Faults:

I bought the car real cheap from a guy I know.

The oil light was a problem when I got it. I checked the oil pressure and it was fine. I changed the sender and modified the harness. What I was told to do from a friend of mine (awesome automotive guy) was to take the wire harness connector at the sensor end and pull out the blank pin. The sensor is a single wire sensor, with a two wire connector. Take out the blank plug that seals the connector and replace it with a little plastic straw from a can of aerosol brake parts cleaner. This vents the connector. The end of the straw should be facing at least slightly down to prevent any water / debris from accumulating in it. This will only work if the oil pressure is OK. It sounds a little flaky but it worked.

Unfortunately it will not fix the blown engine problems. If you hear lifter rattling, you probably have toasted the engine and the oil light is telling the truth.

Faults:

Struts: 149,000 miles.

"Clock-spring" 135,000 miles.

A/C clutch relay 140,000 miles.

Burns oil (it is 150,000 miles now)

General Comments:

My ford Taurus after having a lot of work done to it, much of it covered under an extended warranty had a new radiator, new factory warrantied motor, new suspension, new tires, and 75,000 mile dealership guarantee for much of the work when I was rear ended before it hit 2,000 miles, taking this "new" car away from me.

I purchased my 1998 Intrepid from one of our lemon lots here in Tulsa, had to pay by credit card due to existing car loan as yet unpaid. I have replaced the brakes, which were worn to the nub in front. It burns between 1/2 to 3 quarts of oil per month. I drove it 1400 miles in one weekend to Illinois and back, and while there temperatures dropped to -40F and the car started up easily enough, but very hesitant. I doubt even I could start myself at -40!

Most recently I had the struts and strut mounting hardware replaced for 800, they were original factory parts, so 149,000 miles on a set of struts? Not bad. The AC Relay switch went out, $8 online. Now, asking at the wrecking yard (getting rims) the steering column went dead: all of it, cruise, horn, airbag. The "clockspring" is broken? Never heard of it. This is my next project and I googled it this morning and was drawn to this website.

For a $2000 old car like this, I have put in very little money and it is solid as a rock. It burns oil, yes, but I had a Saturn which started doing that at 125,000, it's fair wear and tear.

Faults:

Oil pressure light flickering at idle: oil pressure sending unit bad, replaced (per TSB) with redesigned unit, no problems since.

A/C and fan motor sporadically inoperable: diagnosed as faulty ignition switch, replaced, no problems since.

Drivers door (power) window sporadically inoperable (all other windows operational) : diagnosed as faulty control switch unit.

The plastic air dam under the front of the car was damaged/detached, was removed. (It's not worth it to me to replace the thing, because it's not clear how much the performance of the vehicle will suffer (increased aerodynamic drag, decreased cooling efficiency of the radiator or transmission cooler?)

Otherwise, it's just been routine maintenance items PCV valve, brake pads, EGR manifold gasket, brake fluid replacement, power steering fluid replacement, transmission fluid replacement, and so on.

General Comments:

Very comfortable, relatively quiet, nice ride.

Seats up to six passengers, the automatic shift lever is on the steering column. NOTE: there is no shoulder belt (lap belt only) for center seated passengers, both front and rear)

The trunk can best be described as cavernous. The downside to such a large trunk is that items can (and do) slide forward in trunk, and they cannot be easily reached.

Plenty of power, smooth shifts, easy and responsive steering, plenty of braking.

Driving this large sedan is non-exciting. And for me, that's a good thing. If I wanted a muscle car or a rally racing car, that's what I gotten.

Regular maintenance per "severe service" schedule. Oil changes every four months, no more than 4,000 miles between oil changes (Valvoline 5W30 conventional or high mileage synthetic blend). Transmission fluid replaced (OEM), coolant replaced (ONLY with OEM approved Zerex G05 and OEM approved procedure opening bleeder valve to eliminate air from cooling system)

There's no sign of coolant in the oil, or oil in the coolant. That's a good thing.

I'm so sorry to hear so MANY horror stories with the 2.7L Mitsubishi engine. I think Chrysler may have done the consumer a real disservice by reducing the amount of oil in the sump (total capacity of only 4.5 quarts), which makes the oil work that much harder. Especially under severe service (idling, frequent short trips, stop and go driving)

And if the cooling system (including the water pump and seals) isn't adequately protected (by OEM approved coolant), engine failure is inevitable. In the 2.7L engine, the water pump is driven by the timing chain.

This engine requires "special" G05 coolant. (In Chrysler's defense, there is a notation on the coolant recovery tank about "special" coolant only. Any contamination of this coolant with "old-school" or "universal" coolant, or non- demineralized water or even air in the system, that's going to compromise the corrosion protection. (The ethylene glycol antifreeze doesn't "wear out", it's the corrosion inhibitor compounds that get used up...)

(The guys at Valvoline instant oil change insist on "checking" the coolant by testing the specific gravity (counting the number of floating balls in the clear tube to determine the concentration of ethylene glycol... AS IF that's going to tell me ANYTHING USEFUL about whether or not the coolant is PROTECTING the cooling system. Don't get me started... they "check" the air filter by visually determining that the filter media has indeed trapped some contaminants... that's what it's SUPPOSED to do. And NO, I'm NOT paying $30 for an $8 filter I changed myself three months ago.