[Dupo24]

I just put a reman engine from Promar Engines in my ol' Dodge after the engine shredded itself. What do I do to keep this one from sludging up and going bad? I have lots of faith that Promar did the best they could to fix the problem, however, what can I do. What coolant do you recommend? What oil? I was thinking Pennzoil Platinum Full Synthetic. Currently running Rotella T 15w40 in it. I have only water in the cooling system at this point. Dexcool? The good ol' green stuff? What will make this engine last me 150,000 miles?

 

[MegaTrep]

I am assuming you have the 2.7?
Coolant wise, its the Mopar stuff or nothing. Bad stuff happens when you don't use it.
Oil wise, synthetic is always good, change it at 3000 miles or 3 months RELIGOUSLY.

 

[cobra65]

I used Mobil 1 10W-30 year round. When the engine cover was opened up at 100k to change the water pump, they didn't find any sludge. 15W-40 is too heavy a weight oil. Only have water in the cooling system?!! Just use Mopar anti-freeze recommended for the Intrepid or an equivilent. Never, ever use Dexcool (the orange GM junk)

 

[jfsram]

You've already got some good advice on maintenance so I will mention another tip for making an engine last long. No short trips, extended idling and be gentle with the throttle until the engine is fully warmed up.

 

[cobra65]

You've already got some good advice on maintenance so I will mention another tip for making an engine last long. No short trips, extended idling and be gentle with the throttle until the engine is fully warmed up.

Yes, short trips are bad. People think an older car with low mileage is good, but that's not always so. Short trips are bad because condensation gets into your oil. When you drive a distance and get the engine heated up, it burns off the moisture. When you do short trips and the engine doesn't get to run warm for a period of time, that condensation goes into your oil, and as everyone knows, oil and water don't mix. My brother bought an old Buick that only had 35k on it becuase the lady that owned it just drove it mostly local. Well, long story short, it only lasted like another 10-15k before it died on him.

 

[K9]

Everyone else already pretty much said what I was going to lol, Mobil 1 or Castrol Full syntec 10W30 every 3,000-3,500 miles or 3 months whichever comes first, and for the coolant, Mopar stuff FTW!

 

[Dupo24]

well, i did the engine break in as required. Seems to be running great! Put the drivers side doors on today and drove it around town for a bit. Going to drain the water from the engine, flush, and add the 50 50 mix of Mopar. Let's see how long this baby lasts!

 

[Dupo24]

Well, it's been a few weeks, and my brother and I did some major overhaul to the interior of the car. Pics to be posted sometime this week. We pulled out all the seats and put new ones in. We got them for $60 from the junkyard. I got a new ac bezel to replace the scratched one that I had in there. Painted the fuse box cover white with KRYLON plastic paint. I sanded the snot out of them before I painted. It looks good. We installed brand new Kenwood 6 1/2's in the doors, painted the metal grills white to match the car. Also installed some nice sony's in the back with an Alpine V Power amp...not too much power, but just enough. We got them all in open boxes from the local Best Buy. That explains the different brands. I also installed a brand new Kenwood KDC-MP538U head unit and did the wiring to the amp under the passenger front seat. I need to do some minor adjusting, probably going to cut the carpet and form fit it under there. The front seat is hitting the amp when it slides front to back by about 1/8 inch. Not bad for the base model Intrepid. I don't know future plans for it. I'm planning on dumping out the 10w40 in about 300 miles, and putting in 5w30. Then I'm going to flush and fill the radiator. Thats it for now.

 

[shadowvox6]

You could mix a little Marvel Mystery Oil in with your synthetic at every oil change.
Also, I would use Zerex G05 coolant....60/40 mix of Distilled Water/Coolant