Hello everyone. This is my first but definately not my last post. I recently bought a 2003 Stratus Coupe SXT with the 2.4 in Deep Red Pearl. I bought it because of the looks, a really sharp looking body with great lines. Mine was a diamond in the rough that I purchased at a Copart auction for $625 plus fees. It was an NYPD Police impound and had been sitting for a couple of years. I knew it would require some TLC to get it back to its former glory. So far I've replaced all four tires (all the old ones were dry rotted and the drivers front wouldn't even hold air as it had a big bulge in the sidewall that leaked like a siv), new rear brakes and drums (the old ones had rusted together and at first the rear wheels wouldn't even turn, it was like an old dog dragging its back legs. We had to take the back wheels off and pound the hell out of the old drums to get them unstuck), new battery, the old antenna had been broken off with the base still down in the hole so I found a replacement antenna housing at a local auto wrecker and replacement mast at a local parts store, shift **** screw (the shift handle would lift right off), rear license plate light bracket and light kit as the old one had completely rusted away (both of these were special order from a local Dodge dealer), oil and filter change, new rear lower control arms and sway bar links (the old links were snapped and the lower control arms were bent so both back tires were turned in at the fronts, four wheel alignment and drivers rear taillight as the old one was cracked and broken. It was thoroughly washed including under the hood, it was filthy. Tires dressed, wheels detailed, touch up paint applied and I used Meguiars Heavy Duty Headlight Restoration Kit as the headlights were really faded. Well it's starting to look good again (still hunting down the center caps for the wheels). My question is this: when I first went to pick it up and before starting it I checked the oil level and the oil was above the full line on the dipstick. Also after the car was thoroughly warmed up the oil pressure light would begin to flicker at idle, any pressure on the throttle even the very slightest would make the light go out. I figured who ever had it last probably over filled it and the oil was getting aireated causing the flickering. I had the rear end work, brakes and tires done at a local Firestone. They were supposed to change the oil as well. After driving the car about ten miles home from there the flickering started again. I pulled the dipstick and noticed it was still over the top notch and still dirty. I discovered they didn't change the oil so I had it changed (new filter, 4.5 quarts of 5w30). I came back home and turned the car off. I let it set for a couple hours then decided I'd check it again. This time while the oil was clean and fresh it still reads above the top mark. Does the car need to be thoroughly warmed up before checking it? Is this common on this car? I didn't see the light flickering at all (it had been happening less and less the more the car had been running). The engine sounds fine, no knocks or pings or anything and the exhaust is clean and normal looking, no dark sootyness or bluish colors etc. It runs smoothly with no hesitation, missing, lag etc. The mileage on the car is 174,000. Any thoughts, ideas, info etc would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

 

Does anyone have any information regarding this?

 

the engine doesn't have to be warm to check oil best to check cold or after its been sitting a few minutes to give oil a chance to settle.how far over full line is it.do you have an history on vehicle? you may want to change timing belt and water pump(while your doing belt)

 

It's about a quarter inch or so over. I don't have any history on the car just my observations and the mechanic at Firestone that did the work. They seem quite expensive there as the work they did as listed earlier cost $1800. They also wanted to do a tune up for $390 even though the car runs fine and the timing belt based on mileage for another $567 so we tax it would have been another $1040 which I just didn't have. I figured the tune up can wait since it runs fine and the belt I figured could be done a bit down the road. They didn't mention anything about the water pump, is that a common problem on this car?
I've never seen a time when the verified correct amount of oil was added that it reads above the high mark. I'm almost wondering if the wrong dip stick is in the car. It seems improbable but I can't help but wonder.
Any other thoughts or ideas? What about my theory about the oil getting aerated when it warms up causing the oil pressure to drop just enough that the light would flicker at idle but go out immediately when even the slightest amount of throttle is applied? Could it also be caused by sitting so long (over a year)?

 

Good deal on a great car.

I wouldn't be concerned about 1/4" above max on the dipstick. That's what, maybe 3 ounces? My 2001 with the 2.4 is also a tad above after an oil change. You mentioned the dipstick maybe being wrong. I snapped mine first time checking the oil and bought another at a junkyard. Many similar looking ones with different numbers stamped on them, all slightly different lengths. You can always check that number to the engine you have. Or maybe it's what the filter holds and they might have different designs? Just enjoy it.

On the water pump etc, the engines are rock solid performers and just stick to the maintenance schedule. The body on the otherhand.... wish it was built a tad better but it is what it is.

 

Glad to hear the engines are solid performers. I finally got the plates today as I had to wait all this time to get the NYPD Bill of Sale. I've only been able to drive it around the block and it seemed solid. I had a friend of mine drive it home from the auction yard (scary with the broken links, dry rotted tires and bent control arms. He was afraid to go above 25mph and the rear brakes were making one hell of a racket) while I followed closely behind. I had it towed to Firestone the. The same friend drove it the 10 miles home from there with me close behind. That evening was the first time I drove it around the block. When I had the oil change done the same person drove it to and from the shop only about a mile each way. I remember when he drove it home from Firestone he said it felt like a normal car much better than the harrowing experience driving it home from the auction yard. Anyway, now that the plates are on it I can finally stretch it's legs a bit and see how it does. One thing I forgot to mention earlier is that the washer fluid light is on even though the container is full. Any ideas on that one? Also, any ideas on the flickering oil pressure light mentioned in the first post. Even though it didn't come on either going or coming back for the oil change it was only about a mile each way. When my friend drove it home from Firestone it didn't come on until he was almost back to the house. When it was still at the auction yard it was after warming up. I'll repost after a longer drive (10 miles or more) to say if the light comes back on at all. Thanks everyone and keep the thoughts coming.

 

Welcome to the joy of driving a stratus (not sure if I should laugh here or not). These cars are pretty easy to work on (outside of the timing belt/water pump). Seriously, do NOT give firestone anymore money unless its the timing belt/wp or an alignment (and for an alignment, I wouldn't go there).

Brakes are freaking EASY on these cars. Get a Hanes or Chiltons manual and if you are even 1/4 mechanically inclined, follow the manuals step by step and do the work yourself.

Tune up. New air filter, spark plugs, spark plugs wires, oil change, transmission fluid/filter.

-Air filter is super easy. Change as needed.
-Spark plugs and wires are easy breezy. Always use Champion plugs with the part number 3570 and gap them between .038-.042". Wires, look around. I found the set cheaper at the dodge dealer back in 06 (wow..7 years on wires now....) than the auto part stores.
-Oil change you already did. Pretty straight forward.
-Transmission fluid/filter change. If the trans starts acting up, first thing is check the level, color and if the fluid feels 'gritty'. If any of the above is bad, add or change it out. Filters are available at any auto parts store or rockauto.com. The fluid/fliter swap is not horrible to do. You can do it in 2 hours or less depending on your level of mechanical skill. Oh, and only ....ONLY use ATF+4 in the transmission. NOTHING else. Yes, walmart ATF+4 is approved by Mopar and I have been running it for years in my stratus and Durango. It's good to go.

EDIT: I had the oil pressure light come on intermittently (flickering) for a while. I thought it was the oil pump or the oil pressure sending unit. I was working out of town a lot so the car sat for a month or 5 at a time so it might just be moisture inside screwing with the sending unit. Once I started driving it daily, it went away. The oil pressure sending unit is not fun to get to. It's just above the header on the firewall side of the motor. You can get it from the bottom with bigfoot length arms, or if you're brave to lay on top the engine and play gumby.

I DD of 2002 Stratus with the 2.4DOHC and it has 169k miles on it. If you have any questions, just ask.

 

Thanks Matt for all the great info. I took it for a decent highway drive (about 60 miles round trip) and here's what I observed: the cruise works well and it ran good and strong the entire time. I did notice at speeds of around 60 mph a noise that sounded like a truck with huge off road tires driving near me (looked all around and there was none plus came back each time I reached those speeds).
I had four adults in the car, I don't know if the extra weight had anything to do with it. There might be a small exhaust leak that's only noticeable at those speeds? The other things were that observed, when we went over a modest road bump the front struts went bang and there is a rattle noise coming from the front left corner and when we hit this bump the car jerked slightly but noticeably to the right. And finally the oil light had been off since the oil change but
After completing half the trip when we were waiting at the light to turn left into the parking lot our old friend started faintly flickering again. On the way back the flickering started getting more and more pronounces each time we had to stop. Oh yeah, also when stopping from highway speeds at moderate brake pressure there's a lot of shaking in the steering wheel so I suspect the front rotors are
warped. Well that's the latest info I have. Any thoughts? Thanks again to everyone.

 

No problem. It's probably the tires making that sound. Probably the type of compound the rubber is made out of. What is the tread wear rating on the tire? The stratus is the Wife's car and she put P5's on by Pirelli and once you get up to highway speeds, it has a similar sound. Quite annoying. But, we've had them for 4 years and the tread wear IIRC is 780. DAMN! (That's really high).

Shocks/Struts are a must. Get a good set of shocks. I wish I could say "x" brand is great for our cars, but the shocks that were installed on the stratus were the garage specials since I didn't specify (lived in an apartment complex at the time and it was a complete no-no to work on your car there). I can tell you that I have Bilsteins on my Camaro and they're absolutely awesome for the price (400/all 4). Best thing for both of us to do is ask around (because I want to swap out the crap shocks soon). As far as the car hitting a bump and jerked right, sounds like a combination of the shocks and moreso, the alignment. If you're going to do an alignment, do the shocks/struts first then an alignment immediately after.

My stratus did the same thing to me for a while. See if you can't get a mechanical oil pressure gauge and hook it up to verify good oil pressure. I know it's a PITA, but just to be on the safe side. After the Stratus sat for a while, it took at least two weeks for it to stop. It was always after I came to a stop and the engine sat at idle (in park, in drive) at a stop light/sign or in the parking lot before getting rolling.

I can't remember it doing it on acceleration or slowing down. Just as soon as we would stop, it would sit there and flicker. It went away after the car was being driven daily.

Sounds like your rotors are warped. Get a good set of brake pads and rotors. Might as well do all 4 and start clean. Get a good set of blank rotors and a good set of pads. Ceramics are nice for a daily driver with no noise and low dust. If you want more of a performance pad, step up to a Hawk HPS or HP. You can also try a EBC red or yellow pad. Just be advised that the Hawks and EBC will probably dust more then the ceramics.

Well, you're in luck and I hit a bad luck spot. LOL. Thursday night on the way home, my timing belt took a crap. I now have the car in the garage and emptied the coolant. This week, when I get home at night, I am going to take it apart slowly and by Friday, I should have the parts from r o c k a u t o (dot) c o m and will put it back together on Saturday. If you want, I'll take a bunch of pictures for you so you can do it if you haven't already. Again, if you want, I could also take some pictures of how easy the brakes are on these cars.

Glad you're getting the car up and running. Just for the ultra-safe feeling, just get an oil pressure gauge on there to verify the oil pressure. My stratus did the same thing for a while after sitting for a long time, so don't freak out to badly. If it was a bad pump or oil pressure, I would think it would have already taken a dump on you. Hopefully that is not the case.

Hope all is well.

 

Hi again,
You confirmed most of my thoughts. The oil pressure check is a good idea, much rather be safe than sorry. I figured the shocks/struts and was thinking maybe even springs. Front rotors are a must, luckily the backs were already done. The tires are Firestone Affinity. I've never heard a noise like that from regular passenger car tires, especially new ones, I've only heard it on trucks with monster off road tires. I had the alignment done when the tires were put on but of course it will have to be redone with the new suspension pieces. I was thinking either a tie rod or ball joint when it jerked like that especially since there's the rattle coming from the front left that's heard even over very slight road imperfections. I'm sorry to hear your timing belt gave up the ghost. If you wouldn't mind pictures and or videos that would be great. I tend to think your right on the light especially because the engine runs so strong and smooth not to mention quiet but I'd still feel better checking it out just in case. By the way I forgot to mention with my other observations that the transmission shifts perfectly and buttery smooth. One piece of good news. Anyway thanks again for everything and talk to you soon.