Well I just recently purchased my 1996 Dodge Avenger ES in June. Was having a few problems with it stalling out on me whenI come to a complete stop and with the tranny throwing the gear into neutral for no reason at all in the middle of me driving it. Other then that, just resently I was taking the exit onto US295 from US17 when I completely lost power. I pulled over and checked the oil and it was pretty low. No signs of leakage, so I just added oil and tryed starting it with no luck. Then the battery died on me. Got a trooper to push me off onto the San Jose exit. Luckly enough there was a Wal-mart across the street. Bought a battery and it started right up. Only it sounded like a blender with a bunch of nuts and bolts in it. Didn't have much of a choice so I decided to chance getting it back to my house. Made it but it sounded horrible. A few days later I began tearing it down starting with the valve cover. Didn't see any broken springs so I decided to remove the head. After removing the head I noticed some white carbon buildup on the intake valves and black on the exhaust. But everything looked good as far as the head. The pistons had some buildup but looked pretty normal to me. Used the handle of a screwdriver to tap on the head of the pistons. The number 1 and 4 pistons seemed ok but when I tapped on the 2 and 3 pistons, they moved. Assuming I had thrown both the second and third rod bearings. So I stoppped there and called a mechanic. Just with what I had explained over the phone, his advise was to just get an engine from a salvage yard or buy a rebuilt short block. No luck with finding an engine at the local salvage yards but found a conpany out of Tampa who specializes in rebuilt engines. They have a short block for $800 plus $150 for shipping. The shippings not an issue seeing I can just drive 3 hours and pick it up myself. I was thinking of just rebuilding mine but was told I would just have more problems with it down the road. So my question is, should I try rebuilding mine, or just buy a rebuilt short block? I figured it would cost the same either way. So my next question is, can somone give me some direction in which to buy a new short block? Im short on time and money and was hoping the short block wouldn't cost no more the $700. Any help would be greatly appriciated. Thx.

 

Purchased a new motor from a engine dealer for $750. Problem solved. Now trying to figure out why speedo and odo isnt functioning. Tach works fine though. And also having problems with the car just sutting off on me durring shifting. Any suggestions?

 

Automatic ? could be the output speed sensor