QuestionQUESTION: I recently had my 96 Dodge Stratus repaired for the same problem. While driving on the freeway it would cut off and won’t crank back up. After it would sit some, it would crank, but it will not idle smoothly. The first time it did this, I was told it was the camshaft sensor, so I had that replaced. Then two weeks later the same problem happened again. And the EGR valve was replaced. Now that the EGR valve has been replaced, I have been paying close attention to the car now and it still seems like it wants to decelerate and cut off while I’m driving. Since I’m not a mechanic, and I’ve took my car to the neighborhood shop, where should I take my car to get thoroughly inspected before it dies on me again? For example, should I take it to a engine repair shop or an electrical repair shop? Please help!
ANSWER: Hi Melissa,
Use your ignition key to get any fault codes read out from the engine controller memory.
"On-off-on-off-on and leave on" doing that in 5 seconds or less elapsed time. The check engine light will remain "on". Then watch the check engine light which should begin to flash-pause-flash-etc. Count the number of flashes before each pause. Then repeat to assure an accurate consistent count. Then group the counts in pairs in the order of appearance to form the 2-digit fault codes. The last count pair will always be 55 because that is the code for "end of readout".
Then go to www.allpar.com/fix/codes.html for a list of what the other code numbers mean. Then write back for advice. If you can't get a readout this way, then go to an Autozone auto parts store where they are likely to do a readout for free with a plug in reader. The codes are what you need to know to fix this sort of problem efficiently.
Roland
---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------
QUESTION: Thank you for responding so quickly. I checked the codes, and the code I got was 12. So all I need to do is replace the battery and that would solve my problem?
AnswerI doubt it is that simple, but it would be good to check that the battery clamps are tight and the terminals are clean. Remove the clamp on the - post of the battery first, then the + post clamp. Then clean the clamps and the posts. The replace tha + post, and end by replacing the - post. That is necessary to follow that order to avoid a short circuit and thus a potential burn. If that doesn't help, then you will have to keep trying for codes until something else comes up. The 12 code is usually not an overall cause of problems unless the battery is intermittently corrected.
Roland
