Hi All,

I purchased an 04 Sebring sedan 2.4L DOHC about 6 months ago and I have been having issues with it ever since. Now that the dealership warranty is over I am working to resolve some of the remaining issues myself. Hopefully someone here can help me figure out what the problems are.

1. I was involved in a collision about two weeks ago which didn't do much, just damage to the front bumper and grille but now I am getting a loud "road sound" from the front end at all speeds. I thought that it might be the tires since I was told that one was out of balance but it is showing all the symptoms of a wheel bearing. Is it possible that a minor collision could cause a wheel bearing to go bad? If not the bearing or tires, what else could it be? I have been wanting to put it on some stands and run it off the ground to be sure its not the tires but it is snowing here and I don't have a garage so I'm stuck doing things the hard way.

2. Ever since the warranty expired I have been having an issue with the lights dimming whenever I slow down or stop. It seems like the battery only lasts about 5 mins with the lights on but today I did a test on both the battery (12.98V) and the alternator (13.96V) and I did a quick check of the belt as well. I didn't find any problems so I don't quite understand whats causing this. Any ideas?

3. When the vehicle was still in warranty the car would practically die whenever you slowed or stopped and the a/c was on. I was told that it was the spark plugs arching because they had too much anti-seize on them and it was touching the contacts. Now about 4 months later the car is acting similar with the rpms dipping whenever you slow or stop and then bouncing up and down a few hundred rpms when idle. Might this be connected to question 2 somehow?

Any ideas on anything are greatly appreciated.

 

My 3 cents
1. check the fender cover, at high speeds (highway) that may bend and rubs the tire. That's one guess
2. Loose negative ground or wire somewhere, they both work right individually but somehow somewhere there is a bad connection.
3. mas air flow sensor was filled with dirt on my car (Mustang 94), I used some cleaner designed for MAF sensors or just sensor in general... and it cleared it right up.