[dana44]

Welcome to the forum. Sounds like you have an issue. To ensure you have fuel to the fuel rail, look along the front edge of the intake manifold where the fuel injectors attach and follow the fuel rail until you see a valve stem cap like what a tire has. It has a little valve just like a valve stem and you can press it to see if there is pressure. It will bleed off pretty fast by the way.

Next thing is to go to the passenger fender and look into the hole of the timing belt cover, have your wife turn the engine over a couple seconds, see if the two sprockets you can see through the hole rotate. If they don't, timing belt. Although the engines are not interference engines, meaning if the timing belt breaks or shears the teeth off, the valves are most likely not going to touch the pistons and bend, so that is a good thing. Do you know when the belt, idler pulley and water pump were changed? Interval is 7years/100,000miles for all three.

If the engine shuts off in this fashion, it should be showing a set of codes. Just to verify the method of getting them, insert ignition key, turn from off to on (not start), three times, leave it at the on position and the codes will show up in the odometer, write them down and you can check them. A timing belt shows up as a bad cam sensor to start with because that is the first signal lost when the belt goes.

Overheating needs to be figured out why. A fan relay could have gone bad, a leaking hose, water pump itself. Once the engine overheats there could be other problems, such as a blown head gasket. The 2.4 in the PT Cruiser is very good about being able to burp itself so air pockets don't occur, but at the same time, need to figure out why she lost fluid and overheated.

 

[linking]

Hey thanks for the quick reply I will check the things you mentioned in the morning, and let you know.

 

[ImperialCrown]

Overheating on the highway usually doesn't involve the radiator fans as there is a good airflow through the radiator already. Check the coolant level under the radiator cap and in the reservior.
Continuing to drive a car in an overheat condition can do major engine damage. While cranking, does the compression sound normal on all cylinders?
Being a used car, you may not know the car's past maintainence history. The timing belt service interval is every 102,000 miles and the water pump/idler pulleys should also be changed at that time as they are t/belt-driven wear items.

 

[linking]

Ok I checked the codes only one p1684 which i believe is battary has been disconected then it says done as far as the fuel rail bleeder i cant find one any where, the timing belt sprokets are turning i have know idea when the timing belt water pump or idler pully where last changed. My wife did just tell me when the car shut of a lot of white smoke came out from under the hood to me that indicates either a head gasket or cracked head thats all i have any more sugestions .... Thanks

 

[dana44]

Was it a sweet smelling steam? As far as the fuel goes, you can pull the valve stem cap off and press the bleed with a screwdriver to see if there is fuel pressure. Check the oil and see if on the dipstick there is a milky substance, meaning water or antifreeze, and if everything under the hood is wet from the steam, it may be a shorting of the electrical components which should be OK when dried out. Next thing is going to be taking off the intake manifold top and checking the sparkplugs and doing a compression test.

Pull one of the end sparkplugs and see if you get spark to the block. The wires are deep into the valve cover, but you can see if it will spark to any metal on the engine, just to verify there is spark.

 

[linking]

If i take the intake manifold off do i have to get new gaskets or does it just bolt on without?

 

[linking]

Ok we have spark there is no milky substance in the oil no moisture under hood still cant find the valve to check the fuel pressure

 

[dana44]

The intake has rubber O-rings and they are reusable, they are usually a little bit oily anyway so they do their job well.

No milky is a good thing.

You don't need a pressure tester to check the gas, simply push the pintle valve and see if it squirts gas. You will be able to tell if it has pressure, and it bleeds off in about two seconds, so just hit it and you will know if that is the issue.

From here, I think someone with more electronics experience is needed, if you have spark and gas and no error codes, there's something off the wall going on.

 

[linking]

ok thank you very much for all your help I will bring it to my friends garage iam sure they will be able to figure it out again thanks for your help

 

[dana44]

Someone else, meaning Imperial Crown may be able to identify other things needing checked. I just can't figure out the no codes if it is something physical. This indicates the cam and crank sensors are working, but I don't know if there is something electronic that got shut down or blown (steam and electricity don't work well together sometimes), or some safety shutoff type thing has happened. You have spark and you have fuel, it has to be electronic or something disconnected.

Sorry.

 

[ImperialCrown]

If the engine was severely overheated and steam was coming from the tailpipe, I fear that the engine will have to be evaluated for mechanical damage. The aluminum head may have been warped. Does it seem to have good, even compression on all 4 cylinders while cranking?
The 3 basics are fuel, spark and compression.
If there is fuel pressure in the fuel rail but the injectors remain closed while cranking, the engine will not fire. You might try a brief shot of carb cleaner into the throttle body and then try cranking it over to see if it fires.
Spark can be checked with a noid light or having a helper crank while you hold an insulated screwdriver in the end of the plug wire and the driver shaft ~1/8" from a ground.
Diagnosis first.

 

[linking]

Ok I will try a little carb cleaner and I will let you know thanks

 

[mr2tim]

My overheating issue was traced by me to the 2001 OEM connector between the radiator fan and the harness which is located on the fan shroud. I soldered in a new aftermarket connector and have had no problems for the last 3 years.

 

[bobmct]

I too struggled with overheating which turned out to be a cracked thermostat housing (its made of plastic or other composite material). It wouldn't show at idle but at speed it would expand and allow air into the system. Easy fix and its been fine since. The no starting I would bet is the timing belt. Do as Imperial mentioned and inspect the sprocket movement. Good luck.

 

[ImperialCrown]

The OP last updated us in April. I wonder how he made out?