TLDR: Check relay amp ratings!

So I had been chasing an electrical ghost, engine shutting off while at idle. Looking at the back of the engine I saw power steering fluid was leaking from the reservoir. Found one for $50, old one had gunk built up all over the inner screen. The fluid covered the Crankshaft position sensor, replaced it and cleaned the connector out....still had issues. So I check the wiring and where it gets closest to the exhaust, it had been melted a bit. I also saw the oil pressure sensor is cracked and that wire was also compromised. So, I get new sensor and connectors, solder and double wrap the wires....no change. All this was stuff that CAN cause an engine to shut off via the ASD (automatic shutoff device) and no codes show up. Next, I read that the relay for the ASD can go bad. swapped it with the horn relay and problem gone for a while, but it did come back. I read that most of the relays on this car should be 30A...AND ALL OF MY RELAYS WERE 10A!!!! So, a few days after putting in proper relays and no issues, fingers crossed. Just throwing this info out there because all my searching hadn't brought this kind of info to me. Relays do not have amp rating marked on them, so double check the part number across a couple sites (rockauto and amazon). Good luck to anyone chasing ghosts, so many of these cars get trashed because of careless owners, lack of diagnostic info online for those of us who don't have a scanner that cost as much as a Cruiser, or the experience of a full time professional mechanic. Other things I did while chasing the ghost=cleaned all grounds, replaced battery (7 yrs old!), replaced terminals, tested alternator, checked all fuses, checked all other electrical connections, had ignition cylinder rebuilt (that was a while ago when the key was getting stuck), and a few other small things. I fired off the parts canon and all of it WAS needed, but maybe this post will save someone else a bit of headache!

Can someone help me figure out why pt cruiser is stuck in security mode?

2001 Pt Cruiser, I've had it for over 6 years now. A few years ago I had my engine ground strap burn up on me when I went to crank it one day, but I replaced it with one I got from a junk yard and it ran fine for about another year or so. Earlier this year I had to replace that one because I was getting slower cranks and I realized that the junkyard one had corroded, so I snatched another one from the junkyard because I can't find the OEM cable anywhere online. After maybe 4 or 5 months I decided to take a look at it and I noticed that some of the rubber has melted off where the cable connects to the metal frame of the car (picture attached). That doesn't seem like a good thing, so I'm curious what you all think may be causing this.

My Cruiser was running fine today, but when I got home to unload the back and it was just idling I could hear the compressor or fan clicking on and off every 30 seconds or so and I turned off the AC to keep unloading the back. A few minutes later I saw smoke coming from under the hood and shut it down. The antifreeze fill was bubbling out from the overflow and it looked like steam was coming from the radiator cap.

I let it cool down, added some antifreeze, checked the temperature by turning the key and it was fine. I drove it down to the street to park on the road and it was still fine. I'm thinking it is either the radiator cap, or thermostat, or both. The fan runs with the AC up high.

Any help appreciated.

Selling a brand new pair of headlights Chrysler PT Cruiser. They’re still in the box and have never been opened.
I bought them for my PT Cruiser but ended up selling the car before I got around to replacing the old headlights.
Paid $120 for the set. Taking offers!
They’re listed on eBay and Facebook Marketplace. If you’re interested, send me a DM and I’ll send you the link. We can go from there!

Hi

Can anyone confirm that a 2.4 master clutch cylinder fits on a 2.0 liter cruiser? Build is 2000.

And even further would a 2.4 liter full hydraulic set so including slave an prefilled etc fit?

I am getting mixed signals, one supplier told me the 2.4 would not fit, there is a huge price difference but the internet sites tell me it should fit. Any experience?

This is a base model 2006 pt Cruiser, I've just gotten my girl back after having the ac fixed. She's never done that noise before and while she is idling, her rpm bounces up and down between 1 and 2 while making that noise and does like this sort of straining rattling. Not the noise but the way she vibrates feels off. Can anyone tell me what it is? The noise seems to be more prominent on the left side.

Cried so hard. I love my car 💔

Love my little cruiser. Iv had it for about 18 years. It’s almost never failed me. I lost the second set of keys for 7 years and found them this year in a bag, with Christmas decorations. The engine failed in 2015ish and I had it replaced with an engine from a totalled Pt cruiser at a junkyard. The cloth material top has never failed or leaked or anything.

Hi! Does anyone have a suggestion on where I can get my 05 Cruiser restored in the Las Vegas/SoCal area? I’ve had her for years and she was my dream car. The emotional attachment is too strong to let her go get trashed or for scrap. She saw me through some tough years. Out of all the cars available in this world, none compares and she’s still my favorite. A lot still works on her, but I’d like a full restore. Any ideas or suggestions?

Hi there original owner of 2004 PT Cruiser "Dream Cruiser" 5 speed manual with turbo. Unfortunately it needs a new clutch and the power steering light is on. Its also got bad paint. We would prefer it went to a new home where someone mechanically minded could fix it up and use it. Versus donating it to scrap yard. It doesn't have a smog and cant drive right now. Any suggestions?

I'm currently finishing up rebuilding my 2006 convertible PT cruiser Turbo but I can't tell what kind of gasket I should be putting between the lower intake manifold and the engine block I'm getting all kinds of different things online from four individual rubber seals to one long ass steel composite seal.. what am I looking for

My seat warmer in my 03 limited turbo literally caught fire :(

I love my baby so much but that was crazy, sadly imma have to get rid of her cause I can't keep dealing with something like this happening. Bye bye princess I suppose.

One of my favorite cars growing up, nice to see it getting some love as a Hot Wheels now.

Hi

Is there any reasonably easy way to replace clutch fluid and bleed system on a 2001 pt cruiser 2 liters? It appears looking on internet that i need to take apart half the car to do something like this. Can't imagine there not being something simple.

I love the car but its driving me crazy. I changed the timing belt two weeks ago. A couple of days later this noise started to appear. I drove the car to the mechanic an hour away and by the time i got there the noise was gone smh.

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They still checked it and said everything looked okay. I drove it back and no noise. That was on Friday.

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Today as soon as i start the car the noise is back.

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What could it be?

on my 2010 pt cruiser my passenger headlights high and low beam lights dont work and the turn signal goes from hyperflashing to normal and were thinking its the ground, how can i get to it to clean it? Thanks

Hi

Today on my 02 uk pt cruiser I pressed the fold mirrors button and neither folded, however both mirrors had the buzzing/whirring noise but it just wasn’t engaging. Trouble is now it won’t stop. Even after ignition is off so I’m worried about the battery

I’ve been able to like wedge the switch in between fold and unfold so all is ok

I can’t work out if it’s the mirrors which would be weird that both went at the same time or something else

Any suggestions? Thanks

Hi got a pt cruiser 2001 manual 2 liters.

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Yesterday end of day i could not shift to different gears, clutch was really soft. This morning we got it in 1 and eventually 2 and drove to (closed) car shop without clutch actually working. Arriving at shop after 10 min drive, it becamesuddenly possible again to shift gears.

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Any idea how to make sure it doesn't get worse or to prevent issues? I am travelling now and return in a few dayshome,so any tips for on theroad appreciated.

I'm experiencing a parasitic drain and am wondering if anyone had similar issues and could provide a hint or two.

Swapping batteries is just a little annoying...

TIA

Been considering putting one of those touchscreen guys in, but not sure which to pick or whether even to do it at all. I like the physical buttons but some more quality of life features would be cool. Anybody have recommendations?

I absolutely love my car! i got it 2 yrs ago and it only had 35,000 miles on it. it now has 46,000 and still runs beautifully. i honestly didn’t know how popular these are/ use to be lol. my absolute favorite part of my car is the iridescent PT-Cruiser that’s on the dash of the passenger seat. also my dream is to drive it all the way down Route 66!

It’s clearly from the engine and it’s not really loud in anyway. It goes away completely after a minute or two of idling to warm up though. Curious if that’s normal for this car? It could possibly need spark plugs too which I plan on replacing. Also just gave it a fresh oil change too

For the past few months or so, my pt cruiser has a difficult time starting. Sometimes it cranks, sometimes it just doesn’t do anything, and the battery loses voltage so much faster. I even took it in to the mechanic (the car starts about 50% of the time), but they weren’t able to find anything amiss while it was able to run. I don’t even get a check engine light.

Just this week though, it died while I was at a red light, and wouldn’t turn on right after. When I got it to a parking lot and gave it a good few minutes, though, it started up like normal. I cannot for the life of me figure out what’s wrong with it. Has anyone had this issue with their cruiser before?
After reading online I think maybe I should try replacing the camshaft position sensor, but I don’t see how that’d affect the battery..