'96 Stratus ES: broken timing belt

Our '96 Stratus ES (approx. 85K miles) "just died" several months ago
when our son was driving it, and we just got around having the problem
investigated.

Verdict: broken timing belt. This despite my having requested and paid
for a timing belt replacement about 25K miles and 5 years ago when the
water pump was being replaced.

Estimated repair cost: $2000 -- and I don't recall whether that even
covers valve replacements if necessary.

Is it worth fixing? The repair guy said that this model has also
suffered from main bearing wear, resulting in low oil pressure, which
leads to other problems. And the oil pressure light on this car has
occasionally come on when the engine is idling.

Perce

 

Most likely the oil light is a worn out (possibly leaking) low oil
pressure switch - very common in the Chryslers. The pressure is likely
not low.

Not sure if the car is worth $2000+.

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

 

We've pretty much decided not to spend the money. Kelly Blue Book
estimates private-party sale value as $2500. The repairer says he'll
give us $200 for it, and we're inclined to accept -- or perhaps try to
push him up $100.

I am still very puzzled why the belt broke. Even if the people who
replaced the water pump did not in fact replace the timing belt at
approx. 60K miles, I don't think it was due for replacement yet.

A family member had a Sebring ('98, I think), probably with a similar
power train, and he simply walked away from it -- but his had a major
transmission problem rather than an engine problem.

Perce

 

Since your Stratus is the ES model, I am guessing that you have the
MMC 2.5L-6. I don't know what the belt change interval is for the 6,
but I would think it would have lasted longer than 25,000 miles. I
have a 1998 w/ a 2.4L-4. The manual recommends a belt change at
101,000 miles. I will probably do it at 95,000 miles. It has 87,000
miles on it now.

When I had my 1990 Dodge Spirit w/ a 2.5L-4, the recommended change
was for 50,000 miles. I had just put on the third belt when the
headgasket went soon after. I donated it to the kidney foundation.

-KM

 

We thought of donating ours to the local Rescue Mission, but I think
they take cars only if the needed repairs are minor. I don't think a
major engine overhaul counts.

Perce

 

It looks like you are putting about 5k a year on the car. What kind
of shape is it in otherwise? These are pretty solid cars... I've been
around this group since this car was newish and haven't ever heard
anything about main bearing wear problems. I wouldn't worry about
them for another 100k at least.

If the car is otherwise in good shape I would probably fix it. Yes
the cost of the repair is probably more than the car is worth but
chances of finding another car for 2k that doesn't have its own set of
problems is rather slim. At 5k a year you could easily get a number
of good years out of it.

Steve B.

 

I called the Rescue Mission, and they are happy to take it. It's not
just for whatever profit they can get out of it after fixing it up, but
they actually teach people to repair autos, so it'll be doubly useful.

Perce

 

I had a thought about this after I posted earlier: One possibility is
that whoever replaced your belt and pump did not replace the tensioner
pulley. They do wear out and lock up. If that happened, that could
have led to an instant chain reaction with the results you see. Do you
happen to know if they replaced the tensioner (also might be called
tensioner pulley)?

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

 

Heh.

What they will probably do is find some wrecked ES in a yard with a
perfectly good engine, and $500 later they have a running car.

I did that myself with my 1980 Datsun 210 probably about 6 years ago
it was. Engine swaps are very easy to do, all you really need is a
cherry picker - and Harbor Freight loves discounting those.

Ted

 

why not just replace the belt and see what happens????

 

Went back to the Rescue Mission today to retrieve the garage door opener
we had left in the car. Auto Donations Manager said that the engine was
too far gone to repair, and the used engine they got as a replacement
wasn't much good either.

He says that the Chrysler/Dodge 2.5l and 2.7l engines were a terrible
design from the beginning, and that the company through which they offer
warranties on their reconditioned cars refuses to cover cars with these
engines -- or BMW or Jaguar cars.

Perce

 

Horse crap. The Chrysler 2.5 is a 4-cylinder engine built from about
1985 until the mid 1990s, and was an EXCELLENT machine. Turbo versions
of the 2.5 can pump out 400 horsepower without much mechanical
modification at all, though obviously the boost and fuel delivery
software has to be modified.

If you're talking about the 2.5L v6, then that's a Mitsubishi and yes
its a pile of junk. If you see blue smoke drifting along the highway,
follow the trail and odds are that it will lead to a Mitsubishi-powered
vehicle of some sort... unfortunately in the 80s and 90s it was often a
Chrysler model using a Mitsubishi engine.

The early Chrysler 2.7 had a lot of problems, but they seem to have
gotten them squared away in recent years.

 

They don't have the 2.5 4 cyl in 96. The op is referring to the 6 cyl. The
Stratus came with the 2.4 4cyl or 2.5 6 cyl

Glenn Beasley
Chrysler Tech

 

As I recall, the earlier MItsu V-6s had the "receeding valve guides"
which caused the oil smoke. Chrysler TSB was to, if it hadn't gotten
too bad, to put a groove in the outer diameter of the guide and put an
e-clip on it to keep it from falling any farther into the hole (so to
speak). That caused many dealership parts guys to holler as it meant
they didn't sell new cylinder heads any more (for those motors with that
problem). Problem was fixed in later model years.

Then there was the head gasket issue with some of the 4 cyls. Looked
like an oil leak that was really a failed gasket (for whatever reason).
In looking at some of the pictures of the casting, it looked like a
set-up for a leak, especially if it was on the end where the decking of
the block started (usually the "bit" will jump a little when it first
hits the object it's going to surface). Thinner wall casting on that
part of the head, it appears, plus a slight "dip" in the surface in that
area . . . set-up for a leak without a gasket that's both highly
compressable and durable. Again, seemed to not hear about it on the
later models.

Worst thing about the 2.7L V-6s I've driven (especially the first few
years) was "no low rpm power". But it was a good "drive around" motor.
Still, if you got the rpm level right at "kickdown", it'd put the engine
just above 3000rpm and then it felt like the afterburners had kicked in
(at least for a little while). Later versions seemed to not be quite so
peaky. Still, no compelling reason to have one rather than the 3.5L
V-6, as the 3.5 has more power and no real fuel economy penalty compared
to the 2.7L V-6 (at least in the LH cars).

In the Stratus, the 4 cyl runs almost as well as the V-6 AND gets
significantly better fuel economy. It does have a slight "flutter" at
idle (even with the balance shafts), but it goes away just off-idle. A
BIG advantage is in the price of electrical parts for the 4 cyl, though,
as the V-6 has Mitsu electrics on it (which have "import" Mitsu pricing
on them . . . i.e., expensive).

Just some thoughts . . .

C-BODY