1996 Stratus 2.4L wont stay running

motornut1965 · #1 01-29-2008, 09:25 AM

I need Help please,I have a 1996 Stratus 2.4L that I bought for my daughter, the odometer and tach wasn't working but the Speedo was. I was told it was a bad dash cluster. I put a different one from the same year and the odometer did work on that one but the Speedo and tach didn't, on both dashes the gas and oil gauge did work. I was told to check the circuit board andfor somesoldering breaks.
I did re solder some maybe bad looking ones. Nothing made either dash work completely. I then reinstalled the originalfactory cluster and my daughter headed back home to go to work 200 miles away. She stopped at service center for coffee and when she came out to start the car the engine fired and the headlights and dome lights flashed and then the engine died. Each time she tried to start it the same thing happen, started and shut down. I drove down and un hooked the battery for 30 minutes to reset the computer, no good same thing. I thought the car might of had a factory alarm.I had it to towed($256) to a Dodge dealer in MA who then told me the car didn't have a factory alarm and they needed $1600.00 up front to start replacing parts with no guarantee what the final bill would be. He said a $150.00 for just looking at it which I paid. I then said stop and I will tow the car back to Maine.
Does anyone have any idea what happened and how can I repair the car, anyone had the same troubles? I would deeply appreciate any help on this.
Thank You Very Much[/align]

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holtzer1 · #2 01-31-2008, 12:05 AM

without knowing what codes are stored...thats a strange problem. sounds like a bad connection across the bus somewhere. starting and shutting down sounds like a bad pcm, or a pcm vin mismatch. without trouble codes, we're shotting in the dark.

motornut1965 · #3 02-07-2008, 09:50 AM

Where the exact location of the PCM, The ECM, or Brain Box, is there one located under the dash inside the Car?

pjrose · #4 02-07-2008, 10:22 PM

It's actually right behind the drivers side headlight under the hood, you'll see a heat sink and a huge harness of wires plugging into it. Go to autozone.com and look for the free online service manuals. They have the 1996 stratus listed.