[ImperialCrown]

Diagnosis first, then figure the best course of action.
The 2.4L engine has had a reliable service record. The oil pressure senders are a common cause for the oil light coming on erroneously, even though the oil pressure is good.
Of course whenever any warning light comes on, immediate attention is required and hopefully no damage is done.
The no-start issue may or may not be related to the oil light issue.

 

[TWX]

My guess is that the oil light and no-start are not related.

Has the timing belt on the engine been changed? I suspect that the timing belt went coincidentally as you were stopped.

As to the oil light, when you park and move the car, do you notice a drop of oil on the ground? My '97 stratus with that engine did that when the oil pressure sending unit was bad, and my buddy's '02 PT did the same thing. Replacing the sensor fixed the issue in both cases.

Oh. and I moved the discussion to General Technical Support and Help so that it gets more exposure.

 

[chuzz]

Your mechanic needs to run the computer codes on it and see what's going on. Guessing and shot gunning parts at you will cost you a LOT of money. Get the codes first and go from there.

 

[John Wood]

I concur with a possible broken timing belt, especially if the cranking sounds a little different; like possibly faster.

I always make a habit of checking the oil in my older cars frequently and as often as 800 mile intervals. In this fast paced world, it is easy to forget, and a few times in my life I have forgotten but lucked out when I found just a tiny dab on the dipstick.
With that said, I agree that the oil light problem is most likely the oil pressure sender unit giving a false reading because it has gone bad.

Obsession can be a good thing when it comes to keeping an old car running a long long time.

 

[B10alia]

This is why I like having an oil pressure gauge, not a light. You can catch real problems before they become serious, and if it's a fluke thing like your sensor going, you'll be able to catch it pretty quick (gauge goes from fine to zero on the highway in half a second? Probably the sensor).
If you kept up on your oil changes and the previous owner did too, I don't think you have much to worry about in terms of actual loss of oil pressure. It's something that happens gradually as the engine begins to wear out inside. Your biggest problems with no oil pressure are engine seizure, in which the parts of the engine literally weld themselves together or loss of compression, which occurs gradually. If the car was fine one minute and would not start the next, we can rule out loss of compression. If the engine was seized, it would not crank. So long as you weren't throwing out blue smoke or burning oil, I don't think your oil pressure is actually an issue. If you have/had enough oil in the crankcase and the oil pump was running (not a failure item you need to be thinking about for probably another 100-150k), you should have oil pressure on a well-maintained engine.
I might consider another mechanic if I were you, for two reasons. Any mechanic that advises you to junk a car without checking it over first is not a good mechanic. There are many, many things that can go wrong in a complex mechanical system, and anyone who claims they can DEFINITIVELY diagnose a car by just hearing symptoms is a charlatan, plain and simple. Are there certain common failure modes? Yes. But until you have done tests, anything is possible. Do not junk the car until you have definitively determined that the engine is ruined, which I will speculate that it is not. Second, no recent Chrysler engine that I have heard of, aside from a spat of 2.7's that had a fault which caused coolant and oil mixing, have "oiling problems". There seems to be an opinion held by some that Chryslers are junk. It's simply not true. The problems with the 2.7 were isolated to a specific production, and DO NOT reflect Chrysler (or even the 2.7 as an engine line) as a whole.
Did you ever pull engine codes?

 

[John Wood]

On my 91 Spirit, I have an oil pressure gauge. Due to a deteriorating sender, my gauge read very low when I first bought the car and the light would sometimes flicker (the car has both a light and gauge). The seller of the car (a co-worker) was concerned that the low readings meant that the engine was badly worn out and I believe that motivated him to sell it. It had about 170,000 on the odometer, so that made sense to him. When I replaced the sender, the pressures went right back up at normal speeds (1/3 of full scale at idle with hot oil).

I agree that a gauge is nice to have and most Chrysler engines are the best out there.

 

[Gerry G]

The two are not likely related. If it was an 'oiling' problem the motor would likely not turn over or start but make many
loud knocks and rattles. The change for the timing belt is call for at 100,000 miles but to have a failure at 109.000 is
not likely (though not impossible). If ther is no spark, it could be a crankshaft position sensor or a camshafl position
sensor (this does not rule out a broken timing belt as the camshaft is driven off of the timing belt). If there is spark,
it could be a bad fuel pump. I believe you need to take this to someone other than the 'shadytree' mechanic as it may
be beyond his ability to repair or diagnose. If the 'shadytree' guy is any good he should be able to refer you to
another mechanic than can help. If not, I would seriously suggest finding another machanic as any mechanic that is
not able to fix a problem is more that fine with recommending another mechanic that has the skills needed.

Hope this helps,

Gerry G.

 

[BlackSheep01]

I would suggest that, if this still remains an unaddressed case, you contact another mechanic.
If you had no strange noise while the officer was talking to you or on startup after, probably the no-start and oil-light are not related.
Typically an oiling-related failure produces noticeable symptoms -- a bang or a dying motor going down the road, both, (I lost a 318
to a thrown rod this way), sometimes smoke or other discharges.
Check for codes; if the mechanic won't at least do that, call a different mechanic.
You might have a problem with a gear switch selector; your starter may be going out. There may be a computer-related issue,
which is about the spendiest of all.

 

[66coronet]

If you love the car, and the body and interior are nice, just fix it.
I hate it when people say it's time to replace a vehicle if the motor or transmission dies. They just do not have passion for vehicles. It's just transportation to them. If people just replace vehicles then there would be no cars older than 15-30 years. But there are people with passion and replace or rebuild because in their eyes that vehicle is rolling art and deserves to be shown off.
Lots of people hate fat fender, pt cruiser, HHR, VW bug, mini. But I love them. I also love the looks of the 1998 Ram & Dakota & Durango. Rounded fenders.
Then management had to sharpen the edges and say sharpened edges = more modern. Then they wondered why the sales went down.
I still think there isn't a replacement to the PT cruiser. With 2 selves in the back that both can carry 200lbs, no other vehicle does that. Fiat 500L looks like it may get a mid shelf that will do that, but the top shelf just looks like a cover.
I say fix the car even if it may cost you. The only time a car should hit the wrecking yard is when the body is rotted away or in an accident. But even with a rotted body people cut out the rot and weld in new material. Making that 1920's-1970's vehicle live again.
When in doubt, take it to a modifier, drop out the front wheel drive, drop in a rear wheel drive kit & a V8. But that's probably $$$$, but it's been done. Mothers dropped in a 3.8L V6 from a minivan. Others put 426 hemi or 6.1L or 5.7L in it. Others a multi chevy ford combination.
I wonder if a 3.6L minivan or avenger engine transmission swap would work?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?NR=1&v=ihO5iBGHfxM&feature=endscreen

 

[David Eidell]

Personally, I would not take the time and effort to custom-build a psychological nightmare unless you enjoy such pastimes.

Real mechanics have genuine diagnostic tools (sort of like using a polygraph) to separate reality from fiction. A real mechanic will not only fix your problem but diagnose any stored code faults, do a "cylinder leakdown test" to tell you if your pistons and valves are healthy, do a transmission service to tell you how much wear and tear the transmision has seen, and do a cooling system pressure check. Belts and hoses should be inspected, along with the exhaust system and brakes, both the hydraulic and mechanical parts.

"And personally I do not choose to ride as a passenger with a car owner whose philosphy is "I don't wanna know"