QuestionQUESTION: Hi, I have a 2000 Stratus, 2.4 L engine. I recently had to have water pump and new head gasket, just so you know, but this ignition/cut-off problem started before that. Started when it cranked and cranked and wouldn't turn over, and I saw I needed to replace a fuse in the engine. That worked for a while. Then it cut off on the road, like I was gliding. I had it towed home, and the next a.m. it started right up and behaved. Then it blew that same fuse so it wouldn't start a few days later. Replaced it again, hoping to get it to the shop, and then it started, but cut off on the road again. The key, by the way, has become more and more difficult to put in the ignition, the past few months, and you really have to push in and hit just the right spot to be able to turn it. I had a diagnostic run when the water pump went, which was after the first fuse but before the rest of the trouble. That said nothing electrical. Could it be simply that the key is worn or the lock cylinder is worn and it shorting out and/or causing me to lose connection while on the road? How much does it cost to replace that? Thanks!
ANSWER: dont ask me how much it costs to replace something I dont know how much parts are for what ever it is u want replaced. I will give u a good educated idea of what is going wrong. What fuse was it that u kept replacing?
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QUESTION: Sorry, should have said. It is the fuse in the fuse box by the battery that says ignition. Thx.
ANSWER: I don't have a 2.4l 2000 in front of me is it the 40amp green fuse looks like a box?
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QUESTION: No, it is a yellow 20-amp fuse. Thx
Answerthat 20amp fuse supply's power to the fuel pump,ign switch and starter. I doubt the short is in the starter because u said it cut off while driving. Did i do a spit and spudder type thing? if so u have a bad fuel pump, When it gets hot the motor will have to many amps on it and pops the fuse.
