I've been experiencing a lot of vibration in the steering wheel of my 2.4L stratus. It is very noticable while idling or stopped. If I shift from Drive into Neutral, as the RPMs raise slightly the vibration calms until the car returns to normal idle RPM speed. Is this a worn engine or transmission mount? Does anyone know what causes this in these cars?

Thanks.

 

Have you done any engine work on the car? I'm guessing the balance shafts out of balance.

 

Yes, the timing belt was replaced by a mechanic previously(who did a bad job btw), but he did replace the rings at the base of the spark plug tube seals which had shrunken down and allowed oil to puddle on top of the plugs. He replaced the VCG along with those seals to fix that problem.

Other than that, I change my own oil. I do notice a small amount of brake fluid loss over time that I have to top off.

A real issue I am having is that I have an audible popping sound when I'm driving slowly, also present when turning sometimes, from the front driver side wheel area. I believe the ball joint is possibly going bad?

I've also got a hi-pitched squeal going on at the same location, it happens from about 35-40 MPH upwards of 60-65 MPH until you can't hear it anymore. I'm guessing that is the wheel bearing? About 2 years ago I re-greased the front end ball joints and that sound went away, so it's happened before. Would re-greasing help both problems or are these parts beginning to fail?

 

High pitch sound could be brake pads, just guessing. And the other sounds, popping could be the ball joints has you said it could be. Grease them it couldn't hurt. How did the engine run before you replace the timing belt?

 

Interesting, if I recall I believe the cap on the bleeder for the brakes is cracked at the driver side front there. It's possible it could be leaking brake fluid right from there and also causing the sound? I did change the brake pads 2 years ago, but it makes the sound the colder it is, if that means anything.

The engine vibration has gotten somewhat worse, but it's always vibrated some to my knowledge. The car was bought for my older sister at 26k miles or so from the dealer(it was a dealership owned/driven car before then), and I purchased it from her a couple years ago around 89k miles.

I've yet to correct the botched timing belt replacement the mechanic did. The belt is basically half of a belt(one side is worn into badly by the inner timing belt cover(before I cut a hole into it and the upper/outer cover). It's possible what he did messed up the timing in relation to the balance shafts? Should I have my new mechanic check the balance shafts adjustment? Or will setting the vehicle to the correct timing fix this?



PS: Thanks for all of your help here. Props to you for supporting the forums!

 

If you are leaking brake fluid, get that fix and recheck the timing belt. Do you know if the mechanic use an impact gun on the cam shaft bolts? It maybe the timing is just off a tooth. The timing belt that was installed maybe the update belt, which means the cover should have been replace too.

 

Well, the mechanic also thought the timing belt may have been off a tooth, but it was from his sketchy info regarding the car itself and his diagram he misread, the two camshaft marks wind up pointing to each other, but he thought the old timing belt was off time by a tooth. What he told me is he adjusted it, but the car barely idled and he just put it back. This guy is someone I learned, unfortunately the hard way, that fudges corners and I no longer go to him. I don't think he used an impact gun, though...not sure.

I did just buy the upper timing belt cover for car off of Mopar's website...but wouldn't that also mean the inner cover would need replacing too? I guess it doesn't matter I cut a hole directly in the top of the inner cover as well to allow the belt to jump to it's hearts content.

The way the belt was damaged, and the deflection the belt had on it from the moment he installed it, there would need to be an additional 2 inches of clearance minimally. It has way too much give in the belt. A deflect that much when cold or running...which leads me to believe he re-used the original tensioner and 'thought' it was okay, but IMO it's not. I'm surprised it hasn't broken, but it probably is off by a tooth or two now, quite possibly. He supposedly replaced the water pump, but I'm going to have my new mechanics verify this.

From the belt kit I did purchase, here:

http://www.oreillyauto.com/site/c/se...eyword=tck265b

It looks to match OE and not updated spec. I thought it was the V6 that had the updated version from the tensioners failing prematurely in some?

 

Okay, I mentioned this to a new mechanic I'm using and he claims the car doesn't have balance shafts?!