While I agree that owners need to check their oil and maintain the level, this article points out that even the dealers couldn’t figure out the stalling problems sometimes. The way this article reads, these cars will deliberately shut down whenever it wants, the protect the engine, without any light on the dash or message to the driver. And apparently not even logged in the computer that the dealer would presumably scan. Does this make sense to anybody?
! had a 1998 Oldsmobile Intrigue that had a low oil sensor that would shut off the engine and it also did not set off a trouble code or warning light. Since I check my oil monthly and this car didn’t burn any noticeable amount of oil, I found out about this sensor in a different way.
For a 4 dr sedan this car was pretty low slung ans had a stiff suspension and roll bars with wide tires.
I went to work at 1:45 pm when there was little traffic and there were some long sweeping expressway ramps. I amused myself by seeing how fast I could take these ramps if no one was around. I took one of these ramps, a flyover that crossed 7 lanes of expressway and a median at 85 mph and right in the sharpest part of the curve, the car shut off the engine on me.
I hate the bean counters at GM. Why would anyone put a stiff suspension and wide tires on a car and put in a sensor that will shut the engine off if you plaster all the oil against the right side of the oil pan and be too cheap to put baffles in the pan to keep the oil in place.
It wasn’t the engine shutting off that bothered me, it was the loss of power steering in that situation.
oil pan baffles? my 01 taurus had them. 3.0 vulcan. had to drop y-pipe to get oil pan off as oil pickup tube is snaked thru baffle plate. last summer i got a 06 taurus, same motor, same leak. dropped y-pipe again and darn if there were no baffles in pan. i think i could have wiggled pan out if i had known that.
This article is about the Dodge 200, engineered by FIAT, the guys who can’t spell reliability let alone engineer it. It isn’t surprising this problem happens and can’t be fixed by the dealer.
Chrysler has become FIAT-ized, especially in their small cars. Stay away!
Could make sense, if the engine protection shut-down method didn’t involve the engine computer. A dealership shop would presumably be aware of that function though. Sort of like where some Fords have a gadget that shuts down the fuel pump in certain situations, like maybe going over a big bump. Done to prevent the fuel pump from running after an accident. I don’t think that involves the engine computer. It just shuts off by itself. There’s a button in the trunk you press to reset the fuel pump so it will run again. Ford dealers know about that button and would presumably be the first thing they’d check if a customer towed a Ford in that wouldn’t start or run at all for no apparent reason.
I read that article, and carefully looked at all the accompanying pictures
One picture showed a transverse 4 cylinder engine with the Multi-air setup, which I know to be an italian mopar product, so that’s about right
There was also a picture of a dodge dart, which was correct, since the article was about a Dodge dart
But then there was a picture of a guy checking the engine oil level on a GM truck with a longitudinally mounted V8 . . . I don’t understand why that picture was even necessary, especially considering it was wrong, so to speak
leave it to me to mention details that may or not be besides the point. On the other hand, part of being a decent mechanic means having a good eye for details