Your Stratus MAP Sensor is a four pin unit that’s there to determine the pressure signal in your intake manifold. Designed to calculate engine load and provide your Dodge Powertrain Control Module or PCM with accurate information, this part is vital to your engine operation. When your manifold absolute pressure sensor goes out, or starts having issues your Stratus will begin showing symptoms.
One of the first signs of trouble will be your check engine light. This small indicator lamp will show up in your Dodge instrument cluster. To retrieve your stored OBDII trouble code you’ll need a proper OBDII scan tool. These tools easily plug into your vehicle and allow you to extract the code in alpha numeric format.
Today I’ll be showing you how to test the Stratus MAP Sensor in a 2000 2.0 liter 4 cylinder Dodge. In order to properly complete this guide however, you are going to need a digital multimeter.
This 2.0 liter engine is common in many Chrysler and Dodge vehicles. The Stratus MAP Sensor is easy to test, and will require you to open your hood and unplug the pressure sensor itself.
Symptoms of a bad Stratus MAP Sensor
Along with a check engine trouble light, a failed manifold pressure sensor can cause your engine to run lean or rich. This is trouble for your Dodge engine either way. Here are some of the issues you may encounter.
- Lean engine operation ( not enough fuel )
- Rich engine operation ( too much fuel – excess hydrocarbons)
- Bad gas mileage
- Premature engine damage
- Check Engine Light ON
When your 2.0 liter engine doesn’t have enough fuel in the combustion chamber, predetonation or engine knocking can occur. If left alone it can damage your piston ring lands and prematurely cause your engine to fail. When there’s too much fuel the excess hydrocarbons in your exhaust stream can cause excessive temperatures in your exhaust.
This can cause your catalytic converter to burn out. Left untreated it becomes a very expensive repair job. Instead of allowing your MAP sensor to ruin your engine, use this guide to test your pressure sensor.
Test your Stratus MAP Sensor for Power
Insert your Dodge key into the ignition and turn to the “ON” position. Now your engine sensors should be powered up and ready to be checked. Now open your hood and locate your MAP sensor, which should be mounted to the intake manifold or have a hose running to it.
Your Stratus MAP Sensor is connected by way of a four pin engine harness. We’ll be testing the ENGINE side first by unplugging the pressure sensor.
The power wire is the one that runs to the MAP sensor PIN B as shown below at the Stratus MAP Sensor wiring diagram. With the ignition key turned to the ON position, your multimeter should read between 4.5 to 5 Volts of DC.
The next wire to check is the low reference ground wire, which runs to PIN D. If you have a ground signal here, your Stratus MAP sensor is getting power and ground. If your Stratus still has a trouble code for your pressure sensor, the last part of this DIY tutorial is to check the signal wire.
To test this part of your Stratus MAP sensor, you’ll need a vacuum hand pump like a Mighty Vac. Reconnect the pressure sensor and replace the vacuum inlet with a vacuum hose that runs from your hand pump. You don’t need a fancy pump here, but one with a vacuum gauge attached is required.
Remember that your’ll need the MAP sensor reconnected at this point. The vacuum hose running to your hand pump should run right into the bottom of the MAP sensor. Now you are going to be measuring the wire that leads to PIN A for a signal. You can do this by backpinning this pin or merely piercing the wire with the lead of your multimeter.
With the key turned to the ON position and your engine off, you should read between 4.5 and 4.7 volts of DC power. Now gently apply vacuum using your hand pump to 5 in. Hg and at this point the signal should read between 3.7-3.9 volts. Increase to 10 in. Hg and the voltage should drop further to 2.8 – 3.0 volts. Now apply 15 in. Hg to the inlet of your Stratus MAP Sensor and the voltage should drop to 1.0-1.1 volts.
Release the vacuum slowly and monitor the voltage of your signal wire. It should rise steadily and slowly, without gaps or spikes in it. If your voltage measurements don’t add up, or your Stratus MAP Sensor doesn’t respond with the specifications above, you need a replacement pressure sensor.
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