Dianka Posted December 21, 2005 Share Posted December 21, 2005 In the past, if I had a problem with a car - like having to take it in for a tune up - I would just sell it for something newer..... I've had to hold on to this one though. Ok, it's a 98 Dodge Stratus, annoying shit. I have to keep at least a half a tank of gas in my car or the damn thing chugs like a lazy bitch upon starting in the morning. Yeah, it's damn cold out there (average temp in the last 2 weeks has been around 15 degrees for the high). I know that cars are harder to start in the artic climate, but I find her difficult starts unreasonable. Also, if I have a quarter tank or less in the car, it will not start in the morning. Happened twice already. The old gal has a little over 100k miles on her. In the last 12 months alone, I put over 50k on it. Anyway I wonder how bad this is. Terminal? Expensive? Suprisingly easy to fix? Seriously, I don't know anyone who has a knowldge of cars that wouldn't charge me (it's just us three women in this house) so I figure someone around here could give me some free inisight. Basically, how much can I expect to spend if something needs to be fixed? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
♦ nivek ♦ Posted December 21, 2005 Share Posted December 21, 2005 D, Spark plugs changed will go along way to revitalize the cold start problems. Change oil to a lighter value, for that old of a car and mileage and in winter, try 5-30 multiweight. Also have the shop guys change the fuel filter, run a good robust tank/injector cleaner with your next fill up after the f. filter is changed. Make sure the air filter is kept clean, in sluggish super cold air you need all you can get to make combustion happen. Try the plugs and oil change first, it'll make a hellova difference. HTH kevin, former ASE Master Mechanic, L Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dianka Posted December 21, 2005 Author Share Posted December 21, 2005 Is that an entire tune up? I think the last time I took the lass in was around June, how often does one take their care in? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Challenger Posted December 21, 2005 Share Posted December 21, 2005 How often it goes in probably depends on the mileage. In addition to the plugs and air filter, make sure the battery cable connections are clean, and the battery water is at the designated level. A neglected battery will make cold starting conditons that much more difficult. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dianka Posted December 21, 2005 Author Share Posted December 21, 2005 How often it goes in probably depends on the mileage. In addition to the plugs and air filter, make sure the battery cable connections are clean, and the battery water is at the designated level. A neglected battery will make cold starting conditons that much more difficult. Don't laugh too hard. A battery has water? Is there some sort of meter on the thing to check the level? I just changed the battery about 6 mo. ago. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Challenger Posted December 21, 2005 Share Posted December 21, 2005 How often it goes in probably depends on the mileage. In addition to the plugs and air filter, make sure the battery cable connections are clean, and the battery water is at the designated level. A neglected battery will make cold starting conditons that much more difficult. Don't laugh too hard. A battery has water? Is there some sort of meter on the thing to check the level? I just changed the battery about 6 mo. ago. Yes, a car battery has water. It doesn't have a meter but there should be some caps, or something similar, depending on the style of battery. Those come off. Then you can check the water level. It should form a miniscus (concave surface) just inside the cap well. Use distilled water for adding to it. If your battery is only six months old it should be fine, most batteries can last five or six years, sometime longer. When you take your car in for an oil change, ask them to check the battery water for you also. And the transmission fluid level. They should be checking those things anyway. All fluids in your car should be checked when you change your oil. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
greasemonkey Posted December 21, 2005 Share Posted December 21, 2005 Pretty funny ...Nivek (Kevin) and greasemonkey (also a Kevin), one past & one present Master mechanic (I think my electrical cert has lapsed though (I've been disabled for more than a year). Not many batteries are servicable anymore, so don't work too hard on trying to pry the caps off. There is generally a warning on the top of the battery whether it is servicable or not. If you replaced it 6 months ago, and the engine turns okay but just won't start, then I doubt that is the problem. Do you have the 2.4 liter (4 cyl) or the 2.5 (6-cyl)? The 2.5's are kind of known for having fuel injector problems; usually occuring after you put new plug wires on, but the problem is generally leakage, not misfiring or poor starting. I'll tell you a dirty little secret about most fuel injectors since the mid to early 90's. They are teflon coated, so they generally don't need much by way of cleaning UNLESS you are a fan of buying cheap gas OR you use those fuel injector additives (some of them actually strip the teflon off, insuring you will have to keep buying more...). Where you buy your gas is one of the largest factors ...almost all of the major gas companies (Shell, Texaco, Mobil, etc) have detergent added into the fuel, insuring long injector life (and theoretically, they should never require servicing). The cheapie gas generally doesn't have the detergents, so the injectors foul eventually. Shop fuel injection cleaners seldom harm the teflon, so if you need them professionally cleaned, you can probably get away with just buying a little better grade of gas in the future. If you are a fan of using the additives, then, well ...you had better keep using them every 10K miles or so. Just by your description of the amount of gas in the tank making such a big difference in the starting, I'd say you have some bad gas, or at least a water buildup in the fuel tank. Changing the fuel filter is kind of a "must do" here. You might want to consider having the tank drained, but there are also some products out there for dispersing water in gasoline (isopropyl-based fuel antifreeze MIGHT do the trick). The oil & air filter change & lighter oil weight is a biggie; sometimes it can be something that simple. I hate to say this, but over a 100K on the 2.5's is pretty close to thier average life expectancy; car's are being built more and more towards being "disposable" anymore... If you ever have the yellow "check engine" light come on, then we are probably talking about a whole different story. I always hated it when a customer brought us a car, described the problem, but failed to mention that "sometimes the little yellow light comes on then goes back off." Any car above a '96 stores a wealth of information that made the light come on, and that information CAN be critical to finding the problem. We don't plug into the computer unless we are TOLD that the light came on, and without that information, the car will generally leave with the same problem they came in for because we ended up guessing the most common (non-computer related) causes. Hope this helps. Feel free to PM me with questions, I don't always go back to check threads... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dianka Posted December 22, 2005 Author Share Posted December 22, 2005 Thanks everybody. Yes, I was guilty of using the cheapy gas for a while, but I don't drive too much anymore, so I stepped up the quality of the gas. No, the gas light does not come on. I figure the car is pretty much done by now. I beat her pretty bad. And it is a 2.5. Thank you all! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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