This data is from the NHTSA — the US gov't agency tasked with vehicle safety. Complaints are spread across multiple & redundant categories, & are not organized by problem.
So how do you find out what problems are occurring? For this NHTSA complaint data, the only way is to read through the comments below. Any duplicates or errors? It's not us.
2005 Chrysler PT CRUISER. Consumer writes in regards to the fuel leak location on the inlet nozzle fuel tank. The dealer stated check engine light on, cracked trim around A/C unit, trunk will not stay open, front brakes need replacing, and rear shock need to be replaced.
I was on the freeway, and the road had a natural "bump" in it, causing a slight bit of lift with the vehicle, and the vehicle swayed from side to side, and I had to immediately slow down, and counter steer in order to keep it in my lane. I took it to my mechanic today, and the right lower motor mount is broken. I just replaced that same mount less then 6 months ago. My mechanic said they know of a cruiser that had 8 front right motor mounts replaced. There is an entire site on the internet dedicated to people who have had major issues with motor mounts going out over and over again on their cruisers.
Going over a speed bump my underbody scrapped the bump. When I got home I had a small amount of radiator fluid under my car the next morning. A few days later there was still small amounts of liquid under my car. Jack furriers repair shop said the oil cooler was damaged and had a small hole from the fins being bent. Repair is quite expensive because Chrysler has changed the styling of the part and it has to be replaced with the new part. The new part I was told would be being put in the place where it should have been put in the first place to be safer from the types of damages I got. Should be a recall covered repair. The car could overheat and cause other problems.
I am so unhappy with this car, it has given me nothing but headaches. I have had front end bearing problems to electrical, but the worst problem is the one I have right now. My car is at the dealership as we speak, and I am being told that Chrysler may not cover this problem. The car has various leaks, the oil has leaked into the spark plugs, and other areas that they are not certain off, they suggested one is coming from the head gasket a part of the engine. The problems started about six months ago, first it wanted to stop on me at every light, second the engine light went on, third the oil light. I would take it to mechanics and they could not find the problem, it was getting worse and I would replace parts that were going bad, but still the problem was there. When I went to Chrysler dealership they told me we can't see the problem, but I told them that I would not leave until they found the problem. I am waiting the status on this matter from Chrysler extended warranty. I suggest you recall this car, it has some serious issues relating to the engine, my perspective of this vehicle is the life span lasts 70,000, mile because the problems.get worse.
Recently, I noticed a puddle of oil forming under my car when it was parked briefly. A check of oil showed that it was slightly below normal, but well within range. Topped up oil and started engine, and steady stream of oil was seen to be coming from crank oil seal. The day before this car did not drip a drop of oil. Mechanic found seal was in tact, but completely loose from engine. Had seal replaced by certified mechanic, and in less than 15 miles the oil leak returned. After seeing multiple similar accounts on internet, had the mechanic open the engine and found the crank end play to be well over.020" and the thrust bearing wiped along with damage to the crank thrust face. Oddly Chrysler seems to only install the thrust bearing on only the top half in this design. The problem seems to be the thrust bearing fails, the crankshaft then walks into the back of the seal and knocks it out. Fortunately, I noticed the puddle, before this failed at highway speed. This could have emptied the oil in minutes and seized up the engine at speed. This is clearly a known design flaw that Chrysler is avoiding taking responsibility for. No engine should have this sort of failure in the 21st century!
- Boothwyn, PA, USA
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The PT CRUISER 2005 turbo was purchased new and currently has 68,296 miles. The vehicle has shut off on numerous occasions while we were driving. We immediately contacted cerritos Dodge Chrysler Jeep (cerritos, ca) and glen E. thomas (signal hill, ca} and both serviced vehicle. Neither dealers fixed the problem.the last time we paid a service technician almost $100 to just ride around with us to see if vehicle would stop. Again nothing was done. After finally bringing the car back 6 times for the same problem, within a 12 week period, they told us to contact the corporate division at Chrysler because they would not service our vehicle. The most recent occurrence was in September 2011( which put others life in danger) we were driving on the freeway at 60 miles/hr. The car just shut off, again without any warning. We are afraid to drive the vehicle on a regular basis, for fear of risking the lives of others and ourselves. We are currently seeking a recall because we know of other owners who has experienced the same problem.
I purchased a 2005 PT CRUISER in June 2008. Several months later I noticed that my car would shake once I turned on my ac. While it was under warranty, I took it back to the car dealership and they advised me that I needed a tune up. So I had my car serviced for a tune up to only find out that the problem on persisted. I took the car to several mechanics and no one could figure out the problem. They all said I needed spark plugs although I just had them replaced. Flash forward to November 2010, on my way to work out of no where my car started putting and my engine was shaking as if my car was about to explode. Again I took it to a mechanic and he said the same thing... tune up. Clearly this was not the case, however I had my gaskets changed to see if that was the issue...negative. So I decided to google what the problem was myself just to see if I missed a recall or if this is a problem. T O my surprise I found several forums specificallly for teh Chrysler PT CRUISER. To top the cake their issues was the exact same issues I was having with my car. Engine shaking, car putting, and the car cutting off while driving! I called Chrysler to see if there was a recall and I was so baffeled that there was not. This is clearly a safety issue and I'm very dissapointed that chrylser is ignoring the seriousness of the matter! this can potentially cause a fatal accident. How scary is it driving on the highway and your car just stops or starts putting! I have spent over $500 trying to fix this issue and others have spent thousands on Chrysler behalf. My car still has the same issues today 8/26/2011. I can't afford a new engine especially when this is a more than common issue. Please google "PT CRUISER engine shaking problems" and see the many blogs and complaints. Each blog has the same issues listed, and I know this has been brought to Chrysler's attention but they choose to ignore it. Fyi.. it only took Toyota 11 complaints for them to recall their vehicals.
I have a 2005 touring edition PT CRUISER and it has been a headache for the last 21 months. In spring 2009, after having the car only 2 years, it starting leaking oil so I took into the dealership. They said the oil pan gasket was loose. They fixed it in a day and it ran fine, then a few months later, in August, it started leaking again. This time they said the oil was leaking from the front of the engine so they had to replace the cam seals, front crank seal and the oil pan gasket. I got it back a week later and was told the front brake pads and rotors needed to be replaced. I took it to a repair shop for the brakes and the mechanic said he'd never seen rotors wear that fast before. It ran pretty good until September 2009 when it started leaking oil again, took it to the dealership again this time they said they had to replace the short block, gaskets for the upper and lower engine, timing belt cover, crankshaft sprocket, and all the fluids in the car. They didn't charge for fixing this time because the said it was a manufacturing defect. Another week in the shop and they said it was in running condition again. In May 2010 all four tires needed to be replaced because of tire rot and the spare didn't look that much better then the tires. Later the same month the car started making a horrible noise need slowing to stop and starting. Took it to the dealership again, the starter and flexplate need to be replaced. It was in shop a week, went to pick it up and was informed that one of the motor mount bolts was broken. It needed to be replaced along with the motor mount itself. They also said they deemed the car unsafe to drive and would not test drive it to make sure it was running correctly. I took the car home, two days later as I was driving home the gas pedal broke. It was against the mat and I could not get the engine to rev. Thankfully I was by the median lane so I could roll out of traffic.
The contact owns a 2005 Chrysler PT CRUISER. The contact noticed that there was a slight oil leak. She checked the engine and saw that there was an adequate amount of oil inside of it. Later that evening, the oil light illuminated on the dashboard. When she checked the engine, there was no oil on the stick at all. The next morning, she put four quarts of oil in the engine. Before leaving work, she put two more quarts in the vehicle as it showed that she was two quarts low. By the time she reached home, the oil light was illuminated again. She put four quarts of oil and took the vehicle to a repair shop the next morning. The mechanic told her that cam seal failed and possibly caused the oil leak. The vehicle was repaired. When the mechanic restarted the vehicle after it was repaired, all of the oil leaked onto the ground. The mechanic then called her to say that the failure could have been caused by the engine pump. She called the dealer and was told to instruct the mechanic to inspect the thrust bearings. The mechanic confirmed that the thrust bearings were defective. She called the manufacturer and was told that someone would call her in 24 to 48 hours (she was currently awaiting a response). The vehicle had not been repaired at the time of the complaint. The current and failure mileages were approximately 66,000.
Since new, Feb. 2005, my 2005 PT CRUISER shakes and stumbles at idle. At 180 miles, the engine stopped in freeway traffic. I was able to get the car restarted, but it ran extremely rough. The dealer replaced a crankshaft position sensor. The engine hasn't died since, but I still experience rough idle and stumble on acceleration. The dealer tells me they can do no more to correct the problem.
I purchased a new 2005 Chrysler, PT CRUISER. I have experienced rough idling at times. Lately, I am experiencing stalling while driving. I loose all power I can press the gas pedal to the floor and it does nothing then in a few seconds it will go. At stops it will almost go dead. I looked on the web site and saw a lot of complaints filed with my problems. I feel a recall should be done before someone is badly injured because their PT CRUISER stalls while driving! below are the ODI id numbers: 10102249, 10126616, 10138986, and 10163025. Thank you.
: the contact stated the engine light continued to illuminate and the engine stalled at various speeds. The vehicle has been to the dealership four times. The dealership replaced the PCM module twice. The dealership replaced four spark plugs and various wiring twice, but the problem persisted.
2005 Chrysler PT CRUISER engine light flashed and car stalled while driving. The engine light illuminated on 3 separate occasions. Several repairs were made, but the consumer continued to experience problems.
The defects in my vehicle are primarily related to the electrical system failing resulting in the engine shutting off. All of the power goes out; the engine dies and comes back on after either a few moments or a few minutes. During this time the vehicle is very difficult to steer and near impossible to brake. This occurs intermittently, on multiple occasions while at speed on the interstate. To date (1/16/2006) this has occurred 18 times on my vehicle. The dealership has told me on many occasions that they are not confident on what is causing this problem. This condition has been witnessed by others. I bought this car new in April 2005. I began having problems with it at around 12000 miles in September 2005. This problem is still present and DC does not know what is causing it. They offered a similar 2005 pt but refused to buy the vehicle back. From what I have found so far, there have been 9 similar occurrences of this and none have been solved. Thereby, I refused to take another 2005 PT CRUISER. I do not have any confidence in the car so it sits parked while I must continue to make payments while this matter goes through the courts. They also stated that they were only attempting what daimler Chrysler directed them to do. The dealership has attempted to fix this problem with no success on four occasions (10/06-10/07, 10/20-10/24, 10/24-10/28, 11/07-11/17). The dealership promised to make necessary part replacements and then drive it one to two hundred miles after. They did not do either. They said that they do not have the manpower to have someone drive it several hundred miles to replicate the problem. Most times the car is on the highway for several hours before it dies. I have given the dealership plenty of opportunities to fix this problem. This is a very serious and severe safety issue for both me and other drivers on the road.
While driving in city I noticed a knocking in the engine. I pulled over and saw oil pouring out of front of engine. I shut engine off. At no time did oil pressure warning light come on. Called aaa and had car towed to nearest Chrysler dealer. Dealer diagnosed problem as blown camshaft seal. Replaced seal but when running engine still made knocking sounds. Waited for engine specialist to come back from vacation. He said engine needed to be replaced and he would contact Chrysler. Chrysler insisted engine be torn down to identify source of problem. Problem was crankshaft thrust bearing broken in half allowing crankshaft to move laterally forcing out crankshaft seal, hence all the oil, and more extensive damage to other engine components. I requested a "crated" engine be installed. Dealer said none available. At present waiting for delivery of cylinder head. Car has been in the shop 20 days. Mileage at time of incident: 3,541 miles. Fortunately this failure did not occur at highway speeds where the result could have been much worse.
A D V E R T I S E M E N T S
- Fort Lauderdale, FL, USA