2001 Stratus, 2.4L, over 100k miles. First fix. Needed new water pump. Thermostat and tensioner suggested. No belts. Car idled roughly upon repair. Spark plugs (incorrect size) put in. Car drives fine for about a month. Stops. Next fix is coolant problem. Told not to use AC. Driveable. Car starts to overheat. Not driveable. Next fix was freon. Never done. No driving for me.

New mechanic. Adds coolant/water mix, no flush. New accessory belt and thermostat. Car runs well enough to drive for a couple of weeks. Belt frays. New belt. Driveable again. Belt frays again. New belt tensioner/belt. I drive it around to check at about 30-35 mph and it drives okay, but its draggy, not smooth. I go 40mph next day and I hear a rumbling sound and lose the steering power. It limps home, I look under the hood and don't see the accessory belt at all. Turns out it's been sucked into the "crank"? And the power steering belt has broken.

I turn the ignition key several times to get the pieces of belt out of the part. (not starting it) I get new power steering belt/accessory belt put on but the car no longer runs properly. It starts and stalls. Dump the 'mechanic'.

I take it to another 'mechanic' who fixes it to where it's driveable, but it has this deep rumbling, bumbling idle coming from the accessory belt side of the car. It drives okay upon acceleration only. It acts like it would like to stall out at idle now, but doesn't.

Could a part of the belt still be stuck in whatever it was sucked into or could it have damaged something so that it doesn't idle correctly anymore? IF so, what? It's not the timing chain or iac valve.

The third mechanic can't figure it out so I'm breaking down and taking it to Dodge. I should have just had Pep Boys do the fix, but I was trying to save $$.

 

WOW, sorry to hear about your ordeal there but I have no where to even begin on your car. There has been so much done to it and it appears none of the right stuff.

Good luck on the repair. Let us know what the end result was. Taking it to a reputable shop sounds to be the only option right now.

 

Sounds like the pulleys aren't lined up properly. Belts typically last a pretty long time, if you had them changed they would not have frayed unless there was some alignment problem or one fo the drives that they are turning is causing too much friction.

Good luck at Dodge.

 

The report from Dodge is that it needs: PCV valve, EGR valve, gasket, and hoses and the computer needs to be reprogrammed.

Are these things that are DIY? Or can any general mechanic do it without fouling things up worse? It drives great now since the last mechanic had it. It's just the idle that's very poor.

 

The pulley/belt situation is no longer the problem. It's the rough idle.

 

everything except reprogramming the computer ,can be DIY or a general mechanic could do. i would try pcv first easiest and cheapest(less then $5.00) if you Diy i would get some throttle body or carburetor cleaner when you pull old one out(leave hooked to hose) have someone start engine, rev up engine a little and spray cleaner in a couple short burst into old valve b4 putting new 1 in then see if idle improves. which hoses and gasket need replacing

 

While it's not entirely perfect, I can drive my car now. It still has a gurgling type sound coming from the accessory belt side of the engine when it's cold, but I'm told (ha, ha) that it will work itself out, we'll see.

After having my newest mechanic put on the Dodge recommended parts (which did not solve the problem, I want to sue them for my wasted $285! $101 diagnosis fee/$185 to put on the parts) I let him keep it to figure out what the actual problem was. It turned out that the mechanic before him possibly did not put the timing chain on correctly, plus an idler pulley was not working properly, throwing off the timing of the engine and causing the car to idle roughly.

I'll be a Stratusgirl for a little while longer it seems, but I have a feeling this car has done it's tour of duty for ten years and it's close to retirement.

 

You were right Rocket67. It was the idler pulley and the timing belt was out of sync. Wish the mechanic before last had taken his time to figure that out. Would have saved $285.

 

Definitely two very different problems. Glad you have it sorted out now.