I have a 96 Stratus. Ive only had it about a week, as it replaced my 97 Contour SE which blew a tranny.

Yesterday it started overheating. I got it home and put a gallon of collant in, as well as the water mix. Got up this morning, and the car ran just fine. I drove all of about 10 miles. Later in the afternoon, I took the car out again, for another 10 mile trip. Overheated. It seemed to have sucked up all the water in the reserve and took only a small amount of water into the cap.

I filled the rad cap and the reserve. Drove it again. It didnt overheat, but I got home and checked the reserve. Almost empty.

There is no leak that I can see...and for it to have lost a whole gallon of coolant, I would have noticed it in my driveway.

Key points...
THERE IS NO WATER IN THE OIL
THE COOLANT IS RUSTY LOOKING, AS I THINK THE RAD NEEDS TO BE FLUSHED, BUT DOESNT APPEAR OILY
THE EXHAUST IS WHITISH, BUT DOESNT SEEM WATERLOGGED. ITS MOIST AFTER HOLDING MY HAND TO IT FOR A FEW SECONDS, BUT NOT SOAKED.

I realize that head gaskets are an issue in this car...and the sucking of my coolant worries me. But, the other signs arent there. It runs just fine...a little bit of a shake in idle, but more like a spark plugs kinda shake than anything else.

I plan on taking it to have a pressure test done tomorrow...but Im really thinking its a shot gasket. How much does a repair like that cost? Ive never had a car do this before. I see people getting rid of cars all the time for blown head gaskets, but for what I paid for this car, anything less than a grand would be do-able.

So...those are the two questions...even without those other symptoms, could it be the head gasket, AND what does that type of repair normally cost?

Thanks!

 

Coolant being leaked into exhaust. Had same thing happen. Head Gasket kit and bolts are about $200.00. Labor is Probably $1000 and up. Thats if the water pump, timing belt, tensioner, are in good shape which I doub't it. Very expensive repair[X(]

 

Thank goodness, it turned out not to be the head gasket. Thank you though!

It was the waterpump! And just because my life can never be easy...

I took the car in to have the timing belt and waterpump replaced. It was supposed to take 4 hours. Unfortunately, my crank pully WOULD NOT break free from the car, so the mechanic was going to torch it out...which meant waiting an extra day to get a new one from Dodge. Then, after letting it sit out overnight, the pully popped out...but...

Apparently, my mechanic left the battery terminals attached when he made the repair and blew out my ECM. So now...new ECM being installed at mechanics expense. Its lovely.

The car has been in the shop for 6 days now...for a waterpump and timing belt.