Hello all. A little backround on the car first. '96 Avenger 2.0 auto, 173k.The car was given to me from a friend at work with two bent valves i.e.-waterpump went bad snapping the timing belt= bent valves, anyway fast foward water pump replaced, timing belt replaced, valves are replaced, head is back on and everything bolted back together. Replaced the upper radiator hose, thermostat (195) and new plugs (NGK iridiums).

Now for the problem. Car starts and runs fine but after about 20 minutes the idle will creep lower and lower till it cuts off. If you turn the ignition off then back on it will run for a second then die again. Sometimes it wont start at all but almost fire. If you wait for the engine to cool it starts and runs fine. The check engine light is on but I try theignition flip to acc. 3 times and I get nothing. I've read that the CPS goes bad on the 2.5l's is that the case on the 2.0's? Just wondering where to start looking. Need to get this Mitsudodgie running again as the wife fell in love with this car and is bugging the crap outta me to get it fixed.

-Mike

 

CPS testing procedure in the top of the forum ... I'd guess either that or the IAC (idle air control)

 

Update.
Since I last posted the car has been running pretty good in the week + i've been driving it and hasn't died since then either. Idle is a little low sometimes (600~700rpm) so cleaned the IAC with no difference and the gas milage seems a little low. Probably looking at ~300 miles on a tank. I may need to re-check the timing to make sure its still in sync.

I had the wrong info on getting the codes. I was flipping on/off to the Acc. 3x instead of the 'on' position so I was able to pull them.
12(battery), 32(speed control vac.), 34(EGR), 43(misfire)
So I went to the dealer and had the codes cleared and the only one that came back is the EGR. I put a blockoff plateon the exhaust side but the little tube that goes to the selonoid is clogged solid (no vac signial?) so I'll try and get that cleaned out. Hope that works because I dont feel like spending $100+ on a new one.

While I was at the Dodge dealership I asked the service guy about the lower balljoints and he told me that it only covers the curved control arm and not the straight one, is this B.S. or true? Unfortunately the straight one is the one I need.

-Mike

 

LOWER CONTROL ARMS ARE NOT THE SAME AS LOWER LATERAL ARMS......

LOWER CONTROL ARMS (they are curved arms) are NOT covered by the recall....

LOWER LATERAL ARMS AND ITS BALL JOINT (straight arm) IS covered by the recall.

 

Thanks for clearing this up Bad. I'm about to insert my foot in some dealer ***!

-Mike

 

No problem ...

 

Got my lateral control arm replaced FOC today. And the service manager was still going on and on when I dropped the car off about how it was the curved control arm that is covered even after I told him that I called Chrysler customer service to confirm which one was the recall. Then they call to tell me that my upper control arm is badon the passengers side (I knew something didnt feel right on that side) and that it was going to cost me $400 to replace it. Uh... no thanks!A replacement ball joint is $30 at AutoZone. What a scam.