Dodge Intrepid

mike372 · January 2005

in the continental US, I just returned from vacation in Maui HI and I paid $$$2.699 for a gallon of REGULAR! And that was the cheapest I found. Hawaii has the HIGHEST gas prices in the USA. Last December I saw alot of Intrepid rental cars but this time there were almost no Treps to be found since the car was discontinued. I did see alot of Chrysler 300's as well as many Dodge Magnums.

Jason5 · January 2005

Those are certainly some impressive gas prices.... My 2000 ES soldiers on, about to bump into the 106,000 mile mark. This weekend I'm having the oil changed, air filter replaced and the tires rotated. The door lock was replaced, so no more buzzing when the auto locking feature engaged. Doing well otherwise...

andre1969 · January 2005

I'm starting to hear a clunking noise in the suspension. Mainly I'll hear it at low speeds when going over uneven surfaces, like in my yard. I really don't have much of a driveway. It's some blue gravel scattered about unevenly here and there with some huge roots growing through it, and there's a dip where it meets the road. I'll usually hear it there, or on a similarly bad surface.

However, I have had the car jacked up and secured, and I've yanked on both front wheels as hard as I could, and nothing seems loose or wobbly. So maybe the clunking could just be the exhaust system, or something? Or just the natural creaks that come with older age?

Other than that, the car seems fine. I'm sure I'm going to have to get it in soon to get the rear brake pads replaced. The first set lasted 52,000 miles, and while I did a lot of stop-and-go pizza delivery driving back then, I also replaced them with cheap pads, which probably aren't as good as the OEM stuff.

marsha7 · January 2005

at 10:30 am, I returned my 2000 Intrepid to the leasing company...I took good care of the car, and apparently they felt the same, as there were no penalties to pay...since I no longer have the Trep, I will be leaving this board...thanks to all of you who posted replies to my various and numerous questions, and I hope my replies to your questions may have helped you in some way...while I often hop around on numerous topics, since I now own a 2004 Crown Victoria and a 2004 Dodge Ram 1500, I will be on those boards all the time...thanks to all...the car was good and so were the folks on this board...

Bob

andre1969 · January 2005

glad to hear that your Trep served you well. Don't feel that you have to leave this board though just because you've sold it! Eventually, that time is going to come for all of us, but in my case, I plan on sticking around to ask questions when the newbies show up who have just purchased, or are thinking about purchasing, a used or leftover Trep. Although I guess by now the leftover '04's are probably just about sold out!

Plus, we might need help in putting out an occasional flame war here and there, when someone comes on crying about how all Intrepids are a/an (fill in the expletive here) ;-)

mike372 · January 2005

is being featured at the 2005 NA International Auto Show this week (yes, its the REAL thing no pics this time). This car was supposedly the Intrepids replacement. I think the Trep is a much better looking car so I wont be buying one anytime soon. Buts that's just my opinion.

andre1969 · January 2005

that the 'Trep is a better looking car. Or, at least the design is much more cohesive. A poster in another forum described the Charger, almost to a T, with "Checker Cab meets Mustang"!

Still, there's something I like about the Charger. For lack of a better way of putting it, I'd call it "kinda ugly, but still cool", perhaps in the way that my old '69 Bonneville was!

I'm going to at least check them out when they hit the showrooms, and see how I like 'em. And maybe the style will grow on me more. Sometimes, when a new style comes out, it takes awhile for it to grow on me. For example, I didn't really like the '02 Camry or '03 Accord when they came out, but I wouldn't be ashamed of either one today. While neither one excites me, neither one offends me, either!

And even when the Trep was redesigned for '98, I didn't like them at first. To me, the '93-97 had a futuristic look to it, where the '98 was just trying too hard, and a bit overdone, with its oversized headlights and such, and styling that somehow made it look stubbier, even though it was the same size outside, and actually a bit bigger inside!

mike372 · January 2005

When the 1998 Intrepid first hit the roads, I could not believe how good looking a four door car could look. I mean, I was REALLY impressed. It just took me awhile before I could lay down the cash and buy one. As far as oversized headlamps are concerned, I'd rather have big ones that work rather than small ones that do not work!

andre1969 · January 2005

and I think under-sized headlights on the Intrepid, Concorde, and the first-gen Breeze/Stratus/Cirrus sedans were criticized for poor illumination. I really didn't notice how good the 'Treps lights are, until I drive one of my older cars at night, and then I see just how far we've come over the years!

Jason5 · January 2005

Bob, I must concur.....Poke your head in every so often and share your wealth of personal experience with others. Hey Andre'. If the noise persists--and I won't question your off road excursion through your yard--let me know. My experience might save you or your mechanic some time. Some of you may recall I had a clunking noise looked at in my front suspension that turned out to be the top portion of the strut. Originally I thought it was a steering rod or CV joint/axle. When they couldn't pin point it, the garage literally tore down and reconstructed the front right suspension. The bad news--it took a while. The good news--I received a new front strut, alignment, and other parts for free when they decided to "just leave them there".

I too, yearn for a return to cab forward styling. If DC has utilized the Daimler experience and technology at their disposal to design a few front drive, full size platform---imagine how good it might be. I've often wondered what a "3rd generation" Intrepid might have been with increased space efficiency, better engines, better crash results and a new platform.. Sigh...... I'd still consider a Magnum or Charger, though I suspect I'll end up choosing a Grand Caravan for pragmatic reasons.

mike372 · January 2005

since I have owned my Trep almost two years and it has only 15,600 miles on the odometer, I may be the only one on the Intrepid board in 8 years from now?! And in 2027, if the engine and me lasts that long, maybe I will get QQ plates.

smithed · January 2005

The wife and I are considering a new car for us (1999 ES to be handed down to son--still a great car and we expect it to last many more years, if nothing unforeseen happens). The 300 doesn't have enough trunk space (15 cubic feet compared to the Intrepid's 20)--so much for abandoning cab forward. Does anybody know what size the trunk is in a Charger? The closest thing out there I can find now is a Ford Five Hundred. I drove one of those and found it pretty nice, certainly spacious.

Accord trunks are 13, Camry 14.5.

andre1969 · January 2005

just out of curiosity, where are you getting these trunk volume figures from?

Just off the top of my head, here's what I can remember of trunk volumes:

Intrepid: 18.4 cubic feet (the first-gen was only like 16.1)

300: 15.9 cubic feet

300M: 16.7 cubic feet

Concorde/LHS: 18.8 cubic feet

Accord: 14.1 cubic feet

Camry: 16.8 cubic feet.

I've seen a few 300 trunks, as several people at work bought them. It's definitely smaller than the Intrepid's trunk, but still looked decent to me. Seems like the actual opening might be bigger though, so that could be part of it. Plus, I think the 300 has a folding rear seat standard, where on the Intrepid you had to get an ES for that.

Now the Ford 500 has a trunk of something like 22-23 cubic feet! You'd probably have to go back to around a 1973 Chrysler to get a trunk like that!

But, if you find the 300's trunk too small for you, I'm afraid the Charger's will probably be the same. I'm not really a big Ford fan, but I kinda like the new 500. It really doesn't stand out, as it's kinda conservative, but it's certainly a handsome looking car, and seems pretty well-built.

smithed · January 2005

I got my trunk volume figures from each manufacturer's specification list. I looked at a 500, the trunk is huge.

As much as I hate to say it, "Good Job Ford" or is that Volvo?

jsylvester · January 2005

500 is a little over 21 cubic feet. The Crown Vic is 20.6 cubic feet.

500 is decent on paper, have not looked at one closely, other than to say I've seen one or two on the road - they are virtually invisible, and nothing remarkable.

Crown Vic is a Crown Vic - what you see is what you get. Not trendy, not fancy, but built like a train locomotive.

marsha7 · January 2005

Well, thanks for the invite...as my eyes tear up, I would be glad to hang around and offer any of my ownership experiences...I can certainly tell you that, while the car may have had some problems (and find me one that doesn't), I was quite pleased with my Intrepid, and count me in as one of the "thumbs up" folks for Dodge Intrepid...

Bob

skylloyd · January 2005

I would like to pick your brain, as most of you are experienced Intrepid owners, I have owned mine for 4-years and recently it has developed a misfire on re-start after it has been shut-off for about a half an hour, after the misfire stops (in a few seconds) it runs fine, I drive this car mainly on the highway and until recently it has been a great car, I bought it used, but it was a fleet maintained vehicle owned by GE corp. Any help, short of taking it to the dealer, would be appreciated.

mike372 · January 2005

Did your 99 ES have the 3.2L or the 2.7L engine. In 1999, the Trep came std with the 2.7 in the ES model and the 3.2L was optional (if I remember correctly). I would definitely by Ford over Dodge/Chrysler. I just think they have better quality control. And most definitely higher resale values.

skylloyd · January 2005

It has the 3.2L engine, I really like the car, a little hard to get into, but this quirk and the steering wheel shimmy it has when braking moderately hard, might encourage me to seriously think about selling it, I can't get to interested in Ford's as the last one I owned was an Explorer, and I rebuilt it end-to-end, piece by piece to include a new engine.

mike372 · January 2005

Well.........my father has an 02 Escape and he is pretty happy with it. I still have an 89 TBird with 149,000 miles, the original engine (including timing chain, head gasket, etc),the original trans, and the (almost) original driver, and guess what, it is still running. And there has to be some reason why the Explorer is the BEST selling SUV in the universe. I dont think Chrysler can even come close to some other car manufacturers. If I had to do it over again, I would have bought an Explorer instead of my Trep. It would have cost more but its much better resale value would have made up for the extra cost. If I had to sell my 02 Trep with 15,600 miles today, I would be lucky to see 10K.

smithed · January 2005

I suspect the difference in resale value percentage you are talking about has more to do with SUV versus sedan than Dodge vs. Ford. Tauruses (and Impalas) lose there value at about the same rate as Intrepid and Grand Cherokees hold their value like Explorers. It has more to do with the type of vehicle. Neither Ford nor Dodge sedans will hold value like a Camry or Accord.

My '99 ES has the 3.2. It was bought to last for years, with no plan to trade at any time. It has done great so far (6 years and 95,000 miles)

skylloyd · January 2005

I agree that the Ford Explorer is a very popular SUV, and mine was a lemon However, I must have side-tracked you folks, because it doesn't seem that my original post (#2657) received any comments. I just want a little information, if possible.

andre1969 · February 2005

sounds like it might be something called a "hot start" problem. Even though you've let the car cool down for a half hour, depending on how long it was run before, and the temperature outside, the engine could still be pretty hot.

Unfortunately, it could be just about anything. On an older car, you could just blame it on vapor lock or something in the throttle/idle linkage, but with newer cars, god only knows!

When is the last time the car was tuned up? It might just need new spark plugs and a few adjustments here and there. Might also be one of the spark plug wires. As they age, they can cause seemingly strange, random, intermittent problems. Spark plug wires don't need to be replaced nearly as often as those older style ones that just popped off, but they're still going to wear out, eventually.

mike372 · February 2005

and its getting more difficult to find them these days...........Daimler Chrysler reported a 9% increase in new vehicle sales for the month of January, largely due to the new 300. On a technical note, spark plug wires can be tested for resistance with an inexpensive ohm meter. I am not sure what the max reading would be on an Intrepid, but most repair manuals would probably have this info. Alot of people, including myself, have replaced wires hoping to solve a 'miss' problem only to find out that it did not improve engine performance.

tkfitz · February 2005

Every once in a while my car runs rough for a few seconds after starting when warm too. Never cold and not after just running. It has done this for some time. Lasts about three or four secs. I think it might be fuel related...a slight delay in the fuel pump kicking in. It is gone so quickly that I have never gone further with it.

Let us know what you find out.

andre1969 · February 2005

over the 101,000 miles that I've had my Intrepid, there has been maybe 3 or 4 times that it's stumbled a bit, when just starting up. I don't know if this is the best way to explain it, but it seems like sometimes, when I turn the key, it just barely catches, and seems like it's not running on all the cylinders. It'll run rough, but then if I turn it off and then back on, it runs just fine.

For lack of a better word, it seems like an "incomplete start" ? Like maybe I just didn't have the key turned to "start" for long enough, and that might've confused the part of the computer program that controls the spark/idle/etc?

skylloyd · February 2005

I think that you folks might have given me information that might lead to the fix, I really think that fuel scheduling could be the problem, as it seems to be getting a little worse as time progresses.

As I live in Washington state, I don't think that "Hot Start" has anything to do with it in February.

Anyway, many thanks to those of you that responded to my question.

mike372 · February 2005

The occasional starting problem you describe with your Trep is now happening with my Celica. The manual says to check the resistance of the primary and secondary ignition coils which I did and they checked out OK. They say next to check out the resistance of the ignitor which is somewhere in the distributor housing. I have not done this yet. Then it says to check the gap of the plugs, which checked out OK. The car always starts after cranking awhile, and it definitely seems not to be running on all cylinders until approx 30 seconds and I also see smoke coming out of the tailpipe until it runs correctly.I also notice the smell of gas, it seems like this is because the car is taking so long to start and thus too much fuel is going to the engine. I looked at the plugs and they have no oil covering the electrode. But I cant figure out what is causing the smoke, if this is the excess fuel burning or something else. The smoke does clear up and the engine runs fine. I am wondering if the head gasket is going, just a thought that this is somehow relatd to the hard starting.

mike372 · February 2005

Well I just learned that a good friend of mine with a Sebring just had the timing chain/belt screw up leading to bent valves. The same complaint that literally 1000's of 2.7L Trep owners are talking about. The car has about 70-75K miles on the odometer. The shop (incidently a reputable one) wants 2K to fix the car. Not trying to pick arguments with others on this site, names being withheld, but there are definitely problems with certain DC engines.

smithed · February 2005

Is the chain in the 2.7 ever supposed to be changed like the belt in my 3.2, which is due a new one at 105,000 miles?

I had two 2.2 liter fours (a Reliant and an Omni GLH Turbo) that the timing belt went on, but those were non-interference engines, so no damage was done to the valve train either time.

andre1969 · February 2005

I sent an email to D-C customer assistance, asking about just this topic. Here's the response I got...

"Thank you for your e-mail regarding your 2000 Dodge Intrepid.

The 2.7L V6 engine has a timing chain. DaimlerChrysler recommends that you have

the chain inspected at approximately 105,000 miles to determine if it needs to

be changed or adjusted.

I hope you find this information helpful.

Thank you again for writing."

I talked to my mechanic about it awhile back, and he said that as long as I keep up on oil changes, and don't let it run low, it should be good for a long, long time.

I'm at around 101,500 miles now, so I guess it's about time for me to look into it. I think if you get the timing chain replaced, you're supposed to do the water pump as well nowadays, aren't you? I know that water pumps aren't simple bolt-on, belt driven devices anymore, so they're probably a lot more expensive to replace than those of days gone by. Might be worth it to do both the chain and water pump at the same time.

smithed · February 2005

If they recommend having it inspected at 105,000 and people have had it break before that, I would think (and I know this is wishful) that Chrysler should be responsible for damage done by a broken chain that happens at 75,000 miles. Only seems right.

graeme · February 2005

I have a 2000 ES, with 76k on it.

back in october, i replaced the steering rack myself to save some money (it had gone bad due to an accident a couple years ago)

i went on vacation last month, and when i got back, the power steering was dead. it would turn if i revved the engine, and was going, but otherwise, nothing. i took it to a gemini garage. they have replaced the pump 10 times with pumps from different vendors, and the rack twice, cleaned out all the lines, and even replaced the lines.

every time, they drive around the block, it's fine, but then after a few minutes, it loses power again and stops working.

They've given up and suggest i take it to a dealership, but they also said they talked to mechanics at the dealership, and were told they dont know what is wrong either

luckily they're not going to charge me anything since they couldn't fix it, but now im wondering if the dealership is going to be able to fix it either, since everything has been replaced several times, what else could it be?

has anyone else heard of this kind of problem?

mike372 · February 2005

is that the guides are supposedly plastic and they can wear out at 70-80K miles, therefore causing the chain to malfunction/break leading to valve damage. I was on some internet site, I cant remember which one, and there was something like 500 complaints within a few month period. I just could not believe reading all the complaints explaining the identical problem....timing chain malfunction/breakage leading to bent valves. Its hard not to believe there is some problem when 100's of people complain about the EXACT same thing. I am sorry, but I do not believe the Chrysler dealers or even DC themselves. This is why DC came out with the 70,000 mile powertrain warranty, which my Trep has. But it does no good if DC isnt going to stand behind their words and not blame damage on the customers. Somehow, most other manufacturers dont have to come out with this 'bogus' warranty, why?, because they make well designed engines. Period.

mike372 · February 2005

i changed the timing belt and the water pump on the Celica at the same time. The problem is, if you dont, and the car leaks water in the future, you have to go thru all the work of the timing chain/belt all over again. Its just a pain in the butt job which I dont look forward to doing. The Celica actually had a leak in one of the gaskets between the pump and the casing of the engine. The actual pump looked good. But if I didnt replace the pump I would have eventually had to do the whole job over again. I would also recommend buying an OEM belt and water pump. Some aftermarket pumps have inferior bearings in them and some aftermarket belts are designed for several vehicles. I bought Toyota belt and pump from dealer and got 10-15% off list price. The job is just too timeconsuming not to do it right the first time.

bzone99 · February 2005

My 2000 Intrepid's 2.7 liter V6 died last week at 60,000 miles. I am still waiting on the repair estimate from my mechanic. Most likely the timing chain failed and has damages the engine beyond repair, just like thousands of other engines.

I really liked my Intrepid until last week...of course, as mentioned, Chrysler is ignoring their engine problem. Hoping for a class action suit...

andre1969 · February 2005

maybe I'd better get mine into the mechanic and at least have it inspected! How do you inspect a timing chain, anyway? Wouldn't you have to pull a bunch of stuff out just to do that? And once you got that far into it, shouldn't you just go ahead and replace it anyway?

I'm really not *too* concerned at this point if my engine were to go out on me, as the car does have over 100,000 miles on it and it's paid for. At this point though, I guess if the engine blew the car would be totaled. It would suck having to go get another car and get back into payments again, but at least it's not as bad as having something crap out on you while you're still paying for it!!

mike372 · February 2005

You have been pretty fortunate to get 100,000 plus miles out of the 2.7L engine. It seems to me that most manufacturers recommend replacing the belt/chain, guides, etc when the car hits the 100K mark. The Celica's timing belt was 'shot' and I was lucky to replace it with the tensioner before the engine blew up. You normally would have to take off the front cover,belts, crankshaft pulley (impossible w/out an impact wrench unless you have some way to prevent the engine from turning), possibly remove the P/S pump, altenator, etc and it can be time consuming, especially if there is no room in the case of a small Celica. Them its tricky to replace it in the correct manner, because, in part, you have to set the #1 cylinder properly before you put on the chain/belt and have to adjust it correctly (to the proper tension). Unless you have time on your hands I would recommend bringing the car to your mechanic. My girlfriends Civic is approaching the 100K mark and I will not attempt to replace the belt cuz its very aggravating job that tests my patience. However, if you plan to have some wheels to drive you had better look into it before you are forced to get a new car. Maybe just trade it in now while its still worth some $$??. And, next time (I know you are a Mopar fan), get something that does not have so many complaints on the web.

smithed · February 2005

You guys are making me nervous about the 96000 miles on my 3.2 timing belt. I have been planning to wait to 105,000 miles do have this job done, as the manual says This discussion of ruined engines concerns me even with the 3.2.

andre1969 · February 2005

how come there are two different intervals listed for the Intrepid 3.2? At least, on the 2000 there are. California models are recommended at 105,000 miles, while the rest, "Federal" are recommended at 100,000. Is there really a difference between the two?

It's the same for the 3.5, starting in 2000. For some reason, the Gates catalog I'm looking at doesn't go up past 2000. Also, interestingly, the 3.2 appears to be an interference engine, while the 3.5 is not. Odd, considering the 3.2 is based on the 3.5.

mike372 · February 2005

You may have less to worry about if your 3.2 is a 'non interference' engine. If this is the case, as I understand it, the engine will just stop and the pistons will not hit the valves. The problem with the 2.7L engine is that it is an interference engine, coupled with the fact that the guides are not made of respectable material.The site hillsgarage.com explains it all... at least in regard to the 2.7L engine. If I were you I would follow the recommendations in your manual and talk to your mechanic. When my friends Sebring engine suffered a broken belt/chain, I really became a believer in problems since he was someone I know personally and not some 'web' owner. I am starting to get nervous with my Civic. In fact, I will call the Honda dealer.

mike372 · February 2005

100,000 miles is quite a few miles, so I am not surprised manufacturers recommend servicing the chain/belt. There is relatively little else that needs to be serviced, as far as the engine is concerned, until the piston rings, valve seals go. Of course, that is asssuming you change the oil and filter at proper intervals and dont abuse the car.

smithed · February 2005

Oh, is the 3.2 a non-interference design? I have experience with two 2.2 liter 4's (Reliant and Omni) that just stopped running, new belts were installed and all was back to good as new. With the Omni, I coasted into the mechanic's garage, because I was right in front of it on my way home from work. Talk about having Providence with me at that time!

andre1969 · February 2005

the timing belt manufacturer, the 3.2 IS an interference engine. It's the 3.5 that is not.

smithed · February 2005

Thanks to you guys. I checked the owner's manual for my 3.2 and see the time to change the belt is 100K, not 105K as I thought it was (That's for California cars). I will be at 100K in the next couple of months. Will probably get that belt and pump changed soon.

andre1969 · February 2005

and keep us posted. I'd be interested to know how much something like that ends up costing. I wonder if I should just go ahead and have the chain, guides, and water pump replaced on my Intrepid as a precaution? Even if you ended up destroying the 3.2 in your ES, it would probably be worth replacing. However, I hear that the 2.7 is so expensive to replace that in my case, it would probably make my car a total!

I wonder if they make metal timing chain guides that you can replace the plastic ones with?

smithed · February 2005

Has anybody changed the 3.2 spark plugs and wires themselves as is recommended at 100K? What should I look out for if I do this myself? Thanks, guys.

ES

andre1969 · February 2005

changed my plugs back around the 51,000 mile mark, but not the wires. From what I've heard, the wires should actually last indefinitely, but "indefinitely" might be an awful long time! I know they call for 100K miles between tuneups, but I was doing so much short-distance, stop-and-go driving back then that I ended up needing new ones prematurely.

bsancat · February 2005

2000 Intrepid, 2.7 engine. Problem is: the a/c, heater blend door will close or open on its' own periodically. Cold air will be blowing, then you can hear the blend door move and hot air comes out for a few seconds or sometimes a few minutes. Eventually it corrects itself. My mechanic says there was an error code "45" for a blend door, but all circuits checked out. Has anyone else had this problem?

smithed · February 2005

Not exactly that problem, but a similar one recently. The fan would run (I could hear it), but little air stream would come from any vent. The windows progressively fogged up on the cold night, and it was difficult to see. It stayed that way when I reached the destination several hours later. The next morning, all was fine and has stayed fine for the past two months. Seems like a computer gremlin?

Dodge Intrepid

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