Hi all,
I recently purchased a 2000 LHS in great overall shape for 500 bucks. Car has high miles (243000) mainly highway miles. Got it cheap due to engine noise. I confirmed the noise is coming from the left valvetrain/camshaft. Have confirmed one worn lobe on the left bank camshaft. Anyway, I was thinking of rebuilding this engine and wanted to see if there were any issues with the 3.5 Vin G from this year. I have been looking on line, but haven't found any negatives. I'm much more familiar with the 2.7, after rebuilding one for my mother in law. I've heard the 3.5 is a pretty strong engine overall. I found one post on line mentioning the 3.5 in known for leaking head gaskets, but if so I figured I would have found more than one mention of this. Just wanted to consult the experts, or those with much more experience with the 3.5 than I have. Thanks for reading.

Dave

 

I do not have much experience with high mileage LH platforms. I am the current (first) owner of a 1999 Chrysler LHS with a bit over 100,000 miles. The 3.5 for me is a strong running engine and so far I have not had any problems, leak wise. Granted I am only at around 100,000 miles. I hope to learn of any problems later on with the 3.5 so I can be prepared. If you have any other questions concerning the LHS, I will help to the best of my ability.

 

I went from a '99 Concorde with the V6-2.7 to a '04 Concorde V6-3.5. When I researched the Concorde history, I found that the 3.5 seems to be a better motor (based on owner information). I did not have any problems with my 2.7, but the 3.5 is much more responsive and energentic. Strangely, the '99 Concorde with the 2.7 got an average of 25.5 mph on the highway at 70 miles per hour without running the air conditioning. The '04 Concorde with the 3.5 has automatic temperature control and the air conditioner runs often, but the mph is 24.9 at 70 miles per hour- very close to the '99, with a larger engine!!

 

Thanks for the replies. I thought this would make a good dependable family car. Decided against a rebuild, and found an engine with 91000 miles on it. Hope to get it put in this weekend.

 

So, did you find a 2.7 or 3.5? What are you gonna do about the tranny- thinking about rebuilding it- you said to car had 243k on it.

 

I found a 3.5 out of a 99 LHS with 91000 miles on it, so i went with it. I didn't realize when I bought the car that the Vin G engine is hard to find in this area, and a used one round here usually sells for 900-1200 bucks. I found mine in Indiana online for 750, and grabbed it, (figured it was worth a 3 hour drive). I'm sure somewhere in Idaho or somewhere i could have found a cheaper one, but with the prices I've been quoted, shipping or driving to pick one up, I think I could have done much worse.
My plan for the transmission initially is to change the filter and pan gasket, and see what I have. I really haven't driven the car to know if it's bad or not. In addition, I purchased it from the second owner, who only had it a year, and was not certain if it was the original tranny. May proceed with the "if it ain't broke, don't fix it" approach. With as many miles as are on it, a rebuild is a possibility. I've never done a transmission rebuild before, but I imagine if Advance Auto sells a rebuild kit for one, they must assume a layman can pull it off. I may just put a used tranny in it. My goal for the car is 5 years and/or 100,000 miles. High hopes for a 500 dollar car, ok, now it's a 1250 car, but I've heard good about the engine, and transmission for that matter.

 

I'll keep yall posted on how the car's coming along. A couple of interesting things I noticed on ths engine as I was taking it apart (the original 243000 engine)
1. The tubes to the EGR valve were completely caked shut with a rusty looking paste.
2. The air intake section leading to the throttle body, as well as the plenum, probably had at least a half quart of oil in them, and what looked to be antifreeze as well. Plugged PVC and possibly leaking intake gaskets?

 

I knew this would be a learning experience....
Got the engine swap completed this weekend. Some of the problems I ran into I knew were possibilities, others totally unexpected but easy enough to fix.
1. The original harness plastic (that lays on the valve covers) was cracked/destroyed, so I used the harness that came with the 99 engine. All of the connectors were the same except for the crankshaft positioning sensor. Since I didn't give up the old engine for core, I had the original connector, spliced it on the 99 harness, worked like a charm.
2. Fuel rail O-rings. I expected this one, but in buying a used engine from a salvage yard, I wanted to get it in as quickly as possible and see what I had. Leaking both bottom and top to rail. Easy enough to replace while I was replacing the lower intake gasket.
3. Initial start up with a 4000 rpm idle...found vaccuum leak(bad hoses), improved idle down to 1500, but would rev and hold a steady 2100 for a good while, then drop down. Replaced idle air valve with the old, holds a steady 1200, so I'll go get a new one this weekend.
4. The starter in this thing is fun to get to! The haynes manual recommends just loosening the engine mount bolt to remove/install. I
completely removed the three bolts to the block, jacked up the engine slightly, then I actually had enough room to easily install the starter.
5. The best thing I ever bought thusfar was the complete chrysler shop manual set for the 2000 LHS/300M/Concorde/Intrepid. Some of the info in the Haynes manual is vague and in some instances is incorrect. I think that's due to the haynes manual trying to apply to to apply to 7 years worth of 4 different models. But 65 bucks on ebay later and I have most of the info I need. I think the rest comes with experience or talking to guys on here who have that experience.

 

Can I use a '00 lhs 3.5 L vin g for a '03 Chrysler 300 m 3.5 vin k??

 

Yes but with some modifications. There are some items that need to be swapped to make this work. Base engine, block, internals same.
00 G has EGR, 03K does not (300M Special) Plenum/upper intake manifold, engine wire harness, flexplate (flywheel) Drivers side cam gear/tone wheel MUST match the car the engine is going into...
see :http://www.dodgeintrepid.net/showthread.php?t=76738 for details from the guy has done it many times....