2001 PT Engine Light

My PT Cruiser is 3 1/2 years old with just over 18,000 miles. During
the time I have owned it the engine light has come on 3-4 times. It was
not blinking, just steady on. I have attributed this to bad gas or
condensation in the line since the dealer said "don`t worry if it is not
blinking" and within two days it goes out. Today at a stoplight it just
stopped running. On the 5th try to start it, it took off however the
engine light is on. It acted like it was not getting gas because by the
4th attempt it was trying to start. The dealer has no clue to what is
wrong unless he runs a diagnostic on it for $65. I stopped to get gas
although I had 1/4 tank and ... low and behold ...when I start it the
engine light is off. A friend at work says Auto Zone sells a key that
fits in under the steering column and by counting the flashes of the
blinking icon they can tell you the code and what the problem is...for
free. Obviously, when your engine stops running you have a problem but
which way would you go with this? I bought the extended warranty but it
only covers drivetrain and engine...no sensors or anything external.
Any advice would be appreciated.


http://community.webtv.net/rebeljoe/POND

 

you can read the code from your odometer panel, with the car off, turn the
key to on-off-on-off-on, you will see the code in the odometer window..

with the new gas, you probably re-tightened the gas cap, which fixed the
evap leak.

 

Thanks Punch! It showed P0340. I`ll call tomorrow and see what that
means. I must add that I purchased a Mopar locking gas cap from the
dealership which replaced the eom one.


http://community.webtv.net/rebeljoe/POND

 

040830 2354 - Punch posted:

Yes, and have a paper and pencil ready and write the code number, or numbers
down. They will appear one right after another until all of the codes have
been read out, then it will say "done". Maybe only one code will appear.

I had a similar problem awhile back. I would drive the Cruiser a couple of
miles and when it was about warmed up to operating temp the power would drop
out for an instant -- like turning off the ignition -- and then resume
operating. The engine fault would light up. The Cruiser would continue on
like nothing happened, but the engine fault light would continue on for a
few startups while I had the car out doing errands, then, eventually it
would go out. I read the codes and read P0340 and P1684: No cam signal, and
battery disconnect. When I got the Cruiser back home I examined under the
hood for the battery connections and found them corroded with that "green
stuff". I took the connections off the battery and used a roto tool with a
small wire wheel to clean the "green stuff" off the connections and the
battery terminals and reconnected. I haven't had the problem since.

If you want to, come back here with the code numbers and we can tell you
what they indicate, if you don't have the service manuals with the codes in
them.

 

040831 0140 - ~Rosemary~ posted:

P0340 was one of the indicators that I had. Maybe you should check your
battery connections to see if they are corroded like mine were. The P0340
indicator shows: No cam signal at PCM. The PCM is the Powertrain Control
Module. If a cam signal was lost for even an instant, the computer will
send a signal to the engine light. In my case, the signal loss was for only
an instant, and then the engine would run OK, but the engine light stayed on
for a few more startups and then go out. After I cleaned the battery
connections, I had no more problems with that. Of course, there could be
some other loose connection instead of the battery, but I would check this
first.

 

your friend can tell you what the code is and guess at what is wrong and
you might even hand him some money
the fact is the dealer can fix it and it just might be covered under
emission warranty but you won't know till you take it in

 

Tonight on the way home I had the exact same thing happen as Indago!
Decrease in power then engine light. Checked codes again and along with
P0340 I now have 1684. I will check the battery connections tomorrow.
I will still have the dealer clean them or make further recommendations
but at least I feel like an informed consumer. All of you have been an
enormous help! Thanks everyone!


http://community.webtv.net/rebeljoe/POND

 

yeah or like most crooks they will see a woman coming and scam her blind,
atleast she now knows the code so if they come back telling her some other
BS she has something on her side.