Problems · by component
2006 Chrysler PT Cruiser engine problems
61 owner complaints to NHTSA about the 2006 Chrysler PT Cruiser cite engine, 16% of all 373 complaints for this model year.
Complaints
61
16% of all complaints
Crashes
0
Reported by owners
Fires
0
Reported by owners
Injuries
0
Reported by owners
What owners say about the engine
Verbatim from NHTSA complaints, newest first
“all of the dash board instrument cluster lights turn on breifly,car speed starts to drop, lights on dash turn back off,[ all except seat belt lights] then car seems to restart itself and will reaccelerate.all this happens while we are driving in traffic at highway speeds, this is not good and could result in a very serious incident, not only for us but for othe”
“ENGINE LIGHTS COME ON RANDOMLY. IDLE SPEEDS INCONSISTENT. WINDSHIELD CRACKED STRAIGHT ACROSS WE HAD NO IDEA WHAT HAPPENED UNTIL WE READ AN ARTICLE ABOUT CHRYSLER’S DEFECTIVE TOTALLY INTEGRATED POWER MODULES PROBLEMS TITLED “CHRYSLER TIPMS CAUSING POWER PROBLEMS”
“NO HEADLIGHT, HIGH BEAM OR LOW BEAM OR TURN SIGNAL RIGHT SIDE. THIS BEGAN ABOUT 6/2017 WHEN REPLACING BULBS DID NOT WORK. A FEW MONTHS LATER THE HORN ALSO STOPPED WORKING. FUEL GAUGE STOPPED READING AND SOMETIMES READS FULL THEN DROPS TOWARD E THEN MAY SHOW HALF. NEVER A CONSTANT READING ANYMORE. ALL FUSES AND RELAYS TEST GOOD. TIPM APPEARS TO BE IN GOOD SHAPE, NO VISIBLE DAMAGE OR DEFECTS TO CIRCUIT BOARDS. NO GOOD VOLTAGE TO HEAD LAMPS OR TURN SIGNAL (METER SHOWS 11.5 VOLTS, BUT APPEARS TO BE A POTENTIAL AND NOT A GOOD VOLTAGE. CANNOT LIGHT A BULB BUT STILL SHOWS THE VOLTAGE ON THE METER), GROUNDS METER GOOD TO CHASSIS. WIRING HARNESS APPEARS GOOD WITH NO INDICATION OF DAMAGE. RUNS VERY ROUGH AND ENGINE LIGHT CODES A CYLINDER 3 MISFIRE. RUNS SMOOTH UNDER ACCELERATION BUT VERY ROUGH ON IDLE AND SOMETIMES STALLS WHEN STOPPING OR AT RED LIGHTS. I HAVE SPENT SEVERAL HUNDRED DOLLARS ALREADY ON TIMING BELTS, ALTERNATORS, INJECTORS AND OTHER MAINTENANCE PROCEDURES. DEALERS WONT LOOK AT IT WITHOUT SEVERAL HUNDRED DOLLARS TO RUN DIAGNOSTICS AGAIN AND AGAIN. I SUSPECT TIPM AND PCM TO BE DEFECTIVE UNITS THROUGHOUT CHRYSLER PRODUCTS. YOU CANNOT DRIVE AT NIGHT BECAUSE I…”
“MY CAR IS HANGING UP IN A LOWER GEAR MAY GEAR 2 AND THE ENGINE IS RAISING. THE ENGINE LIGHT IS ON. IT HAS DONE THIS A FEW TIMES WHILE DRIVING THE CAR. SOMETIMES THE ENGINE LIGHT GOES OFF AND IT RUNS LIKE A GREAT VEHICLE BUT THEN IT WILL HANG UP AND GET STUCK IN A LOWER GEAR! I HAVE BEEN DRIVING INNER CITY WHEN THIS HAPPENS AND AFRAID TO TAKE IT ON THE HIGHWAY.”
“TL* THE CONTACT OWNS A 2006 CHRYSLER PT CRUISER. THE CONTACT STATED THAT THE ENGINE FAILED AND THE ENGINE INDICATOR REMAINED ILLUMINATED. ALSO, THE VEHICLE RODE ROUGHLY WHILE DRIVING. THE VEHICLE WAS TAKEN TO A MECHANIC WHERE IT WAS DIAGNOSED THAT THE ENGINE OIL, WATER PUMP, AND FUEL PUMP LEAKED. THE VEHICLE WAS NOT REPAIRED. THE VEHICLE WAS NOT TAKEN TO A DEALER. THE MANUFACTURER WAS NOT NOTIFIED. THE FAILURE MILEAGE WAS 144,385. *TT *TR”
“VEHICLE ACCELERATION WITHOUT DEPRESSING THE GAS PEDAL. WHILE DRIVING ON A 2 LANE HIGHWAY VEHICLE BEGAN TO ACCELERATE. I TRIED PUSHING THE GAS PEDAL NUMEROUS TIMES TO STOP THE ACCELERATION, BUT TO NO AVAIL. I TRIED SHIFTING THE AUTOMATIC SHIFTER FROM D (DRIVE ) TO 3RD GEAR, BUT STILL THE VEHICLE CONTINUED TO ACCELERATE. I APPLIED THE BRAKES WITH A FULL AMOUNT OF PRESSURE, VEHICLE WAS STILL REVVING UPWARDS.. I COULD SMELL BURNING BRAKES. I WAS FINALLY ABLE TO SLOW DOWN WHERE THE ROAD WAS LEVEL, STILL WITH FULL PRESSURE ON THE BRAKES. I SHIFTED THE GEARS FROM 3RD TO NEUTRAL AND THEN PARK TO STOP THE REVVING,BUT IT CONTINUED AND I SHUT THE CAR OFF. I STARTED THE VEHICLE A FEW MOMENTS LATER AND THE REVVING NOW LONGER OCCURRED. I WAS ON AN ISOLATED HIGHWAY IN THE BACK COUNTRY. HAD I BEEN IN THE CITY THE RESULTS COULD HAVE BEEN DEADLY. THIS SAME TYPE OF ACCELERATION (TOYOTA VEHICLE) HAPPENED TO A FAMILY LOCALLY AND THEY CRASHED AND ALL PERISHED IN THE RESULTING FIRE.”
Showing 6 of 61 reports. Read every report on NHTSA.gov.
Data from NHTSA Complaints API (owner reports, unverified) · synced Oct 30, 2026NHTSA vehicle page
Complaints are unverified owner reports to NHTSA and are not normalized for sales volume. One complaint can cite several components.