Being the new owner of a "cherry" 2001 PT Cruiser w/24,500 miles on it, are there any routine maintenance/repairs that cost more than for the same on other vehicles? For instance, on my previous vehicle (1990 Nissan 4 X 4 PU) I could replace the spark plugs, spark plug wires and rotor myself. On the Cruiser, I can't even see these parts!! What kind of charges should I be expecting?
Tom,
The Cruiser was somewhat form over ease-of-repair. I changed the plugs and wires on mine recently, and can tell you that it's not a quick and painless task. You need to disconnect the air filter box from the throttle body; unbolt the throttle body from the engine; remove throttle cable(s); unbolt intake manifold (about 5 screws); unbolt PCV tube; pull intake assembly up and towards the front of the car so that the PCV tube comes out of the intake; find a creative way to hold it all up. (Bungee?) From there you can play with the spark plugs. Two of them broke on my car just trying to get them out. The intake hovering above can block your in-and-out process with the wrench.
Putting everything back together can be a pain,especialy in the dark. The bolts for the PCV tube are of different sizes, and the flange that holds the bolts over the tube likes to slide down to the great depths. It's a P.I.T.A. process. The Turbo owners have it easier, since their intake is not blocking the plugs. Duh?!
-Brayton
The Turbo owners have it easier, since their intake is
I was going to jump all over ya, until I read the last part, my plugs are right there, and yes its a turbo.
I too broke a wire off on the plug. You need to twist it not just pull it. I got a set of Chrysler performance wires and dual plat plugs and hope never to have to do it again while I own this nice vehicle.
Richard.
Thanks for the well written tips!
At what mileage did you replace the spark plugs? - RM
While the spark plug change on the normal 2.4 L PT is a pain, I've done it myself, changing the oil, air filter and pcv valve are pretty easy operations. The anti-freeze is that new orange stuff that isn't supposed to be changed for 5 years, so not that many people have done anything with it.
For all repairs/maintenance the do-it-yourself PT owner should always check out:
It's a great site with plenty of info on how to maintain, fix and modify your PT. Instructions almost always have pictures with them. If you have a question on how something is done, or need advice on what might be wrong, just submit your own question and they usually get back to you within a day or two.
Another great site for info and owner forums is:
Oh, and btw, you can't change the rotor on a PT Cruiser, it doesn't have one, or a distributor either.
Good luck with your PT
SRG
If the PT Cruiser engine compartment is anything like a Stratus, I understand what you mean. I had the headgasket replaced, and the shop indicated that the work took more time due to the limited space around the engine.
-Kirk Matheson
oh god not bosche (sp?) I hear the platinum plugs are not good for the pt cruiser.
also join the forums, great people lots of knowledge.
punch
Well, I did twist the plug to get it off. From what I could see, all the plugs were okay until my wrench got ahold of them. ;-)
Well, I have 9k miles. I did it just because 1) Plugs are fairly cheap and
2) I wanted to see how hard it REALLY was to do. It was all for the experience, but I got more than I bargained for!'
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