So I just got a 2004 Chrysler Sebring LX 2.7L from a family member. I am getting 2 engine codes and noticing a few things after putting about 275km on the car. So firstly the little quirks/ issues I notice. At first it had a bit of a knock on the passenger side of the valve covers. But that's gone away after an oil change. Now I notice that the throttle is pretty unresponsive. It seems to be either nothing or burnout pretty well. When driving heavy acceleration like getting on highway etc. (Over 3000 rpm) will cause it to start like it's trying to stall (this is an automatic) but it is VERY SPORATIC and only ever happens when you really need it to go (of course lol)

I also realize sometimes after hot and accelerating it will sound like a buzzer kind of sound really light and quite quiet.

Tonight when raining the dash lights occasionally dimmed a bit but would come back full power after accelerating to driving speed.

So now for check engine light... So it only really seems to come on when driving. When you shut off car and turn back on it seems to disappear for a bit. The code I've always got is P0432. It usually comes on at least once a day but once again seems to autoclear when starting later.

The second code which came up tonight after a 175 KM drive in the rain is P0340. I also noticed after getting home the motor seemed to be steaming/ smoking a little from under the hood. along I've been thinking timing chain, water pump, tensioners, oil pump and pickup for good measure. But that's alot of money and alot of time to spend on assumptions....

So looking for anyone to chime in. If I do the whole shebang I tend to run a motor flush through it to hopefully remove the sludge we all know is either their or building so as to not mess up my new parts and hard work. So please any ideas suggestions or additional questions that could help for input please post them.

 

You did mention that the car is now 13 going on 14 years old but made no mention of the mileage nor maintenance history. The P0432 is suggesting the the front catalytic converter is losing efficiency, which shouldn't be surprising 13 or 14 years. You might consider new spark plugs for starters. They are relatively cheap and easy to do and might help the performance.
The P0340 code relates to the cam position sensor circuit. Might be the sensor, might be a wiring problem. If replacing the sensor, you might consider replacing the crank sensor at the same time. People seem to have better luck doing that.
As for the steaming from under the hood, you need to track that down and address it. Could be lots of things, but no point in guessing. Before you get into a major rebuild, ask yourself whether when it's all done and working properly, will the car justify the labor and expense. If the body is rusted out or the interior is shot, then you could just be pouring a lot of money and effort into a hole. You may have better uses for that money and effort. A car of that age is likely to have suspension issues as well, plus maybe need brake and tire attention, etc, etc. This could be a long term project. Keep us posted.

 

Unless you are seeing signs of a bad water pump I wouldn't jump to conclusions. A leaking bleeder housing can cause coolant to drip on hot engine parts causing steam under the hood. That's a very common problem with the 2.7's. A leaking water pump would be evident by a milky appearance of the oil, overheating and coolant loss. If none of these are happening then I would first fix the issues that are causing the error codes. P0432 is a catalytic converter error code; P0340 is a camshaft position sensor. Either of these can cause poor acceleration. Fix the cheapest things first before you invest major money in doing the water pump/timing chain.

John

 

I haven't done enough mileage to do an oil change my self. I drove it when family member had it they did oil change and dropped off to me. Body is actually real good 1 wheel arch and half a rocker need repair. Interior is mint. Underside is mint. I can get a full timing kit with oil pump for $200 and can do the work myself.

As for maintenance. Tires are brand new. Suspension is pretty well new. Brakes and rotors are new. Radiator hoses and the valve and sensor on top of motor are new. Alternator is new. AC compressor etc are new. Oil changes were done regularly (don't know what with though). Cats are original. O2s are new. Has new air filter. May do plugs as suggested since at bare minimum it'll give a little extra mileage. Running a tank of premium through it ATM.

I am thinking timing chain do to the knock in the beginning. And when I had my scan tool hooked up timing was listed at 19 btdc. Fuel trims were all low as well. Also if timming chain came loose or jumped etc then wouldn't that potentially throw off the sensor?

Reasons I'm doubting it is that the lights dimmed on me tn which could trip sensor due to voltage issues. As much as I'd like to say for easy diagnosis that it's wiring. But in all honesty I think it'd be easier to replace timing chain then it would to trace all the wiring and find a short etc.

Sigh. And I gently cleaned out motor bay when I got it. Upon inspection tonight I seen no leaks on the motor anywhere.... I may just run an engine flush and do an oil change and see if oil comming out is milky.

 

Also sorry I forgot to mention mileage is 199,245 and I don't believe timing chain has ever been replaced.

 

I'm not sure what prices are like where you live but clean 2001-2006 Sebring convertibles with around 100-120K miles here in the NE go for $1000-1700. They're pretty much considered disposable. I'm not trying to dissuade you from doing the water pump/timing chain but you also need some specialized tools which you can't just get anywhere. Putting any money into a Chrysler Sebring that has 199K miles is pretty much Russian roulette. The transmissions aren't exactly known for reliability. If it had 75-80K I would think about it but there's too much that can go wrong at that mileage in my opinion.

John

 

Well everything aside from motor trans is brand new. I'm currently in school for motive power technician and have a full shop at my disposal. Today I may have found the big issue with the car. The upper rad hose collapsed spewing 3L of antifreeze across the motor smoking out the intersection and resulting in the local fire department to show up.

A little bit of input from my 60 year old father and we found rad cap was fubared and the pressure blew out my plastic thermostat housing. So tomorrow am gonna once over it in the light but if that's it then it's not too bad. Will bring a pressure tester out to wreckers and find a rad cap upper hose (since old one has a hole in it now) thermostat housing and put it all back together.

A $20 trip to the wrecker is much better than what I thought had happened. This car needs to last me for 2 years. Then I'll look into buying something worthwhile when I'm not drowning in student debts...

The weirdest thing about all this is there were no lights to warn me. No rise in temperature gauge (stays half or under) then just boom and next thing I know there's smoke rolling out and I'm desperately ripping my children out of the back seat for fear the battery would blow up. Thank god nothing blew up or anything. But man what a flawed system.

 

The plastic housing on top of the engine is not for the thermostat. It's called the coolant outlet manifold. It is used in the factory to bleed the air out of the system. When you replace it, DON'T TOUCH THE BLEED SCREW, especially if you put a used part back in there. There are several write-ups on the forum here about the part and installing it without removing the upper intake manifold.

Don't bother with a used radiator cap. A replacement is only about five or six bucks anyway.

You won't get a warning light if it's operating normally, under pressure as designed. If the pressure lets go due to a broken part or busted hose it's going to all go suddenly. No warning light should be expected.

 

Well a couple days later and she's still running strong. Replaced both hoses upper and lower, rad cap, all the bleeder housing hoses, the bleeder housing had a dime sized hole in it and a deep gouge from someone ramming a universal in there previously. The gaskets slots were non existent on the housing and rad cap was toast. All is replaced as well as the air filter.

 

So now the next thing is to figure out why my odometer/gear indicator randomly dims when driving. I have noticed when interior lights are on if I hit the brake the interior lights will dim. Alternator is said to be new but the bleeder housing was also said to be new and from what I seen it was quite the opposite.

Only thing I've done electrically to the car is a bluetooth headunit (in order to comply with local laws and still beable to take and make calls) Which I used a Metra wiring kit for.

Also probably completely unrelated but had a head light go replaced it, a tail light went, and third brake light is dead. Have to run to parts store today and get a bulb.