Questionmy girl's stratus has been expierencing trouble accelerating for some time, above 45ish is fine. up to 45 can take forever. disconnecting the battery for a few minutes, the about ten minutes of idling would help that a bit.
today, it wouldnt start, turns over, but wont catch. the gas pedal offers absolutely no resistance, i have zero expirience with these vehicles... any ideas? thanks.
AnswerHi Tony,
I would check under the hood to be sure that the throttle cable from the gas pedal to the throttle body (air intake at the rear of the engine, top) is connected. Even if it is disconnected it would not cause a no start under normal circumstances, rather it would prevent you from opening the throttle and thus it would only idle. I assume she had a V-6 2.5L engine.
With no known diagnostic trouble codes. we are left to consider items that are not well monitored and could cause the lack of acceleration and no start. I would look at the egr valve which is located below the coolant filler pipe and next to the transmission control computer which itself is next to the underhood power distribution center ("fuse" label box). The valve is mounted sideways and is connected to a pipe that comes around from the rear exhaust manifold and to the intake manifold. Notice that is has a round top with a vacuum hose connected to it, and the body of the valve is connected to the exhaust pipe connection. Then in between the two parts is a flanged area which if you look at carefully will be seen to have inside of it a rod with a groove that goes around its circumference. That is the valve stem. Often the valve gets gummed up with exhaust gases and thus hangs up ajar. That you would notice by taking a flat blade screwdriver and using its tip to lever the stem back and forth by inserting it in the groove. A spring inside the valve tries to resist the motion of the stem and attempts to close the valve firmly against the valve seat. If you find that the spring doesn't fully bring the stem to the rest position then take some WD-40 and spray it on the valve stem at the point where it enter the valve body. Then work the stem back and forth some more.
Then see if it will start.
Once you get it started I would take it to an Autozone parts store for a free fault code readout. Call ahead. If you can't get it free there then try an independent shop for around $40. Those codes are the best way to solve a poor running situation. Get the 4-digit code numbers and write me back and we'll go from there. You might try turning the ignition key "on-off-on-off-on and leave on", doing that in 5 seconds or less elapsed time. Then watch the odometer window to see if the mileage changes to read any 4-digit numbers instead, which would be the fault codes. It may not do it, but give it a try.
Roland
