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Chrysler PT Cruiser Transmission Problems

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Comments

  • jpfjpf Member Posts: 496
    I had a 2006 Dodge Caravan with the same engine. Timing belt replacement was recommended at 90k miles in the owner's manual. What the dealer told you about the timing belt sounds fishy. Good luck.
  • cardawg29cardawg29 Member Posts: 1
    I have the same exact problem. Lucky for me my best friend is a mechanical Engineer and takes automotive challenges very seriously. He came over with his code reader and laptop and was able to determine that I am having transmission problems. It all started with a soft whine type noise that I thought was just a wheel bearing I could get to later. It worsened so I took the car last July 12 to Jiffy lube for new ATF+4. I drove just under 7,000 miles since last July and then the check engine light came on and the car went into safe mode not allowing me to take it over 2400rmp. When the car gets warm it becomes extememly difficult to shift it into gear. I had very little trouble during the cold Oregon Winter. My friend reset the trouble code and the check engine light went off as did the safe mode. So I can drive the car normally but again when it gets hot I have difficulty shifting it into gear. It is a 5 speed manual trans. I will be taking the car to his house tomorrow for more comprehensive diagnostic work. Hopefully It's something outside the transmission that can be replaced like a clutch master/slave cylinder kit. my email is little nich at yahoo dot com. all without spaces. Hit me up. Maybe we can get to the bottom of this problem. :confuse:
  • fixitchipfixitchip Member Posts: 3
    My vehicle goes to Limp Mode.. I get these codes. P0700, P0732 and P0733 Codes

    Already replaced Speed Sensors in and out.

    Metal filing/material was on Speed Sensor. 1/8 of teaspoon or less.

    Do you have any next recommendations if solenoid should be replaced. Or are we thinking more on overdrive clutch.. Not sure how to test that.. Fluid is clean, but filter has not been checked. Now 99,000 Miles on car. Bought from dealer at 65,000 Miles.

    Generally seems to drive fairly well at 35-38 Miles per hour. Once I speed up beyond that, it goes into limp mode.
  • texas_redtexas_red Member Posts: 3
    edited September 2013
    So here's the story. About a year ago I was out with a friend and his GF in his PT. We were on our way back from getting some food and for some reason he decided to floor it right before we went over a railroad crossing. Took the hit kinda hard but not quite Dukes of Hazard levels. Engine died. It started back up fine but my friend said the car was making a noise. I couldn't hear it, and the car was driving fine otherwise. Once we got back I could hear the sound. I can only classify it as a sort of rough whine, but it's not really high pitched. The car was already giving the CEL and P0601 codes well before this.

    He continued to drive the car with it making this noise up until this past July when he lent it to me, with the idea being I'd probably buy it assuming it wasn't a major problem. He went and got the oil changed and tried to get the registration and inspection up to date, but the inspection failed due to the CEL. I took it to Cottman Transmission and they said they cannot identify the issue, they'd have to pull the tranny off and inspect it. $550 just for that, which would get included in repair costs depending on what they found. They said the transmission fluid was fine and not burnt, etc. and only mentioned that I had minor oil and tranny fluid leaks. The car shifts smoothly still and has plenty of "go," it's not in limp mode, but it does make extra noise if it has to work hard above 3.5K rpm, so far only if I have the AC on and getting onto the freeway or the cruise control is trying to get back up to the set speed. More recently I've noticed a rhythmic tapping when standing still at idle, and it can become more of a light knocking during deceleration from highway speeds and it goes away once speed gets below 40mph.

    I was thinking of biting the bullet and paying Cottman to take the tranny off an identify the issue, hoping it will be simple, but it seems that's unlikely. Not only that, but it appears I can buy a tested good used replacement tranny for under $1K shipped, I am guessing getting the work done by Cottman would cost much more than that, depending on the issue. Of course I will still have to pay someone labor to install the new used tranny and fill the fluids and such.

    So I guess my question is, does it seem worth it to those of you who have significant history with PTs? Should I just pass this up, or is it worth getting fixed? It's an otherwise nice car with only the usual wear on the outside, it has leather seats, etc. all the interior electronics are in good working condition, etc, it's just the transmission that is a problem. I'd hate to see the car get junked or sold for parts, etc. oddly.
  • fixitchipfixitchip Member Posts: 3
    If you like the car and gas mileage + the engine is running well along with below 125,000 miles, then it would probably be worth it. It is always important to change the tranny filters on these vehicles.. they can also give you the P700 and tranny codes because of reduced fluid pressure.
  • texas_redtexas_red Member Posts: 3
    Yeah, I like the car, the mileage is good enough. It's at 119K miles right now. The place I was looking at that sold used trannies wanted a bit under $600 for a unit with ~170K miles on it.
  • fixitchipfixitchip Member Posts: 3
    A transmission with 170k is to risky, without knowing what history that transmission has. Of course if they have checked the transmission, replaced some worn parts, and offer some sort of warranty, that would be helpful, but I'd guess they'd charge more..
  • texas_redtexas_red Member Posts: 3
    Well, the site I have looked at so far is autopartsfair.com (http://www.autopartsfair.com/chrysler-used_transmissions/pt_cruiser-2002-catalo- g.html?fit_notes=9716867599da51db0efa638ce5418263&seq_num=4) and they mention a 6 months to 2 years warranty on the transmissions. I haven't looked too far into it so there may be more to the whole thing. The pricing they have on different transmissions seems to be based mainly on where they'd be shipping it from.

    In the end I just want to go a route that isn't super expensive, but will reliably and definitively fix the problem. I don't want to take it to a shop, put in $500+ to have them tear it apart and look at it, then give me a $1.5K+ laundry list if just buying a whole new working tranny and paying labor to install it would be cheaper.
  • cruizinfloridacruizinflorida Member Posts: 1

    I've got a 2005 PT Cruiser which has 120K miles on it. Lately, I've been hearing the engine puttering, sounding like what I call a "wind-up" car. Though sometimes it doesn't have a consistent putter. It skips one or two "putts". It idles rough when I'm stopped at a light and in Drive, but if I put it in Neutral, it idles fine.
    I've had the car for 6 years and have had a oil change done every 3-5K miles. I had the engine looked at around 100K and I thought they did a trans flush, but I'll have to double check that.
    If they didn't, I'll get that done and hopefully it will fix the problem. If they did, should I get another one done? Would it hurt?

  • heyimstevenheyimsteven Member Posts: 1

    I have a 2003 PT Cruiser and I notice last weekend that it was a struggle to shift down to Drive but I was able to and as soon as I got to my location I put it in park but while I was parking I heard a click sound when shifting pass R, turned my car off took the keys out and my car starts to reverse. I jumped in the car and push the brakes and made sure it was in park, my car was now in park but when I turned it on I notice I couldn't reverse and when I got home I turned the car off again and now it won't turn on and I just noticed a buzz noise coming from the engine area... anyone have any ideas??? email heyimsteven@gmail.com

  • bobswanson1bobswanson1 Member Posts: 1
    I have a 2001 PT Cruiser Limited that my wife and I bought a couple of years ago. It's been a great running little car and has not had any problems until recently. First the fog lights wouldn't shut off until I removed the fuse. Then the horn stopped working. So I checked all the fuses under the steering column first. Nothing. They're all fine. So I checked the fuses in the engine compartment. And when I say I checked them, I mean to say that I removed them, did a visual inspection and replaced them if they were still good. Several of them were so degraded that they fell apart upon removal. Replacing them with the proper fuses if this was the case. As soon as I checked the horn to see if it worked, (which it did) we couldn't get the car out of first gear and the speedometer quit working. So I replaced the speed sensor. No go. Speedometer still won't work. I'm at a loss. Could it be a problem with the solenoid? Everything was working properly prior to checking the fuses which leads me to believe that it's electrical in nature. But I'm at a loss. So I went online and saw several sites where people are having the same problem. Apparently, the Chrysler engineers knew about this problem prior to releasing the vehicle from the assembly line. There's no recall associated with this problem. But they do give a very vaguely worded fix to the problem. Something along the lines of checking the wiring harness beneath the fuse box in the engine compartment, finding a specific set of wires, stripping them back, and replacing them to something or other and voila. Problem fixed. Anyone know what they're talking about? And if so, can you tell a backyard rookie mechanic how to do this? In EXPLICIT detail?
  • beanie3beanie3 Member Posts: 1
    jconner said:
    I have a 2001 Pt Cruiser. It developed a problem that it won't shift into reverse. Acted up for about a week and now won't shift into reverse at all. Any suggestions.

  • katsptkatspt Member Posts: 3
    My daughter was driving our 2005 pt Cruiser and was stopped at a light. When she hit the gas to go again it would not move. She tried putting in park and back in drive and still would not work. She turned car off and back on and then it would move. However for about 10 miles up the the highway it would not go above 45mph. What do you think this is?
  • coyotecruisercoyotecruiser Member Posts: 1
    Facts:

    2001 Chrysler PT Cruiser, original owner.
    Approx 138,000 miles on it.

    March 2015 Mechanic performed the following: "Install New Power Steering Rack, perform 4 wheel alignment, install new torque converter solenoid and gaskets, reseal transmission pan and install new gasket, install new T-stat housing and O ring and coolant, install reman compressor and receiver dryer and a/c line, flush sysmte evac and recharge system"

    April 2015 I had problem with "Hard shifting from 2nd to 1st (bandum-badum-badump) and feeling like it went into neutral from reverse and not moving." I would shift the gear up to park and back down to drive and sometimes it would go into drive and move and sometimes it would just rev like it was in neutral again. Sometime it took several times of this to get it to go. Fortunately only at my parking space and coming out of my apartment complex so no traffic safety issues. Took back to mechanic where they "Topped off transmission fluid."

    Car ran fine until October 2015 when it started the whole thing over again. Took to mechnanic, naturally test drive the car ran fine. He checked fluids, said they were "not low enough to be causing this problem and I'm not topping it off." So I left. Next day car kicked into "neutral" while driving several times on my way out of my apartment and once on the road.

    Any suggestions what it could be before I get a new mechanic?


  • worldrunnerworldrunner Member Posts: 1
    my daughter have a 2002 pt cruiser and at sometimes it red lines before it shifts and sometimes it runs fine do anyone think the transmission need rebuilding
  • PF_FlyerPF_Flyer Member Posts: 9,372

    my daughter have a 2002 pt cruiser and at sometimes it red lines before it shifts and sometimes it runs fine do anyone think the transmission need rebuilding

    Is it doing it randomly under the same driving conditions? Or does it red line if she's trying to accelerate harder?
  • amandamoore838amandamoore838 Member Posts: 1
    I was driving up a hill in my 2006 PT Cruiser. Suddenly the car stopped accerlating and started rolling backwards. The car will go into different gears and when I push on the gas pedal the RPMs go up but the car won't move at all. When I turn the car on no check engine light, nor any other dash warning lights come on. I got the car towed home and let it sit over night - the same problem this morning, it won't move at all. If anyone can provide any answers or can guess what my problem may be, I would really appreciate it! :) 
  • PF_FlyerPF_Flyer Member Posts: 9,372
    Automatic or manual transmission? Since you say it will "go into different gears" I assume that means the gear shift will move to different positions. Obviously some kind of transmission issue that's most likely going to take someone actually looking at to determine what's going on.
  • tomboydtomboyd Member Posts: 1
    Hello, I have a 2008 non-turbo automatic Trans that when I put in reverse it feels like the brakes are on. It will stop the car in reverse and slightly drag like the brakes are on going forward. I will put it in neutral and coast and you feel the drag like brakes and then turn car off while coasting and it releases like I took foot of brakes. I thought it was a brake issue for days and finially a mechanic said he thought it was the Trans so I jacked up the front and he was correct, it was not the brakes but now I am for a loss as to what is happening...Any help out there?? thank you
  • PF_FlyerPF_Flyer Member Posts: 9,372
    Well if it's not the brakes, the first place I would start is checking the transmission fluid level. If you Google "pt cruiser transmission fluid check", you'll find all sorts of videos like this:
    https://www.carcarekiosk.com/video/2007_Chrysler_PT_Cruiser_Limited_2.4L_4_Cyl./transmission_fluid/check_fluid_level

    If the fluid level is right, you're probably going to need to visit a shop that handles transmission issues. Transmission work is not a do-it-yourself kind of thing.
  • Michellegb52Michellegb52 Member Posts: 1
    I have 2008 PT Cruiser that I bought last year. Have done a lot of work to it myself to get it running right. Well I was driving it and when I went to park it for the evening ,I let off the accelerator and the car stopped like I had applied the brake. When I applied the accelerator it jerked forward. Let off the accelerator it the car stopped. Tried shifting into all ranges including reverse it will only go for a short distance and then it stops as if the brake is applied. It even does it in neutral. But turn motor of then in neutral it will start rolling as it should. Haven't noticed any issues with my automatic transmission until now. Wondering what it could be. Also there is no check engine light that comes on. Any ideas of what has gone wrong. Could it be electronic or fluid flow or pressure issue.
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