I have a 2006 Dodge Stratus SXT that I recently put new coils and spark plugs into due to age, mileage (133k), and some problems that I thought stemmed from the spark plugs. Excuse me if this lengthy but I want to be as detailed as possible..

About a month ago I was driving and had been driving for about an hour with my cruise control set at 75mph the car jerked violently and the cruise feature was disengaged and disabled completely ( I was unable to put the car back on cruise). I continued to drive for another mile or two at that speed to see if it would come back on or jerk again and it did. As I was getting off the highway the car completely shut off but I was able to get into the emergency lane and crank the car back up. Thinking it might be oil because i was overdue I went and got an oil change.

Problem solved until a couple days later it did the same thing so I got it towed (I discovered the battery had died the morning of) to a friend of mine (mechanic for over 20 years) and got the coils and spark plugs changed and it ran much better by both of our standards until two days ago... I was driving on the highway yet again with the cruise control set at 75mph and the car jerks and cruise controls is disabled again and I'm forced to take back roads and drive at a speed below 60mph in order to avoid the jerking.

My mechanic mentioned some "valve work" or something like that might be necessary because the car sucks while idle (shakes and everything else)... My battery was recharged but I'm planning on buying a new one anyway... My best guess is something electrical or transmission maybe... CAN ANYONE HELP!!??

 

When was the last time you had the transmission serviced?
Are your RPM's really high (like 2nd gear high) after it jerks and you get back up to speed?
Have you noticed any pink drops underneath the car?

A sudden jerking at such a high speed could indicate an issue with the torque converter, speed sensor (both input and output speeds). All of which will disable automated systems such as the cruise control until the fault clears.

 

Thanks for the response....the car does struggle to get back to speeds of over 60-65 mph after the initial jerk. In some cases the car will continue to jerk UNLESS I drive at or below 65mph, it also seems to be struggling to "breathe" during acceleration. It doesn't whine or anything like that but I can tell that the engine may not be getting enough air..?!?

I haven't noticed any pink fluid dripping but it has been a long time (at least 2-3 years) since I got any transmission work done on the car. I got the computer looked at to see why my check engine light came on and got a P0301 Cylinder #1 Misfire code. Like I said in my first post I just got my coils and spark plugs replaced less than 2 weeks ago so other than a defective part I don't know why I would be seeing this code again.