3.2 and 3.5L interference engines

What engine do you have? The 3.2 and 3.5L engines are belt-timed, have
an AUTOMATIC tensioner, and (although there are conflicting sources) I
believe they are NON-interference engines.

I was just reading the FSM for my '98 3.2L prepping to replace an idler
pulley. In big, bold capital letters it states that the 3.2/3.5L are 'not
freewheeling engine designs' and warns against rotating the cams/crank with
the timing belt removed.

--Geoff

 

Well my 3.5 from a 97 is definitely not an interference engine.

When I bought it at 108k Kames, I replaced a worn belt. At 150k kms, the
tensioner went and the belt broke. I was back in business after a tow and
couple of hours labour.

I've owned one car with a timing chain and interference engine -the
tensioner was recalled but I bought it used - never got the notice and of
course it wore down to the point where the chain went - new engine time.

James Linn

 

That is pretty definitive, I'd never heard that quoted before. Glad
mine's a first-generation engine.

 

Please see the following:

http://www.gates.com/brochure.cfm?brochure=981&location_id=540

According to this only the 98-99 in this configuration are interference, the
other years
are not.

Ted

 

Starting in 1998, the 3.2 and 3.5 are NOT freewheeling due to cylinder
head changes made mainly for emissions reasons. 1997 and earlier (3.5 only)
is freewheeling.


--
Tom Showers
Gold Certified Chrysler Technician
ASE CMAT, L1
Sawyer Motors
Saugerties, NY

 

Not to mention all the money to be made rebuilding trashed engines.

 

Tom,
You seen any of the 3.2Ls come in with snapped timing belts? At what
mileage do they seem to give out?

--Geoff

 

I had mine go on Sunday on my 3.2 ES ~30 000 Mile ( 48 000 Kms). The blasted
thing was hard to start, idled at around 200 rpm and I am like "This aint
right". Shut it down, gave it a few seconds and tried to restart it. No go, It
would splutter and cough but refused to turn over.

Had it towed to the Dealer today, and they're like "Here you go, The belt is
cracked in 6 places, and there are huge holes in the main Serpentine belt.
C$100.00 later I'm fighting them because this should have been caught at the 25
000 mile service, when they did a huge service under the hood. Clerks like a
Deer in the Headlights "ahhh not my job". Did a quote on a new 3.2 should this
one have had some hot Steamy Valve on Piston action and they gave me a quote of
C$17 000 to drop one in.

 

How do you know the belt was bad 5,000 miles ago? Did you inspect it
yourself? As the owner off the car, it is your job to keep it in good
condition.


Matt

 

Should not go at 30k miles and if it does should be covered by
warranty.

 

Yes as the owner of the car I take great pride in looking after the car. My argument
is that the belt shouldn't have snapped at so low a mileage, and maybe the dealer
should have been more careful at inspecting it and finding a defect.

I inspect the Tire pressures, fluids and belts maybe once every two weeks when its
wash time. I pay more attention to these things when the Winter Tires go on, because
you do not need to be stranded at -30

I don't pull the main timing belt off the car every week to inspect it either.
That's what i trust the dealer to do. A quick visible inspection is all I can do with
a flashlight. My argument is this, at 25 000 the car went in for an inspection where
they were supposed to look at these things. Now in 5 000 miles, the belt has fallen
to pieces, caused the ASR's to shut the engine down, and caused me to jack the wife's
97 Intrepid

I am not in the habit of 4 wheeling over medians or grass embankments, or cranking
the engine to 6500 rpm in each gear. This is a car that is driven 90 % of the time
with the autostick and shifted at 2000 rpm until the engine is warm. At that point it
won't see 3000 rpm for shifts.

My Shelby Lancer ( 89k and change) on the other hand still has the original belts
(Different era / Quality). I've been through several head gaskets but that's another
story.

From the Service manual

24 months or 22500 miles ( I delayed to 25 000)
-change oil and Filter (converted over to Synthetic 5w30)
-Check all Levels
-belts and hoses *****Oops*****
-56 point inspection
-tire rotation
yada yada yada

 

No warranty on it surprise surprise. But cause a big enough stink at the
regional DasFuehrerChrysler office and Labor and Towing magically
disappear from the bill. ;-)

 

And that's exactly what the dealer should do, because you don't REMOVE a
timing belt to simply inspect it at 1/4 of its expected lifespan.
That's not good maintenance practice because if you did enough
disassembly to R&R the belt for inspection, you might as well put a new
one on.

There's no way on earth that the timing belt should be failing at 35k
miles, unless there was some incident that damaged the belt (and didn't
you say that the serpentine belt was *also* damaged?). If it was a
single damaging incident, there's no reason to think that the dealer's
25,000 mile inspection would have found anything because there was
probably nothing to find at that time.

Still trying to think of what sort of incident could damage both
belts... thats an odd one, since the timing belt is enclosed and the
serpentine belt is exposed.

 

I assme engine ok and you are just paying for the belt?

 

No sign of damage (knocking on wood for that one). The car seems to have
more perk, and fuel economy has improved significantly.

DasfuhrerChrysler waived the costs of the timing belt. I had to pay for
the accessories serpentine belt, as the damage was deemed to be caused by
"Road Debris". So $31.00 later, and infamy at the dealership and
"friendly" regional office, i am back on the road.