My stratus doesn’t like hanging out in the rain for a couple of days in a row. If the rain is really heavy for a couple of days and I don’t start the car for those days, when I do it runs really rough. The temp gauge goes up a bit and will stall. On a couple of occasions I struggled to get down the street to the mechanic, barely making it and then when I got there it would have no signs of having a problem. On time had it towed to find out that nothing was wrong with it.
It appears to be a water issue. I wonder if anyone has ever seen problem areas where water could be getting into or on top of the engine or is this just a problem of electrical contacts getting wet or oxidized from moisture in the air.
Any thoughts?
Thanks
pete
That’s a common problem when the secondary ignition components wear out.
The components that are replaced to resolve this problem are, the distributor cap/rotor, spark plug wires, coil, and the spark plug tube seals.
Tester
Thanks for the reply Tester!
I forgot to mention that I send it in to have full tune up, for which I was charged a good chunk of money and was told that the plugs and wires to plugs, rotor and a bunch of other stuff changed but I would still run rough after rain. Perhaps I paid for nothing.
Should these components be changed out yearly?
No.
These components are replaced when the engine runs rough when it’s damp or raining.
Did they replace the coil?
Tester
They put in a new plenum gasket, new fuel filter, new distributor cap, new ignition rotor and new plugs and wires and a PCV valve.
Is any of this the coil?
thanks again!!
Similar problem happened with me and my 2012 Jeep Liberty. I went in and had all the “basics” replaced with a full tune up. Started again a few months later after not running for a few days after heavy rain. Turns out is was the crank sensor. Replaced and never had the problem again.