Why did my car shut down?

TIFNEY_QT

MEMBER
2006 DODGE STRATUS
115,000 MILES

I was driving and engine light came on, immediately the car shut down and I coasted into parking lot. I have a new battery, and it has gas. The engine is turning like it wants to start but just doesnt.

Thursday, September 15th, 2011 AT 3:28 PM

3 Replies

DRCRANKNWRENCH

MECHANIC
3,380 POSTS

It could be the main relay or the fuel pump.
Have the fuel pressure and relay checked and let me knwo how it goes.

SPONSORED LINKS

Was this

answer

helpful?

Yes

No

Thursday, September 15th, 2011 AT 3:30 PM

TIFNEY_QT

MEMBER
2 POSTS

Said it was timing belt. Said I would have to change water pump too. Gave me a quote of 450. Does that sound right?

Was this

answer

helpful?

Yes

No

Friday, September 16th, 2011 AT 7:21 PM

DRCRANKNWRENCH

MECHANIC
3,380 POSTS

Well, if the timing belt completely failed, there may be severe engine damage that might require a rebuild.
Before you have the work down, have a cylinder compression and leakdown test performed on all cylinders. This will ensure that the valves did not hit the pistons and you won't be getting into a money pit.
The water pump is easy to replace whne doing the timing belt and I would reccomend that along with a timing belt kit. A kit includes a new trensoner and idler pulley as well as some other parts and all the accesories belts. This should not change the labor at all.

As far as the estimate, it seems fair, I did it with the 4 cylinder engine. It came to $422.86.

Parts $110.86
labor hours 6 hr@ $52/hr
rate $312.00

I hope this helps you out.
Take care.

Was this

answer

helpful?

Yes

No

+1

Saturday, September 17th, 2011 AT 4:54 AM