engine problems

[cookiedude87]

i have a 98 dodge stratus 4cyl and the engine is making clicking noises.. I took it to someone and he said he found metal shavings in the oil and that the engine will be blowin up soon.... Is there any possibility he is wrong... Any suggestions what i should do... fix it for nearly 2 grand... or maybe try to sell it to someone.... suggestions.....

[kingofclueless]

there are other ways to tell if an engine is going, like i heard the oil mixes with the antifreeze but i could never tell that in my cars because i have antifreeze stop leak in all of them and so they are like dark brown anyways, urm the shavings or whatever in the oil might be a sign of a blown engine you should check the oil yourself and see if you see the metal in it though

[Tdanger]

2 liters have a pretty normal knock sound caused by wrist pins. Hard to say without hearing it but is worse on cold start. 1 of my stratus' has had the noise for most of it's life still going stron 198,000 mile later. suggest changing the oil yourself, check it out. May be nothing to worry about. They are great cars. got the 198,000 mile car, got a 130,000 mile version and a 120,000 mile v6 cirrus. both 4 cyl'shave slap sound. Is it violent sounding? good luck.

[TheDrave]

I would also change the only and take a look at it for myself, metal shavings sound a little extreme for "clicking noise" the only times I've ever seen metal shavings in the oil is if the head was cracked or blew. He coulda just been trying to get some money out of you, as bad as this sounds some people still attempt to take advantage of people.

[ceddi3]

I WOULD ASK A MECHANIC TO LOOK AT IT. In most cases you can get your system analyzed for $40 or less.

[ceddi3]

]I WOULD ASK A MECHANIC TO LOOK AT IT. In most cases you can get your system analyzed for $40 or less. Really not sure what else it could be. How is your A/C running. Check to see if the noise could be coming from your compressor by way of a bearing going bad. Let me know how it goes.

[AZeline]

I'd get another opinion from another mechanic. His/her answer sounded to simplistic and costly. Metal shavings alone don't warrant a new engine. Besides, most of them get caught in the filter and are never seen. Engines wear as they age. That's just a byproduct of using metal in a metal engine. Go figure! As Tdanger said, change the oil yourself and take a look. You can get a long magnet a stir it through the oil once it's in the drain pan and see what you find. Large particles could be an indication of an issue, but it still doesn't say you need to replace the whole engine. Also try to determine if the clicking noise is internal or coming from a part on the outside of the engine. Just slowly walk around the front of the car w/ the hood open and your head above the engine and see if you can pinpoint the source. These front wheel drive jobs are so compact, it's easy to be deceived.

[Junaid Ansari]

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