2002 P.T. Cruiser Overheating Problems?

I am curious to know if others have had the same problem I am currently experiencing with my Cruiser. I am the original owner and have had thermostats freeze up on three different occasions. The most recent is today. Although covered by warranty it is troublesome that the car has this issue along with the relatively well known brake problem.

My last thermostat only lasted 20 months. Any ideas?

--
Don Huntley
Faculty
University of Phoenix



primary (480) 560-1500
alternate: (480) 830-5279
Eastern Standard Time Zone

 

This is a 2002. Have you had the coolant changed?

The only reason I can think of a car eating thermostats is that there is
trapped air in the cooling system, and what is happening is that an air
bubble is encompassing the thermostat, and the thermostat is
overheating.

Are you losing coolant, even a small amount?

Ted
I am curious to know if others have had the same problem I am currently experiencing with my Cruiser. I am the original owner and have had thermostats freeze up on three different occasions. The most recent is today. Although covered by warranty it is troublesome that the car has this issue along with the relatively well known brake problem.

My last thermostat only lasted 20 months. Any ideas?

--
Don Huntley
Faculty
University of Phoenix



primary (480) 560-1500
alternate: (480) 830-5279
Eastern Standard Time Zone

 

Hello Ted and thanks for the quick response. I have lost a large amount of fluids but it does not look like, or smell like, coolant. It is brackish in color and was preceded by a large amount of gurgling. I have already taken the car to the dealership and will wait to see what the consensus is.

--
Don Huntley
Faculty
University of Phoenix



primary (480) 560-1500
alternate: (480) 830-5279
Eastern Standard Time Zone

This is a 2002. Have you had the coolant changed?

The only reason I can think of a car eating thermostats is that there is
trapped air in the cooling system, and what is happening is that an air
bubble is encompassing the thermostat, and the thermostat is
overheating.

Are you losing coolant, even a small amount?

Ted
I am curious to know if others have had the same problem I am currently experiencing with my Cruiser. I am the original owner and have had thermostats freeze up on three different occasions. The most recent is today. Although covered by warranty it is troublesome that the car has this issue along with the relatively well known brake problem.

My last thermostat only lasted 20 months. Any ideas?

--
Don Huntley
Faculty
University of Phoenix



primary (480) 560-1500
alternate: (480) 830-5279
Eastern Standard Time Zone

 

Sounds EXACTLY like coolant to me! You do know that G-05 antifreeze used
in modern Chryslers is reddish (factory fill) or yellow (aftermarket) in
color, not green, right? Nothing else usually "gurgles" before leaking
either.

 

Hello Steve,

Yeah, I knew they changed the colors. Just grew up with the green stuff and I guess it is embedded in my mind. Well - the car came back home this afternoon. It was indeed coolant. It develops that both fans froze up and the system went to crap. I live in the Phoenix area and it just over 108 yesterday.

--
Don Huntley
Faculty
University of Phoenix



primary (480) 560-1500
alternate: (480) 830-5279
Eastern Standard Time Zone

Sounds EXACTLY like coolant to me! You do know that G-05 antifreeze used
in modern Chryslers is reddish (factory fill) or yellow (aftermarket) in
color, not green, right? Nothing else usually "gurgles" before leaking
either.

 

Was there no dashboard indication that it was overheating? The temp
gauge SHOULD have shown something. If not, I'd get that checked too (and
hope that the overheating didn't do collateral damage).

 

It won't matter if it did - remember he said the car was under warranty,
(he probably has an extended warranty on it I would guess) and so
if the engine went to crap then his warranty coverage would take
care of it. I'm sure the insurance company that underwrote the warranty
would be pissed off at the "muckanics" that didn't bother to check the
cooling fans the previous -three- times, but that is their problem, not his.

Ted

 

if it is eating the t stat then i would look at the coolant first to see
if it is the right blend meaning it be too corrosive
could be there is a very slight head gasket leak (like that nevers
happens to the pt) and that might make just the right chemical mix to
cause excessive acids

 

its a pt cruiser............JUNK

I am curious to know if others have had the same problem I am currently experiencing with my Cruiser. I am the original owner and have had thermostats freeze up on three different occasions. The most recent is today. Although covered by warranty it is troublesome that the car has this issue along with the relatively well known brake problem.

My last thermostat only lasted 20 months. Any ideas?

--
Don Huntley
Faculty
University of Phoenix



primary (480) 560-1500
alternate: (480) 830-5279
Eastern Standard Time Zone

 

Don

I have read the several replies to your query. Should not the Coolant
Overflow System/Reservoir take care of ridding any bubbles from the
coolant system? I do monitor mine at least monthly if not more during
the summer.

Bob AZ

 

If a head gasket is failing then the compression stoke will produce a lot
of gasses going into the coolant - endless supply of bubbles.

As for trapped air - you obviously never had a fishtank with a
side-mount filter that used siphon hoses to draw water from
the tank.

Ted

 

An engine cooling system doesn't rely on a siphon. However, the OP
asked why the bubbles wouldn't bleed off into the overflow tank.
Normally the overflow tube is on the low pressure side of the radiator
cap. In order for anything to go into that tank pressure would have to
build high enough. Bubbles won't cause that.

 

That's not how many modern "overflow" tanks work. They are actually part
of the pressurized system, and coolant is pumped THROUGH them
continually. They're really not an "overflow" tank anymore, they're more
akin to a surge tank on an old liquid-cooled aircraft engine, only
pressurized.

 

I've thought I saw what I think you are referring to. They always say
to add fluid to that tank and never take off the radiator cap to do so.
However, the tank is still a thin walled plastic tank with a non
pressurized cap. So guess I haven't seen what you're referring to!

 

I find my wife's 2000 Intrepid really frustrating -- if I can believe
the FSM, it really does have a conventional overflow tank -- but the
overflow tank and pressure tank are molded in a single piece. The
only cap is the pressure cap. The "correct" way to fill it is to put
on a special funnel that mates to the pressure cap fitting. The
result is that there is *always* air in the system.

Hmmm... it actually looks like I could puncture the overflow side so
I could fill it, and put a cork in it...

 

I believe both sides of the reservoir are pressurized - IOW I don't
believe that the "overflow" side is vented to the outside as that would
require some sort of isolation valving between the two compartments, and
I don't believe their is any. I haven't understood the purpose of that
funnel, and don't have or use it on either of my two Concordes (same car
for this discussion as your wife's Intrepid), and have never had any
problems after servicing and refilling the coolant system.

The idea is that the coolant continuously circulates thru the pressure
chamber (when the engine is running) and any air in the system will find
its way there and be trapped there, so the rest of the system is air
free. There is a bleeder valve in the intake area that is supposed to be
open when refilling to prevent air being trapped in the block during
refill. Any small amount of air will then make its way to the reservoir
when the engine is run in normal subsequent driving.

 

I guess the FSM doesn't actually say the overflow chamber isn't
pressurized -- but it refers to the other chamber as the "pressure
chamber", and the path to the overflow chamber is by way of the
radiator pressure cap.

I've never had any actual problems, either. It just annoys me.....

 

No, the kind I'm referring to can be found on first-gen LH cars, for
example. Thick-walled plastic WITH a pressure cap ON the plastic tank,
and no other radiator cap.

I *think* the PT uses the same type, but its been so long since I've
looked under the hood of a PT that I don't remember.

 

Hmmm.... no bleeder on the T-stat housing on 2nd-Gen LH cars??

Other than the fact that the bleeder is so nearly at the same level as
the overflow tank that it takes too long to force the last of the air
out of the system, I have no complaints with the first-gen system. I had
expected that pressure tank to promptly explode when the warranty
expired, but here we are 15 years and 250k miles later, still going
(knock wood).

 

No, the bleeder is there (though the thermostat has been moved away
from that housing to a location down on the side). My annoyance is
that I find it nearly impossible to see the level of the coolant in
the pressure tank due to the tank being nearly opaque and the dye
being very light in color; I can only check the level with with any
confidence with a cold engine.