blasko

ive got a 2003 pt cruiser, 2.4 DOHC 16 valve. 4 cyl , automatic. 33,000 miles on the car.

when i start the car and put it into reverse it idles bad and sometimes shuts off. also at red lights the RPMs fluctuate a lot and it has shut off several times at red lights.


i have changed plugs and wires numerous times. the coil pack is fine. fuel filter is fine. my guess is the injectors? i want another opinion beofre i go ripping it apart to clean them.

its under warranty still. every dealership i take it too says nothing is wrong with the car. they keep telling me that they drove it and nothing was wrong. they also said that if somehting was wront the check engine light would be on. they hooked up a code scanner and nothing was wrong.
these guys at garages are techs, not mechanics. and it sucks becuase somehting is clearly wrong with the car.

im open to any syggestions.

Swampdonky

buy a ford, j/k.. just a suggestion but it sounds like fuel problem, but what i would do is take off the throttle body and the idle control and take a can of carb cleaner with a wire brush and clean them out. That might be your problem since it idles rough and dies (the computer might be getting inacurate readings from the throttle).

blasko

thanks man i appreciate it. im going to do it tonight.

and by the way. ive owned 2 rangers, a 68 and 88 cougars, and 81 lincoln. im a ford guy......in disguise.

Fabrik8

I'm not sure about wonderful domestic engineering, but with most imports the first thing I would try is to pull the ECU fuse for half an hour and let the ECU reset itself. If that doesn't work, then try other stuff. Honestly that shouldn't work on a stock car, but I've seen it do the trick before.

I don't think it's your injectors because they all won't have problems at the same time unless you ran tar through your fuel system or something, and you'd definately notice a problem everywhere in the RPM range.

I think it's probably more to do with your MAF/MAP, or your IAVC (or whatever equivalent is on that car) because a lot of those problems will only show at idle.
Happy hunting.

Swampdonky

, yea also do what he said and recet the ECU by disconecting the battery for awhile

Fabrik8

I suggest just pulling the ECU fuse, then you don't lose any radio presets or anything else that's stored like you would if you disconnected the battery..

Swampdonky

either way

E36DJ

Damn thats a lot of miles..

blasko

lots of shows. and lots of trophies.

blasko

im going to do it right the fuck now.

and its not stock motor.. intake, throttle spacer, ram air, and some stickers.