New member and advice on 04 PT

[barry8108]

hi, just joined. Made a deal on a 04 PT with 86000 miles. Looks to be in very good shape, drives nice and looks to be taken care of. Everything works on it. Took it for a long drive on the interstate and drives very nice. Anything i should look out for on this car. Thank you

[CREWZIN]

Welcome to the forum and congrats on the purchase.

Do you have any paperwork of the kind of service that the PT has received? If not, depending on what you want to spend and how you feel, the best thing to do is to start from scratch.

First, let's start off by asking if you know about the timing belt? It's a costly service usually done with the water pump, belt tensioner and the two drive belts (serpentine and alternator) and runs anywhere between $800 and $1200 depending on the labor rate and parts price. That service is due around the 100,000 mile mark.

Has the PT been looked over by any kind of professional that would know what to look for? Do you have any mechanical experience? This all sounds intimidating and you can really just get in and drive till something isn't working and come back here for advice.

[barry8108]

The seller has had the car for 5 years and said it was always serviced at the Chrysler dealer, but he has not had the timing belt done. Im a aircraft mechanic and work on BMW's as a hobby, so i have never had to deal with a timing belt. Those scare me a little, so i will probably have that done at the 100,000 mile mark by someone. How long do the trannys last on these, this one seems to drive really nice. I drove it for about 20 min, and could not find a thing wrong with it, so maybe it was maintained properly.

[CREWZIN]

The tranny (transaxle) seems to vary on age limits as some have lost theirs pretty early and a lot of us, like myself, have past the 100,000 mark and hadn't had any problems. Hopefully your previous owner has done at least one trans flush at around 50,000. You might think about at least having the pan dropped for 4 new quarts added and have a mechanic take a look. The big thing is not to push it and just drive normal.

You'll want to check the wheel bearings by pulling/pushing on the wheels when they're off the ground, check all the suspension parts while it's on the lift. Look for leaks and a big thing is too let it idle for 15 to 20 minutes with the A/C ON. Check to see if the fan is running (should run anytime the A/C is ON, and watch the temperature guage which should stay right about 1/2 way no matter how long the car sits at idle.

[Hooligan]

Barry, welcome to the Forum. You can always go to the dealer and they can run the service by using the VIN # and it will tell you when & what kind of service has been done along with any recalls that may have been done. Normally dealers will do this without charge as they would like your future business.

[heifetz17]

Just wait til you have to work on an e30 with a timing belt! I'm also a freelance BMW mechanic and was quite glad when they ditched belts for chains!

One little correction on what Crewzin was mentioning. Officially the timing belt isn't due until 120k miles. It's recommended at 100k only in the PT community. Being a BMW guru, you probably take manufacturer recommended services with a grain a salt (oil changes every 15k, for example), so I would perform the service early at 100k like you already mentioned doing.

[mdfrodolives]

Hm? My PT manual says to replace the timing belt at 90,000 miles (Schedule B--which is how most of us drive, and the conditions we drive under)--or 102,000 miles (which is if you're an old lady driving your PT once a week around town to see--once again--"Gone With the Wind" at a Drive-in theater that closed somewhere around 1963).

Make sure the plugs were changed at 30,000 miles. If not, change 'em--or have them changed. And definitely have the brakes checked for wear. Original PT pads were made of Silly Putty, or something similar. Raybestos are very good, long-lasting replacement pads.

The drive belts need a peek from someone knowledgable. It's a good idea to check them every 15,000 miles. I've had mine replaced twice, due to a lousy serpentine adjuster (kaput at 36,000 miles), as well as, for some inexplicable reason that the dealer could not determine ... but when the second set were replaced, the squeek went away ... so I was satisfied with the un-explanation of why this had to be done a second time ....

And mostly, check your battery water and battery cable connections. In PT's, the corrosion spreads like crazy. Make sure you put that battery thermal blanket back on the battery when you're done. It really does help keep your battery from drinking up your battery water on warm days.

Get a Hayne's Manual, too. They're not perfect, but they help answer a lot of questions.

Tim

[CREWZIN]

I guess they changed the owners manual later on. My schedule "B" for the 2001 models has 120,000 for the timing belt. I guess that's why we recommend to everyone to split the difference and change it around 100,000.

[Hooligan]

Originally Posted by dgjk8734

Hello !
I am also a new member. Would a newcomer be warmly welcome here? Good day you guy !

Warmly welcomed, unless you are a SPAMMER!!!

[CREWZIN]

Originally Posted by Hooligan

Warmly welcomed, unless you are a SPAMMER!!!

NO, it's a spammer and he/she/it is gone!