Coughing PT Cruiser
Every once in a while, my car "coughs". It's usually when I'm driving 65-70 on the freeway with the cruise control on. The car will "cough" as if the fuel is getting cut off. The "Check Engine" light comes on and the cruise control will stop working until I turn the ignition off and restart the car. If I keep driving, the car will be fine if I keep under 60 MPH, but will cough again if I get up about 62 MPH. Once I restart the car, everything seems to be okay and the "Check Engine" light will stay off after a few restarts. Otherwise, the car runs perfectly. Any ideas?
Apparently a small piece of the carbon in the catalytic converter occasionally comes loose and blocks the exhaust. A shift into neutral and restart of the engine pops it back into place and the car runs fine again. Found out a new catalytic converter will cost me about $1300. So, I'm putting up with the occasional pain until I can save up enough to get the catalytic converter replaced. Still love my car... just hit 225,000 miles on it yesterday!
with 225000 mile it should be using a walker and wearing depends, buy the new converter if u think it's worth it, a little coughing is minor for now. Try putting a higher grade gasoline or an additive.
don't forget every so often put some water remover in your gas. The one with jet fuel seems to work better
I replaced the catalytic converter last month and also had to replace the cam sensor and the knock sensor. Car is running very well, just coughs a little when I put on the gas too much too quickly. I think it might be time for a tune-up... it's been a while since the spark plugs have been replaced. Oh, and the car just passed the quarter million mile mark on Saturday night!
