Ralph:  I noticed from another post that you are also a mechanic.........I too have a question regarding my 1998 Chrysler Intrepid (2.7 litre-127,000 km).  While driving our Intrepid (about 70 km/hr on a flat stretch in Markham, Ontario) the car made a thumping sound (like a flat tire).  We immediately pulled off the road --(we thought we had a blown tire) - when the engine quit.  We checked the oil and they was NO OIL registering on the dipstick. After a few minutes, my Husband checked the dipstick again and the level was at the ADD mark--so he put 2 litres in it.  He checked the level again and a few minutes later started the car.  It ran........but idled rough.  I took it to the dealership the next day.  They told me "the engine shows signs of sludge...the timing chain has jumped....1 valve is wrecked..regular oil changes have NOT been performed.... and you need a new (remanufactured) motor--to the tune of approx. $6000.00 CDN installed. I questioned how I could possibly need an entire new motor when this one still ran (albeit rough)....their recommendation was a reman. motor rather than fixing what was broken (as they could not guarantee that the entire engine wouldn't blow 3 months down the road).  Needless to say, my mind just boggled when I heard that I needed a new(?) motor when I hadn't even had this car 6 months.  We have had the oil changed religously between 5000-6000 kms since we bought it (at 105,000 km).....3 of the 4 oil changes were at the Chrysler dealership--the last one was only 3 weeks ago!!  After a few hours to think, I went online and was absolutely horrified to find out that there are so many people who've had the same (or worse) experience with these motors.  After reading your posts, we now know it's imperative to have the engine flushed to get rid of the sludge..........and have 100% synthetic oil put it.  I mentioned the "synthetic oil" to the Chrysler mechanic--and he said "there is no need to use synthetic oil--it's a waste of money."  Would it be helpful to have an oil cooler installed....along with the engine flush and synthetic oil??  Just a thought--I haven't seen it mentioned before.  I'm waiting for an itemized list from the dealership before I go ahead with anything.  By the way--I had the mechanic show me the oil filler cap--and it had a bit of black goopy stuff in it---but the valve cover showed a little sludge - mostly in the corners.  It certainly wasn't caked on thick stuff like some of the pictures I've seen so far.  Any information you can provide would be most appreciated!!             Thanks for your time......Cdn. Intrepid owner.