Hey people! Can sombody explain to me why people say stay away from 1999 dodge stratus? im considering buying one with 94k for 2,600 from a friend, he did a lot of work on it and it runs great... he did the timing belt, tires, brake, fuel pump, fuel injectors, new cam sensor, new freeze plug and flushed the trans out and refilled it. To me the car is in good condition but when i bring this car up in my class at UTI they shake there head and say dont buy it and that the trans sucks on it... is the trans that bad and if so can i just swap it with a dfferent trans and keep this car alive?

 

The Chrysler 41te was never known for it's reliablilty. The same one that was found (and almost always failed before 100k) in the 3rd gen Caravans.

I know that they tweaked the trans each year to increase reliability. My 2000 (same body style) was flawless transmission wise up until about 180,000mi. Only issue I had, was the gasket between the trans controller and the valve body. $15 part, case of beer and an afternoon in the garage with my friends, and it was back on the road. Aside from it being a 14yr old car, It should serve well. I would be more leery if it's been sitting for long while, but if it's been on the road, just not driven a lot each time, it should be ok. You can do preventive maintance by dropping the pan, changing the trans filter (making sure there isn't more than just clutch dust in the pan), and filling it back up with ATF+4.

 

My friend just got the vehicle about 3 month ago and did a lot of work to it for his son, the only reason he selling it is cause its been lowered and his son keeps tearing up the oil pan when going over speed bumps and hitting pot holes and actually cracked it but they replaced that and the exhaust system on it annoy him lol but its music to my ears. Son drives the car from work to home it also has a exhaust system and a air intake in it, once i get a chance i'll take a pic and post it on here so you can see how it looks but other than the trans problems people say it has, i was gonna change the fluid again and see if i can see something out of the ordinary but like all cars you cant really say what has a bad trans.... it depends on how to take car of it by keeping up with the maintenace but other than that you think its a good car??

 

Sounds like he fart canned the car. Poor thing. Our '98 had no trans problems until about 200K and then it was rebuilt.

 

Does any one know if its possible to swap out the A604/41TE for a manual trans? and if so what manual trans would be compatible?