Dangerous problem with PT Cruiser

[oxy60]

I haven't read every word of every posting but we had exactly the same problem and the dealer service repaired it. I have a max care policy so the two weeks it stayed in the service department, 190 miles of road testing, hours of labor, emails back and forth to Star Support and the three parts were covered under the policy. My story is posted under Catastrophic Electrical Failure on this forum.

[NightWing]

I have had similar problems on 2 Dodge Rams. The culprit is the wiring connections in the steering column. My newest Ram, an '06, did the same thing with all the warning lights, bells, ding-dings, gauges all dropping to zero. It is because I use my tilt wheel every time I get in or out. It is my understanding that there isn't a lot of slack in the harness and fatigue eventually causes the connection to fail. I was also told that some of the signals to the ECU are channeled through the column. If the connections are bad, the computer gets false or no information, so it goes into limp mode or the engine stumbles badly. My '97 actually had to have a section of wire spliced in the column. My '06 cost $518 to track down and repair.

The tilt wheel in the PT isn't nearly as articulate as on the Ram, but it still might be a problem.

[CREWZIN]

Originally Posted by NightWing

The tilt wheel in the PT isn't nearly as articulate as on the Ram, but it still might be a problem.

We've had owners come with radio and and dash problems and it was traced to the wiring harness running down the steering column. The harness would stretch or be pulled from it's connection as the wheel was tilted. Not an easy thing to trace down.

[moab]

Had a very similar experience recently with a total lack of power and a reluctance to rev freely. Analysis of the black box identified a failed camshaft sensor - once replaced all was well.

Has your vehicle been fault diagnosed as the black box holds all electrical fail data. I would have thought this to be the first step taken.

[VNT]

It is the ignition switch module in the column.

So you have two choices buy the part, about 40$ at dealer and an hour to change, or contact Perry Mason and maybe win a low suit to force Daimler Benz to fix your Chrysler

PT Cruiser Ignition Switch Actuator - YouTube