my pt cruiser 2003 was running and went out ,after checking bat,alt, fuel pump,the problem was timing belt brocken, set new one balancing crankshaft and camshaft, get lined up and dont start .
Asked by carloslozano Oct 09, 2012 at 01:50 AM about the 2003 Chrysler PT Cruiser Touring Wagon FWD
Question type: Maintenance & Repair
what next to make it start
3 Answers
if your timing belt broke, you're going to want to take it RIGHT to a mechanic... you might even need to get a loan to get it fixed, but you want it fixed correctly. Timing controls EVERYTHING spark, valves in and out, gas, air, EVERYTHING.. if one of those is entering the cylinder at improper time, you're not gonna run at all.
I don't know how much tolerance that particular engine has, but if you attempt to start it with the timing belt mis-aligned with the cam, it could even break valves when the piston comes up and a valve is open that is not supposed to be, like zacnickp said, it controls everything, and if I could I would have written everything in bold, please don't attempt to start it unless you are sure it's aligned. If so you could add another $1k to that loan
I concur with the above posts. The timing belt is probably the most important and controlling thing under the hood. Unless you're an excellent mechanic yourself, you need to get your car to a good mechanic and have them get it installed correctly. Hopefully you haven't damaged your engine trying to start it.