I have an 05’ PT Cruiser that the gauges on the dash “jump”, or skip as if there’s a short. All gauges - gas, temp. etc. cut out very quickly,and the engine stumbles intermittenly also. This only happens once or twice a week. A mechanic could find no problems when a he checked it out.
Anyone experience a similar problem with a PT cruiser??
It seems to me that the only thing that would affect both all the gauges and the engine is a major power distribution circuit or ground.
My understanding is that PT cruiser’s are just Neons with a snazzier body. If my experience with our 95 Neon is any indication, Chrysler has managed to produce just about the worst wiring harnesses ever other than those made for mid 20th century British cars by Lucas Engineering. Maybe they improved it in later years. Anyway, I ended up tracking down three or four bad connections every year.
I’d suggest getting a wiring diagram (Is there a Haynes manual?), finding each and every connector between the battery and the instrument panel ground, and disconnecting then reseating it … maybe twice. It won’t do any harm to pull and reseat the instrument panel fuse as well if you can identify it.
I hope that’s the problem. Finding the connectors is a pain, but the price for the fix is right and it’ll likely stay fixed for a few years.