So, my PT tried to kill me today...

[vash382]

Today my beloved PT Cruiser decided to try and kill its master.

The day started out pretty normally. I finally found time to install the new plugs and wires I have been wanting to put in; so I went to the store and bought the tools I needed (didn't own a torque wrench or 5/8" deep socket) and got to work. The install took longer than I anticipated, but went pretty well, and the car started right up on the first pull after buttoning it all up. "Great!" I thought, and went inside to give the gasket compound I used to seal the two halves of the manifold some time to set up before I went off to the gym for a run.

Come back out later, start it up again; idle sounds good, no misfires -- put it in gear and head to the gym. I took it kinda easy on my way there so I could hear/feel if it seemed like everything was working right. Got to the gym, and let it idle for a couple min when parked -- still no misfires. Awesome. So, I head in an go for my run.

Come back out and start the car up. Decide I am going to open the throttle up a bit on the way home as the gasket compound should be in pretty good shape by now.

I made the turn onto the road (40mph limit) and gun it (no cars in front, or behind me). I ran the car up to about 55 and it shifted great through the gears (automatic), then let off for it to coast back down to about 5mph then hit it again up to 55, and let off... the car kept going...

"Hmmm... thats strange... it should be slowing down by now" I thought to myself.

It wasn't. In fact, it was slowly accelerating...

I quickly reached down and pulled the gas pedal toward me thinking it may have gotten stuck. No effect. I looked up to see that I was quickly approaching a red light with moderate cross traffic: now I had a real problem.

I tried dropping it into neutral, but the car didnt want to, and the red light was now approaching at about 70mph. There wasn't time to try anything else before hitting the intersection, so I noticed what would be gap in the cross traffic and gunned it through the red missing both the north and southbound cars. Once "safely" through the intersection I steered toward the side of the road, killed the ignition, and pulled the e-brake finally brining me to a stop.

Flipped on the hazards and called for a tow.

While waiting for the tow, I popped the hood to take a look... It looks like one of the two tension cables running into the throttle is completely lax -- only thing I can think of is that I damaged it when taking things apart to do the plugs and wires. Either that or it was one hell of a coincidence.

The car is now sitting outside a dealership with the keys in the night drop box. Hopefully the repair wont be too expensive -- im in the middle of renovating my house and money is already tight.

[Mean Green]

Glad you made it safely. Why use gasket compound on the intake? I've reused the gasket twice on my wife's '04. As long as you torque the bolts properly in the proper sequence you shouldn't have a problem.

[bertone]

Glad you made it!

Why didn't you just hit the brakes instead of endangering other people and yourself by slamming through a red light?

[vash382]

Mean Green:

The old gasket was half disintegrated when I took it apart. Im not the first owner, so I dont know what was done to it previously, but when I removed the manifold, it was stuck to both the top and bottom, shredded, and flaking off all over the place. I didnt have a choice.

Bertone:

While I noticed I omitted it in my retelling, I tried that. The throttle was stuck 100% open. I was practically standing on the brake pedal, and while it kept it from accelerating further, I wasn't really slowing me down. Up until that point the car was actually going faster -- if I hadn't been laying on the brake, I would have hit the intersection at 100+

[crusierdad76]

WOW that is wild glad it turned out ok usually things like that happen to me

[vash382]

Dealer called.

Said that the throttle sensor was reading zero even though it was full open. Said they got it fixed, and that the brakes looked good.

Total cost for the repair + brake inspection is $150.

[garner49]

I know the feeling. Years ago I had a big Thunderbird with the 460 TunderJet engine. On the way home from work one evening, the engine began to rev - throttle went to full open - by the time I got to just under 100 (didn't take long), I turned off the ignition and coasted to a stop with no power steering or brakes. Cranked it up and it never did it again...

[quicksilverdon]

Originally Posted by vash382

Dealer called.

Said that the throttle sensor was reading zero even though it was full open. Said they got it fixed, and that the brakes looked good.

Total cost for the repair + brake inspection is $150.

I don't think that's bad - for a dealer.

Can you even shut it off without car in park?

[soonercruiser]

About the one loose throttle body cable......
When I replaced my plugs & wires last week, I noticed that one is more lax, when the engine is not running. That is probably normal!
Glad the dealer got to the bottom of the trouble...before your PT killed you the next time!

[vash382]

QSD: Yes, that is how I finally stopped it. Shut off the ignition, pulled the e-brake, then shifted it to park while it was off.

Sooner: Yeah, it turned out that those were in good shape, and it was so loose because the throttle was open.