Blown Head Gasket?

[sweng40]

My mother-in-law recently bought a used 2002 PT Cruiser with approximately 37000 miles on it. Yesterday it overheated. She turned off the AC and rolled down the windows (she lives in Texas)and the gauge went down. It never stalled, but never went back to normal either. She took it to the shop today and was told she had a blown head gasket. It would cost roughly $600 to repair and was told that due to the type of engine, once it was fixed there was no guarantee it would remain fixed. They said that it could blow again in two days, two weeks, or twenty years.
My question, is this normal? Are PT Cruisers known for this problem as the mechanic is suggesting?
She just made her 3rd payment and it is financed for 5 years, she can not afford to take a huge loss on this. Any advice?

[2step]

Head gasket failure is not a common problem for this engine. If the shop did their job right, your Mother-in-law should have no problems. Actually the 2.4 engine is able to take a lot of rough service.

There can be problems with warping of the head if the over heating was bad enough. The shop should have checked that out if they were worth anything.

[zzzhuh]

Welcome to the group. Sorry that it's under such bad circumstances.

At first glance, I thought you're id was suing 40.

Is there any warranty from the seller?

[sweng40]

No, the warranty ran out at 35000 miles. She is going for a second opinion today. Unfortunately, she is in Texas and I am in Maine, so the only help I can be is passing on ya'lls opinions and easing her mind. She loves her cruiser and hated to think it was a lemon!

[ElectricBlueGT]

The headgasket was a problem for the 2.0 L engines in the first generation Neons. However, when Chrysler switched to a MLS (multi-layer steel) headgasket, the problem went away.

The PT uses an MLS headgasket too. Make sure that the mechanic uses the MLS headgasket, otherwise the headgasket problem may resurface.

Scott

[Cal Cruzer]

I would go to a reputable shop that warranties their work. Sounds like this place is really half-assed. If they cannot replace a head gasket and have it hold they are not worth her time.

[quicksilverdon]

Agree with the others.
Head gasket is not a common failure on PTs.
If replaced, should be fine.
The place she went to sounds like bad news - might not even be a head gasket!!

[PTRobert]

Where in Texas is your mother-in-law located? I'm in the Plano area (North Dallas) and Huffines Chrysler in Plano is a good dealership. I had a bad A/C cycling switch and my PT is out of warranty. They fixed my PT in just under one day and went way out of their way to find the part when they didn't have it in stock. First, they were going to give me a "loaner" part from another demo PT to fix my car until the new part came into stock. Then, they called and said they'd found an A/C part with a new switch so they basically took off the switch and put it onto my PT. Huffines is on 15th street in Plano.

I know dealerships aren't popular places, but I was pleased with the service I received.

If she's in the Fort Worth area, I know another guy from North Richland Hills that works for a five-star Dodge dealership (Allen Samuel's Dodge???) and he's a PT owner/ mechanic and he's quite knowledgable too. His dealership is located off of North Loop 820.

[cashforyou]

I too just bought a used PT Cruiser. I have wanted one ever since I saw the first one back in 1999 or 2000. I have had VW Bugs and Loved being in the gang. But I bought this cruiser on 9/1/05 and on the 2nd it started overheating. At first I could turn off the air, and speed up a little and the overheating would drop back down. Then it started happening every time I stopped at a signal but once I started moving again it would drop back to normal. I took it back to the dealer and they said I needed a thermostat because someone had removed it from my car. So we left with our new thermostat and drove about 3 miles when the car completely overheated. Took it back and they said they would check it out and see what the problem was. It turned out to be the engine water temp sensor and they changed it, we left once again and made it all the way home, about 5 miles before the car dumped all of it's water in our driveway. We waited over the long week end and went back to the dealer and they were out of business. I am now told I need a head gasket and it will be about 1200.00 to repair. They said as long as we had the engine apart we might as will do the timing belt and water pump as well. I made the terrible decision to remove the thermostat and drive the car to the market. On the way back home it started misfiring and I now have P0300 and P1684 on the panel. I need someone to give me some idea as to what I need to do. I just made the 1st payment on a 12,000.00 paper weight. We have no money and cannot afford to put the car in the shop. Any suggestions would be beneficial at this point. I love that car and I really want it but I need it to run.