2006 PT Cruiser Under-cover Pics - Seal R&R

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2006 Chrysler PT Cruiser - 115k Miles

Girlfriend tried to show me how smart she was and picked up a 2006 PT Cruiser on her own. She's been itching for the "perfect beach car", and decided it was time to pick one up. "You buy toy cars all of the time for the [censored] of it. Why can't I?", she says.

Touche'.

She apparently has been listening to what I've told her about cars, and set her sights on a PT Cruiser owned by a couple living in the upscale section of Miami Beach. Good a place as any to find a perfect beach car, I guess. After pointing out a "terminal oil leak" and beating the price down to a 3-figure amount, she plopped down the cash and walked away with it.

Apparently she had already diagnosed the problem as being a leaky valve cover gasket. She ordered the appropriate parts for the repair and dropped them on the table in front of me, with orders to fix it. I took a look at it myself and discovered much to my chagrin that she was correct.

Here's what the engine looked like inside:



Valve cover:




Overall, I have to give her credit. Car looks like new on the interior, and pretty good outside as well. Front bumper cover is going to be replaced (PT Cruisers grab parking blocks when parked nose-in), but otherwise ready to rock. I'll take some exterior shots and post them in the Photo section later.

PO was using M1 synthetic as both fill and top-off oil, so that definitely explains both the cleanliness and profuse seal leakage. Nothing escapes a vulnerable seal like M1 syn.
 
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It's interesting that they have an arrow pointing to the front along with "left" and "right" along with numbering the cam bearing caps.
 
VERY clean
thumbsup2.gif
She did well.
 
Looks nice

But how about those cam bearings the way they look; is that acceptable for it life?
 
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Originally Posted By: miden851
Looks nice

But how about those cam bearings the way they look; is that acceptable for it life?


Cam bearings? Are you perhaps talking about the lobes and the tracks from the rollers? If so, then yes, that's normal.
 
Niiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiice!

Any plan to do the timing belt, or was that sorted out by the P.O.?

We looked at an 03 that belonged to an old man down the street. Only 37k miles, but passed on it because the T.B. service was due, and a pain in the b to do.
 
For under $1k that's quite a deal considering she bought it from the ideal owners. Make sure its up to date with the timing belt, a co-worker sold one with full disclosure that the belt was overdue, and 2 weeks later the belt went on the new owner, who wanted their money back...
 
Originally Posted By: OVERKILL
Originally Posted By: miden851
Looks nice

But how about those cam bearings the way they look; is that acceptable for it life?


Cam bearings? Are you perhaps talking about the lobes and the tracks from the rollers? If so, then yes, that's normal.


1+
 
Originally Posted By: IndyIan
For under $1k that's quite a deal considering she bought it from the ideal owners. Make sure its up to date with the timing belt, a co-worker sold one with full disclosure that the belt was overdue, and 2 weeks later the belt went on the new owner, who wanted their money back...


It's only sometimes a bad thing if it breaks. I guess the valves and hit each other, but the piston doesn't hit the valves. So it's 50/50 on whether or not it messes anything up. I guess where along the belt that is breaks that determines that?
 
I want to see what this three figure car looks like. And smart girlfriend. Better keep an eye on her.
 
Originally Posted By: miden851
Looks nice

But how about those cam bearings the way they look; is that acceptable for it life?


If you mean the "scoring" on the cam lobes, it looks perfectly normal to me.
 
a PT cruiser? She's not a keeper! Just kidding. That looks nice under the cam cover. I hope when I take mine off my Mazda it will look like that.
 
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