New PT but rough idle??

[Ed]

I really like my new 2002 PT with 5spd but it has had a rough idle since new. Feels like an ignition miss where it misses a beat too often but the service shop said everything checks out ok and they say the idle is reasonable for this car. This basicaly tells me they can't easily find a problem. Another car that I test drove had a really smooth idle so I know it can be smoother. Other than the idle, the engine runs great and mpg is normal. I will be taking it back to complain to the service manager but just curious if anyone else has had a similar problem like this and found a fix?

Thanks,

Ed

[WUWU20]

My idle aint the best in the world, but its a 4 cly and its not a Honda, so I just deal with it, but really, I noticed alittle hick up every now and then, but I take it for what it is.....James

[CREWZIN]

Guys/Gals:
Hate to send you to another forum, BUT, check out www.ptcruisercar.com and under the FORUM section find "PT Cruiser Questions & Answers". The topic of "ROUGH IDLE" has been covered extensivly along with numerous other problems. It's probably been covered in this forum also but can't find it right now.

[Nutt]

Ya, most have the rough idle. I got mine in december. Platinum champion plugs fix it for some. It didn't fix mine. Some people put on aftermarket ignitions and it helped. I haven't done that. I installed water injection a couple weeks ago. It didn't fix the idle, but I get 15% better mileage around town (~26mpg) and noticabley more power. Haven't checked mileage on the highway. The rough idle is correct according to Chrysler technicians. Kinda makes you wonder if the germans are helping at all.

[LJC67]

Hello all Newbie here but figured Id chime in...I just bought an 03 GT 5spd with 65000. I sold my 02 Cav LS sport and GMC Sonoma ZQ8 V6 (131,000 and 104000 miles respectively) and even though I owned an 89 Shelby CSX VNT for a number of years (and tons of other small displacement 4cyl and V6 American cars) none of them had the "rougher idle" my PT had. Though it was not horrible I felt it should idle smoother. No service lights were on. I believe in starting with the simple first and tried running a bottle of Prestone injector cleaner through it and I am almost through half a tank and it is remarkale how the motor has dare I say got to the point of being considered smooth. I realize every car is different but that worked wonders for me. I read through tons of threads and have seen all kinds of suggestions but thought I would post my experience. Have a good one!

[CREWZIN]

LJC67 welcome to the forum. You picked a thread on rough idle that is 7 years old. Nobody except me that was on that thread is around anymore. I've learned quite a bit in those 7 years and the first thing I've learned is to ask more questions of the owners having problems. They usually don't tell the whole story like how many miles on the car or if it was bought used and was there any kind of history with the car. A lot has to to with overheating which will cause the rough idle but if not the first thing many of us recommend is a change of plugs and wires. That usually works. Glad your injector cleaner worked, you were lucky.

Since Ed (the first person who posted) had a brand new 2002 PT, in 2002, the first thing he should have done is tell the dealer about it. He probably only had a couple hundred miles on it. Injector cleaner wouldn't have worked for his problem.

[LJC67]

Wow lol, after I posted I looked and noticed how old the post was. I appreciate your reply though! I have been reading through a lot of threads so that I don't ask "?"s that have been hit on already cause I have a ton of them! Being a mostly GM kinda guy and previously owning an HHR, the PT is taking a bit of a departure for me but I really like it so far. Again thanks for your reply and look forward to talkin more!