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Old 08-05-2015, 04:54 PM
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455Grandville 455Grandville is offline
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Question Mopar 2.4 engines/auto trans , any good ?

Found a pretty nice 50,000 mile Plymouth Breeze for my daughter to commute to college in (T/A stays in the garage) she just needs a reliable economy car.

Do the 2.4 4 bangers have any issues ? I know as a 2 liter some of the Neons did including head gaskets in the earlier years. Never heard too many good things about any Chrysler 4 speed auto trans though.

Looked at some Toyotas/Cobalts and other cars in the same price range but they all had 150,000 miles.

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Old 08-05-2015, 07:36 PM
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Howdy, we have four 2.4's in PTs. they do well and other than some minor issues, run pretty trouble free. Change timing belt at around 100K, plugs at 60,000. Wires at plug time. Cooling fans lose one speed, causing AC to stop. Swap water pump with belt. Certain years had cranks, like the bad ones Pontiac guys had to deal with years ago, that had poorly machined thrust surfaces which took out seals. Those were around 06-07.
A-604 transmissions seem to be hanging tight on ours so far and all are over 100,000. Drive them harder and they last longer.
Tom

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Old 08-05-2015, 09:27 PM
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Howdy, we have four 2.4's in PTs. they do well and other than some minor issues, run pretty trouble free. Change timing belt at around 100K, plugs at 60,000. Wires at plug time. Cooling fans lose one speed, causing AC to stop. Swap water pump with belt. Certain years had cranks, like the bad ones Pontiac guys had to deal with years ago, that had poorly machined thrust surfaces which took out seals. Those were around 06-07.
A-604 transmissions seem to be hanging tight on ours so far and all are over 100,000. Drive them harder and they last longer.
Tom
Thanks; Ive been told the 3 speed autos ion FWDs were trouble free.

From what I researched the 2.4 is a non interference engine. This is a 2000 so, probably won't have

the crank issue.

Think we'll grab it.

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Two 1975 455 Grandvilles &
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‘69 Camaro SS 396/375 (owned since ‘88)
‘22 Toyota Sequoia V8
‘23 Lexus LS500 awd
‘95 Ford F-super duty 4wd 7.3 p-stroke
& countless Jeeps & off road vehicles.
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Old 08-05-2015, 10:49 PM
salem1912 salem1912 is offline
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Have 219K on my 2.4L Stratus. Change the T/belt and w/pump at 146K. Overall very pleased with the car.

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Old 08-05-2015, 10:54 PM
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It is an "interference" engine, sort of, in that valves can hit each other. Break the belt and watch for "potential" valve damage from them tapping each other. But I bet you have to have been running the crap out of it at higher rpms to have it hit and do that.

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Old 08-06-2015, 10:59 AM
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Originally Posted by salem1912 View Post
Have 219K on my 2.4L Stratus. Change the T/belt and w/pump at 146K. Overall very pleased with the car.
Amazing how long these modern engines can go; is it using much oil with those miles ?


Quote:
Originally Posted by Tom Hand View Post
It is an "interference" engine, sort of, in that valves can hit each other. Break the belt and watch for "potential" valve damage from them tapping each other. But I bet you have to have been running the crap out of it at higher rpms to have it hit and do that.
Seems most stories Ive heard of belts breaking was during startup; but Ive never had one break and most of my engines were timing chain/pushrod variety.

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Two 1975 455 Grandvilles &
'79 455 Trans Am
‘69 Camaro SS 396/375 (owned since ‘88)
‘22 Toyota Sequoia V8
‘23 Lexus LS500 awd
‘95 Ford F-super duty 4wd 7.3 p-stroke
& countless Jeeps & off road vehicles.
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Old 08-06-2015, 04:40 PM
mgarblik mgarblik is offline
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Strangely enough, the 2.4L is probably the best of that engine family. Like you mentioned, the head gaskets were a problem on the Neons, but not really on the 2.4. EGR valves and transducers, cam position sensors, not much else. Like mentioned, it is a "semi-interference" engine. Pistons don't hit the valves but the valves can hit each other if the belt breaks. In a cloud car, which sounds like the one you are buying, getting the timing belt on just right is a bit of a challenge. Just really hard to see the marks to make sure they are right. Use a mirror and jack the engine up from the bottom as far as you can to get a decent view. Work on them all the time. have seen them go well over 200K with some care and maintenance.

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Old 08-06-2015, 06:36 PM
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Originally Posted by mgarblik View Post
Strangely enough, the 2.4L is probably the best of that engine family. Like you mentioned, the head gaskets were a problem on the Neons, but not really on the 2.4. EGR valves and transducers, cam position sensors, not much else. Like mentioned, it is a "semi-interference" engine. Pistons don't hit the valves but the valves can hit each other if the belt breaks. In a cloud car, which sounds like the one you are buying, getting the timing belt on just right is a bit of a challenge. Just really hard to see the marks to make sure they are right. Use a mirror and jack the engine up from the bottom as far as you can to get a decent view. Work on them all the time. have seen them go well over 200K with some care and maintenance.
Thanks for the input; I'll probably have someone install one for safety measure if it ends up in the driveway. Call me lazy but I prefer working on something old with RWD and a traditional V8 or inliner 6 over tight quarters.

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Two 1975 455 Grandvilles &
'79 455 Trans Am
‘69 Camaro SS 396/375 (owned since ‘88)
‘22 Toyota Sequoia V8
‘23 Lexus LS500 awd
‘95 Ford F-super duty 4wd 7.3 p-stroke
& countless Jeeps & off road vehicles.
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Old 08-06-2015, 11:16 PM
salem1912 salem1912 is offline
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Originally Posted by 455Grandville View Post
Amazing how long these modern engines can go; is it using much oil with those miles ?




Seems most stories Ive heard of belts breaking was during startup; but Ive never had one break and most of my engines were timing chain/pushrod variety.
No oil usage, I brought this car off the original owner with a broken timing belt. The oil has been change every 3k since new. They are a interference motor but my experience 7 out of 10 timing they won't have damage.

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