3 Questions About a 2003 Dodge Stratus R/T
I have a 2003 Dodge Stratus R/T 3.0
v6 automatic with 161,*** miles with a
couple of problems that I'm aware of.
First things first, sometimes it won't
start. Anytime it sits for a few hours it
will start right up. But, if I drive say,
10 miles, if I turn my car off, most of
the time it won't start back.
Sometimes it takes 5 minutes for it to
start again, other times it takes an
hour. But, if I just let it sit for about 45
minutes, it will usually start right up
no problems. I don't even really know
where to begin to even try and fix it
though. At first, I thought it was
because my car was overheating
really bad. But, I've already resolved
that issue by putting a new
Thermostat on my car, and 20-30
minutes later after I turned my car
off, it wouldn't start again, but it's not
overheating anymore. But, now that
I'm not having to run my heater to
keep the engine cool, when it won't
start, and you turn the key over and
turn it back, it makes and awful
noise. It sounds like something is
stopped up, and it's trying to suck
gas through it.
The second issue... I'm not 100%
sure about this, but I think it's only
when I run my A/C or Heater that it
happens, but, after about a week of
driving my car a little everyday, there
is standing water in the front and
back driver's side floorboard. But,
the passenger side is completely dry.
I've tried to find where it's coming
from on several different occasions,
but I've never been able to find a leak
or anything. If it is leaking because of
the heater or A/C, I'll know within the
next day or two. While my car was
overheating like I mentioned in the
question, I had to constantly have my
heater on so my car wouldn't
overheat. And I hadn't noticed any
water in the floor boards prior to that.
So I'm thinking it has something to
do with my heater. So I'm not going
to even use my A/C or Heater for a
while and see if it stops.
The last issue, I'm not really worried
about it as much as the other 2, but
for some reason, a lot of the time
when I start my car, the cruise control
will turn itself on as soon as the key
is turned over. It turns right off and
doesn't come back on unless I turn it
on, and it works fine. But, like I said,
I'm not really that worried about this.
okay....easy....what is wrong here is the system ground is insufficient..not from anyone's fault, but this pulling over 300 amps from the same spot that a delicate .5 mA uses is a recipe for disaster....modern cars have TWO 1/0 battery cables...but to solve your first problem....get a brand NEW battery (cause they rapidly degrade with the new tin/antimony alloys and frequently need to be recycled--10%/year) next find the end of the 1/0 black cable where it attaches to the frame/ground and with a coarse wirebrush assure that over 300 cold cranking amps can get through okay....yet there will be a SOLID area in contact for the 12.5 volts needed for the ECU, the ignition, the fuel pump and any other accessories such as the windshield wipers....okay 2nd problem there is a drain tube to the outside of the car through the floor what starts at the lowest point of your a/c evaporator.....we've got to get this drain tube clean....a "pin" blast from your mechanic will push the junk back into the evaporator, but will flow clean and hopefully take all the dead spider eggs with it~.....as far as your cruise control, as I have stated varying voltages and varying available amperages no matter how micro make for an unreliable device...the computer...the warning system...even the power windows....ya see?~
welcome to my mold spore collection....a barn '61 Cadillac that I rescued had BLACK MOLD over all the beautiful robin's egg interior....believe it or not, I used the bathroom cleaner mold remover "TILEX" which erased the mold and did not leave too much residue~
You DO have an ignition relay...the symptoms you describe PEG this as a ignition relay complication~....varying voltages from your insufficient ground may play a role in the less than voltage needed to engage...and is not the relay's fault~ https://www.google.com/#q=2003+Dodge+Stratus+ignition+relay
....stilll with me? drivin' quickly to the top...because I do not "just make these answers up" as some soreheads have been complaining...one guy said "they ought to SHOOT judge_roy"...am not intimidated...look at your reputation points before you start criticizing mine~
Okay re-read your complaint and am leaning to a defective heater core...leaking perhaps easy....perhaps one of those lousy butyl-rubber (chewing gum and coal-tar) perhaps you'd ought replace the butyl-rubber hoses with silicone...they are ten times more expensive but will NEVER decay....(if this is coolant...and not WATER)~
this loss of coolant would definitely cause an overheat....have a mechanic put a pressure tester on there pump 'er up to 18 PSI and pay close attention to where the geyser show begins and take corrective measures~
sadly...does not seem to be an evaporator drain (tho may be also the problem) CalebG1996 find that leaker~
