PT Cruiser GT

I had an '02 Touring eidition with the 5 speed manual trans. A completely differnt beast than the basic automatic equipped PT. I didn't mind the mid-upper 20s for fuel mileage, considering the 5 speed manual made the car almost 4 seconds quicker to 60 than the automatic...

Also, in 5 years and 70k miles, absolutely NOTHING went wrong with it. No trim falling off, no squeaks or rattles and I autocressed it AND hauled a lot of stuff (like all the wood for our deck, a stand up 60 gallon compressor, all the replacement windows for the house stacked floor to ceiling, and 1200lbs of bagged crushed rock for the driveway).

They are NOT a Neon underneath, and in fact only share 8 bolts with the Neon. They share quite a bit more with the Stratus and minivans, with a unique rear suspension in order to get a flat, low load floor.

Out of the 120+ cars I've had, that PT was one of the best at being a car.

I stand corrected.

My brother refers to his wife's Cruiser as "an oil leak with a hood."

Are these in Challenge - friendly prices yet? I'd love to see one of you crazies bring a badass PT GT, Scaries style.

I've seen a small number of them in the $3000 and less area. I bet they're out there. Wouldn't leave you a TON of room for upgrades, but doable.

I would love to get my hands on a cheap turbo PT cruiser and troll everybody with it.

I think I'd rather own that tractor I posted yesterday.

integraguy wrote: There were 2 different levels of power for the turbo in the PT, I forget what they were, but think "stage 1" and "stage 2" in the older Dodge turbo cars. Check to be sure you are really getting a turbo (not sure when they "arrived" but '03 seems too early, by a year) could just be a trim package on this particular example. And the faux woody look was a factory option, but I don't remember seeing it combined with the turbo an/or a manual transmission. Finally, in Europe, in those countries where Chrysler had dealers the factory "packaged" PT Cruisers with the Neons 2 liter engine instead of the larger / more highly taxed(?) 2.4 engine. I even think the last ones might have had a diesel option.

There was never a "stage one" or "stage two" on either the older turbo cars or the PT. On the older cars you had turbo I non intercooled and turbo II intercooled engines. On the PT you have a base turbo and a high output. The difference in the PT, PT HO, and SRT4 engines are that power output was determined by the ECU.

There were stage 1 and stage 2 upgrades from MP available though.

Alan Cesar wrote: Are these in Challenge - friendly prices yet? I'd love to see one of you crazies bring a badass PT GT, Scaries style.

regular PTs are dipping down into that territory but no GT or turbo models yet. I've seen sub 1K PTs with broken timing belts.

PT GT was available for '03. I tried to buy one that was still on the lot after the '04s came out.

Ended up getting a '04 for the spouse. She liked it a lot & in the 8 years & 70000 miles or so had no significant problems. The interior was versetal so far as seats folding etc. was concerned. Faux CF interior trim seemed sorta dumb.

Replaced cam position sensor twice, an easy,cheap, quick repair. Output shaft at transaxle developed very small insignificant leak. Tire consumption seemed high considering that the spouse is a little old lady & drives like one. Upholstery & interior trim held up well considering that 3 grandkids rode,ate & drank in it a lot. Body held up well, no rust,squeeks or rattles. Chrome on one of the wheels did flake off. We traded because spouse's hip was beginning to act it's age & driving a 5 spd. was causing her some discomfort, also was near time for tire replacement & we wanted the next owner to have the timing belt replace.

The PT came in 2 turbo versions..IIRC the PT touring edition had 180 hp & the GT had 240 hp & bigger brakes, stiffer roll bars etc. For '04, one had to get the GT in order to get side airbags. Big end of con rods were cracked (in the good sense of the word), am I using the right word?

The car was quick,had a bit of torque steer, handled fairly well considering wrong wheels were driven & brakes were pretty good.

Chris_V wrote: I had an '02 Touring eidition with the 5 speed manual trans. A completely differnt beast than the basic automatic equipped PT.

Yeah. This is the gospel truth. (turbo may be a different story.

I would rather change timing belts on a 2.4 PT than on a 2.0 second gen Neon, and I've done a few of each.

2nd gen neon timing belts are easy. The first one i ever did was only 3 hours. Are you saying you've done a PT cruiser timing belt + water pump in 3 hours? Or you'd rather spend twice the time working on a PT cruiser than a neon? Im confused by this statement. Id rather be doing a 2g neon timing belt than a 2.4 anything timing belt, except maybe a wrangler or liberty (never done those).

I want a PT Cruiser GT really bad...

...So I can pull the drivetrain out and slap it into my CSX.

moparman76_69 wrote: regular PTs are dipping down into that territory but no GT or turbo models yet. I've seen sub 1K PTs with broken timing belts.

2 words: interference head.

Apparently the wood paneling option was only available in 03.

Vigo wrote:

I would rather change timing belts on a 2.4 PT than on a 2.0 second gen Neon, and I've done a few of each.

2nd gen neon timing belts are easy. The first one i ever did was only 3 hours. Are you saying you've done a PT cruiser timing belt + water pump in 3 hours? Or you'd rather spend twice the time working on a PT cruiser than a neon? Im confused by this statement. Id rather be doing a 2g neon timing belt than a 2.4 anything timing belt, except maybe a wrangler or liberty (never done those).

Pull the grille and rad crossbar in about 6 minutes, which allows access to the power steering stuff. After that, its all the same, with all the same access...except the 2.4 has a 2 piece timing cover, easier, and the trans mount is different, which allows you to lift the engine higher, easier. PT (non turbo) timing belt in 3 hours is cake.

I stand by my original statement.

Duke wrote:

moparman76_69 wrote: regular PTs are dipping down into that territory but no GT or turbo models yet. I've seen sub 1K PTs with broken timing belts.

2 words: interference head.

Big deal. You already have half of the motor apart to just replace the belt and pump. What is another 20 minutes to pull the head and send it out for some work?

In reply to Streetwiseguy:

I'll bring the PT, you bring the tools. I want to see this.

I've done them. Best I can do is 6hrs with a shop full of air tools, lift, and everything else imaginable.

Streetwiseguy wrote: Pull the grille and rad crossbar in about 6 minutes, which allows access to the power steering stuff. After that, its all the same, with all the same access...except the 2.4 has a 2 piece timing cover, easier, and the trans mount is different, which allows you to lift the engine higher, easier. PT (non turbo) timing belt in 3 hours is cake. I stand by my original statement.

Well, i'll take your word for it. I've been lucky enough to avoid PT timing belts for i guess a whole decade now. Now that i've gone away from being a tech for a living i probably wont take one unless i spy a really cheap one with a broken belt.

Ranger50 wrote: In reply to Streetwiseguy: I'll bring the PT, you bring the tools. I want to see this. I've done them. Best I can do is 6hrs with a shop full of air tools, lift, and everything else imaginable.

For all of the Porsche/BMW/Land Rover love around here, you guys are seriously Bob Costas.

I did the timing belt on mine, it took around the same amount of time as it did for a Civic. Sure, not anything as simple as a longitudinal engine, but to imply that it's some impossible task is to ignore the thousands still on the road with their second or third belts.

Mine has 150k, I bought it with 70 something. I've replaced the following broken parts:

Fog light switch (10 minutes) Power steering pressure switch (5 minutes) Master cylinder (1 hour) Motor mounts (30 minutes each)

EVERYTHING else was a wear item, and a reasonable one.

Stop being Bob Costas.

It's ugly, no doubt.

28 mpg highway and 22-24 around town? Not great for a compact, but no, it's not the same as a Suburban.

Stop being Bob Costas.

I flat towed the (broken) turbobrick home with it, myself. I slept in it for Lemons. I've carried mulch, car parts, kids and dogs. I've never had it anywhere to be worked on.

Stop being Bob Costas.

I've had help with exactly one thing. Someone helped me squish the control arm bushing together so I could wedge it in the bracket.

Stop being Bob Costas.

Bob Costas.

Aeromoto wrote: As far as driving, when pushed to it's cornering limits, it had a frightening tendency to snap into a severe and sudden oversteer, which almost killed me at least 3 times. I will say however that this could have been partially or maybe even wholly attributed to the garbage OEM Goodyear crap tires.

Dude, it handles better than the turbobrick did. Dare I say, it's handling is good. Actually quite good. It's an economy car on economy tires, but it's surprisingly stable.

Duke wrote:

moparman76_69 wrote: regular PTs are dipping down into that territory but no GT or turbo models yet. I've seen sub 1K PTs with broken timing belts.

2 words: interference head.

Wrong. 2.0 is a bender, 2.4 is not. I just bought one with no maintainance for $500, slipped a belt and pump and seals on it and drove it out of the shop.Of course, once the belt is off, the head is cake anyway.

I'm kind of surprised at the complaints of a CHEAP turbocharged FWD box existing?!?! I worked at a Chrysler dealership for 8 years, PT's were some of the most reliable (though ugliest things) Chrysler put out during that time period.

And 6 hrs vs 3 hours to do a timing belt, WHO CARES? You are going to do it what, maybe once in the entire time you own the car....... A morning vs a half of a day would not influence me at all on whether or not to buy a car.

PS, the Chilton's times for the job vary from 1.5 to 4.0 hours.....

tuna55 wrote:

Aeromoto wrote: As far as driving, when pushed to it's cornering limits, it had a frightening tendency to snap into a severe and sudden oversteer, which almost killed me at least 3 times. I will say however that this could have been partially or maybe even wholly attributed to the garbage OEM Goodyear crap tires.

Dude, it handles better than the turbobrick did. Dare I say, it's handling is good. Actually quite good. It's an economy car on economy tires, but it's surprisingly stable.

All I can tell you is that it happened a few times. Each time the car was already set into a relatively mild radius turn at approx 50 mph. There were no abrupt changes to input or surface imperfections, the rear tires just let go instantly without the slightest warning and came all the way around.

Like I said, the entire problem could be the Goodyear tires. Every experience I've had with Goodyears in the last decade or so has been a bad one, I would not buy another Goodyear at gunpoint, they have become total garbage.

asetech wrote: In reply to Swank Force One: Neons are multi link rear, not straight beam.

PT's, one of the few cars to have Watt's Link rear suspension from the factory.