electrical issue?

[PaTurboCruiser]

Ok, so the other day, I was leaving work, and the check engine light came on. About 10 minutes into my drive home, and the car starts to stumble badly, and even stalled out on me. I popped the hood, played around with the coil wires, and it started back up. On the way home, it kept stumbling, badly. I checked the codes, and got P0032, and P0038. I figured since checking the plug wires seemed to help, and the fact that I got wacked while doing so, I would change those. It didnt fix the problem, and yes I know those codes are for the o2 sensor, but i didn't think it would act that way because of a bad sensor. Today I checked the codes again, and now I'm also getting P0300, and P0573, which leads me to believe it's electrical. According to what I found, P0573 is related to the cruise control, which I haven't been using. I don't have a lot of free time to look into this, so I was hoping someone could point me in the right direction. Thank you.

[rambojoe]

help us to help you. need car year/model and it is easier for us if you post the obd definitions with the number. then I don't have to search for the manual which seems to be missing at this time... save money and test these sensors first! they may not be bad. and take note if they have any brand markings on them (oem vs aftermarket)

[ptcruisersteve]

I would suggest resetting the engine trouble codes with a OBDII Scan Tool and see if they come back.

If the same codes come back I would suggest having a battery load test done to confirm battery and generator are working properly.

Post what you find out.

[PaTurboCruiser]

I apologize for not being more specific. These are the codes I'm getting:

P0300 Multiple cylinder misfire

P0032 Oxygen sensor Bank 1 circuit 1

P0038 Oxygen sensor Bank 1 circuit 2

P0573 Cruise control / Brake switch 'A' circuit high

It's a 2004 PT Cruiser GT 5 speed 102,000 miles

The first time the check engine light came on, I was getting the to oxygen sensor codes. When it came on again, I got all 4. As I said earlier, I haven't been using the cruise control at all. The car will run for several miles with out any trouble, than start acting up randomly. I was barely able to get it to go 15mph last week when it was acting up doing 3000 rpm. I haven't looked at it all over the weekend, because of being busy with other things. I've been driving my truck.

[_PTGT03]

Originally Posted by PaTurboCruiser

I apologize for not being more specific. These are the codes I'm getting:

P0300 Multiple cylinder misfire

P0032 Oxygen sensor Bank 1 circuit 1

P0038 Oxygen sensor Bank 1 circuit 2

P0573 Cruise control / Brake switch 'A' circuit high

It's a 2004 PT Cruiser GT 5 speed 102,000 miles

The first time the check engine light came on, I was getting the to oxygen sensor codes. When it came on again, I got all 4. As I said earlier, I haven't been using the cruise control at all. The car will run for several miles with out any trouble, than start acting up randomly. I was barely able to get it to go 15mph last week when it was acting up doing 3000 rpm. I haven't looked at it all over the weekend, because of being busy with other things. I've been driving my truck.

this is a sign of computer failure. bad news it's about a $500 replacement part used.
when you have a auto-motive electrical meter you can set on duty cycle, and while the engine is 'acting up' and actively misfiring, you need to probe the fuel injector driver circuits to find out if they are firing.

[ptcruisersteve]

Originally Posted by _PTGT03

this is a sign of computer failure. bad news it's about a $500 replacement part used.
when you have a auto-motive electrical meter you can set on duty cycle, and while the engine is 'acting up' and actively misfiring, you need to probe the fuel injector driver circuits to find out if they are firing.

I would still suggest resetting the engine trouble codes with a OBDII Scan Tool and see if they come back. You want to do a proper diagnostic before replacing any parts.

If the same codes come back I would suggest having a battery load test done to confirm battery and generator are working properly. If your battery voltage is low it can trigger random codes.

Post what you find out.

[03PTCrewser]

The fact that the car will run fine for a few miles then start acting up leads me to believe it's actually related to the o2 sensors as the codes are saying. The additional codes the second go round were a result of the o2 sensor codes.

The computer ignores those sensors for a short while till things warm up a little. During that warm up time it's running in open loop (baseline programming).

[_PTGT03]

Originally Posted by ptcruisersteve

I would still suggest resetting the engine trouble codes with a OBDII Scan Tool and see if they come back. You want to do a proper diagnostic before replacing any parts.

If the same codes come back I would suggest having a battery load test done to confirm battery and generator are working properly. If your battery voltage is low it can trigger random codes.

Post what you find out.

fantastic

[PaTurboCruiser]

When the cel first came on, I did reset it with a code scanner. When the cel came back on, I now had the two additional codes along with the o2 codes. I have a '03 gt auto parts car. Would the computer work in a '04 gt 5 speed car? The battery is only a few months old, I'll check the voltage this weekend

[ptcruisersteve]

Originally Posted by PaTurboCruiser

When the cel first came on, I did reset it with a code scanner. When the cel came back on, I now had the two additional codes along with the o2 codes. I have a '03 gt auto parts car. Would the computer work in a '04 gt 5 speed car? The battery is only a few months old, I'll check the voltage this weekend

I would suggest having a battery load test done to confirm battery and generator are working properly. Checking the battery and generator without a load is not the proper way. You need a battery load tester to confirm battery and generator is working properly. Some auto part stores that sells batteries will do it for free but make sure they set up the battery load tester correctly.