Helping to improve the quality of service and reduce fraud at auto repair
facilities.

To reply, remove the NOSPAM at the end of the email address provided.

They started using the new headgasket at the 1998 1/2 model year, so  I
wouldn’t buy an earlier model unless it’s proven that the correct repair was
done.  I loved my 97 Stratus and was a pretty good value for the amount that
I paid for it.  It did have to have the headgasket replaced (2.4 L) under
warrenty and didn’t give me a bit of trouble after that.

Scott

"Bill D" <nos…@adelphia.net> wrote in message

news:_DGEb.947$Vv2.525592@news1.news.adelphia.net…

- Hide quoted text — Show quoted text -

> I am considering buying a used Stratus or Breeze for my daughter. I
vaguely
> remember that the 2.4L engine prematurely blows headgaskets. When was this
> problem fixed by Chrysler? Are there model years to avoid? How much does
it
> cost to get it repaired?

- Hide quoted text — Show quoted text -

> On Sat, 20 Dec 2003, pcfreak wrote:

> > Hello, what would happen if I replaced the computer from a 89 daytona
> > with turbo with a computer from a 89 daytona without a turbo ?  They
> > both have the same motor size.  One is a standard and the other is a
> > automatic.

> The engine won’t run; the nonturbo computer has a driver for only one fuel
> injector since the nonturbo engine has throttle body fuel injection, while
> the turbo computer has drivers for four fuel injectors since the turbo
> engine has multipoint injection. You have to use the correct computer.
> Also, stick shift and automatic computers are different (TCC lockup
> control circuit). Use http://www.car-part.com to find the correct computer.

> DS

The engine won’t run; the nonturbo computer has a driver for only one fuel
injector since the nonturbo engine has throttle body fuel injection, while
the turbo computer has drivers for four fuel injectors since the turbo
engine has multipoint injection. You have to use the correct computer.
Also, stick shift and automatic computers are different (TCC lockup
control circuit). Use http://www.car-part.com to find the correct computer.

DS

> I have just recently got a 96 plymouth breeze,  all the reg
> maintenance has been kept up,  and the only major problem that was
> ever wrong with it was a blown head gasket, when it was not  even a
> year old, and that was all fixed under warranty by the dealership the
> car was bought brand new off the dealer showroom at the time with  0
> miles,  and it was a one owner car,   has there been any problems with
> this type of car that anybody knows of or will this be a pretty
> dependable car…. it only has a little over 70,000 miles on it..

My 97 Stratus (same car as Breeze) has 144,500 miles (2.4L engine).  The
only problem has been a blown head gasket fixed under warranty.  Other
than that, great car.  I just took it on a 6000 mile vacation from
Florida to Utah.  Averaged 32MPG, and used less than 1 quart of oil.  
I’ve been extremely happy with the car.

Mm. Multiple problems indicated. It’s possible all these problems are
real, but it’s somewhat likely there’s a wiring problem — potentially
corrosion at the 60-pin connector that connects the engine control
computer to the engine wiring.

> What should be my next step? P.S. I am a single woman with limited help!

Do you have a mechanic you trust?

DS

> > I replaced the sway bar end links a while ago hoping to get rid of the
> > clunk – You replace the whole link with a new greaseable link – I don’t
> > recall them being that hard to replace – but on the other hand I usually
use
> > air tools wherever possible.  Not as easy as the bushings though.

> Unfortunately, I have no air tools nor an acetylen torch so I try to
> avoid things that are rusted too much and let the dealership have fun
> with them.

I have a set of air tools but I’ve found that things that are rusted too
much
generally snap when you use an air tool on them.  Continued applications of
penetrating oil over a couple days followed
by gentle but firm pressure with a long breaker bar and the correct socket
often can do wonders.

Ted

>>Matt

> I replaced the sway bar end links a while ago hoping to get rid of the
> clunk – You replace the whole link with a new greaseable link – I don’t
> recall them being that hard to replace – but on the other hand I usually use
> air tools wherever possible.  Not as easy as the bushings though.

Unfortunately, I have no air tools nor an acetylen torch so I try to
avoid things that are rusted too much and let the dealership have fun
with them.  I worked as a "semi" mechanic many years ago (for a
logging/trucking company that did all its own work including engine,
transmission and rear axle rebuilds) and it isn’t bad with the proper
tools, but a mightmare without.  I don’t have the proper tools to handle
the really ugly stuff so I now pay somebody else to do it.

> If I did it over again, I would change the sway bar bushings first, I doubt
> my end links were bad – or for that matter my tie rod ends ( neither had
> play )  As soon as I took it for a spin after the bushings, I knew the clunk
> was gone.

Maybe you mentioned this earlier, but where did you buy the end links?
I think you said NAPA for the bushings, but maybe I got it confused with
another thread.  Gets hard to keep them straight after a while!

> I don’t know if it was good or bad – but at 30k I put some grease zerks in
> the caps on my sealed for life ball joints, every I change the oil, I give
> them a shot of EP grease as well.

I thought about that, but mine have 144K on them and are still tight, so
I guess I’ll forgo greasing them.

Matt

> Did you replace just the sway bar bushings or the connecting link
> bushings as well?

> Matt

I replaced the sway bar end links a while ago hoping to get rid of the
clunk – You replace the whole link with a new greaseable link – I don’t
recall them being that hard to replace – but on the other hand I usually use
air tools wherever possible.  Not as easy as the bushings though.

If I did it over again, I would change the sway bar bushings first, I doubt
my end links were bad – or for that matter my tie rod ends ( neither had
play )  As soon as I took it for a spin after the bushings, I knew the clunk
was gone.

I don’t know if it was good or bad – but at 30k I put some grease zerks in
the caps on my sealed for life ball joints, every I change the oil, I give
them a shot of EP grease as well.

Now if I could only find the source of the rear end rattles………the van
would be like new again, sort of.

Mark

- Hide quoted text — Show quoted text -

"Matthew S. Whiting" wrote:

> Bill Putney wrote:

> > "Matthew S. Whiting" wrote:

> >>Mark wrote:

> >>>…To make a long story short, my front end clunk was fixed by replacing the
> >>>bushings.  This was an easy thirty minute job while the car was on ramps.
> >>>The exact fit replacements I bought from Napa are **much** stiffer – I had a
> >>>hard time even spreading them apart to get them on the bar !  They are of a
> >>>blue material – I don’t know or care if they are poly as long as they last
> >>>as long or longer than the OEMs.  They were only $6 ea, in stock.

> >>I assumed you had to pull the sway bar to change the bushings.  Sounds
> >>like not from your description.  I may just have to do this myself
> >>rather than take it into the dealer.

> >>Matt

> > Not realy, Matt.  The bushings (OEM as well as aftermarket) are split.
> > Remove the two bracket bolts, and the sway bar is pretty much free to
> > move up and down, work the split original bushings off, and work the
> > split new bushings over the diameter, and they pop in place.  Then
> > re-attach the bracket.

> Sounds straightforward as long as the bolts aren’t too rusty.  Are the
> link bushings as easy to replace?

> Matt

Matt,
Perhaps your question is directed to Mark, but I don’t know if the
Caravan has the traditional straight rod with two donut bushings and
washers on each end, or if they’re like the LH vehicles on which the
link consists of a rod with a ball joint on each end.  Either type is
relatively easy to replace (on the ball-joint type, they did a good
design job as far as replacement – the stud extends well beyond its
threads and is hex shaped so you can plug a socket – 5/16" IIRC – to
keep the stud from turning while you loosen/remove the nut with a box
end).  The key in either case is having both wheels either on the ground
or jacked up (not one up and one down) to remove the torque on the sway
bar while R&R’ing the links.

If it is the traditional rod and donut type, some of the aftermarket
bushings (donuts) are polyurethane (super stiff and long-lasting – like
the polyurethane sway bar bushings) – I’m guessing that the aftermarket
industry has standardized on the descriptor "heavy duty" as the "secret
code word" for polyurethane for those link kits with bushings – usually
red (sometimes blue, sometimes yellow) in color (vs. OEM black).  The
counter computers probably list two kits for a typical application – one
as OEM equiv., the other as "heavy duty".

Bill Putney
(to reply by e-mail, replace the last letter of the alphabet in my
address with "x")

—–= Posted via Newsfeeds.Com, Uncensored Usenet News =—–
http://www.newsfeeds.com – The #1 Newsgroup Service in the World!
—–==  Over 100,000 Newsgroups – 19 Different Servers! =—–