it was for this vehicle when I purchased it.
- I changed the oil the day I got it home (even though she said she just had it done. I found a quart of wal-mart oil in the trunk and it scared me) and every 3k miles since then. I've used only full-syn high-mileage oil with an XL filter (my local autozone loves seeing me walk through their doors LMAO!)
- So far, I've replaced the spark plugs (not the coil-on-plugs though), water outlet housing, upper and lower radiator hoses and the radiator (not the fan shroud or transmission cooler, just the radiator). I also replaced one of the PCM hoses that was in very bad shape with a section of rubber tubing and some clamps (no one had the exact part I needed )
- Vehicle is driven almost 90 miles a day M-F and sits most weekends.
- Occasionally, the CEL comes on. I finally caught it on one day and took it straight to autozone -- It's throwing a P0601 which I understand is a PCM issue so that is on the board for replacement also.
- I expect to do some repairs when buying a used car but this guy is wearing me out lol
BACKSTORY:
Hey, I was here not to long ago with some questions/concerns about the water pump replacement. Turns out it was just the outlet housing at that time, easy fix and on the road again thanks to some help from this forum, otherwise I would have done the water pump and timing chain and still had a problem!
I had yet another cooling issue and I thought for sure it was the pump that time. Turned out to be a bad hose. Replaced upper and lower hoses. While bleeding the system, I discovered the hose was just a symptom of the radiator being weak. With pressure built up and nowhere left to escape, the radiator gave out. Ran to the store and bought a new radiator.
After missing work on a friday and spending all that day and the rest of the weekend working on the car (seriously, the hardest part was the lower radiator hose -- WTF!?), I am on the road again for a month or two now.
So here I am with winter approaching and I know my luck. If this car lasts the season (really trying not to be pessimistic), I'm going to need to do the water pump. I would love to see the mileage on this car double but I don't have the time or money to do the project now.
WATER PUMP QUESTIONS/Misc
When I initially joined the forums, I had already ordered an Evergreen water pump and timing chain replacement kit from Amazon. Thankfully that wasn't the issue because I later learned that it came with the old style pump so I returned it and replaced the outlet housing as mentioned above.
Now, I'm re-entering the research phase for the water pump. I've read so many posts and stuff on this-forum-and-that, that I have so much contradicting information.
I did locate this post (dodgeintrepid.net/18-general-discussion-second-generation/202495-quality-new-mopar-timing-chain-water-pump-kit-2.html#post1785739 - Quality of New Mopar Timing chain/water pump Kit - Post 16) That guy has a '00 Intrepid 2.7L. Unfortunately, checking stevewhiteparts.com and just about everywhere else, the prices have gone up quite a bit. Namely, the oil pump which I hadn't even considered replacing originally.
Can anyone help me confirm if those are the correct part numbers for my vehicle and would it be recommended to replace all of that or could I get away with skipping the oil pump or anything else?
Part #s
4792443AB TENSIONER
4892425AA WATER PUMP SMALL PITCH GEAR (COMES WITH THIN METAL GASKET)
4792005AC TIMING COVER GASKET
4663618 TIMING COVER CRANK SEAL
68036788AB TIMING CHAIN KIT WITH SMALL PITCH GEARS AND GUIDES
4663745AC OIL PUMP
4792068 O-RING SEAL FOE OIL PUMP
That all adds up to $522.35 currently @ stevewhiteparts.com which is a whopping $300 more than I was paying for the kit on Amazon before and $100-$150 more than I told my wife to expect :dead:. Which leads to my next question; Is Evergreen OEM? When I google some of the part numbers, I come up with Evergreen parts and I can't tell if they included the OEM part number to make it easier to find cheaper alternatives or if they're genuine. If they're not OEM, any idea how trustworthy they are?
Don't get me wrong, I will pay OEM prices when it is needed. But, if I can save a few bucks buying after market on a not so important part, I would be overjoyed.
Additionally, does anyone know of a trustworthy kit that includes all I want to do and isn't going to come with the old style pump and chains?
Should I bother with the chains? I of course can't tell if they're in bad shape until I tear it down and I don't want to tear it down until I have the parts I need on hand. Sure the labor is the same chains or not but the price is significantly different.
I'm sure I'll have more questions, thankfully I have the replacement procedure down by owning the FSM and having access to these forums (actually better and more descriptive than the FSM, IMO)
:shitbricks:
Also, this vehicle seems to be VERY loud. I've researched this and have learned that the '01 can be very noisy due to a lack of soundproofing against road noise. But the loudness in my case is coming from the engine. It's so loud that I call it my 60 mph car because any speed greater than that is almost deafening. Is this normal or indicating another issue?
It of course loses oil and transmission fluid (is this every Dodge? our Caravan did it too before the tranny died because I was an idiot and used stop leak on it but thats another project for the distant future)