Wednesday, November 24, 2010
Tuesday, November 9, 2010
Saturday, November 6, 2010
Thursday, November 4, 2010
Welcome
Welcome to my blog on which I intend to document the restoration of a 2002 Sebring Convertible GTC.
I purchased the car in mid-November 2010. It was overall in good condition, but the 2.7l engine was seized.
After disassembly, I discovered the #3 and #4 rods broken, with slight valve damage to both pistons, cracks and missing pieces in the cylinder liners and a piece of rod wedged between the crank and the block.
As of today (4 November), I have obtained a new engine from a local wrecking yard, which is mostly disassembled, and I have everything but the old block removed from the car.
I'm a little short on space in the garage, so my first order of business is to get the old block out, and send the block and heads to the local scrap dealer to get a little extra cash in the restoration fund.
Then onto rebuilding the new engine.
The new engine is from a 2001 Concorde with unknown mileage. Had little to no sludge, but there was evidence of coolant in the oil and the crank journals and bearings need to be replaced.
Once the old engine is out, I'll be acquiring a replacement crank and bearing set, and will start on the cleaning process and reassembly.
I have a bunch of pics of the old engine and will be uploading them shortly.
Stay tuned for more updates.
If you're looking for information on Sebring Convertibles, THE place on the web is www.sebringclub.net. Not the largest automotive message board on the web, but the only one dedicated to the Sebring Convertible.
I owned a 1996 JXi a few years back, and although I very much enjoyed that car, it was obliterated in a head-on collision with an old lady who went left of center. I walked away with a sore knee and an abrasion on my forehead from the airbag deployment. Owned a few other cars since then, and although I like all sorts of cars, the Sebring has a nice combination of performance, looks, luxury, and comfort that is hard to beat for a daily driver, and even harder to beat when the top drops.
I've had a few project cars in the past, despite my limited garage space. This will likely be the last one until we move somewhere else (once the housing market improves...).
2002 is the second year of the Generation 2 Sebring Convertibles. 1996-2000 was generation 1 and generally look the same with a few changes.
2001-2003 have the "smiling" front end with a front bumper similar to the Concorde and other Chryslers of the era.
2001 saw the debut of the since problemmatic DOHC aluminum 2.7l V6. Unlike previous V6s in the Sebring that were byproducts of Chrysler's alliance with Mitsubishi, the 2.7 was a Chrysler design that presumably had design input from Daimler.
2004-2006 were mechanically identical, but with a different front bumper treatment which I personally do not find attractive.
2007+ saw a major styling revision, with input from Daimler who had acquired Chrysler in the intervening years.
The 2.7 is a good engine, but it has a couple of issues.
Water Pump - the water pump is inside the timing chain cavity, driven by the timing chain. While it has weep passages designed to get slight coolant leaks out of the block, major failure results in it puking coolant directly into the oilpan, which quickly eats up bearings and, if left long enough destroys the engine.
Sludging - these engines have a sludging problem. Some speculate that slight coolant leaks are a contributing factor. Others that the high engine operating temps make conventional (non-synthetic) oil inappropriate. Some blame oil drainback passages that are not large enough and cause pooling up in the heads, starving the pump.
Whatever the cause, sludge happens. When it does, the oil pump gets starved. This can cause bearing failure, it can also starve the oil-pressure-activated timing tensioners to fail, which causes the chain to slip. Since these are interference engines, pistons end up hitting valves, valves get bent and generally the engine destroys itself.
There are a couple of solutions that I plan to implement to deal with the problems on this engine.
Chrysler redesigned the water pump around 2004. The new design retrofits into earlier blocks and reported problems are minimal.
Chrysler redesigned the timing chain and the revised version is recommended.
The oil pump needs to be checked for proper clearances before reassembly. A shim can be added to the pressure valve to boost oil pressure and a new back cover is available from Chrysler.
There is a company producing a timing chain block that keeps a failing tensioner from allowing the chain to go slack enough to jump. I need to verify they will sell to the public or make my own.
100% synthetic oil is highly recommended due to its resistance to heat. Many recommend oil changes every 3k miles with Mobile 1. I will be taking this course of action, combined with a remote oil filter and oil drain pump to make these regular changes a bit easier.
Oil drainback passages. At least one engine rebuilder is enlarging the drainback passages in the head to prevent pooling. I'm going to see what I can do on my own to modify the passages and am considering polishing the heads in the cam valley to aid in drainback. I am also considering Glyptal on the valley, but only if I can get the heads sufficiently clean to insure adhesion.
Oil pressure and temperature gauges. I will be installing these so I can monitor the condition of the oil. I am considering adding an oil cooler, but with synthetic oil, I don't believe it will be necessary. Gathering some data will be necessary to reevaluate my current position. Unfortunately, there are not many places to put gauges without looking "boy racer". It is difficult to find small (1.5") gauges that are not mechanical. I do not like the idea of running an oil line into the passenger compartment for a mechanical gauge.
Still researching that.
I purchased the car in mid-November 2010. It was overall in good condition, but the 2.7l engine was seized.
After disassembly, I discovered the #3 and #4 rods broken, with slight valve damage to both pistons, cracks and missing pieces in the cylinder liners and a piece of rod wedged between the crank and the block.
As of today (4 November), I have obtained a new engine from a local wrecking yard, which is mostly disassembled, and I have everything but the old block removed from the car.
I'm a little short on space in the garage, so my first order of business is to get the old block out, and send the block and heads to the local scrap dealer to get a little extra cash in the restoration fund.
Then onto rebuilding the new engine.
The new engine is from a 2001 Concorde with unknown mileage. Had little to no sludge, but there was evidence of coolant in the oil and the crank journals and bearings need to be replaced.
Once the old engine is out, I'll be acquiring a replacement crank and bearing set, and will start on the cleaning process and reassembly.
I have a bunch of pics of the old engine and will be uploading them shortly.
Stay tuned for more updates.
If you're looking for information on Sebring Convertibles, THE place on the web is www.sebringclub.net. Not the largest automotive message board on the web, but the only one dedicated to the Sebring Convertible.
I owned a 1996 JXi a few years back, and although I very much enjoyed that car, it was obliterated in a head-on collision with an old lady who went left of center. I walked away with a sore knee and an abrasion on my forehead from the airbag deployment. Owned a few other cars since then, and although I like all sorts of cars, the Sebring has a nice combination of performance, looks, luxury, and comfort that is hard to beat for a daily driver, and even harder to beat when the top drops.
I've had a few project cars in the past, despite my limited garage space. This will likely be the last one until we move somewhere else (once the housing market improves...).
2002 is the second year of the Generation 2 Sebring Convertibles. 1996-2000 was generation 1 and generally look the same with a few changes.
2001-2003 have the "smiling" front end with a front bumper similar to the Concorde and other Chryslers of the era.
2001 saw the debut of the since problemmatic DOHC aluminum 2.7l V6. Unlike previous V6s in the Sebring that were byproducts of Chrysler's alliance with Mitsubishi, the 2.7 was a Chrysler design that presumably had design input from Daimler.
2004-2006 were mechanically identical, but with a different front bumper treatment which I personally do not find attractive.
2007+ saw a major styling revision, with input from Daimler who had acquired Chrysler in the intervening years.
The 2.7 is a good engine, but it has a couple of issues.
Water Pump - the water pump is inside the timing chain cavity, driven by the timing chain. While it has weep passages designed to get slight coolant leaks out of the block, major failure results in it puking coolant directly into the oilpan, which quickly eats up bearings and, if left long enough destroys the engine.
Sludging - these engines have a sludging problem. Some speculate that slight coolant leaks are a contributing factor. Others that the high engine operating temps make conventional (non-synthetic) oil inappropriate. Some blame oil drainback passages that are not large enough and cause pooling up in the heads, starving the pump.
Whatever the cause, sludge happens. When it does, the oil pump gets starved. This can cause bearing failure, it can also starve the oil-pressure-activated timing tensioners to fail, which causes the chain to slip. Since these are interference engines, pistons end up hitting valves, valves get bent and generally the engine destroys itself.
There are a couple of solutions that I plan to implement to deal with the problems on this engine.
Chrysler redesigned the water pump around 2004. The new design retrofits into earlier blocks and reported problems are minimal.
Chrysler redesigned the timing chain and the revised version is recommended.
The oil pump needs to be checked for proper clearances before reassembly. A shim can be added to the pressure valve to boost oil pressure and a new back cover is available from Chrysler.
There is a company producing a timing chain block that keeps a failing tensioner from allowing the chain to go slack enough to jump. I need to verify they will sell to the public or make my own.
100% synthetic oil is highly recommended due to its resistance to heat. Many recommend oil changes every 3k miles with Mobile 1. I will be taking this course of action, combined with a remote oil filter and oil drain pump to make these regular changes a bit easier.
Oil drainback passages. At least one engine rebuilder is enlarging the drainback passages in the head to prevent pooling. I'm going to see what I can do on my own to modify the passages and am considering polishing the heads in the cam valley to aid in drainback. I am also considering Glyptal on the valley, but only if I can get the heads sufficiently clean to insure adhesion.
Oil pressure and temperature gauges. I will be installing these so I can monitor the condition of the oil. I am considering adding an oil cooler, but with synthetic oil, I don't believe it will be necessary. Gathering some data will be necessary to reevaluate my current position. Unfortunately, there are not many places to put gauges without looking "boy racer". It is difficult to find small (1.5") gauges that are not mechanical. I do not like the idea of running an oil line into the passenger compartment for a mechanical gauge.
Still researching that.
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