Hello all. I started up my stratus yesterday morning and it was idiling really rough and the check engine light came on. I took it to autozone and got the code read out of P0303. I replaced the spark plugs last night, and started the car back up, the check engine light still came on. Before I get drastic and take it to a dealership, is there anything else that I could do to fix this issue. Any info would be a great help.

Thanks

 

There is a couple other things to check.
I would start with the plug wires, and work back to the distributer (or coils, whatever you have).

 

did you have the code cleared? if not it, may take a bit to self clear. just a thought.

 

coupe or sedan?

 

Thank you for your suggestions. I ended up trying the key trick with turning it on off, on off, on off. It popped up the code P303, but than when I went to start the car the check engine light did not come back on after that, and I have driven it a couple of times and still no sign of it coming back on. I hoping that it was just the spark plugs, they did look pretty ugly after I replaced them. Hoping that it isn't a sign of bigger problems to come in the future.

 

Hey. My daughter's '04 Stratus with about 98K miles popped this code this afternoon. I just replaced the plugs about two weeks ago, and it has been running fine.

It has a coil on top of each plug. This is the first vehicle that I have changed the plugs on that has a coil on each plug. Is there anything special I should have done? The "wires" below each coil just seemed to rest on each plug. The didn't have the typical loop that had a positive snap onto the plug, so I was never really sure if each was properly seated.

Any ideas on what I should check? I'll clear the code when I get ahold of a friend's reader to see if it was a fluke or comes back, but am wondering if I missed something?

Thanks!

 

Mine did this, and over time, it ran like total crap. I ended up having to replace both coil packs at $100 a piece. I have also read that on this particular car, (The 2.4 SOHC mitsubishi motor) that the coil packs 'fight' platinum plugs. I have been using the cheapest plugs I could find for 2 years now and havent had issues.

 

Uh oh. I try to buy copper plugs, but Wally World only had platinum plugs when I replaced them. If it persists, it looks like I'll be replacing them again.

Thanks for the info.