Chrysler PT Cruiser, Stratus, Seabring w/2.4 eng.

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Posted: Tue Mar 20, 2007 11:19 am

Any you mates own, preferably 04 to 2007, crankshaft end play problem,
The problem, oil dumping from front crank seal, remove the balancer
and attached a dial indicator and measure crank end play, I had anywhere
from 60 to 80ths end play. What happening is the rear thrust is is getting
eaten up because lack of oil,(design problem), the actually clearance is
no more than .00035ths. The first one I done their was no SB (service
Bulletin), called Chrysler hotline, they new nothing of problem, told me to
use the 70% rule, (parts verses new motor, (short block)) I put a crank
kit in it, since then I have done two more, now their a SB ( Service Bulletin)
Lack of oil is causing the thrust to burn-up and the crank is eating into
block plate and block, tear down Inspect, if so we put a short block in them,
The very first one I done came back 2 months later, same problem, I put
a short block in it, If it is caught in time, we can put crank kits in them
(new design), too much crankshaft end and it pushes the front crank seal
out, So, any of ya mates own one of these with 2.4 eng. keep a look out
for oil leak.
Notice I said block plate and block - these 2.4 are split blocks, block
plate goes on after crank install, the oil pump pick-up, then oil pan.

Just a little info mates.

Posted: Wed Mar 21, 2007 2:07 am

Sounds good. If you work on Chrysler, you will never be out of work. Well, that is until all the people find out about them. Chrysler seems to use the P.T. Barnum business model. There's a sucker born every minute. Let's spend more in advertising than engineering and we can get to that sucker.

After having one Chrysler with 7 recalls, 5 transmissions, 3 fuel pumps, and 2 anti-lock computers all under warranty, I have learned a few lessons.

Getting them to fix it for free is meaningless when its a Saturday night and you are on the Pacific Coast Highway and everything is closed until Monday. There's no terror like losing an anti-lock brake computer coming down Mt. Saint Helen's in the rain. Actually doing three spins while watching the orange light come on again on the freeway was very close.

I donated the car. I do miss its ride; luxo-barge. I also miss a car that you could start in any gear including reverse. Another cool thing was that you could pull out the key as the lock had failed so you could hand the house key to someone and continue to drive into the garage. I don't miss the near death experiences or the Chrysler customer disservice line.

Posted: Wed Mar 21, 2007 10:25 am

Hi Connie,

Just for suspense, what make and model you have, sorry you had so
much trouble, PT Cruiser (JUNK) I hate working on them, but here,
women love them and they sell good, my aunt owns one and she loves
it, Talking about recalls, their not a day goes by where not doing one,
You did know that Chrysler and Mercedes have merged,.
I worked with Ford for 18yrs, I quit and went to Chrysler, Ford does not make a good product now, as far as I'm concerned.
I guess they all have their own problems, 65% percent of the problems
with vehicles is the autoworker, poor installation, running screws through
wiring, etc, that leaves 35% on the manufacture for problems with control
modules and design, SB out the ye-yang.

But this is what I've done most of my life, repair vehicles. Laughing

Posted: Wed Mar 21, 2007 10:57 am

@crossfire,
I have an 2003 Chevy Impala LS and I dearly love it.
Are they hard to work on? Confused

@connie,
Sorry you have had troubles. Sad

Posted: Wed Mar 21, 2007 11:41 am

coronalight wrote:

Are they hard to work on? Confused

Well, I have worked on them before, their not any harder to work
on as any other manufacturer, but really, I don't have much knowledg
in Chevy products. Ford, Mazda, Chrysler is pretty much my standard.
Very Happy

Posted: Wed Mar 21, 2007 9:42 pm

crossfire wrote:

what make and model you have,
But this is what I've done most of my life, repair vehicles. Laughing

I had the Caravan ES, very similar to the Town and Country but with a shorter wheelbase for "less" transmission problems. It was a kiddie carrier with the integrated child seats, the A-604 transmission and the average for the model, 15 defects.

It was pretty bad from the third day. It would not start, AAA could not start it and the dealer had to have it push, yet no problem was found after three days. The car was in the shop for thirty days the first six months. I eventually paid for a starter out of my pocket at the 6 month point. It was that or have a stroke. I put it in myself. The copper ring contacts on the starter solenoid were broken.

The motor mounts broke when the transmission went into limp home mode and slammed into second gear at 75 MPH. You should have seen the cars go around me and the cloud of tire smoke. That was the first transmission but they charged me for the motor mounts. I told them leave the broken ones in, but the dealer told me that it would void the warranty on the rebuilt one.

They gave me a hard time on transmission number 3. Told me my warranty was void as I had not serviced the transmission. Yep, I never did get around to changing the oil. But give me a break, it only had 4,000 miles on it when it would not move out of second gear.

Another dealer gave me a hard time on transmission number 4. Told me my warranty was void as the transmission was underfilled. What a lie. I told them I had servicing records, had checked the level that morning and checked the level again three blocks from the dealership. I was willing to sign an statement. Everyone knows that there are 20,000 drops of transmission fluid in a liter and that if it did go dry the torque converter would not function before the pumps cavitated and I would not be able to drive to the dealer. To be even a liter down, would not be drops, it would be a line from three blocks away. When I picked up the car, the transmission was two quarts high. They told me that was OK but were unwilling to initial a statement to that effect.

They once gave me a rental that was pretty nice. I had it for two weeks as they were waiting for a "ES" emblem for the back of the car. They are pretty rare I understand. I found out later that they needed the emblem because they set fire to the back of the car with a lamp of some sort. I asked if we could just trade pink slips straight across, even though on paper my car was worth twice as much.

I love working on cars myself. I told them something was wrong with the latch mechanism, the seat belt attachments, and the seat locks even before people died and recalls were put in motion. I was told there was no problem. Pretty sad really.

I guess I should stop venting. I just want people to know.

http://www.daimlerchryslervehicleproblems.com

Posted: Wed Mar 21, 2007 10:20 pm

Don't talk to me about cars.
Mangled my Hyundai Coupe today.
Not at all impressed, only had it two weeks. Rear end just slid out on a corner (I suspect there was oil or similar on the road). gonna cost a packet to fix it.

Sad

Posted: Wed Mar 21, 2007 10:43 pm

^^^Hope you are OK. As I get older, I really do believe that the equipment is not as important as the people inside.

Problems that you can throw money at are not problems, just expenses.

Posted: Thu Mar 22, 2007 12:30 am

Connie L. Gus wrote:

I love working on cars myself. I told them
something was wrong with the latch mechanism, the seat belt
attachments, and the seat locks even before people died and
recalls were put in motion. I was told there was no problem.
Pretty sad really.

Sorry for you troubles, I just happen to work on an 04 and 05
caravan today, Latch mechanism on sliding doors, latch failure,
fix, replaced the latches, easy - no. warranty - yes.
I remeber those days of the caravan, I bet you had the 2.5 eng.
didn't you, those were junk eng. know telling how many repairs.
Chrysler best eng. now is the 3.3 in the mini-van, hardly ever do
any repairs on it,

I went to the web sit you linked, never heard of it, or being to it.
something to say about this, I think this is wrong, this is consumer
problem, using wrong grade of oil. Yes, I have made many repairs
on the 2.7, 2004 is the last year for it, 3.5 is out now.
Wrong grade of oil causing sludge,

Frequent Premature Chrysler 2.7L Engine Problems And
Catastrophic Failure Found In Many Dodge, Chrysler Vehicles.
Consumers Left To Pay Thousands For Replacement Engines
That Were Clearly Defective In The First Place. 2.7L Oil Sludge
And Timing Chain Failure Top The List

Note:

Quote:

Standard engine oil identification notations have been adopted to aid in the proper selection of engine oil. The identifying notations are located on the front label of engine oil plastic bottles and the top of engine oil cans (API SYMBOL).

This symbol means that the oil has been certified by the American Petroleum Institute (API). DiamlerChrysler only recommend API Certified (GF-3) engine oils that meet the requirements of Material Standard MS-6395. Use Mopar� or an equivalent oil meeting the specification MS-6395.

SYNTHETIC ENGINE OILS
There are a number of engine oils being promoted as either synthetic or semi-synthetic. If you chose to use such a product, use only those oils that meet the American Petroleum Institute (API) and SAE viscosity standard. Follow the service schedule that describes your driving type.

ENGINE OIL ADDITIVES/SUPPLEMENTS
The manufacturer does not recommend the addition of any engine oil additives/supplements to the specified engine oil. Engine oil additives/supplements should not be used to enhance engine oil performance. Engine oil additives/supplements should not be used to extend engine oil change intervals. No additive is known to be safe for engine durability and can degrade emission components. Additives can contain undesirable materials that harm the long term durability of engines by:

Doubling the level of Phosphorus in the engine oil. The ILSAC (International Lubricant Standard Approval Committee) GF-2 and GF-3 standards require that engine oil contain no more than 0.10% Phosphorus to protect the vehicles emissions performance. Addition of engine oil additives/supplements can poison, from the added sulfur and phosphorus, catalysts and hinder efforts to guarantee emissions performance to 80,000 miles.
Altering the viscosity characteristics of the engine oil so that it no longer meets the requirements of the specified viscosity grade.
Creating potential for an undesirable additive compatibility interaction in the engine crankcase. Generally it is not desirable to mix additive packages from different suppliers in the crankcase; there have been reports of low temperature engine failures caused by additive package incompatibility with such mixtures.

That goes along with any used or new vehicle today, always look for
GF-3, motor oil... Very Happy

1992 Caravan:

Quote:

RC-836-00 SAFTEY RECALL #836 -- LEFT WIPER PIVOT
RC-730-99 SAFETY RECALL #730 -- LIFTGATE SUPPORT WASHERS
RC-742-97 SAFETY RECALL #742 -- SEAT BELT BUCKLE CLIPS AND ANCHOR CLIP
RC-708-96 SAFETY RECALL #708 -- STEERING WHEEL ANTI-SEPARATION PLATE
RC-685-96 SAFETY RECALL #685 -- ABS ACTUATOR PISTON AND PUMP/MOTOR ASSEMBLIES
RC-640-95 SERVICE ACTION #640 -- LIFTGATE LATCH
RC-553-93 SAFETY RECALL #553 -- FUEL TANK FLANGE
RC-538-92 SAFETY RECALL #538 -- STEERING COLUMN COUPLING BOLT

1993 Caravan, the list can go on:

Quote:

23-008-00 CHILD SEAT TETHERS ANCHORS, SUPERSEDES TSB 23-35-99 REV. A
23-08-00 Child Seat Tether Anchors
23-35-99 SUPERSEDED BY 23-08-00 (CHILD SEAT TETHER ANCHORS)
RC-730-99 SAFETY RECALL #730 -- LIFTGATE SUPPORT WASHERS
RC-742-97 SAFETY RECALL #742 -- SEAT BELT BUCKLE CLIPS AND ANCHOR CLIP

If you ever have any problem, PM me, I'll be glad to help. Very Happy

Posted: Thu Mar 22, 2007 3:56 am

crossfire wrote:

I bet you had the 2.5 eng.
didn't you, those were junk eng. know telling how many repairs.
Chrysler best eng. now is the 3.3 in the mini-van, hardly ever do
any repairs on it,

I had the 3.3. The ES only came with that engine. I only used Castrol GTX for the first 30K, every 3K and then shifted to full synthetics with changes every 3K after that. It didn't make a difference. I should have saved my money and put in recycled oil.

This was a blast from the past.
RC-836-00 SAFTEY RECALL #836 -- LEFT WIPER PIVOT
Fell off

RC-730-99 SAFETY RECALL #730 -- LIFTGATE SUPPORT WASHERS
Replaced all the tail lamps many times because we would slam the liftgate. Also tore off the license plate light assembly trying the liftgate every time to make sure it was latched.

RC-742-97 SAFETY RECALL #742 -- SEAT BELT BUCKLE CLIPS AND ANCHOR CLIP
I pointed this out on day five. My fix was better than their fix.

RC-708-96 SAFETY RECALL #708 -- STEERING WHEEL ANTI-SEPARATION PLATE
Dealer said it would not be a problem. Don't worry about it. Anti-separation swash plates shearing was causing loss of control.

RC-685-96 SAFETY RECALL #685 -- ABS ACTUATOR PISTON AND PUMP/MOTOR ASSEMBLIES
Neighbor sold her Caravan when the ABS light came on. Thank goodness for the internet, I would have had to pay $2,000. Only scared the dickens out of me twice.

RC-640-95 SERVICE ACTION #640 -- LIFTGATE LATCH
The repair kit was rolled out by option level. The ES was actually the most expensive model but was placed at the bottom of the list. Parts were not made available for my car for a year.

RC-553-93 SAFETY RECALL #553 -- FUEL TANK FLANGE
I dropped the fuel tank and smeared vasoline on the gasket to clear up the leaking gas when the tank was full. Recall notice came later.

RC-538-92 SAFETY RECALL #538 -- STEERING COLUMN COUPLING BOLT
[/quote] Opps, must have donated the car by then or it was done before I accepted delivery.
I only remember 7 recalls.

Thanks for the offer for help. Wink

Posted: Thu Mar 22, 2007 6:43 am

PT Cruiser = biggest mistake of my life. Total crap. Sold it to another sucker after 2 months.

Posted: Thu Mar 22, 2007 6:59 am

84 Toyota SR5 4X4 pickup with 22R engine. Goes anywhere, and I mean anywhere, and gets you home. Easy. Pick one up for cheap. Easy to work on too.

Posted: Thu Mar 22, 2007 10:08 am

Connie L. Gus wrote:

I had the 3.3.

Those are good engines,
the newer 3.3 had a few design changes, We hardly ever do eng. repair
on 3.3, except maybe a water-pump leaking, easy to change tho.
The belt tensioner will sometimes stick and make noise, replace it.
The newer stow-n-go, caravan, town-n-country are alot better than they
used to be. I liking working on them, nothing really hard. Very Happy

Gnasher wrote:

PT Cruiser =Total crap.

I hate working on them, every tried putting a timming belt on one of them,
geez, what was Chrysler thinking

JoeTam wrote:

Goes anywhere, and I mean anywhere, and gets you home.

Hey, I had one of those, 86 model, I put it through the mill, 4-wheeling - wore it out, bought a ford - big
mistake... I loved that Toyota

Posted: Fri Mar 23, 2007 1:07 am

crossfire wrote:

I loved that Toyota

I too had the 22R motor and sold the car with 205K miles on the clock. It was never in the shop. Not once. Only changed the fluids, pads, filters, plugs and battery. The first tires were at 90K miles. I changed the fan belts at 100K and bought new ones but never put them in for the second go around. This was the car before the Chrysler.

I had lots of problems with the belt tensioner on the Chrysler 3.3 as the old design was stupid. As the belt stretched, it would arc the serpentine belt away from the block. I understand that they changed the spring design.

Since then I've had three cars, they are still in the family fleet and none have been in for any mechanical repairs. One's at 95K and another is at 56K. I did put one in for major body work when it was the meat in a three car sandwich, but that was the fault of the 16 year old that rear ended me.

Toyota or Lexus, same difference, is the way to go.

Posted: Fri Mar 23, 2007 2:12 am

I agree with you their Connie, you just cant hardly beat a Toyota.

Have you heard of the new type batteries for the Jeep liberty Diesel,
I hate these dam things, before you do any electrical repairs, or any
reprogram of any module you have to place a lead acid batter in it's
place, reason - reprogramming of any modules with the SPIRAL
PLATE BATTERY will fry the modules, reason for that - these batteries
put more voltage out on modules than what they can handle, heres a
little more info on SPIRAL PLATE BATTERY:

Quote:

SPIRAL PLATE BATTERY - DIESEL ENGINE
WARNING: Never exceed 14.4 volts when charging a spiral plate battery. Personal injury and/or battery damage may result.

Vehicles equipped with a diesel engine utilize a spiral wound plate designed battery with recombination technology. This is a maintenance-free battery that is capable of delivering more power than a conventional battery. This additional power is required by a diesel engine during cold cranking.

Spiral plate technology takes the elements of traditional batteries - lead and sulfuric acid - to the next level. By tightly winding layers of spiral grids and acid-permeated vitreous separators into cells, the manufacturer has developed a battery with more power and service life than conventional batteries the same size. The spiral plate battery is completely, permanently sealed. Through gas recombination, hydrogen and oxygen within the battery are captured during normal charging and reunited to form the water within the electrolyte, eliminating the need to add distilled water. Therefore, these batteries have non-removable battery vent caps. Water cannot be added to this battery.

The acid inside an spiral plate battery is bound within the vitreous separators, ending the threat of acid leaks. This feature allows the battery to be installed in any position anywhere in the vehicle.

Spiral plate technology is the process by which the plates holding the active material in the battery are wound tightly in coils instead of hanging flat, like conventional batteries. This design has a lower internal resistance and also increases the active material surface area.

Due to the maintenance-free design, distilled water cannot be added to this battery. Therefore, if more than 14.4 volts are used during the spiral plate battery charging process, water vapor can be exhausted through the pressure-sensitive battery vents and lost for good. This can permanently damage the spiral plate battery. Never exceed 14.4 volts when charging a spiral plate battery. Personal injury and/or battery damage may result.

Batteries are used to store electrical energy potential in a chemical form. When an electrical load is applied to the battery terminals, an electrochemical reaction occurs within the battery. This reaction causes the battery to discharge electrical current.

I had to work on one today, Injector failure code, DTC P0671 short
circuit:

Quote:

Symptom List:
P0671-GLOW PLUG 1 PLUG FAILURE
P0671-GLOW PLUG 1 SHORT CIRCUIT
P0672-GLOW PLUG 2 PLUG FAILURE
P0672-GLOW PLUG 2 SHORT CIRCUIT
P0673-GLOW PLUG 3 PLUG FAILURE
P0673-GLOW PLUG 3 SHORT CIRCUIT
P0674-GLOW PLUG 4 PLUG FAILURE
P0674-GLOW PLUG 4 SHORT CIRCUIT

Quote:

NOTE: If the ECM detects and stores a DTC, the ECM also stores the
engine/vehicle operating conditions under which the DTC was set. Some of
these conditions are displayed on the DRB at the same time the DTC is
displayed.
NOTE: Before erasing stored DTCs, record these conditions. Attempting to
duplicate these conditions may assist when checking for an active DTC.
Turn the ignition on.
With the DRB, erase ECM DTCs.
Perform several ignition cycles leaving the ignition on for at least 10 seconds then off
for 10 seconds.
With the DRBIIIt, read the ECM DTCs.
Did this DTC set again?

Yes ! Go To 2
No ! Go To 6
It ended up being a bad connection, no parts replaced, drove vehicle
afterwards, DTC never came back, released to customer.

Anyway, happy auto mechanics

Posted: Fri Mar 23, 2007 9:26 pm

Mine's a 2003 Toyota HiLux. I hit a kangaroo early one morning. They come out of the bush to eat the grass beside the road and then have a nasty habit of jumping in front of vehicles. They succeed in making sheep appear smart.

Anyway I hit this one really hard at 100 kms/hr. The 'roo was totaled but the Toyota suffered a bent number plate. The HiLux isn't sporty but it's damned tough.

Posted: Fri Mar 23, 2007 11:50 pm

Glad your ok BG, and didn't total your Hilux, did you get to keep the
kangaroo for stuffing and mount on wall. Laughing

Posted: Sun Mar 25, 2007 10:19 am

Chrysler=Car thieves best friend.
Any 14 year old with a brick and a screwdriver can be driving your Chrysler or Jeep in 60 seconds or less.
No joke. And Chrysler knows their cars are simplistic to steal, but its not in their best business interest to correct that, since every car that's stolen needs to be replaced= more sales volume.
No Chrysler products for me.

Posted: Sun Mar 25, 2007 10:30 am

Chrysler are sponsoring the up and comming Kenny G concert in Shanghai this month. I thought I should mention that since I'm connected with the show.

Posted: Tue Mar 27, 2007 1:32 am

I have a 2001 PT Cruiser and it's had steering column troubles since the day I took it home from the dealership. The column has been replaced twice already (the dealership tells me it was just once that it was totally replaced...) The car leakes power steering fluid off and on and it still makes noises. I just took it back to the dealership because the noise is pretty bad now, and they're telling me I have to get a new steering column and that I'm too far out of the warranty and they want over $990 to fix it! I'm so mad right now.
I have had Chrysler products since 1984 when they came out with the minivan and I've had four of them over the years, but I have never had a car as prone to repair as this cruiser. The horn sometimes will not beep and I had someone back into me once because I couldn't beep the horn to tell them I was there. The back seat stiching has come out - the whole back seat! The dashboard started peeling years ago... Oh, and the calipers got stuck and the people at the dealership tried to tell me it was my fault!
It seems to me that the steering column is an issue on this car, shouldn't Chrysler cover this? Any thoughts?
(BTW - I love the Town and Country we own! Two years and not a problem. Not all Chrysler products are problems.)

Hello I'm New here! Joined: 25 Mar 2007 Posts: 12

We owned a Chrysler Concorde for a year or so. Worst car experience I've had in a long time.

Electric window motors broke... twice.
Environmental controls failed completely.
Main computer went out.

All warranty fixes, of course, but a huge PITA. After the 4th multi-day trip to the shop in 18 months, we traded it.

These days, I drive a VW Golf (diesel, 45 miles to the gallon is hard to beat!), and my wife drives a Mustang GT.

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