Hey all,
Last summer I bought a 2001 dodge stratus 2.4L with 14,000 miles on it. It had been sitting in a garage for more than a year at a 'little old lady's' house. The little old lady put less than 10,000 miles on it, but parked by braile. No mechanical damage tho'.
Before I bought it I drove it around a bit and checked the codes at the local Autozone type store. No codes popped up. While I was driving I noticed that I could feel a sort of pulse as I drove it at speeds over
40mph. I figured bad gas at the time, but not much has changed since then.
I've put many a tank o'gas through this thing since then and the problem still exists. I don't know if it's mis-firing/engine problem or if there's a trans problem. The pulsing is only noticible while at a constant speed/constant rpm. The pulsing isn't felt during accelleration or deceleration. One problem that has happened twice since I bought the thing is that while on cruise control, traveling between 65 and 70 and going down a long hill (mountain really) the transmission droped down a gear. I dunno if these two probs are related tho'. Still no error codes and no change in severity/frequency of symptoms over past 6 months. The 'drop down a gear problem' hasn't occurred since last July.
The question is, where do I start? Highspeed/lowspeed sensors or somewhere else. Or, Am I being too sensitive.
Thanks.
chuck