hey guys. dakota guy working on a stratus. anywho my brother in-laws 99 startus died on him. he told me he was sitting at a stop light. light turned green he went and started to loose power and car shut off. had it towed to my house. car cranks but doesnt start. im a mechanic. but i dont know much about these particular cars. im going to check for fuel and spark in the morning. just wondering if there is any common things i should look for? thanks for any advice in adavanced

 

well im at a loss. upon diagnosis i found 5 out of 6 spark plug holes full of oil. so first thing i did was replaced the spark plug hole gaskets and plugs and wires. from there i have no spark and no fuel. which doesnt make much sence to me. all fuses and relays test good. when i turn the key forward to accessory mode i hear the fuel pump turn on like normal. however i have no fuel. i have no spark so possibly distributor but im thinkin there is something elce going on to have no fuel and no spark. any advice would be great. thank you

 

What engine size?
What about Check engine light? No code stored?
crank sensor, maybe? check RPM on scanner data while cranking.

 

its the 2.5l v6 and i wish i could bring the scanner home from work. that would make it alot easier.

 

I have been having the same problem with my 1997 Stratus ES with intermittent stalling, occasional buck, then the last time bucked, lost pressure and stalled. Then it would crank, but not start, which was the second time that happened in two days. I've had it to two different mechanics 10 times since June. No codes are showing up. So far they replaced IAC, plugs (filled with oil), plug wires (crumbled when replacing plugs), valve gasket cover, small cracked vacuum hose. They have checked fuel pressure, checked for leaks, primary and secondary resistance on the ignition coil. They called the dealer and the dealer said there's no cam sensor, only a crank. Is this true? The mechanic doesn't really think it's the distributor, but the dealer says it is. I'm ready to dump this car.

 

Might help to list what motor ....

 

Dodge Stratus ES is 2.5

 

yes there is a cam sensor. it is inside the distributor. to replace the cam sensor you have to replace the whole distributor

 

Also check your crankshaft position sensor (it's below the distributor). I had these same symptoms and had replaced the plugs, wires, throttle position sensor, distributor but it still wouldn't start. I figured one more part. I put a new CPS in and it fired right up.

Wayne

 

I was taking the Stratus to a dealer to see about a trade. To get there, you have to go up and down hills at about 50 mph. Coming to the home stretch, I lost... pressure (I guess.) Car still had power, but tac dropped and it felt as if the gas pedal was disconnected...kept stepping on it but it wasn't accelerating. Pulled to the side. It didn't stall...still had power...no noise from the transmission. It wasn't trying to shift or anything. Then I suddenly had pressure again and the tac came back on.

The odometer and tac don't always come on when I first start the car. After minute or so they will suddenly come on... then sometimes go out again. This has been happening for a more than a year. The stalling issue started about 6 months ago... this loss of acceleration/pressure happen about three times. The time before this one the car stalled after and wouldn't restart after losing pressure.