Questions and Answers

Dodge Stratus Cold Noises Q. I have a 2002 Dodge Stratus Coupe SXT that I purchased brand new in June of 2002. I have put about 5,600 miles on it since then. 95% of my driving is in the city (Chicago, Illinois). I got my oil changed at 3,000 miles as recommended and i am getting ready to go in for a 6,000 mile check up. The car works great but I have a few concerns:

1) When I apply the brakes, I hear a high pitched squeaking sound coming from the passenger side rear. I only hear it when breaking and it only happens for the first few times after I apply the brake when pulling out of parking space. With the cold weather it has stopped all together. When I first heard it, I mentioned to the dealer's mechanic who said that it was normally with the type of brakes that I have to hear that from time to time. Is this true?

2) With the below freezing temperatures of the past few days, I have started to notice a few problems. I get in the car to start the engine and it hesitates. It always starts and I have absolutely no problems when I am driving or at absolutely any other point during the day when I go to restart it after parking. The other problem is that after it is started, a grinding/high pitched sounds seems to come from the steering column.

This happens when I start my car in the morning and it happened after my car sat in my parking lot at work for 12 hours (on a night where it was below freezing). It should be noted that my car sits outside from about 7pm until 6am and I do live by the lake in Chicago so with the wind chill, it has been 10° to 20° below zero the past week. My father seems to think that these sounds are normal because the car is new and has to adjust to being in cold weather.

As I said, none of these problems (except for the brake one) began until this week when we had below freezing temperatures.

Any help you could provide would be greatly appreciated.

A. I wouldn't worry too much about those "cold" noises that you hear in the morning. Most cars display these types of noises when it's very, very cold out. I live in Minnesota and my Mercedes gets similar noises when I first start up in the morning. But as soon as the interior gets a little warm, they all go away.

As for the brake noise, I can't say for sure without actually hearing it, but from what you describe it sounds like it's only brake dust. That's more or less normal with disc brakes. What I do with mine is when I wash my car, I wash down the brakes through the wheels and wash some of that dust off.

When it's -20° outside, I creak, groan and rattle too.