Chrysler Repair: 97 Intrepid lash adj.; water leak, plastic retainers, shaft assemblies

Question
QUESTION: Hi Roland.
1. The rocker arms or lash adjusters (not sure which) on my 97 Intrepid 3.5 (210,000 miles) I guess are worn and have been noisy for a while.  I have two used replacement complete rocker arm/shaft assemblies that I thought I'd install.  I noticed that one has plastic retainers on the lash adjusters and some come off pretty easily.  Once it's assembled, I'm wondering if it matters if the retainer is there or not.  I assume the bearing pad, can't go anywhere with the rod pushing against it?  Also, more importantly, most of the lash adjusters have no give when you push against them.  But two on one end are both really springy and easily depress by hand.  Does that mean they're worn out?  I hate to put these in for nothing.  The engine runs great except for the noise. I wanted to replace leaking valve cover gaskets and thought it would be a good opportunity to replace these while it's apart.

2.  Coolant drips from a weep hole (?) in a metal plate that's sandwiched between the oil pan and the differential.  When the car is parked, it slowly drips.  Mainly just a nuisance.  I don't know the source, but am guessing it's something I can't access or fix myself.  Any advice there?

Thanks so much for your help.  I've appreciated your assistance in the past.
Mike

ANSWER: Hi Mike,
I checked the '94, '99 and '04 manuals regarding the lash adjusters. I would offer my observation that evaluating/remediating adjusters is described in the context of an assembled engine situation. The '04 manual describes a procedure that begins with running the engine sufficiently to pressurize the valve train. Then there is described a technique for bleeding soft adjusters using a Miller tool 8351 which may remedy such problems, and if not then requires resplacement of the rocker arm. Nothing similar is described in the other manuals but that doesn't mean it would not apply to your '97 3.5L engine. So on that basis I would not pass judgement on the used units as they stand now. You may have to install them and give it a shot. I would be pleased to copy the pages from the '04 manual that describe the procedure and mail them to you. Just give me a postal mailing address on a private follow-up question.
On the coolant drip, at the metal plate, I have not heard of that problem, nor do I see anything in the manual that describes it. I know on the 2.7 that there is actually a secondary weep hole which if it discharges will weep in the valley between the two cylinder banks and drip out the rear of the engine at that location. In general the manuals encourage you to accept modest weepage from the weep holes and to only replace the water pump when the weepage is too excessive to live with.
Roland


---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Thanks Roland.  I was inclined to swap out the rocker arm/shaft assemblies.  The discouraging thing is that the Haynes manual says that when you bolt them back on, you "should" tighten the bolts with the valve train in a "no load" position.  (They don't explain the reason, but I guess it has to do with getting the right torque on the bolts that hold the shaft down when you're working against the cam and valve springs?)  To get this "no load" orientation, they say to take the front cover off the engine so you can see the timing mark on the camshaft gear and align it with a mark on the engine.  Now getting to that point sounds like a whole lot of work, taking the radiator out, etc., to expose the timing belt and such, no?

So I decided to just replace the valve cover gaskets and stop the leaking oil.  Turns out the gaskets were fine, but the bolts were just finger tight.  What I did discover is that the ends of one of the shafts on the rocker arm assembly had been rubbing the inside of the valve cover.  How the shaft could move like that, I don't know. Both ends of the cover had circular marks from the shaft touching, and I guess rotating, which is another mystery. The bolts holding the shaft down were at the specified 250 in-lbs.  Besides being out about 3/4" towards the rear of the engine, the shaft was rotated about 45 degrees.  I assume that the oil wasn't getting through that end of the shaft like that.  I was able to rotate it back and gradually tap the shaft back to where it belongs.  Other than that, it looked fine.  No excessive wear on anything that I could see.

On the coolant leak, it drips quite a bit, and now from the front of the engine.  So I assume that means the water pump is going out.  And mabye there's a path for coolant to get back through the bottom of the engine and reappear at the weep hole where the oil pan and diferential.  Now just to decide if I want to do it myself all weekend or let a mechanic do it.

Thanks,
Mike

If you mailed those pages, that would be very helpful.  I'm at 14671 Oak Avenue, Irvine, CA  92606-2166.  Can I send you some money or postage stamps?  You sent me a few pages describing the differential seals earlier this year, so it's not the first time you've spent your time to help me out.

Thanks,
Mike Barranco

Answer
Hi Mike,
I'd be pleased to send you copies of the manual pages. Do you want the ones on bleeding the valve lifters? Do you want the ones on replacing the timing belt/pump (because you have to go through that procedure to replace the water pump)?  On the offer to cover costs, if I send 9+ pages I usually request recipients send me 4 44-cent stamps to cover the copying and postage, otherwise gratis; and of course more stamps as number of copies goes beyond that level, proportionately. So let me know if I should send both subject areas or only one and if so which.
That is interesting about the shafts. I'm glad no damage occurred.
Roland