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Just got new car, and IT WILL NOT START!
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Jwiz88
Novice
May 11, 2009, 5:46 PM
Post #1 of 5
(1483 views)
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Just got new car, and IT WILL NOT START!
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Hello everyone I'm new to this forum and don't know a lot about fixing automobiles so I'm hoping there's some intelligent people here who could help me with some car troubles.
First here is the specs on my car:
2001 Dodge Stratus
2.4L 4 cylinder engine
147,000 miles <I know it's a lot!
Me and my girlfriend bought this vehicle from a used car dealership and were happy to have our first "good" car ever. Sadly for us this car has been a complete nightmare from the day we signed our life away in the form of a 3 year, $275/mo contract. The total price we will be paying for this car after taxes and interest is about $10,000 which I know is unbelievably overpriced. But having very bad credit like we do, this is the only way for us to get a "decent" vehicle. Unfortunately for us we found this car to be far from decent.
THE PROBLEMS STARTED only 5 days after our purchase when I made a U-turn and the front right ball joint snapped off. Although this car was sold to us "as is" with no warranty the dealership was kind enough to pay to get the car towed and to get the ball joint replaced.
FAST FORWARD A MONTH OR SO. The car has been driving fine since we had the ball joint fixed. I'm taking a 20 minute drive to meet a friend of mine the next town over and I hear the beeping sound which alerts me my car is overheating. I turn the heat on to try and cool the engine down but the vents are just blowing cold air. I know something isn't right but I'm pressed for time and need to meet this guy and be back home ASAP so I don't stop but keep a close eye on my temperature gauge to make sure it doesn't get too hot. So the temp is creeping up to red and every few minutes it will go down to mid temp and then go back up a few minutes later. I eventually reach a gas station and check my coolant and there is none. So I buy a bottle, fill my radiator with coolant, meet up with my buddy real quick and head home. It's no longer overheating so I figure all is well, NOT. The next day my and my girl get in the car to head to work which is an hour drive from where we were staying at the time. Immediately I notice I'm beginning to overheat again so I stop at a gas station, check my coolant and the entire bottle that I put in the day before is now gone! I'm thinking great, I must have a leak and sure enough there is a steady drip coming from the front end of my car to the pavement below. So I purchase yet another jug of coolant and add most of it to the radiator and we're back on the road. We're about half way there now and got another half hour to drive and what do you know?! The temp gauge is creeping back up towards red! Okay this is a bad leak! I notice smoke coming from the hood as we're driving and pull over and pop the hood. There is a good amount of smoke coming from the radiator and I can hear the coolant boiling. How is this car heating up so fast?! We only been driving a half hour! So I let her cool down a bit and add whats left of the coolant to the radiator. We're practically in the middle of nowhere but to our luck the only auto shop for at least another 30 minutes happens to be only a couple miles from where we pulled over. So I start the car back up and take her easy on the way to the shop. We end up missing work and spending $120 to get the coolant flushed and replaced from the radiator and have a new thermostat installed which after talking to the mechanics and having them poke around under the hood a bit we find the old thermostat went bad and figure a new one should stop the car from overheating. And this does seem to have done the trick and a couple days pass and the car is no longer overheating.
NOW I NOTICE A NEW PROBLEM IS EMERGING. After having the thermostat replaced I notice the car is starting rougher then ever. Whenever I turn the key the engine turns for at least a couple seconds and eventually fires up and runs fine. But as the days pass it's getting harder and harder to start. Now I find that I need to lightly press the gas peddle while turning the key, otherwise it just won't start. Then one day after work me and my girlfriend get in the car to go home and no matter what I try I cannot get the damn thing running and have to get a ride home from a coworker. Now wtf is going on? This car is falling apart on us! We fix the thermostat, but now the car won't even start! And we don't have any money to get it fixed atm so we let it sit a couple days till last Friday when my unemployment check came in. In the meentime I'm talking to anyone I know who knows anything about cars and come up with a few possibilities for ways to get my car running again.
THE FIRST THING I CHECK IS THE SPARK PLUGS. I feel like I flooded the car which is why it will no longer start (even though I have been told newer cars like this DON'T flood). And to my shock, upon taking out the first spark plug I find it to be dripping in motor oil. No, not motor oil! Like I said I don't know jack about cars but my sences tell me that spark plugs and motor oil don't mix. Some people tell me a cracked my head gasket and I'm pissed because that sounds like an expensive fix. But there are also other posibilities to why my plugs are swimming in oil. Either way I decide to think positive and use a simple, thoughful approach. Okay so oil somehow got in my spark plugs, I will clean all the oil up from the spark plug holes (whatever them things are called), buy new spark plugs and see what happens. So I do just that and after trying to start the car several times and giving the battery a jump I eventually got the engine running. I drive right to the closest AutoZone which is a couple blocks away, almost overheating on the way there, and had them do a free computer scan on my car which showed about three error messages including spark plug/cylinder firing ploblems and engine matinance issues but it was not specific enough to pinpoint exactly what is wrong. However they did all agree that I DID NOT CRACK THE HEAD GASKET WHEN THE CAR OVERHEATED. I talk to the guys who work there and have one of them poke around under the hood a bit and he tells me he thinks my water pump is bad (which would cause overheating) and mentions something about checking the pressure (compression) in the cylinders or something because if the pressure is not high enough there it will prevent the car from starting <<(I also read something about this in the "my car won't start" sticky). After getting the engine diagnostic I started my car and it fired up pretty easily and drove it down the street to my work where it had been broke down the last few days. I removed the newly replaced spark plugs to see if any more oil found it's way into the holes and all of the plugs were as dry as when I put them in. Then I made sure all the plugs were spaced right using a spark plug spacer and a couple of them were too wide so I adjusted them and put everything back together but couldn't get the car to fire back up. It just keeps rolling over but won't fire up. It sounds like it's either not catching the right spark or not getting the right fuel input. Also when I connected the battery to an electric jumper it gave the engine some much needed power and sounded like it wanted to start but something just isn't right.
SO NOW I'M STUMPED AND DON'T KNOW WHAT I SHOULD DO FROM HERE. I'm very tight on cash right now otherwise I would just take it to a shop. So for now I'm just trying to talk to anyone I can find who knows about cars and am hoping someone could help me find out what exactly is wrong and maybe then I can fix the problem myself without having to spend all the money to take my car to the shop. I'm pretty sure I need a new battery because for some reason it's not holding a proper charge. Could it be something as simple as not having enough cylinder compression? Maybe new plug wires will fix the problem? I know this is a lot of information to take in but aside from the overheating, coolant leaking and mysterious oil in the spark plug chamber, I really just want to be able to start my car again. So please people if you have read my rediculously long post and have ANY IDEAS at ALL, please take a minute to post, because this really sucks not being able to drive a car that I'm spending $270/mo on. And thanks to anyone who can give me some imput that can help me fix my car.
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Jwiz88
Novice
May 12, 2009, 3:39 PM
Post #2 of 5
(1465 views)
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Re: Just got new car, and IT WILL NOT START!
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wow not 1 post? it looks like a lot of people just read posts on this forum but no1 posts anything...?
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way2old
Veteran
/ Moderator
May 12, 2009, 4:17 PM
Post #3 of 5
(1464 views)
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Re: Just got new car, and IT WILL NOT START!
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You are right, it is a long post. It is very hard to follow also. You gave a good description of all the problems, but no mention if there is spark or fuel getting to the engine so it can start. I understand yoiu are not really car savvy, but this is something we need to know.. Otherwise we will just be guessing and therefore not really of any help to you. The oil in the spark plug wells could just be leaking from the valve cover gasket.
Being way2old is why I need help from younger minds
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Loren Champlain Sr
Veteran
/ Moderator
May 12, 2009, 4:44 PM
Post #4 of 5
(1459 views)
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Re: Just got new car, and IT WILL NOT START!
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jwiz88; We're just volunteers, here. Most of us have a real job. Well, we have to be there every day.
Loren
SW Washington
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Loren Champlain Sr
Veteran
/ Moderator
May 12, 2009, 4:54 PM
Post #5 of 5
(1457 views)
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Re: Just got new car, and IT WILL NOT START!
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Jwiz; Actually, I liked your post. Very descriptive. The very first thing we need to find, is where the coolant was going. The leak has to be repaired regardless of the consequences. From your description, it does sound that you may have blown a head gasket. Coolant can leak into the combustion chamber, or externally which is rare, and cause an extended crank (multiple tries to start). Also, if the coolant level is low, the coolant temp sensor will 'run home to mama' and dump fuel thinking you are in Fairbanks in February. Or, just plain foul the plugs with water. Once it is full of coolant and all of the air purged from the cooling system, I'd expect to see a lot of steam coming from the tail pipe if it is a blown head gasket. It is a rather easy test. You can take the car to most any shop that does emission work and they can test for hydrocarbons in the cooling system. Or, you can go to a parts store and buy a test kit which is a chemical that turns from blue to yellow if exhaust gasses are present.
It sounds as if you and your girl are really trying and I feel for you. Really hope I'm wrong. Good luck to you.
Loren
SW Washington
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