I have a 95 Stratus V6 with 95K miles. I stored the car for a couple of years waiting for my son to need it. That time has come. I bought it new and it is in generally good shape. It was running OK when I put it away. The only issue at that time was that it didn't like to start in the rain or after washing it. I started it every so often but didn’t run it around because I let the insurance and plates expire. There was still a little gas in the tank that I probably should have drained, but didn’t, I just filled it up.

Now it starts OK and generally runs OK. Idle is a little rough, but can be lived with. Every so often while accelerating it just won’t go. It doesn’t stall, just crawls along at idle speed. After a minute or so of this it will take off.

I’ve driven it on the freeway without any problems. The in-town driving is just too erratic to let my son take it off to school. Suggestions will be greatly appreciated.

I have:
Replaced the plugs and wires.
Replaced the distributor cap and rotor.
Replaced the fuel filter and pump.

 

I will move this thread to the Stratus section as someone there will be able to help you,
FF

 

I have this same exact problem, have changed the same things along with my cataletic converter. Nothing so far, its at the garage now so if I get it fixed i'll let you know

 

Mine is at the Dodge dealer now. Not sure if this dealer will do any good. First call I got was that they wanted to do a "major" tune-up for over $700!! First thing on the replace list was the plugs, even though I told the service manager I just replaced them. They obviously really didn't look for what was wrong or they would have seen the plugs were brand new. I got really ticked off for them trying to rip me off. I guess they were just hoping that whatever the tune-up changed would fix the problem without ever figuring out what the problem was. Just had a serious talk with the service manager and he is "going to look into things". I'm not holding my breath. Anybody know a shop in the Detroit area that is honest and can find and fix the problem?

 

I assume you have the 2.5? I've come across sooooo many problems with these. Commonly distributor problems and electrical gremlins. I think I saved one of these distributors since they cost a FORTUNE even for a reman one. Cant definitively say that's your problem but it's a pretty common issue.

 

Back to the dealer again! This is the 3rd trip. First one led to no work done, and no charge!! He couldn't get it to act up. After he first suggested the $700 tune up I think he felt bad and let me out for no charge. The second trip back, felling better about him now, led to a new EGR based on a service bulletin, $400. Either not the problem, or a new one cropped up. Month later, son home from school with the car. Car died while driving in town after being fine all day. Dealer says erratic spark from distributor. $1,100 plus labor!!!, and no guarantee it really is the problem. No thanks. As someone in this forum mentioned somewhere that you can get on for less than $200 on ebay, new not rebuilt. I’ll try that next. Results to follow.

 

Okay.... here's what I found out. I took mine to a mechanic who said he replaced the fuel injectors. That didn't fix it. Took it back and he said there was an electrical wire that needed some insulation.... this was not the spark plug wires but the actual electrical wires. So I got the car back it ran fine for about a week and then the problem happened again. Took it back... he found another electrical wire. Again the same thing happened. This time he said it was the crankshaft position sensor. I went out and bought the part and my boyfriend was going to change it but since its cold and snow everywhere we've been making due with one car and mine has been sitting in the driveway. The local Auto Zone referred me to a good mechanic and he came to my house and ran different tests on it. The test showed that my coolant was reading 168 degrees within seconds of being started while sitting outside for weeks in 20 degree weather. He said that was the temperature sensor. Also he could see from the computer that my throttle position sensor wasn't working correctly. I replaced those two parts and my car is running like its brand new.... even in the rain. I have high hopes for this and hope I don't run into anymore repeat problems. Maybe this will help give everyone some insight.

 

It is a common problem for the wires going to the CamPS and the Crank sensor to meld together causing all sorts of drivability problems. The insulation of the wires just rots away leaving them to short out against one another. The waxy loom matirial contrbutes to this somehow..

 

Replaced the distributor (rebuilt $220) and the crank sensor. Car has been running good for several weeks now and my son has it at school. Keeping my fingers crossed until he graduates in 2 years, then he is on his own with it.

Thanks for all the ideas.

By the way, if you ever think about replacing the rear speakers the manual says you have to dismantle half the car to get them out. Since they were totally gone, they needed to go. I just cut out the rear panel over them, pulled out the old ones and dropped in new ones and covered them with a grill. Used some long bolts through the existing holes, double nutted them and they sound great.

 

Our '98 has high miles and never had this issue-EVER! I can say however, that multiple shops have scammed us and screwed the car up! Not tightening things, leaving tools under the hood, hardware not put back, bent hoses, crooked sales tricks, etc.



I feel your pain guys...