Ok here we go. This is a good brain teaser for the Chrysler engineering and technicians. I own a 2001 Chrysler LHS that has been a decent car if you like to fix stuff, all the time. Recently my wife heard a knock coming from the engine. My friend is a tech, he came over and assured me I was hurting (money).
After tearing into it I was stupid and did not check the EGR system. the sensor stuck inside the throttle body tried to pull away and striped the thread on the plunger. It moved so no codes were generated. It plugged the entire system causing oil problems and oil being pushed into the intake manifold. I poured a cup of oil out of it. The driver side of the engine was toast, must be the last place to get oil on its way to the filter. I am not rich. I found a 2006 transverse mounted brand new 3.5 engine. I investigated the needed changes and what could be different. Chrysler said they don't believe so. Stupid me believed them. I removed the timing cover, cam sprockets intake manifold and oil pan. I had to fill a spot with weld and grind it smooth. Everything else bolted up real nice. I now found out the wiring harness is brittle due to heat, some of the wires stuck together but did not contact the center conductor. Put everything back together and went to start the car. No spark ground signal to coils. My friend brought a $2500.00 snap on scanner and we went though it pretty good. everything was working in terms of crank sense cam sense etc.. No spark. put a extra coil on the motor with spark plug and test lead to ground meter in line. Nothing. Check ground connections OK. The book says the PCM could lose its memory if the it sits with no power to long. it sat for 3 weeks while I fixed everything. I find that hard to believe but I talking about Chrysler. The one issue that has me worried is that the cam sprocket ring for triggering the cam sensor and fuel pulse is different than the 01 model. The timing mark on the sprocket starts at the 3 hole on the 01 and the 06 engine over 1. I can send digital pictures if some one would like to help. I would pay to have this problem answered. The only difference in the sprocket is a milled key way and the 01 only has the d hole with no key way. Chrysler for some reason thought the cheesy key way was strong enough to remove the huge bolts that hold in the cam sprocket. You use a large wrench and a breaker bar and they mill a key way out of soft metal and then manufacture the engine using a gallon of thread locker. This car has been a nightmare..Final question does this engine use different cams because putting in the old sprockets from my 01 3.5 engine would be easy. New cams would be terrible. Heads would have to come off and lots of money spent. I am on budget due to getting the motor for $850. So far I am at around $1300 which is reasonable for a car that should last me a few more years. Any help appreciated.