2004 Chrysler PT Cruiser Engine Problems

“It started with the dashboard lights and the middle stick lights (p,d,r,n++) I can't see at night what speed I'm going or my levels or anything bc the lights quit working, I had the battery replaced I've had the battery changed twice, I've had the thermostat changed twice but it still over heats not too long ago with both of my toddlers in the car on a 3 lane highway locked up on me couldn't use the steering wheel or brakes had to pull the emergency break it's just been repetitive I bought the car from my sister who's grandmother got tired of putting money into it it stutters sometimes like…”

“Vehicle accelerated on its own, up to 4,000rpm with my foot off the gas pedal. When I stomped on the brakes car would not slow down, engine continued to run at 4,000rpm. To save my life and others shifted car into neutral, pulled over and turned off ignition. After a minute or two restarted the car and same symptom were present, engine reviving to 4,000rpm, foot off the gas pedal, on the brake pedal as a precaution. Note that when this first happened the car was not in cruise control mode, simply driving around town running errands. …”

“My car started overheating, so we have replaced the thermostat, fan fuses, and it is still overheating. My cousin has the same car only a 2002 which it overheated and caused the head to blow. There are many many many complaints on line however I am not seeing very many people with the complaints on this site. Just doing a search on line for Pt Cruiser overheating problems there are tons of them. Why would there not be a recall on something that is a known issue? I have a 2001 dodge caravan that has never had any serious problems, with 200,000 miles on it. …”

“Engine light came on, it acted like it was misfiring. Car shut off at around 60mph. Drifted off road and restarted and went a mile or so and it shut off again we kept doing that until we got home. The next day we took it to our mechanic it ran fine on the way there, around 15 miles. He put it on his computer, it read bad injectors so he replaced them. Then he took it for a ride and it acted like it was misfiring again he put it back on his computer and it read bad coil so he replaced the coil pack,plugs and plug wires. It ran fine for about 4 months . Until now 10/30/2012. . …”

“Just under 78,000 miles turbo goes out, took to dealership, replaced turbo (took 6 mos) finally returned the vehicle and within 1 month head gasket goes out (blowing white smoke), while driving at 35 MPH on a side road (dealer says known problem, wants another $2000 for head gasket, local dealer says the head gaskets for that car are the weak point, when you return the comp ratio to new/normal with a new turbo. …”