'04 PT GT stalling, out of the blue...

[cbohlson]

Hey folks,
Yesterday, completely out of the blue, my '04 GT (48,000 miles) did a quick stall while I was exiting the freeway. I immediatelty glanced at the instrument panel and saw that the (bright red) engine icon was on (for the first time) and I immediately thought I had run out of oil, for whatever reason. I wasn't even low on oil as it turns out, so I drove it back home with no further problems. Today, however, I thought I'd check the air cleaner, which was absolutely filthy. Aaahh, I'm thinking, I found the problem. I drive it the two miles to Kragen's, replace the air filter, drive it home and it's running perfectly. Ten minutes later I'm hittin' the road again and within 2 blocks it starts stalling out so badly I had to pull off the street. It never actually quit running, it just kept acting like it was running out of gas. I limped back home and I'm trying to think what could cause this to happen so suddenly, and now I'm thinking maybe it's the fuel filter, or I got a bad tank of gas. I REALLY don't want to take it to the Dealer for repairs if it's something fairly simple. For your reference, it's not overheating, at least according to the temperature guage and I have never had ANY problems with it at all...ever. Oh, and I use Mobil synthetic oil.

I realize my problem is sorta vague, but I'm wondering if anyone out there in PT land may have had the same thing happen, or has any pithy ideas I can try beyond changing the fuel filter. Would getting/renting one of those engine analysis computers that tell you what your 'engine malfunction code' is help? I mean, do they sort of indicate exactly what the problem is, or are those things pretty vague, too?

Any thoughts or helpful ideas at all would be GREATLY appreciated.

Thank you very much,
Bill

[Hooligan]

Welcome to the Forum!!

Turn your ignition key on & off without starting the car. On the third turn, leave the key in the on position. On the dash it should show one or more codes. Write them down and post the codes on the forum, someone will answer. If there is NO detectable problem, it will say DONE. That's the best I can offer. Good Luck

[CREWZIN]

Hooligan has your best answer, for now. There's too many things that may be wrong and without knowing what code the computer set, we would just be making a wild guess. If you can't get the code by yourself, some of the major auto stores (Auto Zone) will read the code for you but then try and sell you parts. Come back here first before you buy anything.

[cbohlson]

Wow, thanks so much for the quick responses to my rambling questions. I did use the on-off-on-off-on method to retrieve the 'malfunction codes' and I got "P0340" which translates to 'cam sensor signal missing at ECM', whatever the heck that means. Of course my first thought was 'Ohmygawd, my camshaft is broken' but I'm pretty sure that was an overreaction. At any rate, that's what I've got for right now.

Any suggestions would be cool!

Thanks, again.

[CREWZIN]

Your cam sensor is located on the right side of the engine as you face the engine from the front. Here's a picture of it.



The only I have to say about that is that I got the same signal from my 01 and it turned out to be the wiring harness from the cam sensor that goes to the computer along the back side of the engine. The harness broke away from the small plastic tie that secured it and let the harness get too close to the half shaft which then burned thru the harness and separated the wires. No signal from the cam sensor meant the computer wasn't sending a signal to the coil to send a spark to the plugs.

[careyk]

My 03 PT GT would not start period because a trucker put diesel into the premium unleaded tanks which than made it to my car. All is well and good now after a oil change, gas flushing, spark plug change and engine cleaning.

[DJmart]

Originally Posted by careyk

My 03 PT GT would not start period because a trucker put diesel into the premium unleaded tanks which than made it to my car. All is well and good now after a oil change, gas flushing, spark plug change and engine cleaning.

I nearly cried.....

Trucker=

[Cartman]

its gotta be the sensor or the wiring harness. check the connector to see if its tight. the sensor is much cheaper than the harness so replace the sensor first if needed.

[midas]

Hey.. great tips guys!

I had been fighting the same issue.. PT would stall out. The only difference that I could come up with, is my vehicle wouldn't stall until the engine was hot. That confused me, and I couldn't figure it out. Sure enough, I jumped on here and searched for my DTC codes (P1391 and P0340 I believe?), and found this forum. I had already tried the CAM sensor, and had also tried an ignition coil.. figuring the properties would change when the coil got hot. Neither worked. Sure enough, the crankshaft position sensor wires were touching the passenger side half-shaft inner boot. My only conclusion to it happening when hot, is it must allow the wiring harness to sag a little more when everything gets to temp in the engine compartment. None-the-less, the PT is running great! Thanks a bunch for the great tips and hints!

Todd - Adrian Midas Auto Service Experts

[Teekypt]

Originally Posted by cbohlson

Wow, thanks so much for the quick responses to my rambling questions. I did use the on-off-on-off-on method to retrieve the 'malfunction codes' and I got "P0340" which translates to 'cam sensor signal missing at ECM', whatever the heck that means. Of course my first thought was 'Ohmygawd, my camshaft is broken' but I'm pretty sure that was an overreaction. At any rate, that's what I've got for right now.

Any suggestions would be cool!

Thanks, again.

Anything could cause it. Did you notice it stalling at a particular RPM? Or is it just at random times? My 03 GT stalled at 2500 rpm...wouldn't let me go pass it...it was fuel prob in my 4th cylinder....improper firing...nozzle clogged.

At any rate, find the code first.