92 Voyager 3.3

[WickedShelby88]

I know the 3.3 came in a lot of vehicles, but I was wanting to know some more on valve train wear. Who here has had one apart and inspected the rockers and rocker shafts on a high mile 3.3/3.8? I got a little bit of clatter from the top in the rear and also it sounds like the timing chain might even be sloppy. The engine looks clean if you peak in the V/C through the oil fill hole and I haven't skipped an oil change, but with 190k on it the slight clatter is a little unnerving.

[BadAssPerformance]

What weight of oil are you running?

[Matt86]

All my 3.3's were quiet (94 & 95 Intrepid, 94 Caravan), I ran 5w-30 in them. But my 1990 Imperial had a nasty loud 3.3.

I poured some 10W-40 and a quart of Lucas oil stablizer, it shut it up a bit but she was still pretty noisy.

[WickedShelby88]

Hmm, I switched to 5w30 this winter cause of the cold and it actually got quieter than it was. Oddly enough. I was running 10w30. Its held great oil pressure since I've got it, but there is some lifter( I hope) clatter when it first fires up cold. I was thinking of trying to find a lower mile motor or swapping in a new timing chain set, lifters, and rockers/shafts. Only if it needs it on the rockers/shafts though. The V8's use that style of valve train though, and yeah, they are typically quiet. Its not loud at all and it only makes the tick and slight noise when warm.

[tsiconquest88]

i think the 3.3 in the vans are the same as the 3.3 in the intripeds/visions with the 3.3 right? if so its common that the rocker arm or lifters or something like that ( i forget exactly what part) wears out/breaks. its a tsb. simply replace them. I know my 94 eagle vision did it at times when cold. sounded like a darn rod knock almost. Just rocker noise. If it goes away undr a minute its considered ok, longer than that its time for replacment.

[BadAssPerformance]

Hmm, I switched to 5w30 this winter cause of the cold and it actually got quieter than it was. Oddly enough. I was running 10w30.

Do you realize that there is virtually no difference between those two oils at operating temps?

190k miles? I'd run 10w40 in it year round.

[tsiconquest88]

^ is right, 10w30 just will last a little longer than 5w. Due to the extra thickness. 5w breaks down way quick though in a turbo engine, by 3k reg 5w had already seen its day lol. I use it only when winter. turbo's eat 5w for breakfast haha.

[BIGBRUDDA]

Try consulting ALLPAR. I believe the valve train problems were only on very early 3.3s. And then it was loose or broken rocker arm studs.
Cold start valve clatter on pushrod motors is usually due to drain back or weak lifters.Thats a relative easy cheap fix.
Check out the MINIMOPAR oil filter tests. I have had a warped filter diaphragm allows the top end to drain. My 3.3 is @121k I run 10w40 synthetic yr round. Its quiet , all I hear is alternator whine.

[tsiconquest88]

well if the 3.3 from the intrepid and vision cars is the same 3.3 as the vans like his (as i said) then no its an issue on all the 3.3's till 97 or so.

[A.J.]

I have a customer with a 2000-03 Caravan with a 3.3. It has a sludge problem. He swears he changes his oil but not by the looks of it. His rocker arms DUG into the shaft causing them to clatter real bad. I replaced the rear ones, then about a year later he came back with a dead cylinder. One of the front cylinders had a pushrod PUSH THROUGH THE ROCKER! If I have to pull the valve covers again, I'm going to drill a hole in each rocker where the pushrod seats to spray some oil like the Chevy do. Hopefully it'll help wash some of the sludge away and lube the rockers better.

A.J.

[Vigo]

I think thats due to abuse. My family has had two 3.3s go past 220k just fine with no noise, and im driving on a 93 with 113k or so now with absolutely no issues and i spend half my time at 5500rpm some days.


Ive rarely seen a broken 3.3, i think most problems with the valvetrain would be oil related.

[tsiconquest88]

well it is known issue by chysler and there is tsb for it, the tsb states replace the broken studs lol. Well DUH, anyway this is assuming its the same 3.3 as i stated above as the intrepids/voyager, funny thing is i have a 97 3.3 voyager and had a 94 3.3 vision, and both had different intakes hence why im not sure on the types of 3.3's and the tsb is for the treps/visions. But dont know if its for other vehicels as the tsb i referred to was for the cars.

[Vigo]

Ive actually looked into it and while there are a good number of minor differences over the years and platforms, the rockers should all be the same until around 2000. If you were worried about the condition of your rockers id just swap another set on from the junkyard. IMO there's extremely little chance that another set would wear out, even if yours did.. on these motors its the exception, not the rule, even if there is a tsb for it.

[WickedShelby88]

I think I'm going to price a set of lifters and check out some yards for rocker arms/shafts. Also the engine looks pretty clean on the inside, but that might not mean much. I've seen more than a few 3.3's with horrendous sludge build up. We had one in our shop once we cleaned the whole engine out with mineral spirits with the pan off covers and intake off. I think it got new bearings and oil pump. That one lived by some miracle. It was so bad I didn't know how oil was even getting to the pan.

[Vigo]

I saw a 3.9L dodge v6 like that once. I was low man on the totem pole back then so i got stuck scraping the chunks out so we could see the rocker arms.

[WickedShelby88]

I saw a 3.9L dodge v6 like that once. I was low man on the totem pole back then so i got stuck scraping the chunks out so we could see the rocker arms.

Yeah there were a couple 318's that had come in like that also. Fun fun. I just wish people would change their oil.