2006 pt cruiser with hesitation prob.

[nvo2003]

Hi every body,
I am pretty new in this forum.

I have a 2006 pt cruiser, 2.4 litter, 56K miles.
In idling condition (transmission on parking) I push the gas pedal and the rpm's increase to 2300-2400 rpm and start the hesitation problem. There is no way I can go further.

These are the codes gotten from auto zone scan.

p0016
p0113
p0344
p0335
p0038

Any help on this matter will be appreciated.
nvo2003

[CREWZIN]

If this hesitation only happens when in the transmission is in PARK, you don't have a problem. The computer has a cut out that only allows the revs to go so far in PARK and then cuts off so you don't over rev the engine.

Is this the first time the codes have been read? They could have been stored since the car was new. Take the negative battery cable off for about 5 minutes, that will clear all the codes and only check it if you have a real problem. As I mentioned above, the rev limiter in PARK is not a problem, all PT's do that.

[nvo2003]

Thanks for replying crewzin,
Actually I do have a problem when driving it. I drove it from Wichita, KS to Denver, CO and every time I stepped on the gas after a red light it hesitate on 25-30 miles, and I can never go beyond 60 mph. At 61 mph start hesitating and jerking pretty strong and I needed to stepped down on the gas.

[Chromenut]

Looking at your codes, you're going to see a common thread, but before I go into that, Crewzin's suggestion holds much merit. Each time I've had a code show up, before I do anything I attempt to clear it. Now with your's, you definitely have a problem, but since you're throwing so many codes you need to clean it up and see what the very next code is, and I'll bet it's a Camshaft sensor code... watch for the common thread here...

p0016 = camshaft sensor
p0113 = intake air temp, hi input
p0344 = camshaft position sensor
p0335 = crankshaft position sensor
p0038 = heater control circuit

Now if I go by only what's here, you're about to overheat, you're sucking in hot air, your heater control circuit is on the fritz, and you've got a camshaft sensor failure.

That camshaft sensor is one of the most obvious, and prolific, of these faults. It's also easy to replace it. So first, dump the battery, while it's off press on your brake pedal a couple of times to bleed off any remaining circuit charge, then after 5 or so, hook it back up, start it and go for a short drive. Because you say's it's bucking and hesitating, it's likely to come right back as a camshaft sensor. I just hope the crankshaft sensor is bogus and a code that's just hanging out waiting to be cleared...

Originally Posted by nvo2003

Hi every body,
I am pretty new in this forum.

I have a 2006 pt cruiser, 2.4 litter, 56K miles.
In idling condition (transmission on parking) I push the gas pedal and the rpm's increase to 2300-2400 rpm and start the hesitation problem. There is no way I can go further.

These are the codes gotten from auto zone scan.

p0016
p0113
p0344
p0335
p0038

Any help on this matter will be appreciated.
nvo2003

[slartyblarfast]

Originally Posted by Chromenut

Looking at your codes, you're going to see a common thread, but before I go into that, Crewzin's suggestion holds much merit. Each time I've had a code show up, before I do anything I attempt to clear it. Now with your's, you definitely have a problem, but since you're throwing so many codes you need to clean it up and see what the very next code is, and I'll bet it's a Camshaft sensor code... watch for the common thread here...

p0016 = camshaft sensor
p0113 = intake air temp, hi input
p0344 = camshaft position sensor
p0335 = crankshaft position sensor
p0038 = heater control circuit

Now if I go by only what's here, you're about to overheat, you're sucking in hot air, your heater control circuit is on the fritz, and you've got a camshaft sensor failure.

That camshaft sensor is one of the most obvious, and prolific, of these faults. It's also easy to replace it. So first, dump the battery, while it's off press on your brake pedal a couple of times to bleed off any remaining circuit charge, then after 5 or so, hook it back up, start it and go for a short drive. Because you say's it's bucking and hesitating, it's likely to come right back as a camshaft sensor. I just hope the crankshaft sensor is bogus and a code that's just hanging out waiting to be cleared...

0016 and 0038 are o2 sensor codes. It need to be replaced. I would recommend replacing both. They may be covered under the 8/80 emissions warranty but I'm not 100 percent sure. I think there is a computer flash available for those codes too.
0113 is the intake temp sensor is either open circuit or unplugged.
0344 and 0335 can be related. They share the same 5 volt source so one can effect the other. Also if the engine is out of time it can set these codes.
As far as the not revving up. I'm not quite sure I understand the problem. If you are sitting still and holding the brake and revving the engine in gear then it should only rev to about that rpm.
At your mileage if you have not had a tune up is way past time. Needs to be done every 30k.
That gives you some direction to go. As chromenut said the cam sensor code is very common and could account for the drivability issues.

[nvo2003]

Thanks every body for replying,
I cleared up the codes by disconnecting the negative cable from battery, then took it to be re-scan it. This is what I got:

P0016
P0038
P0344

All of them came out twice on the scan.

slartyblarfast,
60 mph is the highest speed I can get when driving the car.

I order the O2 sensor yesterday, I guess I need to order the other one and replace both.

About the camshaft position sensor, should I replace it or should I try to move the alignment. The problem would be I don't know how to achieve the right alignment.

[slartyblarfast]

There is no alignment. It's 2 bolts off and on.
Get that and the o2 sensors taken care of and it should run fine. Always a possibility of something weird but these are known issues for this car and this year.
I recommend replacing both because as o2 sensors get older they get lazy and can read wrong. You put one new one on and you run the risk of the other sending bad information and the computer doesn't know it. Remember the 02 sensors live in temps of 600 to 1000 degrees. Pretty rough life.

[nvo2003]

You know what,
I should tell you that I got this car from an auction and it suppose to be in good mechanical condition.
Anyway, I was looking at the spark plug guide you have at this forum and suddenly I realized that I did not see the EGR tube in the car. unbelievable, it is missing. So we take the intake manifold out and it (the manifold) has the connection for the EGR but there is no hole on the manifold, so no air can go trough. So its look like this manifold do not use the EGR tube.

Any ideas?

[Hooligan]

Originally Posted by nvo2003

You know what,
I should tell you that I got this car from an auction and it suppose to be in good mechanical condition.
Anyway, I was looking at the spark plug guide you have at this forum and suddenly I realized that I did not see the EGR tube in the car. unbelievable, it is missing. So we take the intake manifold out and it (the manifold) has the connection for the EGR but there is no hole on the manifold, so no air can go trough. So its look like this manifold do not use the EGR tube.

Any ideas?

Only the 2001 - 2002's had the EGR valve there, from 2003 on up it is NOT there, don't worry about it. This "Sticky" was written for a 2001.

[nvo2003]

You are right Hooligan,
I went to the dealer and he told me this car does not use EGR tube.
He also told me that there are three oxygen sensors, two upstream and one down. As I stated above I already change one. Should I change the other two plus the camshaft position sensor, or there is a way to check them up?