98 Dodge Stratus - Leaking Head Gasket, Worth Fixing?

My brother sold his Toyota Tercel with over 200K miles to a mechanic. It did
NOT burn any oil either.

My fatherinlaw is still driving his 1990 Toyota Camry without any problems.

BUT my wifes Voyager gave out after 40K miles same head gasket problem.

If I had a choice, I would stay away from American cars especially Chrysler
products.. The quality is just NOT the same as Japanese and European. Though
price/features is great compared to them.
"SRG" > wrote in message
news
> Again, Recalls are for SAFETY issues, not defects in the car.
>
> > This is the problem with American cars! Poort quality compared to
european
> > or Japanese.
>
> My 87 Plymouth Reliant never had a blown head gasket, (got wrecked at 12
yrs
> old, 150 k miles on it) but I remember my friend's Toyota truck having
one.
>
> Chrysler did have a head gasket problem with the 95 to 98 1/2, 2.0 and 2.4
L
> engines. Neons, Breezes, Stratus's all had the problem. Lots of people
> were able to get it fixed with Chrysler footing the bill for all or most
of
> the costs, it they had 80 to 100k miles or less on the car. Sometimes
> Chrysler refused to help at all-- it seemed to be whatever dealer you went
> to and how they felt that day.
> It doesn't cost anything to ask, but for a 6 year old car, I'd be
surprised
> if Chrysler helped out much.
>
> Good Luck
> SRG
>
>

we had chrysler split the bill on the ones that were under 70k only if the
vehicle was properly maintained other wise it was 3/36 or service contract
"SRG" > wrote in message
news
> Again, Recalls are for SAFETY issues, not defects in the car.
>
> > This is the problem with American cars! Poort quality compared to
european
> > or Japanese.
>
> My 87 Plymouth Reliant never had a blown head gasket, (got wrecked at 12
yrs
> old, 150 k miles on it) but I remember my friend's Toyota truck having
one.
>
> Chrysler did have a head gasket problem with the 95 to 98 1/2, 2.0 and 2.4
L
> engines. Neons, Breezes, Stratus's all had the problem. Lots of people
> were able to get it fixed with Chrysler footing the bill for all or most
of
> the costs, it they had 80 to 100k miles or less on the car. Sometimes
> Chrysler refused to help at all-- it seemed to be whatever dealer you went
> to and how they felt that day.
> It doesn't cost anything to ask, but for a 6 year old car, I'd be
surprised
> if Chrysler helped out much.
>
> Good Luck
> SRG
>
>

we had chrysler split the bill on the ones that were under 70k only if the
vehicle was properly maintained other wise it was 3/36 or service contract
"SRG" > wrote in message
news
> Again, Recalls are for SAFETY issues, not defects in the car.
>
> > This is the problem with American cars! Poort quality compared to
european
> > or Japanese.
>
> My 87 Plymouth Reliant never had a blown head gasket, (got wrecked at 12
yrs
> old, 150 k miles on it) but I remember my friend's Toyota truck having
one.
>
> Chrysler did have a head gasket problem with the 95 to 98 1/2, 2.0 and 2.4
L
> engines. Neons, Breezes, Stratus's all had the problem. Lots of people
> were able to get it fixed with Chrysler footing the bill for all or most
of
> the costs, it they had 80 to 100k miles or less on the car. Sometimes
> Chrysler refused to help at all-- it seemed to be whatever dealer you went
> to and how they felt that day.
> It doesn't cost anything to ask, but for a 6 year old car, I'd be
surprised
> if Chrysler helped out much.
>
> Good Luck
> SRG
>
>

Yes..fix it...and ask Chrysler for "goodwill" help with the cost. It's still
should have many more miles in it...at least another 73K miles (assuming good
maintenance habits during its life).

Yes..fix it...and ask Chrysler for "goodwill" help with the cost. It's still
should have many more miles in it...at least another 73K miles (assuming good
maintenance habits during its life).

After much cogitation, says...
> I have a 98 Dodge Stratus, with the 2.4 DOHC engine. It has about 73K
> miles on it. I've been told by the dealer that my head gasket is
> leaking. The estimate for repair is $700 - $1000. Is it worth fixing?
> At 73K miles, if I fix this, will there be any other big repairs
> waiting in the wings? Or should this be the last of it? Is it
> reasonable to expect to get another year out of this car?
>
> I don't understand how the head gasket can go, as the car has never
> over heated the entire 6 years I had her. And I've always kept up with
> recommended maintenance with the vehicle.
>
> On another note, I must admit that my experience with this Stratus
> precludes me from ever buying another Dodge vehicle. Has Chrysler
> cleaned up its act since Daimler bought them out? I'd like to still
> buy American, but if I have to buy an import I will.
>

The head gasket on my 97 Stratus (2.4L) went at 80K miles. I had it
fixed and it is still running great at 166,000 miles.

After much cogitation, says...
> I have a 98 Dodge Stratus, with the 2.4 DOHC engine. It has about 73K
> miles on it. I've been told by the dealer that my head gasket is
> leaking. The estimate for repair is $700 - $1000. Is it worth fixing?
> At 73K miles, if I fix this, will there be any other big repairs
> waiting in the wings? Or should this be the last of it? Is it
> reasonable to expect to get another year out of this car?
>
> I don't understand how the head gasket can go, as the car has never
> over heated the entire 6 years I had her. And I've always kept up with
> recommended maintenance with the vehicle.
>
> On another note, I must admit that my experience with this Stratus
> precludes me from ever buying another Dodge vehicle. Has Chrysler
> cleaned up its act since Daimler bought them out? I'd like to still
> buy American, but if I have to buy an import I will.
>

The head gasket on my 97 Stratus (2.4L) went at 80K miles. I had it
fixed and it is still running great at 166,000 miles.

Doug Samuel wrote:

> After much cogitation, says...
>
>>I have a 98 Dodge Stratus, with the 2.4 DOHC engine. It has about 73K
>>miles on it. I've been told by the dealer that my head gasket is
>>leaking. The estimate for repair is $700 - $1000. Is it worth fixing?

I'm trying to resist calling this a silly question. Of course its worth
fixing- could you possibly replace the car for $700 to $1000? NO. Could
you sell it for anything like its actual value with the gasket leaking?
NO. Is changing a head gasket a huge job? NO.


>>At 73K miles, if I fix this, will there be any other big repairs
>>waiting in the wings? Or should this be the last of it? Is it
>>reasonable to expect to get another year out of this car?

I've kept all my Chrysler products to at least 200k, so unless you can
drive over 130,000 miles in a year... :-)

>>
>>I don't understand how the head gasket can go, as the car has never
>>over heated the entire 6 years I had her. And I've always kept up with
>>recommended maintenance with the vehicle.

The whole problem is that some key folks retired from Chrysler
Engineering in the early 90s, and then they started designing cheap
engines like the Japanese imports do. Soft alloy heads without enough
head bolts, interference engines timed with belts, etc. The 2.4
4-cylinder and the 2.7 V6 are particularly Honda-esque. Or maybe the 2.7
is more Toyota-esque, since its problem is that it cooks its oil to
sludge like Toyota engines do. Fortunately they got bit hard, and the
newer engines like the 4.7, 3.7, and 5.7 seem very solid. The 3.2 and
3.5L v6 engines were/are good as well, and the 3.3/3.8 in the minvans
were some of the last designs from the good days.


>>

Doug Samuel wrote:

> After much cogitation, says...
>
>>I have a 98 Dodge Stratus, with the 2.4 DOHC engine. It has about 73K
>>miles on it. I've been told by the dealer that my head gasket is
>>leaking. The estimate for repair is $700 - $1000. Is it worth fixing?

I'm trying to resist calling this a silly question. Of course its worth
fixing- could you possibly replace the car for $700 to $1000? NO. Could
you sell it for anything like its actual value with the gasket leaking?
NO. Is changing a head gasket a huge job? NO.


>>At 73K miles, if I fix this, will there be any other big repairs
>>waiting in the wings? Or should this be the last of it? Is it
>>reasonable to expect to get another year out of this car?

I've kept all my Chrysler products to at least 200k, so unless you can
drive over 130,000 miles in a year... :-)

>>
>>I don't understand how the head gasket can go, as the car has never
>>over heated the entire 6 years I had her. And I've always kept up with
>>recommended maintenance with the vehicle.

The whole problem is that some key folks retired from Chrysler
Engineering in the early 90s, and then they started designing cheap
engines like the Japanese imports do. Soft alloy heads without enough
head bolts, interference engines timed with belts, etc. The 2.4
4-cylinder and the 2.7 V6 are particularly Honda-esque. Or maybe the 2.7
is more Toyota-esque, since its problem is that it cooks its oil to
sludge like Toyota engines do. Fortunately they got bit hard, and the
newer engines like the 4.7, 3.7, and 5.7 seem very solid. The 3.2 and
3.5L v6 engines were/are good as well, and the 3.3/3.8 in the minvans
were some of the last designs from the good days.


>>

Steve wrote:
> ...The 2.4
> 4-cylinder and the 2.7 V6 are particularly Honda-esque. Or maybe the 2.7
> is more Toyota-esque, since its problem is that it cooks its oil to
> sludge like Toyota engines do. Fortunately they got bit hard, and the
> newer engines like the 4.7, 3.7, and 5.7 seem very solid.

Steve - Having said that, why would DC design in the 2.7L as the
baseline engine in some of their new vehicles? Has the root cause of
the problems been fixed, or are they stupider than a box of rocks (or
believe that their customers are)? I've asked this before, but
apparetnly no-one is in the know on this - hopefully one of these times,
someone who knows for sure will post an answer.

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


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