8 replies to this topic

[Glopart]

Just traded my wifes 2001 PT Limited for a 2006 5 speed PT convertible.
We did this so we could flat tow it behind our motor home.

Only thing we've found we don't like is the shifter is a bit what I'll call "stiff".
I lubed the linkage under the hood and under the shifter boot and it didn't seem to make a differance.

Car only has 36500 miles so I can't imagine the shifter linkage is worn much.

One thing we noticed is you really have to make sure the clutch is pushed all the way in
or the shifter tends to hang up. Pedal has about 1 inch of free throw at the top. Master cylinder is full.
It's shared with the brakes.

Anyone have any thoughts or similar experience?

Last 5 speed I had was a 1986 2.2 liter turbo Daytona. The shifter in it wasn't great but not as bad as the PT.

Thanks.

[dana44]

The clutch is by itself for fluid, it is the round container of about three ounces, white with a black lid, above and to the outside of the master cylinder. If this is low or out of fluid, you will get air into the system and it will act this way, and believe me, it takes about half an hour to slowly and gently to get the air out of the system, you actually have to go down to the clutch and push the slave cylinder in by hand all the way and then gently let it return (to suck fluid back into it, too fast and the air bubbles don't go up, they just go back and forth), pressing the clutch pedal doesn't purge the air if it is past the clutch cylinder, and the DOT 4 fluid doesn't let bubbles move very fast within it. The clutch slave cylinder on the transmission is very easy to get to, right center of the front side of the engine, black plastic, not too difficult to push.  I replaced my leaking slave cylinder and fount this out, along with making sure the front of the engine is raised a little bit (what with the angles of the hoses and all that, it helped, but it still took half an hour, no bleeder down below and I had air in the clutch cylinder, kind of fun nonetheless). If you remove the air cleaner cover and then pull the air cleaner box up (held on like the engine cover, it pops off), you will see a cable running rear to front and on top of the transmission. This is the shifter cable, there is supposed to be a plastic piece inside the ring on the end of the cable, in the center is a shift lever pin. If the plastic center breaks out, it will still shift, but just a hair stiffer than it did before, but as long as it doesn't come off the shifter pin, it will be OK.

[ImperialCrown]

This may be more of a clutch-related stiffness than a shifter/linkage-related stiffness. One way to tell is if the stiffness is there with the engine running, it is probably clutch (hydraulics) at fault by not fully disengaging the clutch. If the stiffness is there running or not, it is probably shifter/cable-related.

[iNeon]

My 57k mile 2008 is just as bad to shift. It will absolutely refuse to go into gears sometimes, unless you roll it back, revv it or suchnot. It'll disallow your shift, half-way shift-- make reverse impossible to catch. It is a terrible transaxle.

If anything needed a few dollars thrown at it in this car, it was the bushings. The front-end is quieter than the squeaking Panther-chassis cars, but not by much! It has the noisiest(but tight, firm and well-dampened) front suspension I have ever encountered in a reliable automobile. A cacophony of unsavory, unsettling noises it likes to make, day-in-- day-out. Checked-out fine by Benchmark CJDR in Birmingham.

I digress-- get some booger bushings and swap both ends of the shifter cabling out. I did it in the neon I drove previously, and with 190k-- it is still shifting better than the PT at 60. I'd do it myself-- but I am currently refusing to touch wrenches, soldering irons, screwdrivers or wire-strippers

[ImperialCrown]

Proper shift cable adjustment is essential. It should be double-checked whenever cables/bushings are serviced.

21 - Transmission and Transfer Case/Manual, T350/CABLE, Gearshift Control/Adjustments
ADJUSTMENTS
1. Remove center console from vehicle.  
2. Loosen adjusting screw on crossover cable at shifter.
3. The gearshift mechanism and transaxle crossover lever are spring-loaded and self-centering. Alignment pins used in the past are not required anymore. Allow gearshift mechanism and transaxle crossover lever to relax in their neutral positions. To ensure the gearshift lever is in the proper position, place the shifter in 3rd or 4th gear if necessary. Torque adjustment screw to 8 N·m (70 in. lbs.). Care must be taken to avoid moving the shift mechanism off-center during screw tightening.
4. Reinstall center console. Reinstall boot and knob.

[Glopart]

I've been on the road since mid October towing the PT behind the RV. Haven't had very consistant internet access until recently. Your responses to my original post are interesting and good. Unfortunatally, I can't work on it in the RV park (rules).
Here's some more symtoms:
Shifts fine with the engine off. So it's probably clutch related.
With engine running and the clutch depressed all the way the car moves when you take your foot off the brake.
Like the clutch isn't completely releasing .

I'm in south Texas where the ambiant temperature ranges from high 40's to low 80's this time of year.

Believe it or not when the temp is in the 50's or below it shifts like a dream. The warmer the weather gets the harder it is to shift
and the more the clutch seems to drag.

I read on another site that this temperature thing is a symptom of a bad Clutch Master Cylinder.
Has anyone else ever heard of this?

I plan on taking it to a local Chrysler dealer to see about getting it fixed. I don't know if I should mention the temperature
related thing or not. I don't want them to think I'm nuts.

Thanks

[ImperialCrown]

If the clutch fluid (brake fluid) level and condition is good, they may want to replace the hydraulics and I believe that it is only serviced as a one-piece assembly: m/cyl, line and slave cyl.
There is a bleeding procedure for the clutch (many pedal strokes), but if air has gotten in something is wrong anyways and air will get in again.
The temperature thing may not matter, but have them add it to the description on the repair order as your observation.

[dana44]

I replaced my slave cylinder after I noticed the rubber was wet and one day coming home all the sudden the pedal was operating about half the distance from the floor as usual. I got a new one from Rockauto, only place I could find it, and although it was pretty easy to refit, bleeding does take about half an hour, wish I would have known there was a one piece clutch cylinder and slave cylinder already bled and ready to go, I just didn't see it. My procedure was to fill the slave cylinder first, just like a master cylinder, then attach the hose. The hoses are attached with a roll pin and is pretty nifty, but the small plastic tube going up to the clutch cylinder you just have to be very patient and get the air bubbles to move upwards, which they move about as fast as air in syrup, so it takes a bit of time to slowly go below and hand push the clutch slave to push the fluid up and then let it naturally pull down when released. Gotta do it slow and for a whole long time, parking the car raised due to the line bends is important, too. As the bubbles moved up I would tap with my fingers on the line to get the bubbles to move upwards, too. They really should have put some kind of bleeder on the clutch slave cylinder.

[Glopart]

Well here's the latest. I finally got around to taking the poor shifting PT to a local Chrysler/Dodge dealer. Local is Weslaco Texas where we're staying in an RV park. I described the symptoms to the Service Manager, including the temperature relationship. It was about 71 degrees when I took it in this morning and it was already getting hard to shift. After about an hour of diagnosing, or whatever they were doing, the SM asked me if anyone had ever adjusted the clutch cable. Since I bought it used a few months ago I told him "Not that I know of but I thought the clutch is hydraulic and had no adjustment". He said "some of them you can". After about another hour I saw my PT pulling back into the service bay lot with the SM driving and the mechanic riding shotgun. He tossed the keys to me and said to try it, they had adjusted the clutch cable.  I took it for a test drive and it shifted like a dream. By now it was about 75 degrees. I paid the $149 happily and left.
This afternoon my wife went on a shopping trip with the temp about 84 degrees and said it shifted great.
Instead of the clutch engaging right at the floor now it engages about 1/4 to 1/3 of the way up.
Maybe the clutch master cylinder is failing, Ida Kno, but for now it's OK.
I don't know what all this means but it's interesting information.
Thanks again for everyone's input.