Tl* the contact owns a 2008 chrysler pt cruiser. The contact stated that the headlights were not working properly, the turn signals did not work, the horn sounded without warning, and the windshield wipers did not work. The vehicle was taken to be repaired. The manufacturer was not made aware of the issue. The failure mileage was 123,417.
2008 Chrysler PT Cruiser electrical complaints
Page 2 of 3: complaints 11 to 40 of 45, newest first, as owners wrote them.
-airbags lights are always on. -at times turning car off the fan will remain on till power drained. -while driving, all the lights on dash will turn on and car will shut down. This has happened countless times. After awhile the car will turn back on and be perfectly normal again to drive until this reoccurs.
This has happened about 3-4 times while driving and at starting the car..lights start flashing and bells ring on the dash indicating trouble with the steering control, seat belts, oil, etc...the engine has not died yet, but now that I have read that this appears to be a happening to a lot of cars I am leary of taking the car a long distance. I have not made a complaint to the dealer , but intend to do so this week..my car only has 42,000 miles.
I was coming home from work and driving down the street when the lights on the dashboard went out, the gas gauge went to zero and the car just died. I lost power steering and braking and I was lucky there was no one behind me at the time. The key was locked in the steering wheel and I could not restart. I called 911 for help as cars were now zooming up behind me stalled in the lane. I was so scared that someone would hit me. I sat waiting for the tow truck for about 15 minutes when the lights suddenly came on again and the gas gauge went back to full. I tried to start it and it started right up. I was able to drive it 2 blocks home. The next day I drove to the cleaners and while trying to park it died in the parking lot. I again waited and it finally started again. I took it to the chrysler dealership and they say they can find nothing wrong. They suggested I junk it for about $100. I have also taken to an independent mechanic and he said he could not find a problem. I see there are others who have reported a similar problem. And now there is a chrysler recall on other 2008 models with what seems like the same problem. I cannot drive this car because it is unsafe in traffic.
Tl* the contact owns a 2008 chrysler pt cruiser. The contact stated that while driving approximately 65 MPH, all the instrument panel lights illuminated and the vehicle stalled. The contact was able to restart the vehicle. The failure recurred on numerous occasions. The dealer diagnosed that the instrument cluster and wires needed to be replaced. The vehicle was repaired but the failure persisted. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 133,274.
While driving, the instrument warning lights start flashing off and on, the gauges drop to zero then com back up, and the engine falters sometimes and stops other times. When engine stops, power steering is lost. Car will start up again with starter.
I was driving in traffic when all of the dash lights came on and the engine quit running. At that time I lost all steering and braking for the vehicle. It has happened about 10 times since then, twice while I was on the highway.
Same as other owners, dash lights go on,gauges die,and car shuts off. It will restart after a bit and run fine until boom it happens again. No check engine lights or codes so dealer and shops cannot find problem. Some even refuse to look at the car. I can not trust this car for any long trip or on the freeway.
Tl* the contact owns a 2008 chrysler pt cruiser. The contact stated that while driving at various speeds, the gauges would suddenly malfunction and display erroneous information before the vehicle stalled. After restarting the engine, the vehicle would operate normally before the failure recurred. Also, the contact indicated that an electrical burning odor was present inside the vehicle during the incidences. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic, who was unable to diagnose the cause of the failure. The manufacturer was notified but no assistance was offered. The failure mileage was 106,000.
Tl* the contact owns a 2008 chrysler pt cruiser. The contact stated that while driving at various speeds, the entire instrument panel illuminated and the vehicle hesitated to accelerate when depressing the accelerator pedal. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 50,000.
Car has had repeated issues with all warning lights coming on while driving and speedometer, tachometer and gas gauge all going dead. After a moment the gauges come back to life and the warning lights go off. It looks like the car was just started. The engine keeps running and the radio, wipers, etc all continue to function. Issue is confined to the instrumentation panel. This can occur several times and then go for days without happening. I am not able to 'force' the condition and get it to occur on demand so the dealership is unable to address the issue. Internet searches reveal a number of possible issues including ignition switch and the totally integrated power module - I would just like to get it fixed so the car will be safe. This youtube video is very similar to what occurs with my car - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xovo0sic9bk or https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fcim1aypbhi.
While driving all instrument gauges began flashing and going up and down. Could not accelerate. Was able to pull over and turn off ignition. Restarted and proceeded on my way with no further problems. 3 days later while driving 70 MPH down a busy interstate it happened again. I jiggled the key in the ignition and everything went back to normal. I was able to replicate the issue by jiggling the ignition switch. This incident occurred on 4 separate occasions. Took vehicle to dealer and no codes were found. Had the ignition switch replaced and after 1 week have not had the problem again. The ignition switch has always been easy to move and now with a new switch it feels "normal". With the recent recalls of ignition switch issues perhaps this needs to be investigated on chrysler models. This could cause serious injury and/or death if the engine stalls completely in traffic. Not to mention the fact of having no steering control if the engine does stall. This is a serious issue that needs to be addressed.
I have had multiple instances over the past three years where the vehicle loses power intermittently. On four occasions I have lost power and had to pull over to the side of the road to stop and restart the car. After the first incident I brought the car to my local mechanic and he could not determine any error codes dealing with the ignition. After my third visit he suggested going to the dealer who could not come up with a solution to the stalling or intermittent power loss. I asked both my local mechanic and the dealer if there was a technical service bulletin for this problem and was told there was none. Also, dash warning lights flash off & over time I learned if I touched the ignition key and moved it slightly the problem might go away. There have been multiple instances over the past three years when the vehicle would experience intermittent power loss and I have dealt with it by slightly moving the key. The intermittent dash warning light problem happened two or three months ago then stopped. Within the past two weeks 6/3/14-6/8/14 the dash warning light incident recurred three times and the vehicle stalled out in traffic on 6/14/2014.
When I purchased the car in january 2014 it had 58,000 miles on it. One week after purchase the right rear brake light blew out. I went back to the dealership (carmax) and had it replaced.no problem. Three months later the light has blown again. I get a mechanic to look at it, needs a socket replacement. #issue 1 in may 2014, there was a slight elevation in the temperature (high 80's), I wanted to try on the a.c., when doing so I heard a "pop" that sounded like it came from the vent. I thought maybe it came from not being used for awhile. The air did not blow cold right away, it took about 15 mins before the car began to cool. Now on the second attempt to run the a.c., the same things happened (the "pop", 15min cooling time) but a new problem came up...when I put the car in park it began to shake! It was idling, while sitting; then when I put it in drive it was okay (slight idle, but stopped). This problem does not happen all the time, it is very spontaneous. My plan was to get service on the a.c but I'm not sure that's the real problem #issue 2 please help!!!!
I had stopped at a signal light and was hit in an front /head on crash there was no air bag deployment - thecar was deemed as a total lost per my insurance the damage was front left finder - hood = bumper - grill left suspension parts radiator oil cooler and frame I feel that if the car is going to sustain that much damage the car would have deployed the air bags. I have seen cars that the airbags deployed when hit hard enough to scuff the front bumper also the horn would like to stick when depressed some time the horn would sound some time the horn would not make any sound till you beat the darn thing.
I bought this pt cruiser from a local dealer, the first time it turned off I was at a stop sign and thought it just stalled from not being warmed up. About a week later I was driving down a local road doing 50 miles per hour when I bumped the key in the ignition with my knee. The car turned off. Luckily it was a straight road with no traffic and I was able to guide the car to a stop then restart it. This has happened a few times more, all with bumping my knee against the ignition key. It instantly turns the car off. With the gm recall in the news I wasn't paying attention since I don't have a gm car but decided to look when I heard it involved the ignition turning the car off. I saw that it is similar yet nothing being done about my ignition so I am filing this complaint. I have notified chrysler of this problem I am experiencing. I know that many parts are used across brands and these parts may be the same. I am worried I may bump my knee on a windy road with my children in the car and not be able to recover stability and steering if it turns off. Please check into this immediately!!
Trunk lock will not open. There is no trunk keyed lock for insertion of a physical key and there is no emergency manual release on the trunk door itself. Lock only has functionality from key remote or lock release on driver door which is not working.
Driving on frwy speedometer and RPM go crazy car turns off and turns back on. Very close to getting rear ended several times it is very scary.
The issues started at the end of november early december 2013. My car battery was unable to hold a charger and my car continuously would not start. I spent about 200 to have the alternator and starter tested as well as get a new battery put into my car. I then had the same situation happen the mechanic tried a new battery and my car worked for a week. Then it died again the mechanic sent me to an electrician the electrician still claimed it was the battery. Then today I had the car jump started again only to find I got not even half a mile from where I was and my car lights all over started flickering then my car completely shut off to the point my emergency four ways would not even work this happened right at a green light my car wasn't even stopped. This happened late at night so it was dark out and I had to call 911 because I was unsafe and so was anyone else trying to get down the road because I had no ability to signal to people in a safe way to move into the other lane. I have also found numerous reports by people driving my year and other years of the same make and model who have had very similar issues to mine. With a constant response of being told that there either is no problem with the car or they can say there is because they cannot duplicate the problem at the time. These cars are walking death traps to there owners when this happens cause it comes out of nowhere with no explanation and the company/dealer refuses to acknowledge the problem. I really don't think it is right for this to go unspoken any longer because if no one has been killed by it yet its a huge chance someone will/could! A vehicle cannot be perfectly fine if it just quits while driving for no reason at all.
When driving the car, dashboard lights start flickering, gauges start bouncing. Sometimes this is all that happens, other times it's as if the car stalls as I have no acceleration. A couple of times, the engine has shut itself off. In researching this online, I find dozens and dozens of instances of this same thing happening with pt cruisers.
Just after I bought this car, I have had this intermittent problem...while driving, at some point, all the dash lights go on, seat belt etc. As well as all the needles, speedometer, gas etc will go down...this can happen several times in a row, at which point the car has stalled out. About april 2012 the ic panel was replaced. After several times at the dealer and they couldn't get the car to make the problem happen. Well, it doesn't end there...last fall the problem started happening all over again!!!! The dealer had it again several times, but this time they never diagnosed the problem. So, I figured I could drive the car with no heat, or air conditioning, no radio, no cruise control and the problem hasn't occurred, until just recently...this time it goes off continually, sometimes. This is so scary! The car can stall anywhere! I have been seeing this same issue on several blogs...still unresolved.
In april 2012 my air conditioner started turning to warm air while waiting at a traffic light and acting as if it wanted to cut off. I took it to the dealer they couldn't find anything wrong. On august 6, 2012 I returned to the dealer with same problem, I was told there was a leak in the line, and if more problems bring it back. On august 8th the air conditioner not only turned warm the car cut off. As long as I'm running steady on the highway it works fine.I actually have to turn the air off at traffic lights or not run it at all around the city,I returned again to the dealer to no avail. I went on line to just answer today, chrysler expert informing me that possibly the electric cooling fan needs replacing which is common in pt cruiser.I am concerned it will cause more problems to my car.
My infant nephews and my niece were in car seats in the back, I have had the vehicle for 2 months. I have noticed the car locking itself while I drive, but this time it locked itself and would not respond to the clicker (remote) or the key to unlock until my nephews were panicked (about seven/ten minutes that time) it opened and I got them out, but it upset me since then it has happened with my passengers and this morning, it locked me in from the inside and nothing would release the locks, not the door not the remote, not the manual. I looked online and found that a lot of people are having this problem and they are being told its the rkem, this is a hazard and a half, I was about ready to bust the windows for myself (I was locked in for almost twenty minutes/had to keep restarting the car to get air in, because it was hot. I cannot imagine how this would not be a recall item.
While driving my 2008 pt cruiser home, all of the dashboard lights came on at one time and stayed on for the ten minutes it took me to get home. They came on again briefly two more times for no known reason. I searched the internet and found several possible solutions, wrote them down and I took the car in to the chrysler dealer in escondido, california. The dealer was unable to replicate the symptoms after checking everything on the vehicle so there was no repair made. I took the car home. Again in may, 2012, the car's instrument panel lights came on all at once and briefly while driving home. This is an extremely unsafe issue for consumers to deal with and I also urge an investigation and recall of the instrument panels on the 2008 pt cruisers.
Dashboard, inside, outside lights stopped working; windshield and back window wipers stopped working. According to dealership service dept. - instrument cluster need to be replaced; it happened again in 2011, and now again in 2012. Per dealership service dept., ca law requires it be replaced - for safety sake.
While driving on a major interstate, and crossing a bridge across the columbia river with no shoulder, the cars electrical system went haywire. All the gauges started to cut in and out (gas, speed and RPM all the dash lights came on), and then the car stalled and died. There was an 18 wheeler directly behind me and he saw my flashers and I was frantically honking my horn because I thought I was about to die. He was able to get out of the way, but there was another 18 wheeler directly behind him and that one nearly hit us. This would have easily killed me and my family ( a beautiful 16 month old daughter and a beautiful wife who is a newly graduated dvm. Miraculously the car restarted during my panic, and I was able to drive off. I immediately took the car to the dealership , and told them of the problem. They ran exhaustive tests and could not find anything wrong, and said they have never heard of the problem either, which is odd because I did a little research on the internet and found others have had this problem as well: http://www.ptcruiserlinks.com/forum/tech-performance-forum/33457-flashing-icons-gauges-go-up-down-then-car-dies.html then I found this site and found even more problems that are earily similar. This car is not safe! Please initiate an investigation!!!!
Tl* the contact owns a 2008 chrysler pt cruiser. The contact stated that the instrument cluster would flash on and off while driving at various speeds on an intermittent basis. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic where they advised him that the vehicle would have to be reprogrammed. The vehicle had not been repaired. The manufacturer was not contacted. The failure mileage was approximately 48,000.
During driving operations, this is after start up, the dash board indicators will blink on, light up. This description includes all of the indicators, such as low tire pressure, oil, seat belt, etc.
Tl* the contact owns a 2008 chrysler pt cruiser. The contact stated that the dashboard light indicators would all illuminate erroneously while driving. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic where they advised him that they were unable to diagnose the failure and that he would have to take the vehicle to the dealer. The vehicle had not been repaired. The failure mileage was approximately 45,000.
Tl*the contact owns a 2008 chrysler pt cruiser. The contact stated that while driving 55 MPH, the lights on the instrument panel began to flash and the vehicle suddenly stalled. The speedometer also malfunctioned. The vehicle was taken to an authorized dealer who could not find the cause for failure. The failure mileage was 36,000.
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