2002 Dodge Stratus 2.4L. I replaced the timing belt. Why does it run poorly?

Most probably... All these modern DOHC engines have interference designs that play havoc when belt fails... valves can collide with piston or between them too. To check without opening engine, you could remove timing belt cover and timing belt, and carefully rotate one cam to feel if it binds or not. But engine starting points to a jumped tooth on belt reinstallation (bent valves would not even allow engine to restart! Amclaussen.

If your sure the timing belt is correctly installed, then check compression. you very well may have bent some valves when the timing belt broke. low or no compression will be a sign that this is the case.

Remove the front cover on your timing belt. This will give you access to the timing mark. The mark is at 12 o'clock, straight up. You will see a small indent in the pulley. You have to align the mark exact. You need to make sure it is in the right compression stroke.

I recommend you do a compression check and make sure you have roughly the same compression on all cylinders. It is likely that when that Belt broke the valves made contact with the Pistons and bent some or all of your valves to some extent. Low compression on a cylinder will cause this symptom.

Are you sure that its lined up because the 2.4 isn't interference

This car has a very possible chance of having either a slightly bent valve, causing the loping idle, or the belt was installed a tooth off on the timing, it's one of the two.easiest way to deduce this would be to recheck the timing belt marks, to certify they're correct, then to do a simple compression check, get back to me with any questions, I'M HERE TO HELP!!!

First thing you want to check is if the rotor on the distributor is at the #1 plug wire when the #1 cylinder is at top dead center. This will ensure the timing is set correctly.

sounds like plugged catalytic converter for the exhaust... have it ckd out

Could be one of several things. Either some valves got bent during the failure, you did not index the cam correctly or you left something unplugged. Do a compression test. Low overall compression tells you the cam is out of phase, no compression in one or more cylinders is likely a valve problem. If everything there is good, make sure you are getting spark and fuel.

what do you mean loab? i'm uk auto engineer and never heard the expression loab