[Chicago_gal]

2001 2.0L PT Cruiser
90K miles
Tune-up at 75K

The Engine Malfunction light went on last Saturday (10/17). I did not notice any obvious problems starting or running at the time. By Tuesday afternoon it had gone out, so I was, of course, blissfully hoping the problem had solved itself. Not so. It had a very stuttered start on Thursday evening (second start of the day). After this stuttered start, the car was slow to pick-up, the light was not on, but ran fine on the highway and city driving. On Friday morning, the malfunction light came on again. Another stuttered start, but seemingly fine after that.

Took it to my brother’s mechanic on Saturday, 10/24. Before leaving it with them, the codes read P300 and P303. (Thanks to the forum for instructions on how to do this.) Mechanic pulled off the intake (I think that is what he said) and said that #2 and #3 cylinders have no compression. He said he would have to take off the cylinder head, minimum of 12 hours labor, to see what is wrong. $1,200 for labor alone was way beyond my expense threshold, plus I needed to get home and couldn’t leave my car through Monday. I have driven the car about 95 miles since this diagnosis.

Oh no, the codes now read:

P1193 Inlet air temperature sensor voltage is wrong
P351 Coil #1 is not reaching peak current at the right time
P352 Coil #2 is not reaching peak current at the right time
P300 Misfire detected in multiple cylinders.
P302 Misfire detected in cylinder #2.
P303 Misfire detected in cylinder #3.
P123 Throttle position sensor voltage high

I’m not an auto DIYer, although I’m seriously considering taking some ASE classes at the community college for the sake of helping myself, my family and friends to avoid this sense of helplessness when it comes to car repair.

Lots of questions:

Can you please educate me a bit with regard to these codes and what repairs are needed, so I can feel more comfortable bringing this to the mechanic near me? Is 12 hrs to remove the head normal? He mentioned it could involve R&R two cylinders at $1,000, is that possible? Do all these codes go hand in hand with the zero compression? Would I be pushing my luck with continuing to drive the car? I read in one forum that P123 could indicate an unplugged or not fully plugged in TPS. Can I simply reach this with my hand and check?

Coincidence? On 9/5/09, I had the lower gasket, oil filter housing and the oil sender replaced by the above mechanic. Since then and before the engine light came on, I had three occasions when the Oil light would come on at idle after 20 minutes of stop/go driving. Light would turn off upon acceleration. On Saturday, the same mechanic put in a new oil sender unit- or so they said. I haven’t been in stop/go traffic to test it. Could this have caused the engine problems?

Thanks much in advance for your advice and guidance!!!