I picked up a stratus a few months ago and have noticed a few different issues that i would like help diagnosing. My car is a 2001 Dodge Stratus sedan SE with the 2.4L DOHC and auto Transmission

Issue #1: the guy i got it from said the rear defrosters have a built-in feature that they only work when the temp is below freezing. I figured it was a b.s. way of trying to explain that they didn't work at all, until this morning when we got our first frost and i tried it and they worked perfectly. Sine they have never worked for me before then i figured that there might be some truth the the guys statement. I called the Dodge dealer and made a fool of myself asking about it, only to find out that the option isn't intended. so i did some TS and hit a dead end because as the day warmed up, they stopped working again. I swapped the relay with another matching relay on the car without anything changing. Does anyone on here know where i could look to find the cause of this really annoying special feature?

Issue #2: last half of the gas tank seems to fly by, at least if you look at the gauge. for instance, last night when i got home i was just under a half tank. Today, after driving 22 mostly highway miles, i am at 1/4 tank. roughly doing the math, that was 3.3 gallons in that distance if i go by the gauge. Now because i like to pay attention to these things, i religiously watch my mpg's as an indicator for how that car is running. i get normally between 18-20 mpg. so i know that the issue is with the gauge calibration. Does anyone on here know how to calibrate the gauge? Also, does anyone know any tricks on increasing the MPG in the car?
things i have done already to increase gas mileage:
- K&N Air Filter
- installed new Sparkplug and Wires.
- checked tire pressure
- looked for inline gas filter... Does this car have one?

Thank you for any help that can be had here.

 

Fuel filter sits on top outside of the fuel tank. You can barely see it. Drivers side. Follow the fuel line. To replace it you have to loose both straps holding the tank and remove one so you can tilt the tank down and gain access to filter.

 

Got issue #1 taken care of, i think. I ended up replacing the relay, the #15 10a fuse, and #6 10a fuse (all in the driver-side dash fuse block). Tried the defroster again with no luck. then i replaced the controller for the HVAC system on the center dash and tried it, and it worked. the reason i think i fixed it, instead of knowing i fixed it, is that the temperature dropped and it is pretty close to the temp that it would turn on. So i will try again on a nicer day.
Also looking at getting a fuel filter through RockAuto to improve fuel efficiency..

 

So when I look in my Haynes manual, it only gives instructions for the Coupe and Convertible Stratuses (Stratii?) but there wasn't any mention of the sedan model. RockAuto doesn't differential between coupe and sedan, so I cant use that as a reference. Does anyone know if the Sedan version has an 'out-of-tank' fuel filter?

 

Interesting turn of events, the direction of the air coming out of the heater started to cycle from floor all the way through to defroster and back tonight... so thats new... Anyone ever heard of that?