1999 Dodge Stratus. Sputtering Engine, CEL, No Codes.

once that cel light came on, the code or codes are stored in the ecm.... its OBD 2 so any parts store should beable to scan it for free... let us know what you find.

Ah alrighty. I'll have to see if the parts store by me will do it, and if so I'll get it done sometime early tomorrow and post back :)

I woulda done this sooner but I figured there were no codes since the on-off-on-off-on wasn't producing any codes(but I just found out literally about an hour ago that I can still get codes from the shops.) Plus I've been weary of driving it anywhere, because it really is barely running. Will pop back in tomorrow with codes if I'm able.

Sep 24, 2010 at 10:13 PM

I have a 1998 Dodge Stratus (base) 2.4L. I had the exact same issues as described above. This occurred after filling the gas tank at a station I never used and adding a fuel system cleaner I had never used.

At first thought, it might seem like that may have caused the issue but it didn't make any sense. Bad fuel will effect all operations of the engine. The sputtering, rough idle and the engine running well at no load seemed to be some form of ignition issue. NO HELP.

I ran the car's diagnostic system and it didn't identify a problem. I used an OBD 2 tester and it didn't identify a problem. I also had a more sophisticated analyzer at a mechanics shop but, do to the age of the car, it couldn't even get any information. I am surprised that no diagnostic tools could, at least, indicate what turned on the "Check Engine" light. NO HELP.

While there a a great variety of ways that the ignition is controlled, the basic parts are always the spark plugs, the spark plug wires, the distributor and the coil. These can also be controlled by the car's computer, vacuum lines and various sensors. I asked the Dodge Dealership about analyzing the system and they wanted $200.00 to run it on their system analyzer. Do to the lack of information in the above tests, I chose to do some basic, old school work first.

I bought the spark plugs, wires and coil (this car uses an electronic coil so there is no distributor, cap, rotor, points system). I stayed with OEM parts, as best available. I bought them all but kept the receipt in case they didn't change anything.


I replaced each spark plug, starting the car between each plug replacement with no real change. Make sure you put the car into drive or reverse to put a load on the engine. I also verified the spark plug gap each time. I didn't see any spark plug showing any obvious issues The stuttering seemed less but it wasn't very noticeable from the previous idle. I hadn't replaced them in over 100k miles so I still left them installed. NO HELP.

I replaced all the spark plug wires. SIGNIFICANT CHANGE!
I have to admit, besides high performance cars that I have worked on and cars with ignition noise on the radio, replacing the spark plug wires have NEVER made a difference... until now! The stuttering was gone at idle. I drove it for a few minutes and the acceleration was back and I didn't feel the stutter. When i drove the car home, up and down hills and with all the stopping and starting from signal lights, the car seems to be operating normally.

I am not saying that this fixed the problem. I will need to continue to test the operation of the car. The "Check Engine" light is still lit (it may have to be reset by disconnecting the battery or over time) and I didn't return the coil just yet as, with 149K, I may still replace it.

As a technician, I am not satisfied that the problem is gone; I like to test the parts to verify that I actually identified the problem. As I said, I will not say I fixed the problem but the car is running well and the stuttering problem is gone for now. I can't say this will help every one with this problem but I hope that it might be useful!

Hi,

I read through your post and wanted to say thank you for adding it. I'm confident it will help others in the future and your time is appreciated.

Take care and please feel free to come back anytime in the future.

Joe