Question for the whole gang... Who among us has had the infamous "shrinking door seals/weatherstripping" replaced on their Intrepid? Did the dealership cover the cost? I know there is no recall but is there a TSB or other announcement to cite?
around the 40-45K mark (about a year and a half after I bought it). First, it was just the rear driver's side door, but eventually they all shrunk up. I finally got fed up and bought a new trim piece earlier in the spring for the rear driver's side, which was by far the worst. Cost about 45 bucks, and took maybe 2 minutes to pop in.
The seal just comes in one long, rolled up piece. It's not pre-molded...you just kind of force it into place and it contours itself to the lip of the door opening. I ended up adjusting my driver's door seal too, but with that one I just popped the plastic sill plate and slid the molding up so that it filled in the corners at the top of the door. It left a gap of maybe 3" at the bottom of the door, but the plastic sill plate covers most of that, so it's not noticeable. If I'd known you could just do that, I wouldn't have blown $45 on that rear door seal!
I've heard you can also take a hair dryer to the molding, and it'll soften enough that you can stretch it back out.
there is a way to obtain the TSB's issued on the Intrepid for the last few years. I am sure the dealer is not likely to give out this info. Any comments?
Emale..I reviewed the site you suggested. Interesting information for a price---although no mention of the door seals per se. Any other thoughts or has anyone actually seen information on these...?
jason, i don't think there is a site on the internet where you can get the full text for free. however follow pat's advice, or go to your local dealership and have em look it up...they usually oblige...
If you just click on the link I gave you, you'll see that 0patience and alcan (I forgot to mention him - he's also a great friend to our community) are posting entire TSBs.
It is interesting to note that Chrysler issued a TSB on this engine dated Feb. 02 titled A/C- Low or no cabin heat - engine overheating (07-002-02). This is precisely what some of the people were complaining about on the site 'Intrepid.clan-510' and the subject of class action lawsuits. Supposedly this problem was due to sludge build-up. I do not like to jump to any conclusions before researching this matter and reading the entire TSB, but it seems to me that Chrysler would not go to the trouble to issue a TSB unless this was a common problem. I guess I still have my doubts about this motor since I am not a diehard Chrysler fan and have never owned a Chrysler product before buying my Intrepid SE with the 2.7 L motor. The TBS info comes from Alldata's site. Alldata isa major supplier of vehicle repair info to professional mechanics and I believe also makes auto diagnostic equipment. Andre, did you take off the oil fill cap and look to see if you had any sludge build-up in the valve covers since you are the only person I know with considerable mileage on the 2.7 motor.
According to Alldata's site, there was a TSB issued by Chrysler for the '00 Intrepids in December 1999. The title was 'Door Seals Wind Noise/Damaged'. No TSB # was listed. A good idea may be to go to your local Dodge dealer and request a copy of this TSB. Otherwise, you have to pay for them.
But last week, I developed another problem. My low-oil pressure light came on! Gave me a nice little scare. It did it at a traffic light, after some highway driving, and as soon as traffic started moving it went away. Every time I stopped though, it would come back on, unless I put the car in neutral, or gunned the engine a bit.
I tried changing the air filter and pcv valve, to see if that would help, but it didn't. And it's full of oil, so it's not like I'm running it dry or anything! It'll only do it when I'm stopped in drive, like at a traffic light, and the rpms drop to 500. Weird thing though, it won't always drop that low. Sometimes it'll drop to 650 when idling, but then sometimes it'll creep down to 500, and that'll usually trigger the light.
I just changed the oil about 2000 miles ago, so I don't think it should be that, unless maybe there's a problem with the filter? I figure I might change the oil and see if that makes it go away, and then if that doesn't, I'll give up and put it in the shop to see what's going on.
It seems to run ok, though. It doesn't shake or make any nasty noises when the rpms drop that low, and when the oil light comes on, it doesn't make any nasty noises, either!
Do you know if the oil sending unit is hard to get to on an Intrepid? The last time I had to change one of those was on a 1968 Dodge Dart, and I'm sure things have changed since then! Hell, I wouldn't even know where to look nowadays!
Do you think something like that would still be a do-it-yourself type of job on an Intrepid?
I hope it's less expensive than the truck release solenoid on my Trep. Of all the silly things to go bad....I can key into my trunk, but the remote and dash switches weren't working. Apparently this little baby runs $129 new....maybe a junk yard would have one?
It's located on the lower right rear side of the engine,(passenger side). There are two connectors, the most rearward one is the crankshaft position sensor, the other leads to the oil pressure switch.
last time I was at the local junkyard, which specializes in Mopars, they had about 15-20 LH cars. HOWEVER. Every single one was in there as the result of being totaled in an accident. None of them were there as a result of a major mechanical failure.
Andre I hope you did not misread my post, I certainly would not want anyone to think that an Intrepid would show up in a JUNK yard unless it was a total wreck, therefore that is all the more reason for Jason to check the JUNK yard for the desired part.
I know you are not much of a Chrysler fan, but try not to be so hard on the Intrepids. Its still a great looking car that outperforms a Camry LE in handling and braking, not to mention back seat room. I know its not supposed to be the most reliable car on the road, but its OK.
How about this one...after 5 years and 116,000 miles on my '99 300M, I finally talked my company into getting me a company car. They offer me a new Intrepid, "go get whatever you want". We'll, it turns out ES's are already starting to get scarce with certain equipment, like ABS brakes. Leasing agent had to go 200 miles to find one. I pick it up in Chicago tomorrow. Graphite metallic, dark grey slate leather, sunroof, big stereo, ABS, big spare, chrome wheels. Last of the LH's! It will be interesting to compare to my positive experience with the M. 60,000 more miles with LH!
Sounds like a dynamite car! Yes, ABS brakes can be hard to find, especially in the SE model. I had to go to CT to get mine - about 2.5 to 3.0 hours from NW NJ. But it was well worth it! The only thing I miss was the 3.5 L motor which I really wanted, but the price was right on my SE. The only cars where ABS was fairly common was the previous rental cars, because the rental car companies are concerned with safety. Anything that will keep their cars out of mishaps. The Intrepid has the best brakes of any car I have ever owned, next to this Celica GTS which I recently inherited with four wheel discs, ABS, 50 series GA's and under 3000 pounds. This GTS stops so quickly that you have to be careful to look to see whats behind you!
Well, the other day I noticed an Intrepid in my neighbor's parking spot. Looks almost identical to mine, silver base model. I think it may even be an '00 like mine! IIRC, they used different hubcaps in '99, because of having 15" wheels, and in '01 they called the base model "SE".
Anyway, the guy's kind of a loner...I hardly ever see him, let alone talk to him. Before the 'Trep, he had one of those old, boxy '87-93 style Mustangs. It was just a 4-cyl, but damn was that thing noisy! From the looks of it, I'd say it probably broke down on him!
It's kinda weird though, sometimes, pulling into my parking lot, and seeing it just two spots down from my parking space. Sometimes my first gut reaction is "what is my car doing there?!", and then it hits me..."wait a minute, I'm IN my car!" ;-)
I think starting with the '01 model year they put the letters 'SE' on the back door where the piece of black molding is. In '02, the year of my Trep, they moved the 'SE' to the trunk lid. In '03, the 'SE' remained on the back of the trunk lid. Well, what did you do with the 'oil sensor' problem. Did it go away????????
I've been kinda bad with that oil-light problem. It doesn't come on all the time, so I haven't taken it in to the shop yet. I still want to take a stab at replacing the oil sending unit myself first...just haven't had the ambition to try routing around in there yet! It's kinda weird though, the way it comes on. It's only when idling at a full stop, like at a traffic light, after it's been running awhile. Sometimes the rpms drop to 650, and it's fine. Sometimes they drop down to about 500 (which seems kinda low) and it's still fine. but then sometimes it'll drop down to 500 and the light comes on. It's basically a crap-shoot though, as to which of those three things happens at idle.
Oh yeah, I got tempted again by that damned '02 R/T today. My Dad's tags came in for the '03 Regal he bought 4 weeks ago (doesn't seem that long!) We went down to pick 'em up, and sure enough, that R/T was still sitting there. Still had the right headlight assembly popped out a bit, too. You'd think they would fix that!
But then for not much more, over in new cars they had a whole slew of '04 'Treps, with MSRP's ranging from around $22K to $29.5K, with markdown prices (including the $3K cash back incentive, I'm presuming) anywhere from around $18.2K to $25.5K. There were a few SXT's with sunroofs marked to about $23K. Pretty tempting, but I think I'm still going to hold out until some of the RWD '05 LX cars start to hit the used car market, and then maybe just keep my '00 around as a spare car, and drive it till it drops dead.
How much do they want for that '02 R/T. How many miles are on the car. Someone who shops at the local ShopRite bought a used Silver '02 R/T from the local Dodge dealer. Its a sharp car. I have seen it several times as we always park in the same location. Has anyone seen some good spy photos of the '05 Chargers yet? I think I am going to surf the net to see what I can find.
Maybe your oil sensor is fine and the light is coming on just because the RPM's are getting too low. When was the last time you put new plugs and a new cap and rotor on the car.
I have an 01 ES with 3.2L engine. I had a problem a about a year ago with the oil light coming on. It happened shortly after an oil change. The engine was fully warm, in traffic at a light, idling in gear.
For the oil change I used a different oil filter. I immediately bought the filter I normally use and crawled under the car and changed the filter, added a little oil and presto, problem solved. No problems since.
If you did something different at your last oil change, you might try the cheap fix first: change the oil and filter.
Let me add that I am not suggesting that the sending unit isn't the problem. But an oil change is easy and about $15.
glad to hear I'm not alone, when it comes to this! My last oil change was about 2,000 miles ago, but I didn't do anything different. I've always used Fram oil filters and Castrol 10W-30 oil. Still, I guess there's always a chance that I could've gotten a bum filter.
I'll give changing the oil a try, and see what happens. Thanks!
I dunno how far down they'd go, but considering that here it is, 4 weeks after I test-drove it, and it's still sitting there! I figured something like an R/T would get snatched up fast, even if the market for used Intrepids, in general, is soft. 4 weeks ago, they also had a steel blue '02 SE model, with about 40K miles on it, that they wanted $8995 for. I didn't see it around yesterday, so I guess it got sold.
Mike, I did have my spark plugs changed at 51,000 miles, which now is about 36K miles ago. There's no distributor to speak of in this car, at least not in the normal sense, with a cap and rotor, and spark plug wires that can be easily replaced.
I think the owner's manual does recommend replacing the spark plug wires at 100,000 miles. I can't tell where these wires go to, though. From the spark plugs, they kind of just disappear up under the big plastic intake cover on top of the engine.
The R/T looked like a real nice car. However, many people would not care for the metallic black color. The '02 Silver SXT I looked at last March was a very similar car. It didnt have ABS, but did have a sunroof and premium sound system and 17 inch chrome plated aluminum wheels. Plus a full size spare. They would have taken 14,500 for the car, plus NJ tax. It was in perfect condition and had only 7,752 miles. The R/T was phased out in '02, replaced by the SXT. Of course, it was winter time and probably a foot of snow on the ground. That may have affected the price somewhat. It also depends on what the dealer paid for the car. In the SXT case, it was privately owned. In all the rest of the used Treps, they were rental cars and the dealer paid between $10,200 and 11,000 for cars with 12 to 16 K miles at Chrysler auctions ( SE models). So if they got 13,000 to 14,000 for them, they were making a handsome profit.
I checked the RPM's of my SE at idle, and it was about 700-750. I think you mentioned that your SE was idling at about 500, but varied. It sounds a bit low, which could explain the oil light coming on.
andre1969. your car does not have ANY sparkplug wires. you have direct ignition , each cylinder has its own coilpack that fires the sparkplug . the only thing you need to do is change the plugs at 100 K.
100.000 miles seems to be stretching it a little bit too much. Are the factory plugs platinum plugs. If they are, 100K miles still seems like alot. Anyway, when can we expect to see the new Chargers on the dealers lots?
at 51K miles, my mechanic at the time said that I had platinum plugs, so that's what they put in. But unfortunately, that guy retired and sold the shop, and in conversation, one of the new guys said one of the things he can't stand about Chryslers is that they don't use platinum plugs. So I dunno which one was right! Ottowrkr?
As for the change intervals, I could see some people getting 100K miles on the long-life plugs, if they do a lot of highway driving. Well, I don't, and back then, a disproportionate amount of my driving was incredibly short-trip, stop-and-go pizza delivery driving! So I was happy to get 51K out of them. Although I have to admit, I let my '68 Dart go about 44K miles once between spark plug changes, so sometimes I question just how far we've advanced!
So Ottowrkr, the wires that go to the spark plugs never have to be changed, then? Oh yeah, since you know these cars inside and out, any thoughts on what my oil light problem might be?
Andre-our cars use the platinum plugs , not sure about other DC products. The coilpacks sit on top of the spark plugs , so unless a coil goes bad you never have to change anything but the spark plugs. Oil pressure sending unit? start with this.
For comparison my 2000 ES has about 76,000 miles and the original plugs are still....well....plugging away. I understood that our plugs were good to 100K. My driving is terribly varied...either short 2-5 miles trips or long highway stints.
Otto....isn't the new LH slated to launch in Spring 2004--soon after the auto show--as a 2005 model? I'd recheck that launch date..
my understanding was that the 300C and Magnum wagon were supposed to be launched first, in the spring, but then all later variants were supposed to come later. I thought I heard that some model was supposed to be launched in Spring '05, but can't remember which nameplate.
otto can confirm this...but i believe the first new LX cars for public consumption will be built starting the first week of january. the initial models will be the magnum wagon and 300 in several different trim levels. they will be '05 models even though they are being built in jan '04. the charger will supposedly come along in january '05 and could be a model year '06. so far chrysler hasn't confirmed a magnum sedan (although this may be the charger). also there is supposed to be something like 7-9 variants based off the LX platform coming in the future...!
Same thing just happened on my 1997 Intrepid with 75,000 miles. At idel, long light and traffic, the light came on. (see my posting in Maintenance under Oil).
I had mechanic do pressure check, says pressure is down to 16#, should be over 20#. Says no disaster until around 5#.
Jason5, I posted on the Charger , not the 300 ot Magnum .
emale, you got it. Only one thing, the first week of Jan is when all the production line workers come back to work . So you will be looking at least 3-4 weeks of training before we build cars for the public.
I noticed that in one of your previous messages you mentioned Fram oil filters. The guy in the local parts store does not like them and talked me into using more expensive WIX filters. I dont know if their worth it but I have been using them in my girlfriends Civic and will be using them in my Intrepid. I do not know if the Frams have a by-pass valve which is supposed to improve lubrication on start-up. I know the Motorcraft filters I was using in my TBird had the valve and the WIX filters also have them.
Maybe I'll give WIX or someone else a try the next time I change my oil. I've always used Fram in the past and never had any trouble with them, but maybe there's just something better out there.
Although I did have one crumple up on my '79 New Yorker over the summer. Went to take it off, and instead of it loosening, the filter wrench ended up crumpling it! In the end, I ended up taking the thing off with a pair of tin cutters and a drill! And I don't know why, though. Usually, I just put the filters on hand-tight, and as a result, when I change them, I can usually just get them off by hand if I put some muscle into it. Freak occurence, I guess...although a few years ago, the same thing happened to me with a '79 Newport!
There is definitely a difference! I too used Fram for years, but their ownership has changed hands several times and they are now the lowest end of the aftermarket. I used them for a while on my 3.5L 300M and had terrible valve train clatter on cold start up.
There was a home grown filter study circulating some of these sites a couple of years ago. Admittedly unscientific, but informative only in the way a true enthusiast seeking knowledge through first hand investigation can be.
Comments
The seal just comes in one long, rolled up piece. It's not pre-molded...you just kind of force it into place and it contours itself to the lip of the door opening. I ended up adjusting my driver's door seal too, but with that one I just popped the plastic sill plate and slid the molding up so that it filled in the corners at the top of the door. It left a gap of maybe 3" at the bottom of the door, but the plastic sill plate covers most of that, so it's not noticeable. If I'd known you could just do that, I wouldn't have blown $45 on that rear door seal!
I've heard you can also take a hair dryer to the molding, and it'll soften enough that you can stretch it back out.
Tell him Pat sent you. ;-)
http://www-odi.nhtsa.dot.gov/cars/problems/tsb/tsbsearch.cfm
;-)
I tried changing the air filter and pcv valve, to see if that would help, but it didn't. And it's full of oil, so it's not like I'm running it dry or anything! It'll only do it when I'm stopped in drive, like at a traffic light, and the rpms drop to 500. Weird thing though, it won't always drop that low. Sometimes it'll drop to 650 when idling, but then sometimes it'll creep down to 500, and that'll usually trigger the light.
I just changed the oil about 2000 miles ago, so I don't think it should be that, unless maybe there's a problem with the filter? I figure I might change the oil and see if that makes it go away, and then if that doesn't, I'll give up and put it in the shop to see what's going on.
It seems to run ok, though. It doesn't shake or make any nasty noises when the rpms drop that low, and when the oil light comes on, it doesn't make any nasty noises, either!
Do you think something like that would still be a do-it-yourself type of job on an Intrepid?
i couldn't really tell ya...i'm not much of a do-it-yourselfer. i suppose a newer chilten's manual would explain how to do it...?
Anyway, the guy's kind of a loner...I hardly ever see him, let alone talk to him. Before the 'Trep, he had one of those old, boxy '87-93 style Mustangs. It was just a 4-cyl, but damn was that thing noisy! From the looks of it, I'd say it probably broke down on him!
It's kinda weird though, sometimes, pulling into my parking lot, and seeing it just two spots down from my parking space. Sometimes my first gut reaction is "what is my car doing there?!", and then it hits me..."wait a minute, I'm IN my car!" ;-)
Oh yeah, I got tempted again by that damned '02 R/T today. My Dad's tags came in for the '03 Regal he bought 4 weeks ago (doesn't seem that long!) We went down to pick 'em up, and sure enough, that R/T was still sitting there. Still had the right headlight assembly popped out a bit, too. You'd think they would fix that!
But then for not much more, over in new cars they had a whole slew of '04 'Treps, with MSRP's ranging from around $22K to $29.5K, with markdown prices (including the $3K cash back incentive, I'm presuming) anywhere from around $18.2K to $25.5K. There were a few SXT's with sunroofs marked to about $23K. Pretty tempting, but I think I'm still going to hold out until some of the RWD '05 LX cars start to hit the used car market, and then maybe just keep my '00 around as a spare car, and drive it till it drops dead.
Maybe your oil sensor is fine and the light is coming on just because the RPM's are getting too low. When was the last time you put new plugs and a new cap and rotor on the car.
For the oil change I used a different oil filter. I immediately bought the filter I normally use and crawled under the car and changed the filter, added a little oil and presto, problem solved. No problems since.
If you did something different at your last oil change, you might try the cheap fix first: change the oil and filter.
Let me add that I am not suggesting that the sending unit isn't the problem. But an oil change is easy and about $15.
I'll give changing the oil a try, and see what happens. Thanks!
I dunno how far down they'd go, but considering that here it is, 4 weeks after I test-drove it, and it's still sitting there! I figured something like an R/T would get snatched up fast, even if the market for used Intrepids, in general, is soft. 4 weeks ago, they also had a steel blue '02 SE model, with about 40K miles on it, that they wanted $8995 for. I didn't see it around yesterday, so I guess it got sold.
I think the owner's manual does recommend replacing the spark plug wires at 100,000 miles. I can't tell where these wires go to, though. From the spark plugs, they kind of just disappear up under the big plastic intake cover on top of the engine.
As for the change intervals, I could see some people getting 100K miles on the long-life plugs, if they do a lot of highway driving. Well, I don't, and back then, a disproportionate amount of my driving was incredibly short-trip, stop-and-go pizza delivery driving! So I was happy to get 51K out of them. Although I have to admit, I let my '68 Dart go about 44K miles once between spark plug changes, so sometimes I question just how far we've advanced!
So Ottowrkr, the wires that go to the spark plugs never have to be changed, then? Oh yeah, since you know these cars inside and out, any thoughts on what my oil light problem might be?
Andre-our cars use the platinum plugs , not sure about other DC products. The coilpacks sit on top of the spark plugs , so unless a coil goes bad you never have to change anything but the spark plugs. Oil pressure sending unit? start with this.
Otto....isn't the new LH slated to launch in Spring 2004--soon after the auto show--as a 2005 model? I'd recheck that launch date..
otto can confirm this...but i believe the first new LX cars for public consumption will be built starting the first week of january. the initial models will be the magnum wagon and 300 in several different trim levels. they will be '05 models even though they are being built in jan '04. the charger will supposedly come along in january '05 and could be a model year '06. so far chrysler hasn't confirmed a magnum sedan (although this may be the charger). also there is supposed to be something like 7-9 variants based off the LX platform coming in the future...!
I had mechanic do pressure check, says pressure is down to 16#, should be over 20#. Says no disaster until around 5#.
He changed the sender and oil to synth.
(This also happened after a dealer oil change)
emale, you got it. Only one thing, the first week of Jan is when all the production line workers come back to work . So you will be looking at least 3-4 weeks of training before we build cars for the public.
Although I did have one crumple up on my '79 New Yorker over the summer. Went to take it off, and instead of it loosening, the filter wrench ended up crumpling it! In the end, I ended up taking the thing off with a pair of tin cutters and a drill! And I don't know why, though. Usually, I just put the filters on hand-tight, and as a result, when I change them, I can usually just get them off by hand if I put some muscle into it. Freak occurence, I guess...although a few years ago, the same thing happened to me with a '79 Newport!
There was a home grown filter study circulating some of these sites a couple of years ago. Admittedly unscientific, but informative only in the way a true enthusiast seeking knowledge through first hand investigation can be.