PT Cruiser-is transmission reliable?

I have a chance to purchase a loaded (everything but leather and cruise) 2001
PT Cruiser w/24,500 miles on it from a friend's widow for what I've been told
is a good price.
I was also told to pass on it, the trannies are crap, you'll put a lot of money
into it.
I'm sure this has been discussed here before, but this is the first time I had
a reason to subscribe to and post in this newsgroup.

TIA for advice.

 

My PT Limited has no tranny problems, also no PT that I know of has any. I
belong to a local PT Cruiser club, and see between 5 and 15 other PT's, and
their owners, each week. You can check the message forums at:
http://www.ptcruiserlinks.com/ and I don't think you'll find any complaints
about the transmissions, Manual or Auto. Also there are links there to many
other PT Cruiser pages, clubs, and message forums for you to research. Good
Luck!

SRG

 

Thanks for the info.

 

You don't say whether your PT has automatic or manual but since you say it's
loaded I'll assume automatic. This is the standard 4-speed fully electronic
transmission used in most Chrysler cars and minivans since 1990. There were
some problems with the first few years, but since 1995 this has been a
decent piece of equipment provided it is serviced according to factory
recommendations.

For more info see http://www.allpar.com/

 

when it came time for me to buy a new vehicle, i stayed away from the pt
because of previouse tranny problems from chrysler automatics, i liked the
pt so i got a standard,after 4 tranny jobs i swore never to buy a mopar auto
car again


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this car is showing signs of surpasing the honda and toleta's in long term quility
and carefree miles driven we are now getting them in at the dealer with 100k and no
issues other than normal maintence, i have seen very few come in with trans issues
that weren't smashed up

 

That being the case, the only problem of any frequency will be speed
sensor failure (there are two per vehicle). Symptoms will be limp mode
operation (2nd gear only), plus no speedo reading if it's the output
sensor (vs. input sensor) that's bad.

Armed with this info., you're looking at immediate self-diagnosis and
less than $20 for the part and 10 to 15 mniutes to swap it out. Without
this knowledge, you're susceptible to having a shop sell you a
new/rebuilt tranny either through their dishonesty or ignorance. I have
sometimnes wondered if some of the earlier "complete failures" were
actually a bad sensor before word got around.

Bill Putney
(to reply by e-mail, replace the last letter of the alphabet in my
address with "x")

 

THat is in fact the case. Many of them were replaced "just because", many
today are STILL being rebuilt/replaced (or at least customer accounts are
being hit for it) when nothing more than a sensor is out. It seems some
shops finding themselves with not enough income are nailing the vehicles
with the mopar extended service contracts and doing these leaving the
customer to believe 1. How crappy they are and 2. What a good thing it was
they bought the warranty. I know of at least one shop doing it first (well
second) hand.
Larry

 

I'm on my second PT with automatic. Sold the first as the then 36K warantee
was about to expire, and had absolutely no problems of ANY sort including
tranny.

******************************
Got wood?
Check out my exotic hardwood pennywhistles at fair
prices...http://www.Busmanwhistles.com

 

In case you were asking about the manual transmission, mine has proven very
reliable. I have a 2002 PT Limited with 8500 miles on it. The clutch and
transmission operate smoothly. However, it does seem that the PT manual
transmission lacks "flywheel." It's a "jerky" set up, mainly....because it
jerks around, especially in 1st and 2nd gears. Just a small application of
throttle in 1st will produce jerking motions --applying throttle requires
care in those speeds. The vehicle does not exhibit that problem to that
degree when fully loaded.

I bought the manual because the engine seems to me to be under powered, and
I wanted the extra control that the manual provides. The vehicle has been
very reliable and I have had no service issues (realizing that it only has
8500 miles on it).

Cheers!

 

I have an auto tranny, with no problems. I believe that the manual is the same
Getrag that is in my stepson's Chevy Cavalier. He pounds the sh*t out of that
thing and has not had any problems thus far at about 46K. He added a short
throw shifter which really feels and looks sporty.

******************************
Got wood?
Check out my exotic hardwood pennywhistles at fair
prices...http://www.Busmanwhistles.com

 

I have noticed that when traveling slowly in 1st or 2nd gear (at or near
idle), the fuel flow is not controlled very closely. The car seems to "hunt"
around an ill-defined coasting point. It feels as though the driver is
pumping the excellerator pedal.

I also bought my 2002 PT with the manual transmission becasue it seemed a
much better fit ( application of power and torque) that the automatic. It
now has 49,000 kM with no service or performance issues.

BTW, 20,000 of those 49,000 kM were on three trips; once to Phoenix (from
southern Ontario), and twice to Nova Scotia. One of the Nova Scotia trips
also pulled a 10 ft. tent trailer.