My head gasket hasn't totally blown yet but my car is going through a quart of oil a week. I've had the gasket cover replaced and new spark plug wires installed. Oil still coming out . I take care of my car but not through the dealer. I had to replace the rotors at 16000 miles. Albany dodge said that they could resurface them for $90 a piece. I believe the rotors should not have been messed up at that time.
1998 Dodge Stratus engine complaints
Page 4 of 5: complaints 71 to 100 of 123, newest first, as owners wrote them.
March 2002 noticed oil leakage. Had it checked and found that the head gasket needed replaced. The car didn't have even 60000 miles on it. Secondly, the car starting just this summer has stalled on numerous occasion. The temperature has always been above 90 degrees and the air conditioning has been running on high. It stalls only when I'm at a stop or in bumper to bumper traffic trying to shift from first. I have a standard, the clutch doesn't feel like it is slipping, and I'm sure it's not user error. This just started stalling this summer. I've had it to the dealership, but they didn't find anything wrong with the car. But it stalls consistently when the temp. Reaches above 90 degrees.
Head gasket is leaking oil due to faulty gasket.
Head gasket is leaking again. The dealership replaced while it was still under warranty at 71000 miles, however it now is leaking again at 107000 miles. I have had so many major problems with this stratus, such as failed brake line, air conditioning system, continual misfire on the engine when the AC is turned on and requires a downshift, failed rack and pinion system, leaking cam position sensor, failed tie rod ends, leaking oil pan, continual oil leaks after numerous attempts by dealership to stop leaks, etc.
Head gasket leaked oil and caused major damage to car. There was suddenly a big oil puddle under vehicle which is also a safety hazard. It is a factory defect (head gasket was redesigned by chrysler since 98) but they refuse to provide compensation for repair.
Vehicle was losing oil while driving. Vehicle was taken to a repair shop, and a dealer. Both informed consumer that vehicle have a blown head gasket. Feel free to provide any further information.
Dealership replaced sensor inside of engine compartment. Currently, vehicle is leaking oil from underneath the hood.
No summary listed for above vehicle.
A significant oil leak developed because of a failed head gasket in 10/2000. Mileage at time of failure around 42,000. Replacement gasket (dodge replacement as per service bulletin # 09-08-99 installed by dodge dealership mechanics) failed in 3/2002 after 21,000 miles.
On several occasions, consumer had problems with shutting the driver side and passenger side door, consumer noticed that the door latches were coming undone, dealer replaced at owners expense.
My dodge stratus/98 has recently began giving me a load of problems.it all began summer 2001 with the drivers side door not being able too close.I did not think anything was wrong untill I attempted to continuously close my door and it would not shut.so I looked carefully and the latch that locks the door in place was comming undone.I than tried to make the door shut but the problem was greater than that.the screw was gone and the second was almost out of tact.the labor and screw replacement along with the towe cost me around $60.00.than luck would have it the same incident occured again on the left-hand front passenger side with labor and parts costing $30.00.the problem with my engine began in november, I had noticed that my car oil and engine warning had appeared so I took my car to a mechanic had oil-filters,air-condition fluid,water,& engine all checked and repaired.the mechanic told me all I needed and $360.00 was well invested.I thought all was fine but the service signal for oil and sometimes engine were constantly appearing. I took my car back and the mechanic told me that I needed more oil and when did I last have my car checked,I advised him that it was not long ago he than emphasized that I was lucky my car had not locked.the next week the same thing but another mechanic.he told me my oil was leaking he could not determine from where so he recommended I change my oil-filters,oil brand and put car on machine dialiysis.he did all this totaling $73.00.yet a week later I'm having to place up to three quarts of oil every week.I contacted a local dodge dealer here in eastman ga 31023 and he told me of daimler luck would have it you all had just sent me notification of brake change. I made the complaint and no one contacted me so now today I had a bad accident my car completly stopped leaving me stranded and when my car stopped it jerked me leaving me stunned but concious and my car is now out of service.
They want me to pay $900 for a defect that occurred to the 1995 model. Nlm
I have contact chrysler and told them and they are unresponsive. No safety defect listed in summary.
Oil was leaking from head gaskets, cause unknown. Consumer is concerned that this could eventually cause a fire. Please give any further details.
My car has been leaking oil, I am not sure how long. After calling several places to get estimates I found that every machanic was aware of the problem. I researched the internet to find out if anyone else had complained about the head gasket and found that there are a lot of complaints. My car is in the shop now and the cost to repair is more than I can affford. Also, since I do not know how long this has been leaking I feel that this is a serious environmental problem.
Vehicle is leaking oil, leak is extremely bad. Vehicle has to be refilled with two quarts of oil every couple of days. Dealer has been contacted.
The head gaskets fail on these cars pre-maturely and oil leaks from the engine spraying oil mist onto the catalitic converter wich could in turn start the vehicle on fire. I have read hundreds of complaints on the internet and have called the daimler-chrysler recall line and they have no intention on making this problem correct for the consumer. Estimates to repair this defective head gasket have ranged between 700 and 800 dollars. I firmly believe that these vehicles need to be recalled and repaired for free it is clearly a defect in material/workmanship that never happens to cars normally and a fire hazard from the oil mist contacting the very hot catalitic converter. Please help us.
Even though this is a known problem chrysler refuses to pay for the repair. After replacing the headgasket twice, they are now telling me that the oil leak is due to a possibly warped cylinder head. So far the best chrysler has done is pay for half of the cost.
I have had numerous problems with this vehicle, other than those listed, plus there is much more information to support the problems I have listed. I have experienced a heater core failure, brakes replaced already twice on the vehicle with less than 40,000 miles on the car. I have had a defective seat belt (passenger), the timing chain is a major engine repair that I just had down. Now I am still dealing with the residule prodblem with my heating/defrost since k & m replaced my water pump on 10/17/01. Overall I consider this car to be a real piece of crap and I absolutely would never buy another stratus and in fact, I will never buy another chrysler vehicle ever. I feel I have stung with a lemon and basically I no legal recourse which is very unfair to me, the consumer. I am still paying on this piece of crap. If nothing else, I hope to warn anybody else, please do your homework ahead of time and don't buy a dodge stratus. Any assistance the federal safety agency might offer would be greatly appreciated. I can provide any documentation and detail that you require. Thank you.
I have heard a lot of people complain about this problem. Dodge "apparently" has a service bulliten out on extending the warranty, but it's hard to get dealers to look into it. No safety defect listed.
Head gaskets fail on chrysler 2.4 liter engines lots of people with the same problem head gasket had to be redisigned see service bulletin # 090598 my oil was leaking from head gasket and blowing onto the exhaust manifold posing a fire risk dealer replaced head gasket however didnt cover the entire charges.
At approximatly 49,500 miles on my 1998 dodge stratus I noticed an oil leak while doing an oil change. I kept a watch on this and determined that the head gasket was where the problem was. At this time I did some research on the internet and found out that there were many complaints and service bulletins on the head gasket on this model and engine size. I then contacted the dealer where the vehicle was purchased and they verified that the head gasket was the problem and that it was going to cost me $600.00 or more to have the problem fixed. I then did more research into this and found out that there is an excessivly high incident of the head gasket failing on this model in both the 1997 and 1998 years, and when questioning people in the surrounding area found out that nearly every person that has purchased this model and engine combination have had the same failure and most of them with around 50,000 miles. I do not feel that I should have to pay the full amount to repair something that is a known and commen manufacturer problem ( dodge implemented a new gasket design on the 1999 model year to correct the problem). Also I think that based on the frequency of this failure there should be a full manufacturer recall, this problem also causes a safety concern of the possibility of a fire in the engine compartment due to the severity, and location of the oil leak .
Oil leak leaks onto exhaust pipe , concern of fire hazard and ground contamination.
While driving oil leaked onto spark plugs, causing vehicle to hesitate. Consumer took vehicle to a mechanic, and they stated that head gasket needed replacing. Please provide any further information.
While driving noticed smoke coming from under hood. Stopped vehicle and lifted hood. Head gaskets was leaking oil onto engine. Had no prior warning. Took vehicle to mechanic, and had no indication what caused leakage.
We just notice a oil leak today and took it up to repair shop and they stated that it was th e head gasket and this is a common problem with dodge/ chrysler cars.
Oil was leaking from engine. Consumer couldn't tell where it was coming from. 2 quarts of oil a month had to be added. Recently 4th of july 2001, vehicle started to overheat alot. Air was coming through the water reservior. Thermostat and radiator were replaced, but nothing worked. Dealer knows of problem.
Head gasket already faulty at only 71,000 miles. Should have lasted until at least 100,000
Head gasket is leaking oil, it is only leaking a few spots here and there, but most of the oil has leaked in consumer's driveway. Consumer has contacted dealer and the dealer is not willing to do anything. *ak
1998 dodge stratus 64,000 miles with head gasket problems????? Doesn't seem right.
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