1998 Chrysler Cirrus LXI from North America - Comments

Our 1998 Cirrus has been very dependable up until several months ago.

First it started jumping like it was very briefly stalling, then the engine started stopping even when we were on the Interstate going 70 mph which is very dangerous. Then it proceeded not to start after it stalled. We have had a new fuel pump, fuel filter and a Pg valve installed and it is still doing the same thing. Has anyone else had this problem with their Cirrus? The engine light does not come on.

We love the car, especially on trips.

This thing with the engine stalling is driving us crazy!

I have a Chrysler '99 Cirrus Lxi V6 with 85K miles and am experiencing similar problems. Within the last 6 months the car engine will just shut off. All gauges on the dash appear normal and the check engine light does not appear. The electrical system seems fine, radio, lights, etc. continue to work, but the engine just dies. Usually within 10 seconds or so you can restart the car, but I have had it dead for about 5 minutes before. Completely bizarre, you can be sitting at a light and all of a sudden, it dies, or like this past weekend, (returning from the mechanic ironically -- having replaced the EVG valve), I'm going 60 down the road and it dies so as I begin to pull over to the side of the road coasting, all of a sudden the engine just decides to start up again. My mechanic is perplexed and has hooked it up to the car's computer to see what the problem is and detects nothing wrong. He's been driving it around 5 miles here and there and cannot duplicate the problem. We've gone weeks with no problems and then there's time like this weekend where it happened 3 times to me. I'm beginning to think that the car's computer has something going wrong. Any additional ideas/suggestions would be appreciated.

We have the same thing going on... the car decides to die like the key is shut of, but it is only for a moment then it comes back to life like nothing ever happened-- except the cruise is tripped completely off. This is the second round for this problem as it disappeared for a while after REPLACING THE ENTIRE COMPUTER. It was worse before; It would die completely like everyone else mentions, but now after the dealership replaced the computer it only stumbles. This is kind of worrisome as the car belongs to my 75 year-old grandmother living 100+ miles out in the countryside... Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated for MY peace of mind too.

GjwrREMOVE@yahoo.com.

I feel your pain..

I have a 99 cirrus LXI and I had it two weeks when the motor went out. The timing belt snapped causing tragedy. My car was then forced to go through a transplant. After a few thousand dollars and a few bummed rides I had my car back. I have had nothing but problems with the drive train. I will say that the inside of this car is awesome. It is the best interior that I have ever owned. The drivetrain is FOREIGN!! that is whhy you pay out the nose when you replace anything underneath the hood. Chrysler traded technology with Mitsubishi.. That is why everything under the hood is so expensive. I wish you all the best of luck with your cars. I have 86,000 miles on my car and I do love it just not the problems.

My car is 1995 Model 68k miles. I have same problem with my car. When I start in the morning it start OK than with in 10 seconds engine stalls. I open up the air intake pipe and clean with fuel injector cleaner than couple of week no problem. But last two day engine start stalling again in the morning. I am going to change fuel filter. fuel pump, O2 sensor. and see what happens. If any one find solution for this problem please let us know.

Thanks!!

I am having the same problems here. Just bought one used with about 85,000 miles on it. Was running fine until a couple days ago. The car would not start, battery seemed good, starter, everything. So I had it towed to a shop. The spark plugs were replaced and it fired right up. 4 days later the car would not start up do the same thing again. So now its at the shop, it started up yesterday then while driving cut completely off then came back on a few minutes later. Now I am looking into the few lines or pump, but it may just be the car from what I have read here.

Thanks For the Info.

Although my 98 Cirrus (59K miles) has not yet died at cruising speed, it stumbles and dies much as the rest of you have described, but when decelerating at a light. I was thinking fuel filter until I read the rest of these comments. As I have already replaced plugs, wires and exhaust gas regulator, I am beginning to think perhaps there are vacuum issues. It sort of *feels* like a vacuum issue. I would be very happy to hear if anyone else has succeeded in solving this issue, as it seems to be a generic fault in this model.

Hi, back again (98 Cirrus with 59K miles above) I was thinking about what some had said about electronic sensors associated with the transmission, so I tried driving around town with the transmission in 3rd gear and it did not stall. The downshifts at traffic lights were a little more rough that I would have liked, but the engine did not stall. Perhaps there is something to this. If anyone with training in this area monitors this list, could you comment on where this sensor is found on the Cirrus? I have included a number of pictures of sensors associated with pollution control and mixture control at.

http://dbrand.utmem.edu/~dbrand/98Cirrus/index.html

If anyone can comment on the names of these parts so that I can look into replacement parts from dealers I would really appreciate it (email link is on the page listed)

Thanks!

'98 Cirrus- Problem resolution.

I caved in and took it to a shop. They (correctly) diagnosed the EGR valve, which *only* functions when the car is in gear, making diagnosis difficult. However, they replaced it with the re-engineered version offered by Chrysler and the problem is gone. Just thought I would supply this resolution in case someone else has a similar problem.

Please help! Our 1998 Chrysler Cirrus LXI dies at stop lights, in the drive way idling, and on the highway at 70 mph. When this occurs, the "check engine" light comes on and the speedometer bounces all over the place. The light stays on for a few seconds, all power is lost, and then the light goes out and the power is restored. I took it in to the shop and the mechanic checked it out on the computer while driving it. He said that the car duplicated everything I said, but that it did not give any codes to pursue on the computer. So, I spent $75.00 for them to tell me that I have to wait until the car completely fails before they will be able to fix it. Any ideas??? Thanks!

I have a 1998 Chrysler Cirrus LXI with 48,000 miles and was experiencing the same problem as noted by a number of the readers, car stalling while driving on the tollway, stalling at stop signs suddenly, dieing out and then going again. The dealer could not find the problem, but a private repair shop diagnosed a erratic electronic distributor. They replaced it and the car runs fine now. No problems for the last 4 months. Unfortunately the cost of parts and labor was approx. $ 1200. Hope this helps.

On my '99 Cirrus (81k miles), I've changed the plugs, wires, distributor rotor and cap, fuel filter, egr valve, and probably some other things I can't even remember. I still have the same problem all of you are having. I've had the diagnostics sent to Chrysler Technical (tech HQ) and they said it had no problems! I've given up. I've spent over a grand already, and the problem is just as bad as it was when it started. Funny thing is, it didn't have this problem until about 500 miles after my dealership gave it a "tune-up". Yeah, they tuned it up "real good".

Hi, my name is Larry St. Clair. I have a 98 Cirrus and have had the same problem. I also became frustrated when the problem could not be diagnosed because it didn't generate a code in the computer. As stated by everyone else, the engine kept stalling at inconvenient times. The reason for the engine stalling is a bad camshaft sensor. It is located behind the distributor. cap. The camshaft sensor and crankshaft sensor talk to each other. They tell the computer where the piston and valves are so the engine can be timed properly. When the computer doesn't know this information, it temporarily shuts down the engine to avoid damage until the two sensors start talking again. The only time a code is generated is when the sensor totally fails, which happens rarely. Chrysler dealerships have a laptop computer that can be put in the car to monitor engine functions. Tell the dealership to hook the computer up to your car and let the car run until the engine stops. This could take as long as 20 min. or so. When this happens, the computer on the car will generate a temporary code that the laptop can read, thus solving your problem. Don't let the dealership tell you they can't do that because they can. I am a mechanic, I know. I hope this information has helped anyone with this problem. Any questions? My e-mail is Deathvalley70@msn.com (my favorite place to hike!)

TO ALL:

I just purchased my 98 Cirrus 5 Sep 05. It has 117,000 miles on it. Wonderful Ride! So I have looked up everthing that could possibly go wrong with it on the net. (MOST FREQUENT PROBLEMS)

They are in order:

FUEL FILTER around $20 bucks, but a bear to put on as it is located in front of the gas tank.

EGR VALVE around $80-$90 bucks. Easy fix! Right front of Eng. (bad EGR will cause ENG to stumble/studder on take off)

BAD CAM SHAFT SENSOR $25 again a bear to put on.

SPEED SENSOR $25 located on the drivers side of the Transmission.

DISTRIBUTOR: $100-$200 bucks for the part, Must be put on by a Mechanic or Dealer as it has electronic timing issues with the PCM & the Cam Shaft Sensor.

PCM (Computer) Must be Exact Year! LAST RESORT. Cost MEGA Bucks to replace and must be alinged by Mechanic or dealer.

Hi all.

I bought a '98 Chrysler Cirrus with 70,000 miles at the end of May this year. The car is in mint condition. It was so well kept a couple of people even thought it was a new car.

After about a month, it started to have the "stalling while driving/not restarting" problems many of you mentioned. The first time I took it in, they changed the fuel pump. It kept up, took it in, they could find nothing wrong. That's when I found this site. To make a long story short, the problems worsened until I wound up having it towed to my mechanic or the dealership. EVERY TIME the car restarted and showed no problems! Twice, I even left it for a week and let them drive it everyday, nothing.

Finally, the dealership here said the PCM was bad. To my great surprise, they told me it was UNDER Warranty and replaced it at NO COST. This was over two months ago now. The car has run like a champ ever since, not even a hint of a problem. *knockingonwood*

Hope that is helpful to somebody.

Well, after reading this page, I don't feel alone anymore. I have a 96 chrysler cirrus. I love the car to death, but as you all say it stops running. I will be sitting at a light, and I can watch the RPM switch drop way down then my car will stall. I will also be driving down the road, and then it will just quit and I will have to coast over to the side of the road. I have taken it to a car garage, and the only thing they can find wrong with it is the fuel pump. 300-500 dollars.