98 Stratus shutting down while at highway speed

[stewart1927]

A friend of mine has a 1998 Stratus, 2.4L, with about 123,000 miles. Lately after several miles, sometimes after several hours, it simply shuts off, whether on the highway or in city traffic (NotGood) Tried new coil, no good. Reinstalled old one. Saved money! Tried a known good,although used ECM, still no good. I am 81 years old, and have been away from the trade for years, but, it seems as though either the fuel pump, or some sensor is triggering the ASD. After a few minutes, it will start up again. This friend has never been known to keep plenty of fuel in the tank, so is it possible for the fuel pump to have got too hot sometime and has weakened it? Just a thought.

[mralias]

Originally Posted by stewart1927

A friend of mine has a 1998 Stratus, 2.4L, with about 123,000 miles. Lately after several miles, sometimes after several hours, it simply shuts off, whether on the highway or in city traffic (NotGood) Tried new coil, no good. Reinstalled old one. Saved money! Tried a known good,although used ECM, still no good. I am 81 years old, and have been away from the trade for years, but, it seems as though either the fuel pump, or some sensor is triggering the ASD. After a few minutes, it will start up again. This friend has never been known to keep plenty of fuel in the tank, so is it possible for the fuel pump to have got too hot sometime and has weakened it? Just a thought.

I suspect the fuel filter is at the fuel pump like my 03 stratus. It is most likely getting clogged after the pump causes enough vacum to suck all the crap in the pump starving the motor for gas. I would wait till he runs low on gas again and pull the pump and replace the fuel filter. If he has the money, I would replace the pump as well because you know what is going to happen after you put the new filter in and put it back together.

[stewart1927]

Originally Posted by mralias

I suspect the fuel filter is at the fuel pump like my 03 stratus. It is most likely getting clogged after the pump causes enough vacum to suck all the crap in the pump starving the motor for gas. I would wait till he runs low on gas again and pull the pump and replace the fuel filter. If he has the money, I would replace the pump as well because you know what is going to happen after you put the new filter in and put it back together.

He took it to a local dealer, hooked up the diagnostic, and, whatever it found, they took every fuse, relay, whatever out of the PDC, cleaned everything with contact cleaner. Drove it for over 200 miles after that, and "nary a hitch". Good thing to keep in mind.