Problems with 2001 Chrysler PT Cruiser ELECTRICAL SYSTEM

While driving battery light came on. seconds later, traction and abs light came on. when this occurred, vehicle lost brake power, went into neutral, and coasted. dealership indicated that the wiring harness rubbed against the right axle boot, and after a period of time, it rubbed away the wiring installation and shorted it out. *ak consumer questioned the mechanic, as a reply it said that the wiring was not tampered but the location where the wire was installed was at factory setting. *la

Electric failures: 1) 4/29/03 placed key in ignition; alarm sounds and warning lights on dashboard, car would not start. towed to dealer. replaced ignition switch. 2) 11/15/03 drove car to work; placed car in park, turn key in off position and removed key from ignition, car engine remained running. placed key back into ignition turn to on position, then back to off position, engine turned off. called dealer and was told nothing could be done about this unless i could make it happen again. 3) 6/3/04 unlocked car, got in driver's seat and warning lights on dash were on (engine, oil, air bag, seat belt and alarm), turned key to on position, car started then cut out. turn key to off position, then back to on position. engine wouldn't start. all warning lights stayed on. *jb

My 2001 chrysler pt cruiser horn does not work all the time. when the radio display is on, the horn works , when the radio display goes out, the horn will not honk. there has been 3 times when we needed it to work and it would not. the local chrysler dealer changed out the radio and said they fixed a horn wire, but 2 weeks later it was broken again. *jb

Purchased 7/00. experienced 3 separate issues w/ electrical system. 1st year of ownership 1)parking lights remained on when lights were off, resulting in tow, and replaced battery. 3rd year of ownership: 2)door ajar light on, bell dinging, interior light remains on and all doors are securely shut. resulted in tow and battery replacement. dealership said battery defective. 6mos later, same dinging problem occuring. warranty expired. prev dealer bankrupt, new dealer stating same defective battery. *ak

Lock cylinder for ignition key broken in steering column. key would not turn and steering wheel locked up. i am concerned that if the lock cylinder broke while operating the vehicle, the steering wheel may lock up causing the driver to lose control. *jb

Trans shifter failed causing vehicle to lock up. *mr the dealer stated the starter malfunction, but the consumer disagreed.*scc *jb

The consumer can take the key out of the ignition switch with the vehicle running. consumer would have to turn the key again as if restarting the vehicle to shut it off. *ak

Bought an early 2001 pt cruiser. about one year after purchase, battery fails, car would not start, jump starting did not work. towed it it dealer and they replaced battery and said it was faulty. about a year after this occured, it happened again, dealer still says it is the battery's fault. it happened again on august 22, 2001 and i put a spare battery in car and drove to dealership. again they said that the battery was faulty. i believe there is an electrical problem with the car.

2001 chrysler pt cruiser: the battery light keeps coming on. i've taken to dealer four time now for that problem. had the battery replaced twice. had the regulator in the computer replaced. i am still having problems. the transmission had to be replaced. it is a manual transmission. had the clutch replaced. all of this due to faulty parts! the vehicle keeps pulling to the right. had it fixed once and it still pulls. the date entered is when everything started. *cb

After parking and turning the vehicle off and removing the key, the vehicle continued to run with the key removed, the vehicle was able to run for 3 minutes to an hour before it shut off. the dealer had examined the vehicle 3 times and was unable to find the problem. *jb

Vehicle was parked for approx. two days, started vehichle and all lights on the instrument panel stayed on; brake light, abs light, engine light, security light, crusie control, etc. as well as words "no bug" over the odemeter/mileage gage. these lghts would not go off after turning the engine on and off several times. the engine light stays on and will not shut off. scheduled an appointment with dealer to connect to computer. *ak

While driving the interior dashboard lights and the head lights goes out without prior warning. the dealership cannot fix problem. please provide more details. ts

Clock spring broke in steering column while making a right hand turn

Key taken out of ignition and motor still running/ no method to turn car off. mr

Horn and airbag won't work, "airbag" light on dash is constantly on. *ak

Hello, i would like to make a complaint against optima batteries. i worked for optima batteries as a maintenance tech from 11/00 to 1/04 optima has a contract with chrysler to build batteries for the pt cruisers. the problem is that some of the batteries that went in the cars leaked. the batteries fit some were in the passenger area of the car it would let out acid fumes inside the car.i have seen the batteries sent down production line if they failed the leak test machine.during april of 2002 i called chrysler corp and spoke to [xxx] and told her about the bad batteries and that they were not at qs5000. after that i still seen the leakers go to chrysler corp. if you need more info please call me at [xxx] i can help out more because i no longer work for optima thank you [xxx]. *ak information redacted pursuant to the freedom of information act (foia), 5 u.s.c. 552(b)(6). *tr

While driving at any speed ignition light came on, and vehicle stalled. this problem occurred four times since 2001. dealer examined the vehicle numerous times ,and could not find the cause of the problem. *ak

No summary listed for above vehicle. *ak

Defective installation of wiring harness caused open in crank sensor wire. harness was not properly secured which allowed chaffing on cv boot. result was complete loss of power in high speed lane of san diego freeway, placing the driver in extreme danger of collision from rear as car was coasted to safe shoulder.

5 batteries, radio, speakers, door locks, paint, speed sensor on transmission, fan motor on engine, output speed sensor, t14 circuit all within 27 months. can't find cause of all these electrical problems. chrysler is no help! customer care hung up on me. lemon law ran out 1 month ago. upside down can't even trade in. help!!!!!

While driving on a dark road electrical system disappeared without warning. sometimes it was hard for headlights to come on. did go out one time on their own. had not been to dealer. *ak

Vehicle stalled, the hot muffler caused the bumper to melt due to design location, the problem was misdiagnosed the first time and the second time the dealer found the problem to be a faulty ignition coil. *slc

During a rain storm and while driving on the center lane of a three lane highway i turned on my signals and my wipers and the fuse blew because both are on the same circuit. this does not give a driver the opportunity to signal to others while trying to pull off the road because he can dot see due to the rain. i think the signals should be shared with the radio circuit. that way when the fuse blows and you no longer hear your radio that means you no longer have signal lights either. or put each important device on its own fused circuit.