Manifold/header/muffler/tail Pipe Problems of Dodge Stratus - part 1

The contact owns a 2004 Dodge Stratus. While driving 60 mph, the vehicle experienced engine failure at the head of the engine. The contact pulled off the road and the vehicle was towed. He discovered that the machine head was constructed incorrectly, which prevented oil from reaching the cylinder. The head was replaced under warranty. The contact had to pay a $100 deductible and was told that the expenses would be taken up with the Chrysler dealer. The current and failure mileages were 31,000.

See all problems of the 2004 Dodge Stratus 🔎.

: the contact stated while parked, there was oil on the ground under the vehicle. The dealership determined there was a cracked head gasket. The manufacturer was alerted.

See all problems of the 1999 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.

See all problems of the 1996 Dodge Stratus 🔎.

While the vehicle was parked consumer noticed fluid leaking from underneath the vehicle. . Read more...

See all problems of the 1998 Dodge Stratus 🔎.

Mechanic determined that intake manifold was cracked. And coolant spilled inside the engine and the overflow.

I recently bought a Stratus from a used car dealer and I know buyer beware. Any how, I was told by the dealership that they got it from a Dodge dealership and they said it had a head gasket leak. The dealership that I got it from said they looked it over and it wasn't a head gasket, but an oil pan leak. Anyhow, I bought it(hook-line and sinker). Went to get an inspection and was told that it was a head gasket leak. Took it to a couple others and they said it was that. So, I told the company I bought it from and got 300. 00 back . Then proceeded to take it to a Dodge dealership(gladstone Dodge) here in town. They said that it was a head gasket leak, but also said it was many other thing to the tune of 2000. 00, I didn't have the money for that so I took it to another dealership that just found a head gasket leak and a few other minor things and fixed it all for a 1000. 00. What I dont understand with all these problems with the head gasket is why they haven't been recalled? unfortunates, I don't have the old parts to this but wish I did.

White smoke and water coming out of tailpipe. More than likely blown head gasket. Seems to be a known problems for these cars. Dodge says its not on recall but I think it should be!!!!!!.

See all problems of the 1997 Dodge Stratus 🔎.

Problems with vehicle's head gasket. The consumer was told that this part was not covered under warranty.

Consumer had the oil changed in the vehicle, and was told that the head blew a gasket. Manufacturer informed the consumer that the gasket was defective, but no recall was anticipated for that part.

1997 Dodge Stratus 2. 4l has a blown head gasket. The car has 119000 miles and my repair technician says that this problem should really not occur at this point. The car has leaked oil since about 60,000 miles.

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.

The vehicles head gasket failed and the manifold cracked.

Massive oil leak from head gasket there is a consistant problem with the 98 (and other years) Dodge Stratus engines. The head gasket is leaking oil massively. Whe you are driving it splatters down the underside of the car, landing on the catalytic converter, the exhaust pipes and muffler. I have no fires of yet, but we have restricted use to short trips. Here is a link to a message baord with similar people with problems. . Read more...

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.

Head gaskets fail on Chrysler 2. 4 liter engines lots of people with the same problem head gasket had to be redisigned see service bulletin # 090598 my oil was leaking from head gasket and blowing onto the exhaust manifold posing a fire risk dealer replaced head gasket however didnt cover the entire charges.

Exhaust manifold cracked and headgasket had to be replaced due to leaking oil.

Head gaskets blewout, leaking coolant onto engine and cracking the exhaust manifold. Dealer is inspecting and will repair vehicle. Consumer adds that the rear seal needed to be replaced due to the leak, total cost of repairs were $1600 dealer stated cold weather played a major part in damage.

A head gasket failure due to a loss of oil blowing out of the manifold dealer / manufacturer notified, and informed consumer vehicle was not covered under a recall. Feel free to provide any further details on this matter.

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.

This car has been a major problem. Head gasket failed at approx 11,000 on my way to airport to pick up family on April 10, 1999. Couldn't get it in for service until April 14, 1999. Transmission clutch started catching or scraping on something shortly after head gasket was replaced, I was told when work was completed (replaced cables on 11/18/1999) that problem was manufacturer defect mileage was 18,373. Was again experiencing same problem with clutch on 2/29/2000. Upon speaking with service team, was told there was a bad bearing in the transmission and they would be replacing both the cables and transmission parts; I also asked for them to check the engine light , because it was coming on and had a strong smell of gasoline; vaccum system was replaced. On 3/24/2000 internal parts of transmission were replaced at 22,349 mi. On 06/05/2000 engine stalled and was difficult to restart, engine was running really rough, replaced mapping computer @25,008 mi. Came home from work on 8/23/2000 strong odor of gasoline. Opened hood and watched gas leaking all over exhaust manifold. Had it towed to dealership on 8/24/2000 w/ 29,539 mi. Replaced cracked fuel injectors and leaking hoses. The car is now in again because of yet the same transmission/clutch problem previously complained about. Think . . . I'm driving down I 95 with my family in my car. Transmission fails, big truck runs the car over . . . Does Chrysler want that headache?.

Exhaust manifold - upon dealer replacing defective cylinder head gasket, was notified by dealer that the exhaust manifold has a crack and should be replaced. Prior to taking to dealer another garage had determined the cause for overheating to be from a defective head gasket. They did not mention anything about crack in exhaust manifold during their inspection of the vehicle. Owner feels damage was caused by the dealer upon removal of the cylinder head or due to excessive heat caused by overheating from the defective head gasket. Dealer refused to acknowledge responsiblity and refused to contact Dodge factory representative. They said it was safe to re-install the cracked exhaust manifold and drive the vehicle. We are concerned about exhaust fumes coming into the vehicle and feel it is unsafe. Steering rack - the power steering failed and caused vehicle to be virtually undriveable. When we contacted the manufacturer, we were told it was out of the warranty period. We therefore paid to have it replaced at a cost of almost $800. We feel that the rack and pinion steering rack assembly should not have failed with only 52,000 miles on the vehicle.

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!.

While driving consumer smelled oil burning which was leaking from engine head gasket, and getting into engine manifold. Dealer has repaired engine head gasket four times, but problem has returned.

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.