Forum Replies Created
-
Replies
-
RE: Dodges being unreliable
I’ve been driving my 04 stratus for almost 3 years, I haven’t had any MAJOR issues “knock on wood”…
I have one with a 2.4L 4 cyl (though I wouldn’t touch the v6 models with a 10 ft. pole). As with any car scheduled maintenance is important (but especially with these cars). My stratus has had some problems I needed to address (the original alternator went at 67k, new upper control arms at 74k, AIR pump went at 78k, original rad went at 80k, etc). To be fair it was a little rough when I bought it, but I bought it dirt cheap (1900 with 63k in 2012) and it’s now a 10 year old vehicle (and old parts are bound to fail sometime).
Soon I’m going to be doing the timing belt/components and replacing nearly all the major components of my front suspension (I want to upgrade to raybestos greasable balljoints/tierods/swaybar links so that I can just re-grease at oil changes and not worry as much about it all falling apart).
I’ll say it again, this car has never left me stranded..unless we’re counting the unexpected college parking lot radiator swap in the dark (but I already had the parts and tools in my back seat so I wasn’t “stranded” per say). Some of the car’s issues MIGHT have left me stranded if I hadn’t kept up with maintenance/inspected things from time to time.
Bottom line, the stratus is ok if you stay away from any v6 model made between the early 90s and 2006.
What brand/type of pads, rotors, and calipers did you use? I own a 2004 stratus, and from your description it sounds like something is dragging. It’s possible you received a warped rotor from wherever you purchased them. Also, it could be a bad wheel bearing causing excessive runout (and your noise).
Here’s a short checklist of things I ask myself when I’m doing anything brake-related:
Have I used a c clamp to move the caliper piston back fully before seating the pads?
Have I replaced the brake hardware (like the anti-rattle spring on the caliper)?
Have I used antiseize on the relevant surfaces?
Have I clean and properly lubricated the caliper slide pins with a silicone paste or equivalent lube?
Have I properly torque the caliper slide pins and mounting bracket bolts?
Have I properly bleed my brakes?
Have I check the lateral runout on the wheel bearings before installing the rotors?What brand/type of pads, rotors, and calipers did you use? I own a 2004 stratus, and from your description it sounds like something is dragging. It’s possible you received a warped rotor from wherever you purchased them. Also, it could be a bad wheel bearing causing excessive runout (and your noise).
Here’s a short checklist of things I ask myself when I’m doing anything brake-related:
Have I used a c clamp to move the caliper piston back fully before seating the pads?
Have I replaced the brake hardware (like the anti-rattle spring on the caliper)?
Have I used antiseize on the relevant surfaces?
Have I clean and properly lubricated the caliper slide pins with a silicone paste or equivalent lube?
Have I properly torque the caliper slide pins and mounting bracket bolts?
Have I properly bleed my brakes?
Have I check the lateral runout on the wheel bearings before installing the rotors?Generally the receiver/drier is replaced whenever the system is opened up for work. HVAC can be fairly complicated when diagnosing issues like this.
Are you sure the system isn’t burned out (bad compressor)? That would send little shards of metal all throughout the system, clogging up the drier (and possibly the expansion valve as well). Do you have a set of manifold gauges? If so, what are the pressures and is the compressor cycling on and off? It’s not normal to go through receiver/driers that often..
Generally the receiver/drier is replaced whenever the system is opened up for work. HVAC can be fairly complicated when diagnosing issues like this.
Are you sure the system isn’t burned out (bad compressor)? That would send little shards of metal all throughout the system, clogging up the drier (and possibly the expansion valve as well). Do you have a set of manifold gauges? If so, what are the pressures and is the compressor cycling on and off? It’s not normal to go through receiver/driers that often..
Hey all, I finally got got around to my repair yesterday/last night and everything worked well.
The only time killer I had to deal with was removing refrigerant line mounting studs off my old condenser to transfer to the new one. I needed external torx bits to remove them, and home depot/lowes didn’t carry them (though they had torx drivers…) I ended up spending an extra $40 on a set of gearwrench sockets, which are better fit/finished than I though they would be (but not $40-for-10-sockets nice). All this running around meant I needed to re-assemble everything in the dark, with only a droplight to see. Luckily, it held a vacuum once I was finished and I charged it up without issue.
Also, my new rockauto condenser had some fitment issues… When they boxed it up at the factory, someone bent the trans cooler inlet/outlet inward towards the body of the condenser. I ended up carefully bending it back, but even after they were set true I had problems with the bolt holes lining up. My replacement receiver/dryer (the second one rockauto sent me) needed some persuasion/bending as well in order to get it installed. The lines going to and from it brazed onto the cylinder, and the line going to the expansion valve is a 3 foot long hard line:
At least my new a/c recovery machine and cylinder worked flawlessly! See the pic below for my recovery setup:
Also, for those of you using Harbor Freight r134a gauges, use these o-rings when you assemble/re-o-ring your manifold: The black o-ring sets they sell at HF just don’t hold up well for HVAC applications. I’ve even had some of the black o-rings fail after only a few minutes of diagnostic work.. Use these o-rings or similar and you will be much happier:
Also, rockauto told me to keep the original drier they shipped, and they sent me a replacement free of charge.
Thanks again for all the input!
Hey all, I finally got got around to my repair yesterday/last night and everything worked well.
The only time killer I had to deal with was removing refrigerant line mounting studs off my old condenser to transfer to the new one. I needed external torx bits to remove them, and home depot/lowes didn’t carry them (though they had torx drivers…) I ended up spending an extra $40 on a set of gearwrench sockets, which are better fit/finished than I though they would be (but not $40-for-10-sockets nice). All this running around meant I needed to re-assemble everything in the dark, with only a droplight to see. Luckily, it held a vacuum once I was finished and I charged it up without issue.
Also, my new rockauto condenser had some fitment issues… When they boxed it up at the factory, someone bent the trans cooler inlet/outlet inward towards the body of the condenser. I ended up carefully bending it back, but even after they were set true I had problems with the bolt holes lining up. My replacement receiver/dryer (the second one rockauto sent me) needed some persuasion/bending as well in order to get it installed. The lines going to and from it brazed onto the cylinder, and the line going to the expansion valve is a 3 foot long hard line:
At least my new a/c recovery machine and cylinder worked flawlessly! See the pic below for my recovery setup:
Also, for those of you using Harbor Freight r134a gauges, use these o-rings when you assemble/re-o-ring your manifold: The black o-ring sets they sell at HF just don’t hold up well for HVAC applications. I’ve even had some of the black o-rings fail after only a few minutes of diagnostic work.. Use these o-rings or similar and you will be much happier:
Also, rockauto told me to keep the original drier they shipped, and they sent me a replacement free of charge.
Thanks again for all the input!
I never said the compressor was bad, I said I didn’t want to risk damaging the functioning one already in the car by installing a saturated replacement drier. That said, the refrigerant is less than a year old and coming from a fully functioning system. Does that change anything as far as being able to re-use it?
Thanks!
I never said the compressor was bad, I said I didn’t want to risk damaging the functioning one already in the car by installing a saturated replacement drier. That said, the refrigerant is less than a year old and coming from a fully functioning system. Does that change anything as far as being able to re-use it?
Thanks!
That’s what I was thinking. Considering the time and expense of replacing a seized compressor, making sure I get a sealed drier is the best plan. Despite the (comparative) expense, I think of these parts like oil filters in a lot of ways.
Extra question: since I’m de-gassing the system myself, should I just reuse the refrigerant I had in there? I’m going to need to put in new PAG oil anyway, but I wasn’t sure if I should go get some virgin r134a or use what I have. I do my recoveries with at least one filter/drier (and have a few extra laying around in case I need to recover a burned out system), so I’m thinking that cleans it up enough to reuse?
Thanks!
-EDIT-
I just submitted a claim to get a new one through the website, and they’re telling me that I don’t need to send back the old one (which is cool I guess). We’ll see if the replacement’s replacement comes in any better shape…
Thanks!
That’s what I was thinking. Considering the time and expense of replacing a seized compressor, making sure I get a sealed drier is the best plan. Despite the (comparative) expense, I think of these parts like oil filters in a lot of ways.
Extra question: since I’m de-gassing the system myself, should I just reuse the refrigerant I had in there? I’m going to need to put in new PAG oil anyway, but I wasn’t sure if I should go get some virgin r134a or use what I have. I do my recoveries with at least one filter/drier (and have a few extra laying around in case I need to recover a burned out system), so I’m thinking that cleans it up enough to reuse?
Thanks!
-EDIT-
I just submitted a claim to get a new one through the website, and they’re telling me that I don’t need to send back the old one (which is cool I guess). We’ll see if the replacement’s replacement comes in any better shape…
Thanks!
Thank you for the reply, but did you read the first post? I know the procedure and have the tools, but I’m not sure if I want to use my replacement drier (which came without being capped on one end to prevent moisture inside) or reuse the one currently on the vehicle (less than a year old).
Is there anyone here with a little more hvac experience than me who can chime in?
Thank you.
Thank you for the reply, but did you read the first post? I know the procedure and have the tools, but I’m not sure if I want to use my replacement drier (which came without being capped on one end to prevent moisture inside) or reuse the one currently on the vehicle (less than a year old).
Is there anyone here with a little more hvac experience than me who can chime in?
Thank you.
