Expert: Roland Finston - 5/17/2006

Question
Roland,
I have a 2000 Dodge Intrepid 2.7L V6 with about 110,000 miles.  Driving this week from Detroit to Toronto, the water pump failed (lots of white smoke from the rear of the car at speed, lots of steam from under the hood once I pulled off the road).  The car was towed to a repair shop and inspected.  To my surprise, the water pump had indeed failed, but instead of coolant leaking out of the water pump weep hole, because of the type of pump and its configuration, the coolant leaked into the crankcase, contaminating the engine oil with glycol coolant.  Instead of a simple water pump replacement, I am looking at a complete engine replacement !  When I inspected the engine in the shop, there was indeed coolant in the oil, as the dip stick was coated with a creamy oil/coolant emulsion, as was the underside of the oil fill cap.

What kind of water pump design is this?  What in the past would be a relatively minor repare is now a catastophic engine failure.  Is there anything that DaimlerChrysler can do to alleviate the financial pain of this repair?

Bill

Answer
Hi Bill,
I had heard about there being some problem involving the early years of the 2.7 and 3.2L engines and I seem to recall that it involved the falure of the cooling system of the engine. My focus has been on pre-2000 problems, though I know the 2.7 and 3.2 were on the market in '98 I hadn't been asked about it.  I don't know whether there was a NHTSA recall issued or whether a class action lawsuit by owners like yourself may have been initiated and resolved. I suspect you could post a question at a MOPAR-type bulletin board (Mopargarage.com is one, I believe) on the internet and get a pretty definitive answer about class action lawsuits.
My inclination would be to call the Daimler-Chrysler headquarters in Detroit and inquire about recalls and also about warranty repairs for this type of failure which certainly seems to be a design flaw. There might be a Lemon Law issue as well.  About how far did you drive after the pump blew? I am surprised that if it were a short distance that it would have done major damage to the bearings or the cylinder walls. When it is cranked does it sound like parts have failed or is the compression just bad? I know the same thing can happen when a headgasket blows but without such prompt catastrophic damage. Did the entire coolant inventory enter the oil pan?
Please let me know what you learn as folks who come to this site often will check the archive of questions answered and this would be a good one to have fleshed-out.
Roland