2.4L with (2) DEAD cylinders. Please help
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Registered User
Joined: Jun 2006
Posts: 16
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2.4L with (2) DEAD cylinders. Please help
Hello all,
First, the particulars:
2000 Stratus
2.4L DOHC
130,000 Miles
The problem:
Cylinders #3 and #4 are as dead as disco.
Details:
First of all, the car began running hot about a month ago. I'm pretty sure this was due to air pockets. After replacing the radiator cap and thermostat, I began the process of trying to bleed the air out of the system. All seemed fine until the next day when the wife came home and announced that it had once again ran hot with her, but it had also lost a LOT of power once it cooled down enough to make it home.
There is definitely a dead miss in the engine. There's also a tapping that sounds like a lifter, but my ears are more attuned to a V8. Here's what I've done so far:
Pulling a plug wire or injector wire from cylinders 3 and 4 do little to nothing to affect the idle. Pulling a plug wire or injector wire from 1 or 2 kills the engine immediately.
Replaced plug wires, plugs, and coil pack...no change.
Swapped injectors from #1 and #4...no change.
Verified that voltage going to all injectors is within specs.
Fuel rail is clean. (SeaFoam with every oil change keeps it purty)
Old dollar bill on the tailpipe trick results in the dollar being sucked in every few seconds or so.
Compression test on 1 and 2 show within specs.
Compression test on 3 and 4 show no compression.
**Weird symptom...wife followed me on a test drive and said that the exhaust smelled like a perm treatment. Not sure if that will help, but had to throw it in there.**
Does not smoke.
**It hasn't been driven more than a few miles since the symptoms began, but I haven't found any milkshake in the oil, yet.**
I'm personally thinking (and hoping) that this is a head or head gasket issue. I can't fathom the odds of TWO pistons developing holes, two wrist pins failing, or two rods failing at the same time. The car will pull, and will pull a hill, just not nearly like it used to and it requires a drop in gear to pull hills that it used to pull with no problem.
Any help would be greatly appreciated.
First, the particulars:
2000 Stratus
2.4L DOHC
130,000 Miles
The problem:
Cylinders #3 and #4 are as dead as disco.
Details:
First of all, the car began running hot about a month ago. I'm pretty sure this was due to air pockets. After replacing the radiator cap and thermostat, I began the process of trying to bleed the air out of the system. All seemed fine until the next day when the wife came home and announced that it had once again ran hot with her, but it had also lost a LOT of power once it cooled down enough to make it home.
There is definitely a dead miss in the engine. There's also a tapping that sounds like a lifter, but my ears are more attuned to a V8. Here's what I've done so far:
Pulling a plug wire or injector wire from cylinders 3 and 4 do little to nothing to affect the idle. Pulling a plug wire or injector wire from 1 or 2 kills the engine immediately.
Replaced plug wires, plugs, and coil pack...no change.
Swapped injectors from #1 and #4...no change.
Verified that voltage going to all injectors is within specs.
Fuel rail is clean. (SeaFoam with every oil change keeps it purty)
Old dollar bill on the tailpipe trick results in the dollar being sucked in every few seconds or so.
Compression test on 1 and 2 show within specs.
Compression test on 3 and 4 show no compression.
**Weird symptom...wife followed me on a test drive and said that the exhaust smelled like a perm treatment. Not sure if that will help, but had to throw it in there.**
Does not smoke.
**It hasn't been driven more than a few miles since the symptoms began, but I haven't found any milkshake in the oil, yet.**
I'm personally thinking (and hoping) that this is a head or head gasket issue. I can't fathom the odds of TWO pistons developing holes, two wrist pins failing, or two rods failing at the same time. The car will pull, and will pull a hill, just not nearly like it used to and it requires a drop in gear to pull hills that it used to pull with no problem.
Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Registered User
Joined: Mar 2008
Posts: 4
Likes: 0
Hello all,
First, the particulars:
2000 Stratus
2.4L DOHC
130,000 Miles
The problem:
Cylinders #3 and #4 are as dead as disco.
Details:
First of all, the car began running hot about a month ago. I'm pretty sure this was due to air pockets. After replacing the radiator cap and thermostat, I began the process of trying to bleed the air out of the system. All seemed fine until the next day when the wife came home and announced that it had once again ran hot with her, but it had also lost a LOT of power once it cooled down enough to make it home.
There is definitely a dead miss in the engine. There's also a tapping that sounds like a lifter, but my ears are more attuned to a V8. Here's what I've done so far:
Pulling a plug wire or injector wire from cylinders 3 and 4 do little to nothing to affect the idle. Pulling a plug wire or injector wire from 1 or 2 kills the engine immediately.
Replaced plug wires, plugs, and coil pack...no change.
Swapped injectors from #1 and #4...no change.
Verified that voltage going to all injectors is within specs.
Fuel rail is clean. (SeaFoam with every oil change keeps it purty)
Old dollar bill on the tailpipe trick results in the dollar being sucked in every few seconds or so.
Compression test on 1 and 2 show within specs.
Compression test on 3 and 4 show no compression.
**Weird symptom...wife followed me on a test drive and said that the exhaust smelled like a perm treatment. Not sure if that will help, but had to throw it in there.**
Does not smoke.
**It hasn't been driven more than a few miles since the symptoms began, but I haven't found any milkshake in the oil, yet.**
I'm personally thinking (and hoping) that this is a head or head gasket issue. I can't fathom the odds of TWO pistons developing holes, two wrist pins failing, or two rods failing at the same time. The car will pull, and will pull a hill, just not nearly like it used to and it requires a drop in gear to pull hills that it used to pull with no problem.
Any help would be greatly appreciated.
First, the particulars:
2000 Stratus
2.4L DOHC
130,000 Miles
The problem:
Cylinders #3 and #4 are as dead as disco.
Details:
First of all, the car began running hot about a month ago. I'm pretty sure this was due to air pockets. After replacing the radiator cap and thermostat, I began the process of trying to bleed the air out of the system. All seemed fine until the next day when the wife came home and announced that it had once again ran hot with her, but it had also lost a LOT of power once it cooled down enough to make it home.
There is definitely a dead miss in the engine. There's also a tapping that sounds like a lifter, but my ears are more attuned to a V8. Here's what I've done so far:
Pulling a plug wire or injector wire from cylinders 3 and 4 do little to nothing to affect the idle. Pulling a plug wire or injector wire from 1 or 2 kills the engine immediately.
Replaced plug wires, plugs, and coil pack...no change.
Swapped injectors from #1 and #4...no change.
Verified that voltage going to all injectors is within specs.
Fuel rail is clean. (SeaFoam with every oil change keeps it purty)
Old dollar bill on the tailpipe trick results in the dollar being sucked in every few seconds or so.
Compression test on 1 and 2 show within specs.
Compression test on 3 and 4 show no compression.
**Weird symptom...wife followed me on a test drive and said that the exhaust smelled like a perm treatment. Not sure if that will help, but had to throw it in there.**
Does not smoke.
**It hasn't been driven more than a few miles since the symptoms began, but I haven't found any milkshake in the oil, yet.**
I'm personally thinking (and hoping) that this is a head or head gasket issue. I can't fathom the odds of TWO pistons developing holes, two wrist pins failing, or two rods failing at the same time. The car will pull, and will pull a hill, just not nearly like it used to and it requires a drop in gear to pull hills that it used to pull with no problem.
Any help would be greatly appreciated.
