I have a 2006 PT Cruiser, that I have been working on for quite some time. Bought it very cheap thinking it needed a head gasket but ending up doing a complete engine rebuild. After I got it running and drove it, it would just die while driving as if it were out of fuel. I bought a new fuel pump but that didn't help. Eventually, I found out the previous owner had installed the fuel pump incorrectly, did not line up the arrow on the pump with the arrow on the tank. I reinstalled the pump correctly. The previous owner had also apparently broken the plastic fuel line and had installed a rubber line. I had to make a longer one once I repositioned the pump. The PO had also cut a hole in the floor to access the pump so I can visually watch and hear it. It sounds normal and there is no leakage of the fuel line. Next issue was hard starting, stumbling, not shifting, and dash lights flickering. Diagnosed that as a bad TIPM, replaced it with a junkyard item and solved that issue. Now it starts right up and drives okay on short trips around town, but after it sits for a couple hours and I restart it, it will die as soon as I put in gear and get into the throttle. Sometimes I have to restart the thing two or three times before it will idle and drive properly. Also, whenever I hold the RPM at around 2000 - 3000 RPM it will surge up and down about 100 RPM. I don't really notice it when driving, only in Park. I read on another site to check the PCM ground on the LF inner fender and the C1 and C2 connectors. I have already checked the C1 and C2 but will look again, check for loose connection, etc. I will also check the ground. Other than that, are there any other suggestions? It does the same thing with either the new fuel pump or with the one that was in the car, so I don't think it is a f/p issue. I also replaced the wire pigtail to the pump as it felt loose.

 

Long shot but we had problems with surging. Years back when I worked for Dodge the alternator fluctuated sending power which in turn caused a computer
power issue creating a surge. We would disconnect the power plug on the alternator and give it a try. If it went away, there was your problem.

 

Funny you should mention that - another issue I had was mysterious smoke coming from the RR corner of the engine compartment. Turned out to be the alternator so I installed a new one. I will hook up my voltmeter and check the charging voltage while it is surging and see what it does.

 

We found the only way of being certain it was the alternator was disconnecting the lead coming off it, disabling charging. You could drive down the road with no problem operating off the battery for quite a few miles.

 

Update: I have noticed that the only time I have driveability issues is when it sits for an hour or more after being driven. When I restart the engine it will often die or sputter, and sometimes I have to restart the engine two or three times then it is fine. It has always felt like a lack of fuel or vapor lock, although I know it is hard to tell whether it is fuel or electrical. I noticed the other day that the fuel line runs very high in the engine compartment, in fact I can see evidence of it rubbing on the underhood insulator. Also, when the hood is closed, it presses the fuel line down on top of the power steering hose from the reservoir to the pump. Knowing that power steering fluid can get hot, and feeling the hose itself which was quite warm, I split a length of 1/2 inch heater hose and slid it over the fuel line as a heat insulator. Drove it today, let it sit for about three hours and it fired right up and drove home just fine. Granted it is not as hot outside today as it has been, and I am not 100% sure this will cure the problem but so far so good. After I drove it home I also raised the rpm in park to 2500 then 3500 and no surging. I have not tried removing the output wire from the alternator as suggested, but I will if the problem returns. For now, I am going to drive it more and see what happens. Just wanted to pass this along to anyone else who might be experiencing the same issue.

 

Keep us posted.... Cheers

 

Well that wasn't it (insulating fuel line) Today it ran worse than ever. I decided to dig in to the electrical. Disconnected and cleaned the ground connection G103 even though it looked good, no help. Decide to unplug the pcm and check the pin terminals. When I disconnected the far left plug with black insulator, the insulator stayed in the pcm! I reconnected the insulator to the plug in, they only fit one way BTW, finally got it to lock in place and it ran okay for a while, but then same issue. The plug fits quite loose, the others are sort of also, but this seems extremely loose. I removed the plug several more times, and one of those times the insulator came off again. Not sure what to do next, I might try to find a pcm and plug at the salvage yard next time I go. When it was running, I wiggled the connector trying to recreate the problem but it kept running. Started it several times, and sometimes it would run, sometimes not. I suspect pcm and/or connector, but I have no way to test it.

 

I decided to take a step back before I spend 100s of $$ on PCM unit, I recalled an incident years ago when I worked at a dealership, we had a car that would do the same thing, run good one day, not the next. We finally ended up replacing the coil, even though I had tested it with an ohmeter. I believe that once it got hot the coils inside separated or it may have shorted to ground. I just started the PT now and it is running great, seems to only f*** up when its hot. I drove it this morning and everything was great but after I parked it and tried to go again in about an hour, it acted up. So I am going to try a new coil first, a lot cheaper than a PCM especially if that is not the problem. We'll see what happens.....

 

With so many electronics nowadays its difficult to pin stuff down at times..

 

You mentioned the previous owner replaced a broken plastic line with a rubber hose. Plastic lines are used to prevent fuel line collapse on the suction side. Just throwing that out.

 

I had not thought of that. Since there was hole cut in the floor, I can watch for that. Thanks for the tip.