PT Cruiser. How much can the DIY person do?

I am considering a 2001 PT Cruiser to replace my 1990 Dodge Spirit.

Can most of the regular maintenance be done by myself? Is the engine
"shoehorned" in so that most of the regular stuff is too difficult?
Are there just the tie-rod ends and lower ball joints to lube?

It has ABS, so I know that I would not be able to bleed the brake
systems without a scanner.

Thanks,

-KM

 

I have an 01 and I too am a DIY type of guy. Except for changing the water
pump most things are easy. Items you need to attend to if they have never
been done:

New front sway bar links and bushings.
Rear sway bar links and bushings.
Lube caliper pins and inner pin bushings with synthetic lube.
Change out brake fluid (yes you can do that without a scanner, just don't
bleed out all the fluid).
Change the pads and rotors (ceramic and brembo rotors are recommended).
Drain the transmission fluid and change filter.
Change oil and oil filter.
Change spark plugs and wires (fine wire plat or irid from Champion
recommended)
Clean air input area of fuel injection system.
Change air filter.
Change bulbs.
Change out most of power steering fluid from on top.

Sorry to say there is not much else to do on this import from Mexico.

Richard.

 

Thanks for the feed back. I had forgot about the sway bar links and
bushings, but now recall seeing posts about it many times. I will be
sure to bring it up with the seller.

-KM

 

you can do alot if you have the skills
in some cases the cars of today are easier to fix than years ago and you
do not need a scantool to bled brakes and you don't need to bled brakes
if you did not open the system to air
tierods and balljoints from the factory do not have greese zerks they
saved a whole 2 cents per car so they can afford to builds cars in china
to import here

 

|you can do alot if you have the skills
|in some cases the cars of today are easier to fix than years ago and you
|do not need a scantool to bled brakes and you don't need to bled brakes
|if you did not open the system to air
|tierods and balljoints from the factory do not have greese zerks they

You do have to remove the intake manifold to work on the spark plugs
and wires

 

Not a big deal really. Good time to clean out the throtle body. Adds about 5
min to the job.

Richard.

 

yep that is exastly how to do it but it's real easy and if the gaskets don't
just fall out off the intake plenium in the slot they lay in then you can
reuse them

 

UGH! I'll stick to my '95 Concord's very easy maintenance.

 

Thanks for all the useful feedback. A car that is easy to maintain is
always a deciding factor for me. When I was a teen, most kids my age
were driving stuff from the 1960's. I remember how easy most work was
on those old cars. I did several valve jobs, timing chain changes, and
water pump replacements.

I would not attempt those things on most newer cars. Even spark plug
changes can be tricky, such as the 1990's vans with the V-6 engines.

On the other hand, it's nice not having to deal with carbs and breaker
points that only lasted about 5,000 miles.

-Kirk

 

|> In article <>,
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|> > You do have to remove the intake manifold to work on the spark plugs

plugs are easy to do on my 2ooo 3ooM and 95 T-Bird 4.6 v8.
There are other "stoopid" things that have been going on since the
1970s.

Heater cores can be a nightmare on some cars, requiring the entire dash
be removed.
Changing out an EGR control on my 4.6 T-Bird required me to remove the
windshield wiper mechanism.

The battery on the 3ooM is just plain stupid or perhaps desperate.

Nothing as simple today as the old 1964 slant six Dart I had as a teen.

Oil changes are pretty easy on my 3ooM and 2006 PT Cruiser.