Cruiser 'stalls' when going thru 2500 rpm

[jas0xgy]

I've got a 2003 PT with manual. This morning I was driving when the engine light kicked in, then the car practically 'stalled' ... i clutched and tapped the gas, the engine responded. I was wondering what just happened. I then shifted again, and same thing - right at 2500 rpm the engine bucked. I was less than a quarter mile to home, so i went straight there, turned off the car and popped the hood looking for vacuum hoses, etc. but found nothing. I started the car again, but couldn't reproduce the event. Any ideas what may be wrong? I'd like to have a rough understanding before the shop tries to screw me.

Thanks!

[CREWZIN]

Welcome to the forum. If the engine light came on, the computer has set a code which could tell you the problem. Turn the key on and off 3 times stopping at the 3rd turn when the key is towards the windshield. Do this within 5 seconds and a code will appear in the odometer window. It will look something like this: P0070

Then come back and let us know the code(s) appear in the window.

[jas0xgy]

Cool - thanks for that, i thought you had to hook it up to get the codes. Anyway, I've got (in this order):

P0441 Evaporative Emission Control System Incorrect Purge Flow
P0340 Camshaft Position (CMP) Sensor Circuit

So ... my guess is the first is likely the gas cap, and the second a (hopefully) faulty sensor that caused the bucking?

[CREWZIN]

You could be right on both counts. Here's a picture of where the Camshaft sensor is, but you just don't want to throw parts at your problem without further testing.



Go to Google and type in "Chrysler fault P0340" and the other code to see what others have come up with.

[jas0xgy]

Thanks - i'll let you know how it comes out.

[jas0xgy]

I checked out the harness and looked OK. So I replaced the camshaft position sensor. All codes cleared out and ran great. For 8 days. Problem came back, so I guess i'm gonna try the dealer. thanks for the advice.

[bobs turbo pt]

sounds like car is going into limp mode my first pt gt was doing this and not to scare you they had the car for 47 days and then gave me a new car they could never find the problem keep us posted

[harrisonmml]

We have a 2006 PT, that goes limp...all lights on spedometer come on, mph drops to zero, even though your still coasting, and rpm drops to just barely alive...it self corrects in about 10 seconds, BUT I didn't realize how dangerous this can be until it happened to me as I was merging into a 3 lane 5 exit rotary ( round about) I damn near got killed. The dealership was totaly unhelpful, this is now the 3rd time I had this happen, how do you go about having your car declared a lemon, They can't find anything wrong with it...but I am seriously frightened to drive it now in any situation where acceleration is key. All the work we did replacing spark plugfs and wires to get better acceleration and performance works 99.8% of the time, but that 0.2% it ain't work could literally kill you. Is this car possesed? Has any one figured out how to fix this? I can't keep bringing it back to the dealership for them to keep hoping to recreate the problem. Also the last time this happened he low fuel light came on and told me I had less than a 1/4 tank, I didn't, but when we restarted the car after gathering our wits given the near-death situation the tank read nearly full again. Any similar experiences? Any advise at all would be greatly appreciated, Thanks, Brenddie

[CREWZIN]

Brenddie,

Sure sounds like the dreaded "intermittent electrical fault" which is probably about the hardest thing to find. The dealer should be able to hook up a scanner and let you drive around a couple days till the fault reappears. The dealers scanner has much more information than the code setting of the PT's computer and will pinpoint the exact fault when it actually happens.

[harrisonmml]

Thanks, it's back to the dealer I go then, frankly I wish they would drive the car, but we're down to one car for the next few weeks, I just don't trust it, especially when merging onto the highway. Will update if I get any answers. Thanks Brenddie