Intrepid head gasket

[ShadowFromHell]

I flip cars to make extra money, and there is a couple really nice intrepid on CL right now that according to the owner need new HG's. Is this normal on these cars, or is this a sign of a much worse problem? I do not know what motors the cars have, but they both are old enough they should not have a 2.7. Should be a 3.3 or 3.5. Also, if it is the HG, are these hard to do? I looked at buying a 3.5 car a few years back and remember it having a rather roomy engine bay.

Thanks for any help!
Dustin

[Darkapollo]

The 3.5 at least is mounted like its RWD so the cyl banks are on the fender sides.
Its probably got a whole bunch of crap in the way but it shouldnt be too hard of a job.

[ljbprrfmof]

3.3 is mounted like rwd also. They are great cars and as I recall didn't have a lot of recurring issues.

[ljbprrfmof]

Stay away from the 2.7 from 1998 to 2003. The 3.2 is like a 3.5 and was no problem. Only had them in the Concorde and Intrepid in 1998 and 1999. Same engine layout

Some of the latter 3.5's had a carbon build up issue around the valves. You could sometimes chemically clean it, but usually you had to open up the valve cover and rotate the valves or send the head for decarbonizing at the machine shop.

[ShadowFromHell]

Are these motors known for cracking the head or blocks? I just dont want to buy one and then have to dump a ton of money into it to get it running, and not make any money or worse, loose money.

[135sohc]

Not really but anything is possible if you get it hot enough.

[Matt86]

The 3.3s are too easy to do head gaskets on...maybe thats why they never go bad? More then likely, it's a 3.5. Someone most likely ran it with a bad water pump for too long and blew the heads. Regardless, plenty of room. Being a 1st gen they have very solid motors. They actually outlast the transmissions in most cases, unlike the 2nd gen 2.7s

[Directconnection]

Also, if it is the HG, are these hard to do? I looked at buying a 3.5 car a few years back and remember it having a rather roomy engine bay.

Thanks for any help!
Dustin


The 3.5 is a bastage to work on in terms of doing the headgaskets. It is FAR from roomy compared to a 3.3. Also, that cab forward = Firewall forward = tight engine bay. Basically, in order to remove part "a" part "b" needs to go as it's in the way of one of part "a's" last bolt. Yet, Part "c" needs to come off 1st... along with a part "d" :love: I was lucky that I didn't have any exhaust manifold bolts strip/break as I would really have been up $hit's creek w/out a paddle.

I have owned 3.0, 3.2, 3.3, and 3.5 cars... and the older 3.5 is a FAR better engine performance-wise though. If you're replacing a water pump or timing belt, the 3.5 is easy to work on. Anything else is a beeotch.

I have a 3.2 OHC Intrepid and it's rated at 225hp vs. the 215hp in my old '96 Intrepid. That old 3.5 had lots more low end and midrange than the 3.2 and possibly even more on top end.