Blown head gasket after 90000 km

[alye]

Am the (relatively) satisfied owner of a 3 yo Dodge Journey, bought new and have now reached 90000 km after those 3 years. Everyone has been asking me if I am going to change cars now that this one is 3 yo, but I have been saying no, this one's a "keeper". But now I'm not so sure any more.

I have the 2.7 litre V6 Flex Fuel motor and run it almost exclusively on E85 - in the 90000 km I have driven I have filled it with 95 octane lead free petrol maybe 10 times, the rest of the time it has been E85.

I was heading home on the freeway about a month ago and the engine started boiling, I stopped on the verge, turned off and then restarted the car and the temperature dropped back to normal. I drove on and stopped at the next rest stop (a couple of km down the road) and checked the water level - filled it with water and took the car in to the dealer the next day. The car had been in for it's latest service just a month earlier, so all the fluid levels should have been checked and topped up, and there was no evidence of any leaks (oil or water) on the driveway at home or at work.

The dealer called back the same day, said the head gasket had blown and that was where the water was leaking from. They would have to replace it and lathe the head. They also had to replace 24 valve seals, the oil filter, the thermostat and all 6 spark plugs.

Anyone else experience anything like this? Is this going to happen every 90000 km? What would cause this kind of damage? Can it be related to the use of E85?

This time the insurance covered most of it, including a rental for me while the dealer had my car, but the insurance only covers engine failures up to 100000 km and I'm almost there now. Next time I will have to pay myself.

[tstone]

Looks like you dodged a bullet.

For what it's worth, I had a 2.7L from 2003 and it ran strong when I traded it in at 231,000 miles (375,000 km). Aside from replacing the coolant bleeder valve & pipe assembly, I never had a single problem with this engine. And I ran nothing but 87 octane gasoline. So perhaps it has something to do with E85. I've only heard of these engines sludging up due to lack of oil changes & lack of periodic PCV valve changes. And I've never heard anything positive (for the end consumer) regarding the use of E85 either.

Edited December 15, 2011 by tstone

[ChrisPollard]

I also had a 2003 2.7L (in a Sebring) and LOVED that engine. Ran like a top every time I turned the key, with plenty of power. It was before they de-tuned it from 200HP. Heck, if I could, I would have put THAT engine in my Journey and kept on goin', even with 170,000km on it. I didn't know the Journey even had the 2.7 in it ... although I never really looked at the early models. First one I looked at seriously was a 2010.

As for the cracked head, you're dealing with an aluminum engine. You boil these things, and odds are you're replacing the head. They're not the least bit forgiving like the cast iron blocks of old. So I'd guess you had a cooling system failure. Defective thermostat is a possibility. That caused the overheating, that is probably what would have cracked the head. Especially if there was nothing unusual prior to this, like antifreeze in your oil, or white smoke from your exhaust.