3.3L Chrysler V6?
the fly
Does anyone have much experience with the Chrysler 3.3L V6 used in the
mini vans? (Town & Country, Caravan, etc).
Any reliability or serviceability concerns?
Thanks,
Mark
Daniel J. Stern
The 3.3 and 3.8 belong to the same engine family. They are sturdy,
durable, well-proven designs without much at all in the way of "known
issues".
--DS
jdoe
reasonably quiet, long lived, resonably economical. Simple to maintain also.
Access may be difficult but the motor is very simple and straightforward in
design.
Larry
"Daniel J. Stern" <das...@engin.umich> wrote in message
news:Pine.SOL.4.33.020724...@alumni.engin.umich.edu...
scrook
of it, what since the imfamous aluminum I-4 Vega motor of the early '70s
isn't.
I believe the 3.8 & 3.3 are both 6 cyl derivitives of the 318 V8. Beware of
the first couple years (90-91?) 4 speed OD automatic transmissions -- after
that I think they are fine though.
"jdoe" <jd...@msn.net> wrote in message
news:t%H%8.651731$cQ3.105219@sccrnsc01...
Daniel J. Stern
> And INFINITELY superior to the 3.0L Missybitchy engine, but, come to think
> of it, what since the imfamous aluminum I-4 Vega motor of the early '70s
> isn't.
The Bitsumishi 2.6 deserves poormouthing. The 3.0 does not. The 3.3/3.8
are superior to the 3.0, but the 3.0 isn't bad.
> I believe the 3.8 & 3.3 are both 6 cyl derivitives of the 318 V8.
No, the only 6-cylinder derivative of the LA V8 engine is the 3.8 litre
V6 used in trucks and (rear wheel drive) vans. The 3.3 and 3.8 are not
related to any other Chrysler engines.
--DS
the fly
Thanks to everyone who answered. I think there's a Grand Caravan in my
future.
shiden_kai
"Daniel J. Stern" wrote
> The Bitsumishi 2.6 deserves poormouthing. The 3.0 does not. The 3.3/3.8
> are superior to the 3.0, but the 3.0 isn't bad.
If you think that numerous head gasket failures, valve guides that dropped
in the aluminum heads, oil leaks galore from crank and cam seals, and
a foolish water pump placement is all fairly normal for an engine, then yes,
the old 3.0 wasn't bad. On the good side, the bottom end and block and
pistons were bulletproof.
That engine kept us so busy when I worked at a Chrysler dealership that
we regularly burnt incense to the Mitsubishi God in thanks for all the
good work (grin)
Ian
Christopher Green
Well-known for transmission failures, unfortunately. They are supposed
to have been much improved in recent years (they'd better have been, I
bought one last year).
If you want to use it for towing, hauling, or mountain driving,
splurge on the 3.8; the 3.3 is adequate for these vehicles' niche of
ferrying a full house of kids around town.
--
Chris Green
Christopher Green
Loren Knighton
>in the aluminum heads, oil leaks galore from crank and cam seals, and
>a foolish water pump placement is all fairly normal for an engine, then yes,
>the old 3.0 wasn't bad. On the good side, the bottom end and block and
>pistons were bulletproof.
>
>That engine kept us so busy when I worked at a Chrysler dealership that
>we regularly burnt incense to the Mitsubishi God in thanks for all the
>good work (grin)
>
>Ian
Take a bow Ian that is too funny-really. :-)
Respectfully submitted,
Loren Knighton
Woodland, CA.
IATN, TRNI
Under the hood since 1964
Richard Benner Jr
Go to www.allpar.com and click ENGINES. The 3.3/3.8 is listed at
the lower end of the list. Comb the web site and there are numerous
articles on these engines.
I am very happy with the two vehicles I have with the 3.3. I have
a 95 Intrepid and a 2001 Dodge Grand Caravan Sport. Just got back
from a 6 week -7500 mile trip westward from St. Louis to Calif coast
and back the Northern route in the Van. About 4000 miles of mountain
driving. Four adults and enough clothes and gear for 6 weeks of
travel(and junk we bought) so it was FULL. Pulled 22 miles per gallon
and not a bit of trouble pulling the mountains (Pikes Peak,East
entrance to Yellowstone for those of you who know it,Tioga Pass,Hy25
between Sacramento,Calif to Lake Tahoe, etc). I had 21000 miles on
the vehicle when I got home and I changed the Tranny fluid (Mopar
ATF+4) and tranny filter. Good Luck
David Allen
I've fixed the headgaskets 3 times, done the valve guide seal repair, a
valve job and replaced the water pump. I've replaced oil seals when
possible, but it still leaks oil. What's curious is that all those repairs
came fairly early in the life of this engine. It's been very reliable for
about the last 100k miles (currently has 226k miles).
"shiden_kai" <shidn...@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:pXK%8.9474$YR5.2...@news1.telusplanet.net...
shiden_kai
"David Allen" wrote
> I've worked on my 3.0 so much that I love it because I know it so well.
> I've fixed the headgaskets 3 times, done the valve guide seal repair, a
> valve job and replaced the water pump. I've replaced oil seals when
> possible, but it still leaks oil. What's curious is that all those
repairs
> came fairly early in the life of this engine. It's been very reliable for
> about the last 100k miles (currently has 226k miles).
I actually like the engine, regardless of it's many faults. When my sister
was looking for a Caravan, I recommended the 3.0 litre engine, not
because it's better then the 3.3, but because you could get the 3-speed
auto with the 3.0. If you got the 3.3, you were stuck with the 4-speed
overdrive unit which was a nasty piece of work.
It was also simple to work on.....of course so is the 3.3, which is
a very nice sturdy little push-rod v-6.
Ian
Graham Shortt
burning and it was always the stem seals, never the guides dropping. Seems
like a more silicon based rubber would stand up to heat better than the
nitrile black shit they used.news:9n%%8.12992$Xb2.3...@news2.telusplanet.net...
shiden_kai
"Graham Shortt" wrote
> Did Mitsu ever upgrade the quality of the stem seal rubber? I had the oil
> burning and it was always the stem seals, never the guides dropping.
Seems
> like a more silicon based rubber would stand up to heat better than the
> nitrile black shit they used.
I'm not sure...it's been over 7 years since I worked in a Chrysler
dealership. At that point we had a lot of problems with dropping
valve guides which was fixed on subsequent models. The valve seals
were a brown color if I remember correctly.
Ian
jdoe
with the engine than I could have ever imagined from the 3.3/3.8 4spd combos
I own(ed).
Larrynews:9n%%8.12992$Xb2.3...@news2.telusplanet.net...
Christopher Green
> cj.g...@worldnet.att.net (Christopher Green) wrote in message news:<c31fa7b1.02072...@posting.google.com>...
> > the fly <tset...@swbell.net> wrote in message news:<3D3F2D20...@swbell.net>...
> > > Looking at buying a new car while I can get 5 yrs. at no interest.
> > > Does anyone have much experience with the Chrysler 3.3L V6 used in the
> > > mini vans? (Town & Country, Caravan, etc).
> > > Any reliability or serviceability concerns?
> > >
> > > Thanks,
> > > Mark
> > Well-known for transmission failures, unfortunately. They are supposed
> > to have been much improved in recent years (they'd better have been, I
> > bought one last year).
> >
> > If you want to use it for towing, hauling, or mountain driving,
> > splurge on the 3.8; the 3.3 is adequate for these vehicles' niche of
> > ferrying a full house of kids around town.
>
> Go to www.allpar.com and click ENGINES. The 3.3/3.8 is listed at
> the lower end of the list. Comb the web site and there are numerous
> articles on these engines.
Oddly, the dealer I got my GC from had TWO 3.3 Caravans that were DOA
from the factory, both with transmissions that wouldn't shift. I'm
still not convinced that D-C has the bugs out of that transmission.
As to driving a GC in the mountains, I confess to being spoiled,
because I'm used to a stick. The 4-speed lugs and hunts too much for
my liking, even if I lock out the overdrive, though that may be my
habits and preferences rather than any fault of the car. I'd still opt
for the 3.8 if I had my 'druthers, but that's just me.
--
Chris Green
David Allen
bought to do the head gasket repair). I don't know what they were made of.
I sure haven't had any problems in the years since the repair.
I remember hearing that most of the smoking problems were not the valve
guides, but the valve guide seals (from a guy who worked in an independent
shop and posted in this ng). Chrysler's policy was to assume the problem
was the guides and the repair was to replace the heads. I'm glad I didn't
do that.
"Graham Shortt" <GSh...@shaw.ca> wrote in message
news:Zv309.47479$Ag2.2...@news2.calgary.shaw.ca...
David Allen
tranny.news:Pw909.42816$uh7.5076@sccrnsc03...
shiden_kai
"David Allen" wrote
> I remember hearing that most of the smoking problems were not the valve
> guides, but the valve guide seals (from a guy who worked in an independent
> shop and posted in this ng). Chrysler's policy was to assume the problem
> was the guides and the repair was to replace the heads. I'm glad I didn't
> do that.
Unfortunately he was wrong. The problem was not with the valve guides
being *worn* but the fact that they would loosen up in the aluminum
heads and begin to *drop* down towards the combustion chamber.
Eventually, they would drop far enough that the valve seal (which was
sitting on top of the valve guide) would become dislodged from off
the top of the guide and of course the seal could no longer seal the
valve stem effectively.
The fix was to remove the cylinder heads, drive the guides back up
to their original position, cut a small groove in the guide (special
tool supplied by Chrysler) and install a small retaining ring that
would keep the guide from moving again. Then you would replace
all the valve seals.
Chrysler doesn't assume anything about their vehicles. Believe
me, in most cases, the OEM's know their vehicles and what the
problems are.
Ian
David Allen
the problem was the valve guides would "drop" downward. Even so, the point
of the postings at the time was that many of valve guide problems were, in
fact, valve guide seal problems.
When I fixed mine, I had to remove the valve covers and cam shafts and
individual valve springs to get a good enough view of the valve guides to
see if they were the problem (lucky for me it was the seals). I recall
posters at the time say that if you took your 3.0L to the dealer with this
problem, you'd be quoted a repair for new (rebuilt) heads. Of course, it
may have been pissed off posters or shady dealers not representative of most
dealers or whatever. But that seemed to be the consensus and the
independent tech who posted seemed to confirm it.
But, I can imagine Chrysler deciding to treat warranty work with a one size
fits all (replace the heads) repair when the diagnosis costs are high and a
dealer treating non warranty work in the same way.
"shiden_kai" <shidn...@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:Jkk19.4351$Z5.1...@news1.telusplanet.net...
Richard Benner Jr
people and all our luggage would not fit in my 5spd EAGLE TALON. Darn
the luck. ;)
shiden_kai
"David Allen" wrote
> But, I can imagine Chrysler deciding to treat warranty work with a one
size
> fits all (replace the heads) repair when the diagnosis costs are high and
a
> dealer treating non warranty work in the same way.
It may have been cheaper in later years to just replace the heads as an
assembly. Up here in Canada, Chrysler had their own rebuilding
firm that seemed to be contracted to them to provide rebuilt engines,
heads, etc. When I was involved in the warranty procedure, we had
to remove the heads, dis-assemble them and perform their particular
repair. They weren't very happy if anybody attempted to just replace
the cylinder heads. Plus you got paid more time to perform their
repair then if you just threw on a new set of heads.
As new guides began to appear in parts with the groove and clip
already on the guides, we sometimes just drove out all the old
guides and drove in the new guides. We often did this when the
groove cutting tool bit was worn out and/or not working properly.
That engine certainly kept us busy.
Ian
cspenni...@gmail.com
Paul in Houston TX
We have been waiting a long time.
burkefami...@gmail.com
bish2...@gmail.com
> Looking at buying a new car while I can get 5 yrs. at no interest.
> Does anyone have much experience with the Chrysler 3.3L V6 used in the
> mini vans? (Town & Country, Caravan, etc).
> Any reliability or serviceability concerns?
>
> Thanks,
> Mark
bart...@gmail.com
> Looking at buying a new car while I can get 5 yrs. at no interest.
> Does anyone have much experience with the Chrysler 3.3L V6 used in the
> mini vans? (Town & Country, Caravan, etc).
> Any reliability or serviceability concerns?
>
> Thanks,
> Mark
I have owned a 2003 town and country since new. It owes me nothing. I have just over 211,000 miles and it does not burn a drop of oil. Most of the engine parts are original. I have done normal service and replaced radiator because the cooling fan broke off a part and it slammed into the radiator causing a major leak. I say this "tongue in cheek, and with a little embarrassment that it may have original plugs and wires. Leave a dead horse to lie is a good motto. It is a bit noisy when the a/c is running but it to is original. 2 years ago I was told it needed a complete a/c system change at a cost of $1240.00. Seeing its age I went home to decide. My decision was a bottle of a/c pro for $29.00 and it has been ice cold ever since and I live in Florida. Go figure, another garage trying to rip me off. I have had to replace the headliner because it was falling down. I have a tow package on it and only wish it was the 3.8 engine instead of the 3.3 version. It is still my best friend and would be hard pressed to sell or give away. My wife drives a VW diesel Jetta (50MPG). Enjoy your T & C.
billyn...@gmail.com
billyn...@gmail.com
nonee...@gmail.com
melkon...@gmail.com
> Looking at buying a new car while I can get 5 yrs. at no interest.
> Does anyone have much experience with the Chrysler 3.3L V6 used in the
> mini vans? (Town & Country, Caravan, etc).
> Any reliability or serviceability concerns?
>
> Thanks,
> Mark