2001 PT Automatic. Missing/Jerking during low RPM acceleration.

[Joshtalgia]

Well I got the new plugs installed. Drove about 5 miles which would have usually incited the problem to rear its ugly head and it didn't jerk or miss once while I was out.

I suppose the drive to work tomorrow will be the ultimate test.

Thanks again for the info, guys!

[CREWZIN]

Did you get the local wires installed also? Were you able to access the "spark plug installation guide"?

If you did and it's running nice and smooth, that's great.

Another satisfied customer.

[quicksilverdon]

Same wires for the turbo. Plugs, too, except don't use platinums in a turbo.

[fanders]

Originally Posted by Joshtalgia

I just had over $4050 worth of repairs done to my 2001 PT Cruiser. $2337 of that was covered under warranty. The rest, which came out of pocket, was preventative maintenance, more or less. I just want to outline what I recently had done to see if you guys think any of this may be related to my curring issue.

The head gasket on the car had blown, there were 83,412 miles on the car at the time.

The repairs are as follows - Note the right-aligned prices include labor. I figure this will be good reference for anyone else who needs similar work done, and also for people to tell me about how badly the repair shop screwed me with the prices.

Head Gasket/Timing Belt/Water Pump -

$1134.42

3000 Mile Maint. (Oil Change/New Filter)

$25.95

Engine Mounting Bracket Replacement (1)

$186.90

Rt. Lower Control Arm Bushing -

$164.13

Timing Belt Cover Replacement -

$336.15

Pressure Test Cylinder Head - Resurfaced. Exhaus Valve Guides & Preform Valve Job -

$490

The above were covered under Warranty - The parts were $608.79, labor was $1,728.76.

The following is what I paid for out of pocket.

Remove/Replace Themostat & Gasket -

$181.15

Timing Belt - Removed/Replaced All Belts. REplaced Front Engine Seals, installed new water pump, refilled cooling system -

$1240.34

There are breakdowns for the parts on most of these things if anyone is interested in me going into further detaile.

Now - The current problem - When accelerating in the lower RPM range (1000-2500) the car seems to be missing, the acceleration drops off, then picks right back up. After the car makes it to 3rd gear it seems to be fine. It does it if I'm sitting idle, but in gear, as well. There's a slight jerk to it which I can clearly feel when it does this.

My initial reaction is spark plugs, as those didn't get any attention when all of the work was done, however I would fathom that if they saw anything wrong they would have mentioned it. At this point I have bought new plugs and intend to check out one of the DIY walkthroughs on replacing them later today - but would love any input/feedback you guys can give.

Thank you very much for your time if you made it through all this.
-Josh

The surging at low rpm that you have is something I just experienced with my 06 na vert. It is still under warranty. It seems there are two sensors that can cause this. One is the VSS (vehicle speed sensor) on the auto and the other is the TPS (throttle position sensor which is on the throttle body. Mine was doing it once in a while then more and more ofter until finally the CEL (check engine light) came on and stayed on. It turned out to the the TPS and now all is good.
Hope this helps.
Regards,
Frank