Accept no substitutes

PT Saga Continues

First let me say that I love my PT Cruiser. I’ve had it for over 5 years; it is a first year Cruiser. During that time I’ve only had a few minor repairs and not serious callbacks.
Then the stalling when the engine is hot started.
The occurance of the problem preceded my 60K mile maintenance by only 24 hours so I added a look at the stall to the scheduled maintenace. The 60K is a pretty big deal in which all the spark plugs, wires, hoses etc are replaced or at least checked. The guess of the service guys was that the PT had gunk built up in the throttle housing (?) and that in the heat the gunk became fluid enough to ooze down and cut off the flow. No trouble. Just clean it out.
I pick up the car and drive a bit. The stall is back — or more properly never left.
[inserting forgetten visit here]
I take it back to Chrysler. They have found a tech bulletin of some sort. They download new soft/firmware in to the car’s mind. That should fix it.
In the mean time, Sally’s car, an older Saturn, was stalling too. Her problem was related to the EGR valve.
The PT, even with it’s new brain download, stalls again and again. Some symptoms: fine until driven about 15 or 20 miles in the heat. Then beware on stoplights.
The Chrysler guys next speculated that the problem was the fuel pump. My choices: Drive around with a pressure recorder on the fuel line or Just go ahead and replace the pump.
We replaced the pump. Not cheap but effective or so it seems.
No more stalling — so far.
Thursday I drove the PT about 4 blocks and the Check Engine Light lit up. Finally some data for the poor mechanics. During all the stalling there was no Check Engine and no data or alerts generated.
Now we have something for them to look at.
More on Monday.
[insert Saturday stall outs]
So I take the first good medium length drive today. Over to Durham to hear Barry Varela read from his new novel, Palmer’s Gate at the Regulator. I get almost to 9th Street when I hit a stoplight. The car stalls.
I am cursed in several different languages as I try to restart the car even though I have the e-blinkers on and am in the rightmost lane.
Finally, as usual, the PT restarts. I get to the reading a little late, but I do get there.
After the reading and good talks with friends, I get in the PT. Starts fine. Drives fine. All the way to Chapel Hill. Until I try to turn off 51-501 onto Morgan Creek. Stall again. Yikes.

50 Comments

  1. jim asks

    CampJen where is the crankshaft sensor located

  2. MattG

    Add me to the list of ’03 cruiser owners that have had to replace the crankshaft sensor. Sorry, I’m not a do-it-yourselfer so I can’t specify the location but I did want to note that the car symptoms. The car would randomly just not turn over when starting. Wait 10 seconds and it would fire immediately. I did have the bucking and stalling effect at highway speeds about a year ago and, after the water pump failed, the mechanic noticed that the timing belt was off by a tooth. Perhaps that will help others in their diagnoses.

  3. Katie

    I have a 2005 PT which I LOVE… she has 30,000 km, is a 4L Turbo automatic and is stalling every time I slow down or come to a stop. She kind of shudders, then stops, period… no lights come on and she is easy to re-start.
    The Chrysler dealer tells me I am having a “Carbon” problem, now come on what’s a “carbon problem”. They had the car all day and ended up having to call an engineer at Chrysler down east ( I am in south east British Columbia). The weather here right now is cool, typical fall so it can’t be because of the heat. I called them back this morning to tell them that the gunk they put in her didn’t work, they told me that I had to bring the car back so they could run all kinds of diagnostics with instructions from the Chrysler people in the States.
    Any suggestions on how I should address these mechanics, as a woman I am hard pressed to take on the garage. They didn’t charge me for the first go, put it through as a warranty item, can I anticipate them continuing this as a warranty claim??

    Thanks! Great place for info.

    Katie
    Canadian at a loss

  4. MattG

    Just make sure every time it stalls you take it to the garage to keep it a warranty issue. I took the approach that it was safety issue that I didn’t feel safe putting my family in the car with the risk of it stalling w/o warning. They were very accomodating to me. Perhaps you could ask if there are any TSB’s (Tech Service Bulliten) regarding the crankshaft sensor. You had a friend who’s car had the same symptoms and changing the sensor seemed to resolve the problem.

  5. John

    is the power steering code 0551 a critical thing? could someone please tell me where this sensor is and how much it will cost and how I can replace it? please respond to my email mirage154@hotmail.com

  6. WillR

    This thread is quite the example of the long tail – way to go Paul ;-)!

  7. Rob Nock

    Interesting thread.

    We have a 2001 PT Limited Edition just turned 60,000 miles, that has a similar, but not identical problem. Starts normally then run for a short distance, say 4-5 minutes to drop our son off at day care or go to the bank and it won’t start when we come back out 5-10 minutes later. Engine cranks but won’t ignite. Wait some period of time (5 minutes minimum, 60 minutes is longest wait but gave up and called for service after 25 minutes when AAA arrived 35 minutes later it started right up). This sounds to me like it might be an overheating problem, too. Any advice would be appreciated.

    My email is rrnock@verizon.net

    Repair shop couldn’t find any fault codes and couldn’t duplicate problem.

    Thanks,

  8. CindyR

    Add me to the list. 05 with Turbo, 20,000 miles. Car started sputtering yesterday morning. Didn’t think anything of it. Last night it was so bad I was afraid I would be stranded an hour from home with no public transportation. The engine light came on and has not gone off. I drove it to the dealership with two feet this morning, one on the gas and one on the brake. I could actually hear a grinding noise under the car and the car was shuddering as I was driving to the dealership.
    The dealer said it needed updated (not sure what “it” was). That didn’t fix it, now they want to change the spark plugs and wires, which they say is a tune up that I would have to do anyway and they are charging me for it. This really makes me mad, a tune up at 20,000 miles????
    I told them I had done research and this was a common problem that could be fixed with a camshaft and crakshaft positon sensor. Their reply was this could not be it because the computer did not tell them this.
    I will keep you posted.

  9. Katie

    Well… I think my car’s fixed…. Finally stalled and would not re-start. Called my brother-in-law and had him deal with the Service Manager, they had the car towed and a rental car for me within a couple of hours. Hate to say that it might be a woman issue, but…. They told me they had to replace the entire computer system, not exactly sure what this means but she seems to be running okay. I am a little concerned cause I didn’t get to see any of the paper work, they just handed me my keys (good riddance maybe). I shuold probably get the paper work for future reference.

    Again, good site

  10. Jeff

    I own a 2001 Pt with 54000 miles on it, I had the code 0551 also but no problems with idle, i replaced the sensor and everthing is fine. But this morning my car stalledon me and the anti theft light was blinking, I tried it again and it sounded like it wasn’t going to start but did then stalled again. I took out the key and put it back in and it fired up. When I first bought this car I got a spare key made not knowing about the chip so it was a regular hardware store blank. The car did start but immediatley shut off, with all these problems and all of you people sinking money into your cars to fix the stalling issue; could it be that it is the key that is failing and the computer thinking it is being stolen so it shuts off automatically? I don’t mself but it popped into my head when i was thinking of this post.

    Just my .02

  11. Calvin

    Amazing how many people can have the same issues, and yet so many of us get dragged through the ringer by Dealers, spent $1200+ on stalling , sputtering ’01
    now the now infamous 0551 code, I will change the sensors suggested myself this time an let everyone know the verdict.

  12. MADMAN

    Pehaps Mr. NADER should be made aware of this forum. I have just read through ALL these posts because my Mom’s ’01 has the 0551 code about the psp sensor BUT NO stalling or hesitation. I just wanted to immensly thank ALL participating postees, you have all greatly increased my insight and confidence to deal w/this problem AND I have been nickname midnight auto from 35 years of shade tree and able to do many repairs in complete darkness. Everyone, good luck and also any question can be adressed to ….—– madmantb@netzero.net

  13. ronnie

    the dealers don’t want to find the problem. i use to be a service writer and that’s why i quit. their not in it to fix it right away their into upcharging your tickets. they have done enough of these to know soon as you come in what the problem is but if they can string you along they make more money and that’s the bottom line.

  14. ronnie

    the crank and cam sensors on these and other cars have stumped lots of people. they develop a crack in them from the heat generated buy the engine and will act up in ways described above until they go completely out and leave you stranded. they cool off and the car will restart. but in the mean time they cost you money for diagnostic and replacement parts. should be a law against it. it’s nothing less than a stick up. in most cases they know before thay do the repair it want fix your car. but they also know you’ll be back. get something in writing if it doesn’t fix it you don’t owe anything. you can check these sensors yourself if you have any skills at all or you have a boy friend or gril friend thats able to turn a wrech. pull um out and look at them if they have any cracks in them at all their bad. replace them and your done. in most cases their only 20 or so bucks.

  15. thor

    We have a 2007 PTC and are going to do a long trip into scandinavia. Our PT stalled two days ago while cornering…not a pretty way to make a turn without powersteering… Wife upset, children upset…Let’s hope the stalling doesn’t happen we said. This morning I started, only to see the rev-neelde drop back to zero. Re-started without a glich…Are these ‘the signs’ of malfunctioning sensors?????
    Other question about the brakes: in the morning the brakes sound like I am grinding two stones together. Is this some sort of resdidu setting on the disks?
    Final strange thing about our PT: the front driverseat ‘slides’ left to right when going around a roundabout. It sounds like the seat has a set of horizontal bars along which the seat slides 5 mm L to R????? Any ideas? The dealer (who took 5 days just to get the new car washed and finally had misplaced the second key, only to bring it two weeks later) drove around in it for a while without noticing it…

  16. Marcel

    My daughter’s 01 PT is having the same problem. It stalls periodically although I’ve taken it several times without incident. I even had it towed – no codes at the garage! It happened again yesterday so I checked the error codes (turned the key on 3 times fast) which were P1684, P122, P107 and P106. I looked up the codes at the first site on this thread – none seem to have anything to do with the CAM or CRANK sensor. Any ideas?

  17. James

    Ok, I have a 2002 model doing a very similar thing. In the cold mornings, when I first crank it up, it will crank right up but then immediately stall out unless I give it a little gas and let it “warm up.” But sometimes, it also stalls after I have been driving it for a while and I come to a stop (slowly or abruptly). I have done a TON of research and it seems to be a VERY prolific problem. I have taken many suggestions. About 2 months ago, the timing belt, all drive belts, and the idler control assembly were all replaced by a mechanic. This problem had only happened on one occasion before, but in the past 3 weeks it has gotten much worse. At the mechanic suggestion, I cleaned out the throttle body very well and that seemed to resolve it…for a few days anyway. Since then, I have replaced the spark plugs (correctly gapped to the new .40 spec), the wires, the Throttle Position Sensor, Camshaft Sensor, and Crankshaft Sensor. It’s as if I have not done a thing. It still acts exactly the same way. I don’t think it is the fuel pump because it runs fine most of the time. Someone suggested they had a similar problem on a Lebaron and it was a “fuel sensor.” Anybody heard of that? The only other thing I might try is the Oxygen Sensor, but at this point I don’t have a lot of hope. I hate to take it to a dealer since most of what I’ve heard is that the people on the forums know more than their mechanics.

    Any body got any suggestions?

  18. James

    BTW,
    my email is tokenwizard@gmail.com.

  19. nestor jardeleza

    Hi,

    Pardon me since i have another car. Its a NISSAN CEFIRO but having the same problems as with you PT’s. Cold start will just crank up but after a few minutes of driving specially on a stop/traffic and on neutral, it will just die. However, having the car sit for 5-30 minutes it will just crank up and you’re good to go again.

    Findings from NISSAN “CONSULT”: crankshaft sensor, crankshaft position sensor & camshaft position sensor

    I’ll be getting my car in a few days time and hopefully all goes well.

  20. kris

    I just bought a 2001 PT Crusier a month ago. It has 56,000 miles on it….today the Oil light kept coming on and beeping. I checked the oil its clean and full. What could be the problem??? Please help!

  21. gabriel

    Hi all,

    I have a PT that started to act strange with the lights. Fog lights stay on even if the switch is off, but if I press the signal light on, the fog lights go off. Can anyone solve this mystery? Thanks

  22. Dave

    Hi all ….I have a 2001 pt , It started “starting hard and stalling at an idle” . Weeks later it it would also cut out “similar to shutting off” . About 1 more week later it started stalling out at stop lights and very hard to restart. Had it to 2 different dealerships several times with no success in repair. After reading these threads I contacted the closest dealer and discussed the possibility of the problems being related to the crankshaft and or the camshaft sensors. He assured me that i was not only unlikely -but not possible . I argued that it must be possible and in my mind very likely to be the problem. He said he would not waiste thier time replacing them. I went to a local auto parts store and purchased a repair manual and was going to purchase both sensors (crank & cam) , the only one in stock was the crank sensor. I replaced the crank sensor ( 20 min , its just above the oil filter and must be accessed from under the car). That was 8k miles ago , runs terriffic.

  23. Dave

    Gabriel …. I t sounds like your fog light switch is bad.

  24. Chris

    We just purchased a 2006 PT Cruiser w/auto transmission in March. 19,188 miles when purchased, 20,300 now. Haven’t even had it a month. Today was the first really warm day and at lunch time, when idling in drive, the car started to sputter. It seemed like it wanted to stall, but didn’t. It did this a couple of times, and was fine when driving until my husband got to a stop light where it sputtered again. It again did it when I pulled into my work parking lot and stopped. I called the dealer and will be taking it in on Tuesday (the earliest we can get in), but I am REALLY irate that there is a problem already. We shouldn’t have to be dealing with problems in the first month! So much for buying a Certified Pre-Owned Vehicle. Just got rid of a car with a lot of problems and was looking forward to having a reliable car for the first time in a long time. Not too reliable if it starts stalling all the time! I’ve written down everything everyone has said about what the problem could be, so hopefully that will help diagnose the problem…

  25. Jennifer

    I bought a 2001 PT Cruiser NOV 27, 2007.
    Before I was even required to make the first payment got in the car wouldnt start.
    Had vehicle towed. Problem: Wire harness never re-hung rub through on cv axle needed to be replaced covered by after market warranty. Yet still had 454.00 in repairs not included under warranty like calibers, roters and pads. (all of above should’ve been caught during safety of vehcile whom I purchased from)
    Next major problem. Driving vehicle down hill started to apply brakes car would NOT STOP in fact car idled even higher and kept going. Was able to slow down to a point I was able to pull into a lot where I thought car would stop. OH NO car increased speed even after I threw up the emergency brake and was standing on the brake pedel. Crashed into a fence and finally stopped. At that point car was still idiling and missing in park with emergency brake on. Turned off the car and restarted it all was fine. Had car towed once again and contacted the dealer I purchased it from completly irrate with yet another problem which I could’ve actually killed myself or someone elese.
    Repair shop couldnt figure it out until I mentioned that when I had the track control off the brakes seemed to work better.
    In the mean time the dealer called the repair shop and told them I had the floor mat stuck on the gas??? (um Im not dumb and that was not the case that would car would not have gone faster) and that I was nuts. After the repair shop arguing with the dealer that I had no benefit in making up such a story and wasting my money that there was obviously an issue with the car. So repair shop checked track and sure enough when track control on vehcile does not recognize I am trying to brake. SO yeah I am not crazy and if you ask me the dealer I bought this from should be paying for all of this since I am crazy!

  26. Brad

    We own a 2003 PT (standard trans) and the stalling started around 7K miles. Since it was under warranty we brought it in and they found a “fouled spark plug” and replaced it. The stalling episode was short lived so there was no evidence that the replaced spark plug fixed anything. At 14K it happened again and they replaced another spark plug. When it happened again at 22K, I asked the service manager if they have a wide spread problem with the PT and of course he said no. I said then why am I only getting 22 mpg on the highway and he thought that sounded about right.
    I replaced the spark plugs myself when it started idling rough again around 28K and it seemed to smooth out. (My mpg went up dramatically too, 28-30 highway). Around 60K my wife said it was cutting out (she described it as bucking) and I replace the sp wires and spark plugs. Then the cutting out happened while I was driving it. At 2500 RPMs it would cut out badly. If I kept it under 2500 RPMs, I was able to drive it home. I put my timing light on each spark plug wire and the spark was not being delivered very much after the engine reached that magical 2500 RPM. So I replace the Coil, which I have always thought was suspect. The car idles like a dream now. I also recorded the best highway mileage (34.6 mpg).
    But the stalling (or cutting out) returned. I will be getting the crank and camshaft sensors today and will report back. I have always felt these were common problems but DC would lose even more money if they ‘fessed up. I just hope someone doesn’t get killed on the highway.

    Brad

  27. Brad

    Well the install of the Crank and Cam position sensors went pretty easy. The only problem I had was they changed the position of the Crank Position sensor from the rear of the engine (above the oil filter per Dan’s illustrations of his 2001) to the front, right below the Starter motor. Why they did that, who knows. Maybe they thought the problem (that they won’t admit to) was caused by heat from the exhaust. You never know sometimes with the engineers.
    I have two long road trips planned for the next two weekends, so heres hoping the problems are behind us…

    Brad

  28. Mike T.

    i bought a o1 pt this year, 94,000 miles. first week i had it, wouldnt stop going down a huge hill,new rotors and pads fixed the brakes. i decided to replace the oil, filter, air filter, wires( borg warner had the plastic covers on them) and bosch plugs that you dont gap( about 5.00 ea.). motor runs great. then the fist week engine lgt comes on. p0420 code. looked it up on one of the cruizer sites just says the catalyst seems inefficient #1….. on one site i found might be secondary 02 sensor so i replaced it. 3 days later, engine lgt back, same code. so i`m gonna replace the primary 02 sensor this week. its alot of miles so what the heck. i`ll post if it works. still runs great.( but i`m only geting 22 mpg half highway, half city) has anyone had to replace a cat converter yet? i havent had any stalling problems, but a guy i know w/ 01 is. he replaced his crank sensor wasnt it. now he bought a cam sensor not installed yet. i have clunking in the frt end, and so does he,,sounds like frt control arm bushings is a common problem, so next i`ll be working on that. never thought i would want a pt, but its pretty cool and fun to drive, lots of room. just hope it keeps going. my emails is a6string4me@centurytel.net

  29. Mike T.

    changed my primary 02 sensor today, after 2 trips to oreillys, one to get the sensor, the 2nd trip to by the 2 special sensor sockets. the new bosch sensor is slightly different size than the original, so one socket got the old one out, one got the new one in. i also had to dent in the sheetmetal a little with a hammer to get the thicker bosch sensor into that tight spot.i`ll know in a few days of driving if that fixed it. the p0420 is a catalist problem, so i got my fingers crossed. theres is a 1/2 in dia vacuum hose on the top of the motor that comes off easy if you bump it. if it comes off, no brakes, the engine races and revs,( of course i found that out the hard way) so i would suggest to everyone to put a hose clamp on it.does anyone know where to get a good repair manual???

  30. Alice

    Ok I am having some problems with my 2002 PT. It started with trying to start the car and it doing nothing. No clicking, no truning over, nothing. Twice in a row and then on the third time started and had no problems. Next day would stall while driving and restart immediately. Just kept getting worse. Started doing it more than once a day. Then completely shut off and coasted to a stop. tried to start it several times with nothing. Then after sitting a minute or two it started. Went to start it later that day and nothing again for several tries, then started. Then another day, at idle it started to get hot. Took it to the dealer they found the radiator fan had a short and they disconnected it and told me to drive it and see if it still tried to stall. It did so I took it back and two different people drove it and didnt find anything. When I drive it, it usually takes about 15 minutes of driving for it to start happening. Sometimes it stalls and starts almost immediately and sometimes I have to coast to a stop and let it sit for 5 min or so for it to start. It is just getting more frequent, and I am more frustrated! The dealer said that it has to happen on a “all the time” basis or finally stop, not start and be towed in for them to be able to figure out what is wrong. Can someone help me??

  31. Jennifer

    Im Back after having car repaired from above date April 29th. Now car wont shift out of 2nd geer or go past 35. Check engine light is on. Car also leaking power steering fluid and anti freeze.
    So I have had this car only 7 months and have only put 6,000 miles on it since I bought if from a dealership. Also most Chrysler dealers in my area will NOT accept my after market warranty because it is not through Chrysler and so many of these companies are claiming bankrupcy.
    Well I have been without a car for a week while it’s been in two diffrent shops and now they beleive it needs a whole new transmission. Car just hit 75,000 and I only put 6,000 of those miles on it.
    I have had it!!! Once this car is fixed I am driving back 2 hrs where I got it and they can have it back.
    The place who has worked on it since i bought it said it should have never left the lot of the dealer.
    So it’s going right back. ALso filed a complaint with the Attorney General in my state.

  32. susie

    I’m having transmission problems ,can anyone help ,the engine light came on then car sputtered pulled over to a stop put car in park for a second shifte to drive ,and wouldn’t go frontward or backward, any idea’s

  33. Jim

    I have a 2003 PT with the same problems-hot day-dies at stop lights or when I let off the gas and don’t have it in gear to keep the engine revving.

    other than all of the sensors, maybe its

    http://www.motor.com/magazine/pdfs/032008_02.pdf

    Since once the engine is fully hot all is OK

  34. Jeremy

    Maybe a little bit off track, ….But ……… I have recently wraped up an experience not unlike the one described above. It was in an 87 Olds. The only reason I’m even throwin’ in my 2 cents is because my problem was EXACTLY the same, I replaced every sensor, fuse , etc… Then one day it did more than stall, it gave up completely.
    Turns out that the “sprocket” or “gear” that the timing belt rides on is made of some kind of composite material and the “teeth” had been coming off gradually……..more so when hot. Resetting the computer, or replacing parts had the computer trying to compensate for the “jump in the timing” and made it better for a little bit. but as time wares on it could not keep up. The timing belt did not break, it had just ripped all the teeth off of the sprocket and was no longer keeping the camshaft in time with the Crankshaft. If it hadn’t give out completly I do not think I would have ever figured it out.

    Hope it helps somebody, because I type like four words a minute. and my hands are tired.

    And thats my 2 cents!

  35. mig

    OK folks, I’ve not posted here before so forgive me if you have this information.

    I had the problem with my 01 PT shutting off. I tried to make heads or tails of it but I couldn’t find a pattern. I see a lot of people were having issues with it shutting off when it got warm, but that wasn’t the case with mine. Mine would just shut off at random times and half the time I could restart the car before it came to a stop. So I worked with it for a while checking the different sensors because i was getting the camshaft code and the egr codes, etc. I tried replacing those sensors to no avail. I finally took it to the dealer when the car shut off while i was driving down the highway and was in the process of passing an 18 wheeler. That was not a fun experience. I expected to get a run around from the dealer when I took it in about this being intermittent, but i got lucky. When I parked the car in the drive to have it serviced, I was one of the first people there, which meant that every other car that needed service was in line behind mine. When they went out to move the car, it wouldn’t start. LOL! So they couldn’t claim that they hadn’t experienced the problem. They had to push the car into the repair bay. WAHAHAHAHA! Trust me, it was a beautiful thing.

    Anyway, when all was said and done, I was told that the problem with mine was that some of the wires for the auto shut off mechanism that were/are routed under the battery were shorting out. The auto shut off mechanism is the thing that shuts off the fuel pump when the vehicle gets into an accident. So basically, because of the way the wires were shorting, the car was shutting off the fuel to the engine because the thing thought it was in an accident.

    I don’t know if this info will help anyone, but i hope so.

    BTW, I am getting the 0551 code again, but that has happened intermittently since I purchased the car at the end of 01 with 20K miles on it and I now have 156K miles on the car.

    Oh, hey, if you are having problems with the fog lights, you’ll find that if you can get the switch out and actually open it up, you can remove the portion of the switch that controls the fog lights. I had to do that on mine because I’m a cheap b@57@rd and when mine failed it failed in teh on position, which left the fog lights one even if the car was turned off. I figured that out when I came out of work one day to a dead battery. I still need to actually replace that switch at some point, but then again, I’m probably not going to get rid of this car until it dies completely. See reason above. 😉

  36. Richard

    I REALLY want to THANK EVERYONE who has posted on this thread all your symptoms and suggestions have really helped me here in diagnoseing the problems with my sister’s 05 PT. It seems these stalling problems are quit common in these cars. Because of the information detailed here I more or less now know how to tackle her stalling problem. I was very intimidated by working on such a new car and was actually telling her to take it to the dealer, I know better now! THANKS!

  37. Dan

    I have a 2003 Pt Cruiser Turbo. About 4 months ago the engine light came on and the car sputter as if not getting any gas. Took it in and they replaced the MAP sensor and another sensor. Drove it 2 days and the engine light came on again with the same sputter and not wanting to start. Took it in and they replace the ECU (I think). Drove it 2 days and same thing. Took it back in and they replaced the MAP sensor a second time. Drove it 2 weeks and now doing it again. Took it in and their computer says it it a MAP sensor and the voltage is down – any suggestions?

  38. Gerry Carmichael

    Your problem is 2 fold. I am going to hazard a guess and say that the stalling usually occurs when the heat or A/C is on. This is common on all PT’s with around 60K. Chrysler knows about it. They are trying to dodge (forgive the pun) a product recall. Replace your cooling fan. The one for the radiator. It is a 2 speed fan. Low speed for most conditions, and high for high temps for whenever the A/C compressor is engaged. The compressor will run even with the heat on so as to circulate the R132a to prevent seals from drying out during the winter. However when the high speed side is not working the compressor overpressurizes, begins to vapor lock and drags the engine to a halt. My experiance cost me $1300 for new A/C plumbing because the over pressure finally blew on of the coolant lines. Second, replace the powersteering sensor switch. Notoriously prone to failure. New cooling fan can be had on ebay for around $100 with 1 yr warentee. Chrysler wants $380. @$&* them. Still love my cruiser!!!!!

  39. Dan

    Thanks Gerry for the feedback. They have replaced the Cam and Crank sensor, as I see from the forum, that could be the cause. If it occurs again I will have them check and or replace those things you suggested. Right now they are guessing as they have no idea what is causing the voltage drop which in turn is causing the sputtering. And, I agree…Love My Cruiser!

  40. Jon

    I have an 01 pt cruiser. Anyone know what the 420 code, catalyst seems insufficient 1, means? How do i fix it? Also, would this code be the cause of my check engine light being on?

  41. jodie

    ok i have a 2003 pt cruiser and sometime it will not turn over. the check engine light has been on. i took it to advance auto and they read the code that says it is the cam sensor. i took it to a mechanic who says you have to install the sensor and then set the code or something anyone ever heard of that. or can you just replace them and be done. my car does not sputter bad. i have had it act sluggish when i first crank it but rarely.

  42. Troy

    I had the same problem . the cam and crank sensors run off of each other. If you change one , you may just as well change the other, the cam sensor is easily replaced by removing the air intake box undoing the connector and 2 small bolts clean the surface and re-install the new one . don’t forget to disconnect the battery at the ground before doing all this , the pcm ( car’s brain ) runs both sensors with out the use of a module it relies on voltage. The crank sensor is either located on the bell housing of the tranny or below the starter depending on what year or model you have. It is held in with one bolt or screwed in ( tranny model ) the screw in type will have a paper shim on it make sure the paper shim touches the flywheel when installing ( you can feel this ) don’t worry the paper shim will fall off and dissolve. leave the battery disconnected for at least 20 minutes and the clean terminals ( both pos and neg ) and apply some sort of lube to protect from corrosion . hope this helps , its what i had to do and my pt has 200 thousand miles on it ( but still very pretty )

  43. shasta979

    this is my first posting. i have a 2003 pt cruiser with 82,000 miles. i noticed my car began to sputter the other day but just a couple of times. A couple days later my car was on empty so i filled up the gas tank and noticed more of the sputtering sound. It seems as if it wants to shut off but not exactly. I have not seen any engine or oil lights appear on my dash and it still drives decent except for when i slow down, stop, or accelerate past 60mph. What could it be? any help would be appreciated. thx

  44. dolfins2ya

    Wow…lots of good info here. Today was my day to experience the sputtering problem. Pulled onto the highway and it started bucking and the engine light came on. Managed to make it to the dealership and have a rental. I noticed a little knocking and pinging last week but didn’t think anything of it-bad gas maybe. It has 73k miles on it now and I used to work for the BBB and know to ask for TSBs and if there are any recalls. Of course it’s out of warrantee now and I’m just waiting to see what they come back with at the dealership as the problem. Is there anything else you folks can suggest as a possible problem for this: I’ve seen the crank and cam sensors listed and spark plug replacement. Thanks!

  45. shelly

    2007 pt cruiser replaced the cam shaft and crankshaft sensor will not go above 2500 rpm anyone having this problem

  46. Jon

    My wifes 01 pt just started sputtering and cutting out. It does not die though. has check engine light and several codes. P0181, P07E5, P0089,P0301.
    I

  47. Katie

    I have a 05 PT with 43,000 KM, took it to the dealer for an oil change and a tune-up and came away $2,100 poorer.

    They replaced the front bushings as well as the outer tie-rods, being a non mechanical female I always feel like I am getting sold a barrel of fish when I go to the garage. I have also had to replace both front speakers, the back windshield, a brake pad as well as the shocks. Non of these include the problems I had when I first got the car in that it would just die and re-start when in the mood, I recorded that event on this blog back then.

    I figure that if I keep the car another couple of years I will have replaced practically everything but the seats.

    Is this normal????????????

    Help.

    Katie

  48. Nelson

    Hi there:
    Vehicle:2001 PT Cruiser

    Problem: Rough Idle
    Codes: p0420 The catalyst seems inefficient (#1).
    P0134 MIL code indicates: Neither rich nor lean mixture is detected from the oxygen sensor input.

    Action taken: Changed BOTH(p0420 and p0134) sensors and Still doing the same thing. Also went ahead and did the spark plugs. I was thinking about changing the spark plug wires? Any opinions in the subject?

    Thank you for your time !!

  49. Ronnie

    My wife just called me and said on her 2001 PT Cruiser, the oil light came on and the buzzer was going off. She got home and checked the oil and it was full. What is going on and is there a reset on this oil light and buzzer??

  50. Missy

    PT 2003 Cruiser dies after driving for at least 30 mins. when coming to a stop. Starts back up and continue to stop at stops. No codes showing up.

Leave a Reply

© 2024 The Real Paul Jones

Theme by Anders NorenUp ↑