Chrysler PT Cruiser jerking problems

Filed Jan 22, 2018 · Fuel system · 138,528 miles · IN

Tl* the contact owns a 2003 chrysler pt cruiser. While driving approximately 35 MPH, the vehicle started to jerk and stalled without warning while in traffic. The contact restarted the vehicle and was able to resume driving. The failure recurred twice. When the contact looked under the hood, she noticed fuel around the engine and the area where the power steering fluid was located, which caused a fuel odor to emit through the air conditioner blower. The contact also noticed that the rear of the vehicle was leaking fuel, which came from the fuel line. The vehicle was not taken to a dealer or independent mechanic. The manufacturer was contacted and stated that the VIN was not included in a recall. The approximate failure mileage was 138,528.

Filed Aug 2, 2017 · Acceleration, Engine · 106,000 miles · MD

While driving, sometimes when driving, the car will jerk to the left or the right without probacation. Vechile accelerates without foot being on the pedal. One time I was at a stop light. My foot was on the brake, but the car lurched forward and the engine starting reving. I had to use both feet with extreme force to slow the car down. Finally, I just threw the car into park; once in park, the car kept reving. The pedal was not pressed.this has happened on three occasions. This makes for unsafe driving, and only due to my good driving skills did I avoid an accident. This has been occuring for the past three months.

Filed Jun 21, 2016 · Electrical, Engine · 60,000 miles · MI

This occurs all the time wether I am driving on residental road or on a highway going 70 MPH. My car feels like it is losing power which it is. All the lights on my dash are lit up like a christmas tree and I have to pull over to the side of the road very carefully as I lose steering as well. Sometimes I can just restart the car and everything is fine, sometimes it is a few minutes and a few times it has taken a few hours. I have taken the car in to get the codes read but they tell me it is either the gas cap is loose or another issue with the fuel. I took it to my mechanic and they put it on their computer and got different readings. I was told it was a fuel vacuum problem which was corrected. I still have the issues. Now sometimes the engine jerks and pulls but I don't loose power. Mechanic is unable to find problem. Did not take to dealership after reading all the horror stories about paying dealers tons of money and still not having a working car. Also if I have more then one key on my keyring then the ignition switch doesn't work. If I limit my keyring to just my car key and house key then my car starts everytime and no cutting out while at complete stop like it has in the past. We bought the car used in july 2011 and it now has aprox. 66,000 miles.

Filed Jun 17, 2016 · Engine, Transmission · 137,000 miles · TX · fire

Tl* the contact owns a 2008 chrysler pt cruiser. While driving 30 MPH, the vehicle jerked back and forth as if the brakes were being depressed and released. In addition, the vehicle began to smoke without warning. The contact was an independent mechanic and repaired the vehicle; however, the diagnosis was unknown. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was 137,000.

Filed Apr 21, 2016 · Electrical · KS

I purchased this 2009 pt cruiser in 2012 with about 45000 miles. Since the odometer has reached about 80000 this problem has been recurring. While driving at any speed or even when parked and during all types of weather, all warning lights flash on and off. Then all gauges go up and down dramatically. Sometimes this is all that happens. However if it happens too many times in a short period of time, the car's engine just stops. It comes back but it is jerking the transmission violently. I have pulled off of the road and turned the car off, waited a couple of minutes, and then turned it back on. So far I have been lucky that it hasn't stopped at high speed and have been able to get out of traffic fairly easily. However this is very dangerous. This is our only vehicle, so we have to use it, but we are unwilling to leave town with it doing this.

Filed Apr 1, 2016 · Electrical · 122,500 miles · PA

As I was driving my car all the gauges and warning lights came on,gas gauge needle went to e(tank was full), lost power as I was driving. Took the car to my mechanic they tried to duplicate the problem, of course they couldn't. Then the engine light came on. Put the car in the garage...again! A week later the problem returned. My job requires me to work across all 3 shifts, I am frighten to drive my car, I often have my grandchildren in the car with. They were in the car march 25,2016 when the car began bucking and jerking while we were driving home. I was on a street doing 45 MPH, when the cars speed dropped to 5 MPH. I was impeding traffic, and cars were passing me on curves! I was on another site and see 93 other complaints, for the same issue. I am thinking there will need to be a loss of life before chrysler corp. Does something to correct this serious problem.

Filed Feb 24, 2016 · Engine, Suspension · 60,245 miles · MI

"takata recall " in my pt cruiser the engine dropped down in the car and the front axle bar and frame was broken and the wheels could not turn or control the car I am lucky to be alive the vehicle was in motion on a city street trying to turn into a ice cream shop the car is still doing a sudden jerking when driven and after paying a lot of money to get it started and fixed I am still having problems with this car and no money to get another.

Filed Nov 20, 2015 · Transmission · 103,000 miles · CA

Tl* the contact owns a 2008 chrysler pt cruiser. The contact stated that the accelerator pedal became stuck to the floorboard, while driving at 60 MPH. The contact also stated that the horn activated and the vehicle jerked. The contact attempted to merge to the shoulder of the road and the vehicle stalled. The vehicle was towed to an independent mechanic, but was not diagnosed or repaired. The contact also mentioned that the air bag warning light illuminated intermittently. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The failure mileage was 103,000.

Filed Oct 26, 2015 · Driver assistance, Electrical · 38,000 miles · CA

I'm driving the car and all the dash lights instrument cluster lights come on & off blinking . All the hands like fuel hand and RPM start blinking up and down. It drops in speed. So I press on the gas. It comes back up but it guns the engine and starts jerking. Every time warning light comes on all the hands start blinking again and it drops in speed but this time it cuts off! In the middle of the highway! I coast to the side and crank the car again. The dash lights and all the hand gauges blinging but this time it didn't cut off. I purchased this vehicle on 2009! If I had known that pt's were faulty, I would never have bought it. This incident has happened numerous times since. Sometimes at higher speeds sometimes at lower speeds. Sometime just sitting parked it cuts off! From the research I've done since,there have been a lot of the same complaints about the pt. It's not safe! It's not safe when you're going 70 in heavy traffic and the car cuts off!

Filed Mar 22, 2015 · Electrical · 87,922 miles · NC

I'm driving the car and all the lights come on in the middle. All the hands like fuel hand and RPM start bobbing up and down. It drops in speed. So I press on the gas. It comes back up in speed but it guns the engine and starts jerking. Every warning light comes on again all the hands start bobbing again and it drops in speed but this time it cuts off! In the middle of the highway! I coast to the side and crank the car again. It starts doing the warning lights and the hand gauges bobbing but this time it didn't cut off. This was the first incident on 12/23/2014. I purchased this vehicle on 11/22/2014! If I had known that pt's were faulty, I would never have bought it. This incident has happened numerous times since. Sometimes at higher speeds sometimes at lower speeds. Sometime just sitting parked it cuts off! From the research I've done since,their have been alot of the same complaints about the pt. It's not safe! You know it's not safe when you're going 70 on the interstate in heavy traffic and the car cutts off! This is not good.