2001 Dodge Stratus Coupe Engine cooling Problems

“First off, I bought this car from my sister...the ball joint broke on me within a month...probably not her fault. However the car was making a lot of noises and clanks and creaks, I was told it was just the bushings, guess I found out it wasn't the hard way. About a month after the ball joint was replaced the rear strut broke and was rubbing the inside of the rear passenger tire. …”

“While parked and turned off, my '01 Dodge stratus r/t encountered an engine fire. The entire engine is almost beyond recognition. There was no indication that anything of the kind was wrong; the car had been running as usual. A simple google of stratus engine fire turned up an overwhelming occurrence of stratus owners with this same problem. It appears to have started near the fusebox, which was also the location of the fire in the countless search results. The car had idled too high from a few days after I purchased it. …”

“I bought my 2001 stratus r/t used. Not even a year after I had bought it, I had to pay over $100 to get it to idle right. Then I was in a not-at-fault accident 6 mos. Later with over $8,000 in damages to the front end and the air bags didn't deploy. After the wreck I had to pay over $ 1,300 to get the shocks & struts fixed just to have it mess up not even 4 mos. Later. It also as a rotten odor coming from it occasionally. I also paid almost $200 for a new battery to have it start to drain not even 6-7 mos. Later! And when the battery had to be cleaned, I had to get it re-idled again! …”

“I bought this car brand new off the lot on 01/12/01 with 14 miles on it. 04/14/02 I was driving the car when the service engine soon light came on and stalled out in the middle of an intersection. When the car was able to be started again, blue smoke was coming out the back. I parked the car nearby and let it sit for about 20 minutes, and when I tried to start the car again, it would not stay running, and there was more blue smoke coming out of it. I called the Dodge towing service, and had the car towed to the original dealer that I bought it at. …”

“I bought this car brand new... Drove it off the lot feeling confident and now 5 years later there is barely any paint on it and I can't keep the check engine light off. The clear coat started cracking early of 2003. When I asked the dealer about the paint situation they asked me how many miles were on my car and then said they couldn't do anything. My question is what does the milage have to do with the paint job???? Also the check engine light randomly comes on. I have needed some normal maintenance on my car but this last time, earlier this year I took it in for the light. …”