I have a '95 Chrysler Cirrus. It was in a rear end accident that mostly damaged the trunk and rear bumper about 2 months ago or so now. In the last month it has had a string of repairs that have now left me with a car that won’t start.
What has been in the last month is that I have taken it to a tranny shop and they have replaced the main control module for the transmission. This was because the car was not shifting correctly and was driving in a safemode. They also noticed a boot/seal that was leaking and replaced that too. After getting the car back from them, the car was still not working correctly. I was driving it for about a week and it would not shift right sometimes. It would also loose power on hills and if I gave it extra gas it would work. I noticed that if I was going up a slight hill or a big one, if the engine was in the range of 1K-1.5K RPM and going about 35-45 MPH I would have this issue. I contacted the shop again the day after I got the car back and let them know the issue. They said not to worry about it and that the control module is in a learning mode. If it continued, bring the car back in. It did not improve so I took it back in.
After they looked at the car the second time they let me know the reason the car was acting up was because it needed an engine tune up. I agreed to getting this done. They replaced the spark plugs and wires. Distributor and air filter. Cleaned some items and that was it. Car worked great for less than a week. Parked it on a hill one night at a friends house and when I went to leave, the car will not turn over. Tried to jump it and that did not work. Checked all the fuses and none are blown. Cleaned the connections from the battery. Reseated some of the connections and modules in the engine. Finally just tapped on the engine block below and the car started up. The most likely thing this could have been is the starter. (had also called the garage before that I had been working with and they suggested the same thing and that it could be the starter).
Yesterday, I took it to another garage that a family member owns and we worked to replace the starter because it acted up while it was there. (On a side note, sometimes the car would start up normally without needing to tap the engine). We replaced the starter and it ran fine.
This morning I went to leave for work and the car is not turning over again. Same issue right before replacing the starter. Tapped on the block a few times and the car did not start this time.
I am just wondering if anyone has any suggestions on what to do next to fix it? I have sunk around $1800 to get this car running on an already tight budget. Is it worth fixing this thing or should I just can it and go with another car?