[Love_My_Intrepid]

I have had my Intrepid for about 5 years. A 2.7...Runs good though. Happy with it.
Just joined this morning! I noticed that there are discussions about mods here. What have you done to your Intrepid?
I never knew I could do mods to my car. I used to work with a guy that kept updating his car (not a Dodge) for races. Thought it was pretty cool. So, looking for ideas. Oh yeah, 2002 Dodge Intrepid SE, aka The Silver Beast. And The Silver Beast is completely paid for so I can do mods and not worry about returning the car. lol

 

[kevinfish]

My understanding is the 2.7L is about as high strung as it can get performance wise already (being approx 1.2 HP/IN^3).

You might be able to get a little freer flowing exhaust, a bigger throttle body (e.g. all the typical stuff), etc... From what I've seen aftermarket cold air intakes are basically bogus (and I think the trep already intakes cold air).

Some of these mods might be applicable:

https://www.300cforums.com/threads/chrysler-300-2-7l-performance-mods.65737/

From my understanding, if you want much bigger power you're looking at some kind of forced induction together with a higher flow fuel pump, injectors, and (quite possibly) stronger pistons.

One of these might not be too incredibly difficult to adapt:

You'll certainly want to make sure your trans is serviced with the RIGHT fluid (ATF+4) and perhaps beefed up a bit to handle the power.

Speaking of trans, I recall reading here somewhere that a higher stall torque converter is a nice addition to these considering how much of a dog they are off the line and all. IIRC the part was around $700 and then there's the time of putting it in (e.g. pull the engine or trans because it lives in between).

 

[Love_My_Intrepid]

Actually, I am thinking of switching out the whole engine and putting in a 2002 Dodge Intrepid 3.5. I read somewhere it has to be the same year & make. Just got to find one at a junkyard & find someone with a truck to haul it. And...maybe call my ex boyfriend to see if he would help put it in. Or some crazy friend. lol
I, also, read somewhere that you can switch out the automatic transmission with a manual transmission. I have a lot of work to read up on. A lot of prices to sift through.

 

[Love_My_Intrepid]

Wow, never heard of jet chips. Looks like I may have to look around for them. Still, the engine swap is #1 on my list.

 

[Daytrepper]

Merged my car with a 300M Special; with the factory 300M special performance advantages; all the options available except Uconnect; plus paint and wheels; 2.7-3.2 swap; too much to list;

 

[Love_My_Intrepid]

Merged my car with a 300M Special; with the factory 300M special performance advantages; all the options available except Uconnect; plus paint and wheels; 2.7-3.2 swap; too much to list;

How did you merge them? Kept your original car body & switched everything under the hood? Nice car!

 

[Daytrepper]

How did you merge them? Kept your original car body & switched everything under the hood? Nice car!

Thanks;

Basically, I took all the wiring, controllers, and options, including the turn signal mirrors, sound system with amp; from a 2002 300M, installed in my 1998 Intrepid. This included ABS/Traction control; navigation; security system, and the performance PCM, and exhaust system. It is more or less all a direct bolt in swap since both cars are in the same LH family; luckily.

Added tan leather seats from a 1998 Concorde, custom made the door panels---removed carpet and installed leather inserts; (from other Intrepid door panels), along with a 300m chrome shifter, with custom orange stitching;

3.2 engine i got from a wrecked 98 Intrepid, engine was free, took a hard hit in the front, so I did a full rebuild on it, swapped it in to replace the 2.7.

This was all done 2005-2009; since then I've hit almost 230,000 miles. It has been my DD for many years, last month I "retired" it and bought a BMW for DD; so its going to go into my shop for a bit and get refurbished mechanically; I've talked about buying a wrecked Charger with a Hemi and merging them, but the thing still runs great so its hard to pull the 3.2, but that would be a cool project; IDK....LOL.

I had Charger wheels on it originally, but two got killed earlier this year by a pothole, so I went with the classic steelies earlier this year, which you would find on a 60's Dart, and several other Mopars from back then.

 

[Love_My_Intrepid]

Sweet! And here I was only considering swapping out the 2.7 and putting in a 3.5 from an Intrepid (same year). You have given me more ideas to consider. My car has been running pretty good for 5 years. I think I will check the junkyard for parts (maybe seats and other interior) to start off. I would like to get it painted a medium to dark blue.
Mine is a 2002 Dodge Intrepid SE.

 

[kevinfish]

Personally I wouldn't swap a 2.7 for a 3.2/.5. The 2.7 is a much more efficient, advanced and lighter engine for the power output. It can be reliable if caught early before getting gunked/messed up and carefully managed/modded.

Here are some discussions/ideas from another forum that made sense to me:

https://www.chargerforumz.com/threads/you-want-more-power-for-your-2-7l-look-here.122564/

Those chips might only be available for the NGC.

 

[Daytrepper]

Personally I wouldn't swap a 2.7 for a 3.2/.5. The 2.7 is a much more efficient, advanced and lighter engine for the power output. It can be reliable if caught early before getting gunked/messed up and carefully managed/modded.

Here are some discussions/ideas from another forum that made sense to me:

https://www.chargerforumz.com/threads/you-want-more-power-for-your-2-7l-look-here.122564/

Those chips might only be available for the NGC.

Very true. The 2.7 was a mighty little engine. Built very well really; except for the one area they screwed up---the water pump.

The LH 2.7's were much worse off than the ones put in the LX cars; they received several updates to the water pump and timing chain, as well as the oiling system; so they were better off.

I've seen the worst designs; 98-01 model years basically, if properly taken care of; last 400K miles. That means spending some major cash and upgrading the water pump, oil pickup, PCV system, and changing oil with full synthetic every 3k miles.

That being said, the 3.2/3.5 was much more fun power wise than the 2.7. The efficiency wasnt really that much worse with the 3.x. As far as the LX cars are concerned, IMO, the 2.7 was a dog; car was way too big, and it made it very slow; but yes, efficient.

Best thing they ever did IMO was replace them all in the LX cars and move to the pentastar. Impressive little V6 in everything they put it in. I had a Ram 1500 with that engine and it kept north of 26 MPG.

Considering the design, 3.2/5 was best for the LH IMO. It should have been discontinued for the LX. It was more suited to smaller cars; cloud cars, or Dart/200 if they wanted to.

So many people swapped to a 3.2/5 because it was much cheaper than fixing or replacing their 2.7, and gave more power and performance.

If I had a 2.7, I'd keep it up, for a DD, or a beater car really.

 

[Love_My_Intrepid]

kevinfish,

I found a chip for a 2002 Dodge Intrepid: https://www.carid.com/2002-dodge-intrepid-performance-chips/jet-v-force-plus-performance-programmer-172961859.html?parentsubmodel[]=ENGINE|2.7L

More info to look into! There are some good ideas at the sight you suggested.

Sometime before Thanksgiving I will have the water pump changed. It was too hot today to look under the hood. Last week had the gas leak fixed along with an oil change. The price was $219.76. The receipt said: Replace leaking 90 degree fitting at rear of intake manifold (leaking fuel). Parts replaced: Fuel Repair Elbow, Nylon tubing, connector and fuel line repair kit-nyl plus the oil change where they check fluid levels and filters. Not sure if that is a good price but the car is happy.

 

[Love_My_Intrepid]

I am not saying a 2.7 engine is bad. My car does have good power. Makes it up hills pretty good.

 

[Love_My_Intrepid]

Can you recommend a good water pump? Are they easy to put on? I can learn.

I found two at the local Auto Zone:

Valucraft Serpentine Water Pump BVC-9103

Duralast Mechanical Water Pump BWP-9103

 

[Daytrepper]

Can you recommend a good water pump? Are they easy to put on? I can learn.

Mopar only. From the Dodge dealer. That is the updated water pump; heavier duty body, and bearings; which was the main failure point on these.

Update timing chain if necessary; but if there are no issues with it, original can be used. Usually the updated chain is only required if the water pump bearing failed and tore up the guides, but not the rest of the engine.

Not a job for someone who has little/no experience; nor for the faint of heart; its about a 10 hour job for an experienced mechanic. There are several critical steps that must be done right or serious engine damage can happen.

See my threads:

https://www.dodgeintrepid.net/18-general-discussion-second-generation/246001-2-7-water-pump-replacement-procedure.html

https://www.dodgeintrepid.net/18-general-discussion-second-generation/171698-info-2-7-owners.html

 

[Love_My_Intrepid]

Oh okay, I will have my mechanic look at the timing chain & water pump next time I take the car in. I am not faint of heart, not afraid of hard work, just don't have the experience level you are talking about. Nor the tools. Sad but true.
Maybe I should take my step dad's advice and take mechanic classes...

 

[kevinfish]

Mopar only. From the Dodge dealer. That is the updated water pump; heavier duty body, and bearings; which was the main failure point on these.

Update timing chain if necessary; but if there are no issues with it, original can be used. Usually the updated chain is only required if the water pump bearing failed and tore up the guides, but not the rest of the engine.

Not a job for someone who has little/no experience; nor for the faint of heart; its about a 10 hour job for an experienced mechanic. There are several critical steps that must be done right or serious engine damage can happen.

See my threads:

https://www.dodgeintrepid.net/18-general-discussion-second-generation/246001-2-7-water-pump-replacement-procedure.html

https://www.dodgeintrepid.net/18-general-discussion-second-generation/171698-info-2-7-owners.html

There are some of these OEM lighter, smaller tooth chain, sprocket, and guide sets around not from Dodge dealers (but they still aren't cheap, around $250 ea). Same with the water pumps (usually $60-100). They are getting harder to find though. Seems like all of the cheap (or even not-so-cheap) knock offs are of the older less robust design.

I don't think you can upgrade the pump w/o also upgrading the chain and sprockets as they are quite different beasts (and I'm pretty sure about this cuz I quite literally am in the middle of one right now).


The upgrade is basically the 2007 and later chain (with some kits having the earlier SBEC style cam gear sounding wheel) that not only is considerably lighter, but with a beefier water pump and where the whole chain is moved forward enough such that it won't rub on the said water pump's passages where it eventually can rub thru causing yet ANOTHER leak of coolant into the oil.

 

[kevinfish]

And as far as power is concerned, yes, they are a bit of a dog off the line (which might be somewhat remedied by the high stall torque converter I mentioned above) but if you hold them into a lower gear and force them to wind, after they get moving a little bit I've found the power to be pretty acceptable (e.g. for passing on the open highway if you do it right, holding back a bit from the car you want to pass and timing it right such that you accelerate straight towards them getting your last little burst of speed by cutting through their slipstream just as you pull out into the opposing lane; of course timing it perfectly such that you do so right after any oncoming traffic just went by). Yes, you may not be able to just tailgate someone then pull out into the oncoming lane and floor it to overtake them but no one should really be passing that way anyway if you give half a wit about your exposure to a head on collision time.

 

[peva]

“I don't think you can upgrade the pump w/o also upgrading the chain and sprockets as they are quite different beasts (and I'm pretty sure about this cuz I quite literally am in the middle of one right now).”

I was pretty sure you could buy the same upgraded water pump (beefier bearings, the thinner gasket) but with the older-chain sprocket from dealers. I don’t Know for sure if that is still true or not.

 

[Love_My_Intrepid]

Actually, I never had a problem passing people on the highway or freeway in this car. I rarely go into the opposite lane to pass unless it is a straightway & legal to do so.
I will look into the water pump and timing chain.
Mostly, I am going to continue to save up for an older motor-home, do some work on it, and pay someone turn it into a 4x4 or 6x6 (depending on the model).

 

[Love_My_Intrepid]

My water pump and timing chain are fine right now. I never had a problem with either of them.
I will be putting the car on the back burner as far as interior work, paint, etc. As of right now, I am looking at prices of old motor-homes.