[Frank Lee]

I should have specified, the '98-'04 models.

There are many of them out there with cooked 2.7 engines... wondering if it's worth taking one of them on as a fixer-upper? I hear the 3.2/3.5s are less prone to the sludge failure mode...

Also it's my understanding it's not so much oil grade and change frequency that causes the sludging, it's a bad water pump design that fails prematurely and weeps into the crankcase before it weeps outside, thus the only indication of impending doom the driver has is lack of heater output at idle...

I have an '89 Mitsu 3.0 but I've never been a "Dodge Boy" and don't have much of a clue as to how involved swapping that in would be.

I love the styling- it's a larger heavier car than I really need but if the rest of them isn't junk then it might be worth messing with.