Hello I am new here but have beat my head in a wall trying to figure out what is wrong with my car. I bought a 2004 Dodge Stratus SXT 2.4 DOHC and just and when I jump the car off to run just as soon as I unhook the jumper cable it quits or will go until the battery dies then quits. It has had two alternators on it and both show good. I have checked all the connections and those are good but when we run the codes it shows a bad voltage regulator. I then thought it was the PCM and put a new one on programmed to the vin and still no avail same results. Please help! Any suggestions are appreciated. Thanks in advanced!

 

I'm new here as well, posted 3-4 days ago and nobody answered. Not sure if folks here are just unfriendly or what.

Have you checked your battery to be sure it's good? I just recently inherited shall we say a 2006 from my wife, we got a newer 2013 ford focus for her, so she's been driving that. But the stratus I have also has the 2.4 dohc. Though I've got the sxt sedan, so I've read that's a different motor than the coupe. I think the coupe is a mitsubishi motor and the sedan has a chrysler motor even though they are both supposed to be 2.4 dohc?

Anyway, not sure I'm much help, I'm not a mechanic, but on our 2006, that thing seems to eat a battery about every 6 months to a year. We got at one time walmart batteries. The weather was cold, they would install etc. Anyway, a few months out, we had trouble. Took it to a Dobbs tire and auto center, and they said it was the battery, we had been driving it, and had stopped somewhere else, thankfully there was a Dobbs right by where we were we could walk to easily.

Ok, no problem, they jump started it, lights flickering the entire way home. Limped it to walmart, they changed the battery, all was well. About 6 months later, it happened again. We jumped it, back to walmart, this time the kid there writing service tickets says oh well let me test it. Battery tested fine, but I tell the kid like look, the last time it acted this way it was the battery. It's under warranty, can you just have them change it. No you need to test the alternator first. I used to work in Tire Lube Express in walmart, I should have just gone over the guy's head and said get me a code 200(manager) out here then.

Suffice to say, got to auto parts store, car died. Got it towed to mechanic who said battery was bad. Paid them to put a battery in, got a refund on the walmart battery. But suffice it to say, it is running fine for now. You might however try a new battery if you have not yet just to rule it out.

May consider a different alternator yet again, like a different brand even. My Taurus I'm trying to sell went months with a battery charging light on after a new alternator and newer battery. Mechanic said nope, everything tested fine, could be anything. Don't worry about it. Long and the short, I went to another mechanic for something unrelated, and he said your battery light is on. I told him what the other guy said, and he said he went ahead and hooked it to his tester, which showed bad diodes in the alternator I had. Got the alternator swapped, and never saw the battery light again.

 

Not unfriendly at all. People have lives you know. To the OP, have you actually measured the output of the alternator? You say the code says a bad voltage regulator but then said you changed the PCM?? Why? Have you changed the voltage regulator yet? Are you doing this work yourself? Did you buy it in the condition? A little background would help. How many miles on it?

 

I agree with jkeaton. Not unfriendly at all, but this forum is limited to activity.

That being said, if he has a DOHC Stratus regardless of year, its NOT a coupe.
Personally I typically only chime in when its a coupe since i have owned one for 9 years now, and I feel I can answer without giving misinformation. I do like to help where I can though. Like mentioned the 01-05 Coupe is a Mitsubishi car.

 

To the OP- If i recall correctly, the voltage regulator is part of the alternator. Like mentioned, a different brand alternator may be a help, and you might want to also check any fuses or relays.

The only thing that comes to mind is a bad battery or alternator. If the alternator is good, you can remove the negative post off the battery and it should run.

 

to op you said your getting a code what's code number . I would check your cables with a meter especially the ground off battery to frame known to go bad, then check connections on wiring

 

Ok here is what I found. I replaced the pcm for this reason. 1.) My brother-in-law tried two separate alternators both of which were new and both tested fine. So I checked the wiring which proved to be good also including the battery terminals. 2.) The voltage regulator still was not kicking in at all and the PCM tells it when to if I am thinking correctly. So I replaced the battery which was still only a few months old and it tested bad. So now everything is running but only charging at 11.5 volts but then again its been in the negatives here for a few days but still should be charging higher. Now my issue is after the car warms up it starts missing at around 3500 rpm. So first things first I am going to check the plugs but I also have an OBD II and these are the codes I am getting now: P0344, P0032, P0038... The OBD says its an oxygen sensor but I have also read about the cam sensor magnet.

 

OP, glad you are a bit closer.

My 2000 taurus had a mega fuse, do these cars have that? Maybe something to check if so. But I thought you should be getting closer to like 13 volts when it's charging if not slightly higher.

 

Figured it out I had a ground wire in my harness tucked away that was bad so I replaced it and all is good now!!!! Thanks for all the help!

 

Thanks for posting back the fix. Will help others.