Manifold/header/muffler/tail Pipe problems of the 1996 Dodge Stratus

While the vehicle was parked consumer noticed fluid leaking from underneath the vehicle. It was taken to the dealer for inspection, and mechanic determined that the head gasket needed to be replaced. Recall campaign; NHTSA campaign id number : 96v006000. The consumer took the vehicle to have the recall service done and the problem became worse.

I have a 1996 Dodge Stratus (71,000 miles) with a severe oil leak from the head gasket. It is a 2. 4l engine and like all others if has failed. Chrystler knows they have a poor product and a failure of a design, but they do not want to take any responsibility for their mistake. This car has been driven very little, mostly to school to drop off the kids and to the local stores. A car with less than 9,000 miles a year on it should not have a $1000. 00 repair to such a major part. The chrystler corporation should repair all 2. 4l engines at their cost because it is terrible engine. I will never buy another chrystler product and I will attempt to ersuade everyone I know from making the mistake I made !.

Consumer states manifold has cracked, causing fumes to seep into the vehicle.

Consumer noticed oil leaking from vehicle. Consumer checked engine, and noticed the leak was coming from head gasket above exhaust manifold. Dodge has been contacted. Please provide any further information.

Engine head gaskets had developed a crack & was leaking fluids. Took vehicle to mechanic & the head gasket was removed and replaced. Checked exhaust manifold which was next to firewall. The fumes would enter the vents & the heater. The oil leaking from head gasket blew onto the exhaust pipe, causing fumes. Chrysler contacted & shipped new head gaskets.

Major oil leak on the driver side near the firewall. Dealer diagnosed a head gasket failure, allowing oil to pump out of the engine near the exhaust manifold. Recommended fixing to avoid fire, but would not offer any help. Reviewed up to customer rel. Mgr. At zone office, said due to mileage, no assistance would be offered. This seems too low a mileage for the engine to be self destructing when other brands run 200k and more miles with no trouble.

The vehicle was inspected at cerritos Dodge, 18827 studebaker road, cerritos, California 90703, phone 562-402-5335, service 562-924-8275. I was informed that my engine head gasket was "blown" and leaking "badly" over the exhaust manifold which is a fire hazard in the engine compartment. I was also informed that the designed in haed gasket from Dodge was inappropriate for the application, and that the replacement gasket was appropriatelly thicker with metal lining as should have been done in the first place. I feel that since this is a design flaw and fire hazard, the 1996 Dodge Stratus with this problem should be recalled by the manufacturer. The estimated cost for part replacement and additional service needed after this procedure is estimated to be $750 to $1000.

Oil has leaked since Feb '99. It cannot be found where oil leakage is coming from. Also manifold gasket is not functioning-loud noise coming from engine from speed of 5mph or more. Manifold gasket needs to be replaced.

Severe oil leak on backside of engine near exhaust manifold. Was told it was not the recalled oil galley plug in the head but the head gasket was bad. Had to have head gasket replaced, cam seals, cam sensor and various other gaskets. Was told by another Chrysler dealer that this was a known problem that these engines dump oil, but Chrysler does not want to take responsibility for it. One dealer said they have replaced 7 in the past 2 weeks, a goodyear shop told us that they saw 5 in one week that had come in for other reasons and they had to send them to the dealer. There are numerous complaints on the internet about this. We had to pay to have this replaced and Chrysler should be responsible. Head gaskets do not just go bad on new cars. To put the final nail in our coffin. The dealer (jack caruso regency Dodge in jacksonville florida) that replaced this gasket, put our engine back together wrong. We were driving and the car lost power and we smelled fuel. The fuel line to the engine was loose and spraying oil everywhere, the groundstrap was arching with the spark plug wire at the distributor. We had the car towed to a different Dodge dealer as we were on vacation. The dealer said we came very close to losing our lives, another few seconds and the car would have exploded. They said "whoever put this engine back together did a ?!@#$% job and did not know what they were doing" the fuel line was bent and the seal cracked, the vacuum lines were not routed correctly, brackets were loose on hoses and parts loose on the back of the engine. After we paid again to have this fixed, we brought the car to our dealer who screwed up and they deny everything and are not of any help. We are out a lot of money, but at least it is only money, we came very close to losing the lives of 4 people. This is uncalled for!.

The engine cylinder head is leaking oil onto the exhaust manifold and all over the engine compartment which could cause a fire. This problem is under recall # 96v00600, Chrysler/engine. When owner contacted the manufacturer, this vehicle was not included in the recall.

Front exhaust pipe has cracked . Dealer has inspected vehicle. Consumer states crack is on flexible part of exhaust pipe, mechanic advised consumer that cracked should have never occured, and the original pipe was probably defective.

Engine head gasket is leaking oil onto the engine manifold which could cause a fire. Gasket is on backorder for over a month.

The car exibits the same problems described in the recal 671 for the 1996 Dodge Stratus oil leaking on exhaust manifold emitting a horrible smell could cause under hood fire.

Engine oil is leaking on to manifold from head gasket, creating an oil smell. Owner is concerned of vehicle catching on fire.

The vehicle ran out of oil within 3 weeks because of the hole in the head gaskets. Dealer said this would cause a fire if oil gets on manifold.

Consumer states vehicle was serviced by dealer, technician noticed engine manifold needed to be replaced, but parts were not available.

The head gasket leaked oil onto the exhaust manifold.

Exhaust manifold cracked.