im a new jack i wanna learn though. im not new to cars n engines just four cyl 2003PT

[Skuub113]

First off i have a 2003 pt non turbo :(so i hope i could be on this thread. anyway im lookin to do alot to this whip. its cleans. 84000 mls. i just bought tim belt kit wit water pump (goodyear kit). jus cuz i heard they recomend it n i plan on keepin the car. it was my girls who now drives a mini van lol haha. gotta do motor mounts cuz there broke got nylon insets too. how important is doing the tim belt and when. will i feel a diff? im also having a problem with a 344 code. had the 340 code my reader told me 340 then it eventually went n wouldnt start thankfully i already had sensor in car. but now this 344 bullcrap. cant even find it when i search on comp but my reader says camshaft pos sen again. wtf? someone help me turn this into a badazz ride. gonna have friend do tim belt only cuz i dont have enuff time after work plus i never did it. oh yeah its a aoutomatic too :mad:well peeps lookin forward to this. i never did this forum stuff. but it seems pretty cool:D

[cordes]

Welcome to the forum! Glad yo have you here. You'll find this to be one of the more knowledgeable FWD Chrysler sites on the net.

I'll be up front and state that I had a hard time making much of your post due to the lack of grammatical conventions. I think you'll find a lot of us have a hard time when folks type like they text etc. so you'll get better advice if you stick to a little bit more of a conventional style. No offense intended, it's just the way many of usare.

Anyway, it seems you're concerned about the water pump and timing belt kit on your PT Cruiser. If I'm not mistaken those are the 2.4 and they are only valve to valve interference motors. It's not terribly likely that you'll have any trouble if the belt breaks, but it could happen. I would be inclined to change it since you have 84K on the clock. It is a great idea to do the water pump at the same time while you're in there so it's good that you have that on the list also. I don't believe that you'll notice a performance difference after changing the pump.

If I were you I would keep this car for a reliable daily driver and look for a PT GT for something fun. One of the guys has a 5 speed car with a few mods and it seems like a blast. I would love to have one some day myself.

ETA: I haven't the foggiest on the codes, but I'm sure that someone will be along to help you with that.

[RoadWarrior222]

Hi Skuub and welcome.

When the waterpump starts to die, it gets stiff to turn and puts a lot of load onto the timing belt. This can weaken the belt, hence why it's a good idea to change it, and also make it skip a tooth. If it skips a tooth, the ECU may see a discrepancy in where it thinks the camshaft is, and where it actually is, this may cause the 344 code. It also may make the motor somewhat "doggy" for a lack of a better word. If it has been like this a while, you may find it feels more responsive after you have done the waterpump and timing belt.

So my advice is, do the waterpump and timing belt, making sure the timing is set right, drive it a bit and see if 344 code goes away, and if it drives a bit better then. If the 344 code is still occurring after that, report back.

regards,

RW222

[tryingbe]

I'd do the timing belt/waterpump ASAP since you already have the parts. Broken timing belt means a dead car.

But n/a and auto, I'd sell it and buy something you want.