I purchased a 2001 Dodge Intrepid SE 2.7L in April 2009. The mileage was around 78,000. At 80,000 the oil light started to come on when it was idling. I had an oil change. I think they used 10W-30. I am now at 83,000 and 1 week ago the oil light began to flicker and came back when idling. I know that it needs an oil change. But this [the oil light flickering etc.] had never happened to me with any other car. I came on-line to see if I could find additional information. I saw a comment from an owner in Havertown, PA that was posted on 1/1/07. It stated that a service alert was issued on this car which stated the connector on the oil switch wiring was defective. Once the connector was changed the problem went away. Does this sound reasonable?

I have been hit by this problem as well. My oil pressure light flickers at idle. According to the owner's manual, it says immediately shut down the engine. I have been driving it like this for a couple weeks, simply out of necessity. If I'm idle for more than 3 minutes, the light comes on. If I rev the engine just a little it goes away, and then comes back on after about 30 seconds.

The first thing I will do is change the engine oil with synthetic. Next I'll look into the oil pump as that has been mentioned in some of these issues. Dodge really should step up and take credit for this problem. I think more of us would feel more comfortable with american cars if they weren't famous for this kind of stuff.

Bought the car in 2002...it was a dream. Ran great, NEVER had any trouble with it, LOVED the car. We were religious about taking it in for oil changes every 3000 miles on it, and only had to have normal wear and tear repairs on it (had to replace the brake pads in Feb 2007). Got the car paid off in Nov 2007. Around October, started noticing that the check oil light would come on when I was idling, and sometimes would stay on. Per the car's manual, I took it into the shop; they changed the oil pan and sensors, which cost a pretty penny. In December, light started coming on again. Took it to a different shop, the service guy listened to my story and said, can you afford to buy a new car? Then DO IT NOW!!! Sure enough....the day after we sold the car, the dealership that took it off our hands and gave us $2500 for it, called and said that it had died. SUCKERS!!!!

Well like everyone else im anticipating my engine shutting down soon, i have the oil light coming on frequently when idling (when brake is pressed), oddly the heater works intermittently. The car overheats when idling on occasion. Needless to say i don't drive it much due to the unreliability of the vehicle which is a shame cause overall ive loved the car since the day i bought it. UNTIL NOW!! Can anyone shed any light on what to do possibly before the engine goes? is there any hope? Im on unemployment and cant afford another car anytime soon.

Ok, My wifes car just experienced the oil breakdown/ oil lamp on at idle symptoms. I got a good answer from a Dodge mechanic on the oil sludge problem these engines face. Here it goes. These engines(2.7L) in a Dodge Intrepid suffer from extreme heat under the hood. This is due to the very low profile hood, and inadequate fresh air opening on, and under the grill. These engines have the 2 upper catalytic converters mounted up right next to the engine block, and head. This is the source of the heat, and the lack of proper airflow into the engine compartment doesn't sufficiently get rid of it. This excessive heat causes the engine oil to breakdown, resulting in sludge. The sludge plugs up the oil passages, and starves the engine from oil in the worst case scenarios. This may be the oil by pass in the pump sticking, or the cam tensioner failing. In my case the oil light would flicker at idle. What I have done, and will do is as follows:I bought some SeaFoam at the auto parts store and added it to my engine oil. Then drove around for a bit, maybe 30-50 miles.I then changed the oil and filter. Premium filter and Castrol GTX oil. I was told synthetic oil is better for high heat situations, but I have had good luck with GTX ( resistes sludge). My oil lamp went out, but I knew it would be back. I then purchased exhaust header wrap. It is a Woven Fiberglass like tape that insulates the exhaust. I purchased it at a local auto parts store in the performance section, along with the stainless steel bands to secure it. I then wrapped both of my upper Catalytic converters with the wrap, secured the wrap with the bands, and sprayed it with the exhaust wrap silicone spray that I also bought intended just for this purpose. This should greatly reduce the under hood temperature. Things I might also do; Installation of hood vents, too help move air over the engine. Installation of an axillary engine oil cooler, too stop thermal breakdown of the oil. Change the oil pump, Timing chain, Timing gears, timing chain tensioner, since these parts have been improved/ updated from the factory. So far the Car has been fine with what I have done. Wrapping those upper Catalytic converters I believe will do wonders. Must be specific Exhaust header wrap made for this purpose, and properly installed. This was my solution to the problem, and it is still early to know for sure if it will cure it completly. Make youre assumptions

To start with if your oil light is just starting to come on at idle get it fixed now ! Stop driving it before you blow the engine. If your a half ass mechanic take it to the dealer to fix. It is a pain in the ASS to work on. I know, Been there Done That.

But if your gutsy enough to try it then here goes.

NOTE: DO NOT TURN THE ENGINE OVER PERIOD WHILE DOING THIS !! Youv'e been warned!!!

Take the air cleaner cover lid loose and remove all of the air ducts back to the intake.

Take the plenum off. There a number of electrical and vacuum lines on it, take them loose. Also there is a 10 mm bolt in the back and under the intake port. Just take it loose. You don't have to remove it. Also take the (2) 8 mm bolts out to the intake heat pipe on the left side just below the intake port. Loosen the (8) 10 mm bolts that hold the plenum on to the intake module. You should be able to lift the plenum off. Put some clean rags in the intake ports. That way you won't drop something into the engine.

Remove the connector wires to the coils and remove the (2) 8mm bolts to get the coils off the valve cover.

Take off the Left(passenger side) valve cover. You'll need a deep well 10 mm socket for these bolts. They won't fall out of the cover, at least mine didn't. Take note of how much sludge/varnish is on the cams and inside the valve cover. If it has a lot clean up as much as you can. Then after you get it back together put something like SeaFoam in with the oil to loosen it. Then change oil soon. Maybe after 100 to 200 miles. Depending on how much sludge/varnish is in the engine. My wasn't to bad. But I'm still going to put SeaFoam in it and change oil in 100 to 200 miles. Get it at the parts store when you get the new tesnioner.

Remove the cap right above the Air Conditioner Compressor. It's on the side of the head. It's held on with two 10 mm bolts. Don't loose the O-ring on the cap.

With a long punch or screw driver push on the chain guide and the tensioner will fall out into your hand. Check to make sure yours has the spring clip and O-Ring on it. If it doesn't have both, like mine didn't then the O-Ring has disintegrated and the clip is broken. My clip fell off in my hand. This O-ring being gone will cause the oil light to come on at idle and make one hell of a racket when the engine runs. It causes the tensioner to oscillate in the boss in the head. And if you continue to drive it sooner or later it will jump teeth on the cam or crank gear taking out the valves and etc...

Go get a new tensioner. There only about $90.00. Cheap if you consider the cost of an engine.

This is the tricky part. The tensioner will push in until it bottoms out. Then it will pop out and extend again to full length. The trick is this. Push it together to a length that you can get it back into the head without having to push hard on the cap you took off earlier. After you have the tensioner and cap back in place, reach back inside the valve cover and push the cam chain guide towards the tensioner. The tensioner will compress to the bottom and then it will release and pop back to full length again. MAKE DAMN sure that it extends out and is pushing against the cam chain guide. DO NOT push it again after that. If you do, push it all the way to the bottom again and let it extend back out again making sure it pushes against the chain guide.

Put the valve cover back on. And tighten the bolts. Just snug them you don't need to tighten them down that hard. If you really want to get technical you can torque them with a torque wrench. 10 foot pounds should be plenty.

Put the coils back on and the electrical connectors for them.

Put the plenum back on.

Check to make sure you have all the vacuum hoses and electrical connections connected back up to the plenum.

*Start the engine. It should be fine from this point.

Hopefully I haven't forgotten a step or something. And as usual your mileage may vary.

Just as a side note. I did take the oil pan off and measured the rod and main journals on the crankshaft. Believe it or not the crank was within factory specs. I went ahead and put in new rod and main bearings anyway. I also changed the oil pump. Since it was apart at the time. FYI, oil pressure is suppose to be 25 to 105 lbs @ 3000 rpm according to Chilton Repair manual. I got the car back together last night. It runs much better now. So after spending 800 bucks I think you may get by just for 90 bucks and only have to replace the cam chain tensioner.

I hope someone finds this info useful. The tensioner is a weak link for sure. But I think the engine itself is a good engine.

Take Care and be safe.

Pulling out of the supermarket last week, in reverse, my car died. No engine, no brakes, no anything. If a child had been behind me, I would have ran he/she over. NO ANYTHING. I could run my gear shift from park to low without putting on my brake. I turned my car off, waited five seconds, turned it back on, and it was as if nothing had ever been wrong with my vehicle. I promptly returned home, visited this website via google, (problems with 2001 intrepids) and sold my car within 72 hours. Dodge corporate office had no info, Portland metro dodge dealers had no info, but I do. Do not buy a Dodge or Chrysler product. They don't care that their products on the road are worthless and expensive to run and maintain. Buy anything but Dodge. Dodge DOES NOT CARE. Not about you, your family or the vehicles they produce. End of story.