how to temporarily disable a pt cruiser?

Question 1
how to temporarily disable a pt cruiser?...  Dad cannot drive anymore and mom is concerned he will try when she goes on vacation.

Answers
1)   Shoot the tires. - dasuberding

2)   Pop the hood, and take out the ignition fuse, or starter relay fuse. - cory m

3)   take the battery out but wash your hands with soap after you put it in the garage. The acid on it is EXTREMELY DANGEROUS!! and talk to your mom before doing this - airsoft man

4)   Depends on how much your dad knows about how cars work. You can take off the cable from the battery (negative), which will cut power to everything. If you have a jack stand, you can remove one wheel, and replace it with the jack stand and hide the wheel, and the spare for that matter. You can buy a steering lock, and keep the keys. There are other things, but they will be too complicated. - DeP

5)   Take his keys and hope he doesn't have a hidden spare. Find the fuse panel, make a diagram of what goes where, and pull all the fuses - except the one that feeds the computer - that could cause problems. Hide them in a secure place. Accidentally whack daddy in the right kneecap with a baseball bat. He likely needs it anyway if he gets behind the wheel when he isn't supposed to! - John B

6)   You can find out which relay in the fuse/relay box under the hood is for the starter and unplug it. This will prevent the car from starting until it is put back in place.

Unplugging the ASD relay (ASD - Auto Shut Down, may also be labeled as "Shut Down" on the relay chart) will also prevent the vehicle from starting.

If you can't find the relay, take it to your local dealer service center and ask them to show you which one it is. If they ask why or look at you funny, explain why you want to know. - Mark B


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Question 2
Noise coming from rear differential in Chrysler 9 1/4?...  The other day when i was making a right turn in my 98 dodge Ram 1500 i heard a bad rubbing noise coming from the rear diff. I only hear the noise when making a right turn. I took off the diff cap and there was no metal debre in the diff and the gears all appeared in new condition. The oil was fairly dirty silver black color. I replaced the entire posi-track assembly about half a year ago when the clutch pack blew apart. I also replaced both wheel bearing in the axle. I checked the yoke in the front of the diff and there was a little bit of play in it so i suspect i need to replace the pinion bearing soon. I don't think that a bad pinion bearing would cause a rubbing noise when i turn right. I am not sure what is causing this noise so if you have any ideas please let me know thanks.

Answers
1)   before i finished your Q i was thinking clutch pack is grabbing,,my 99 s 10 chevy 4x4 has been doing it for 70,000 miles,,,,i changed fluid,,added GM positraction lube and just dont worry anymore,, - pedro7of9

2)   Pete is on track with the posi additive, what you need is 2 bottles of MOPAR friction modifier (6 oz each from the dealer only) and it to your diff, you should have done this when you worked the posi. Your posi is chattering. Ad the modifier and drive for about 5 miles to get the oil warm and then turn. If it does chatter but less than before. Keep it up and if the chatter wont go away in 2 days you will have to go through the posi again - rick b

3)   After having a few trucks with 9 1/4, I KNOW that you do have to add a bottle or two of the friction modifier, if the rear has anti-spin. Also pinion bearings sometimes begin to growl on them and need replacement. Since yours was apart, could be anything. - done wrenching

4)   Add a bottle of friction modifier if you didn't do it when you replaced the pack (it is required in anti slip rear ends like yours). And tighten the nut on the pinion. It should be just tight enough so you feel a slight stiffness in the back and forth slack between the pinion and ring gear. Don't over tighten - Jackolantern


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Question 3
Which minivan is best? (All are 2010)?...  Honda Odyssey, Toyota Sienna, Dodge Grand Caravan, Nissan Quest, Chrysler Town and Country, Kia Sedona, or Volkswagon Routan?

Answers
1)   Dodge Grand Caravan, Chrysler Town and Country and Volkswagon Routan are pretty much similar.
We used to own 2008 Dodge Grand Caravan SE and it was not good. It had poor interior and very little HP(175 horsepower 3.3L), it was also not great on gas. It had constant issues with brakes and suspension. It was just terrible...

Chrysler Town and Country is not bad but transmission is same as Dodge and it won't last long.

Honda Odyssey and Toyota Sienna are great minivans. My friend owns a Honda Odyssey and it is amazing compared to the Chrysler. It is far more superior. But odyssey and sienna are very expensive.

I'm not too familiar with kia sedona. - Undercover

2)   The Dodge Caravan, Chrysler Town & Country, and Honda Odyssey are all I would consider based on price, variety of options and utility. The Dodge is available in a wider price range than the Honda. The Honda is more luxurious and costs more. The stow-and-go seats are great in the Chrysler's. The Nissan Quest will be discontinued. - C-Tech

3)   Best is subjective to which attributes are most important to you. If the 3.3L engine isn't powerful enough, then there's the 3.8, but the 4.0 v6 makes more power and gets 1mpg better by comparison. As for transmission reliability, I haven't heard any complaints, and my mom's '97 Town&Country still has it's original transmission working perfectly fine with 170k miles on it. If the interior is too cheap, then look into buying a Chrysler Town&Country limited with suede and leather interior. It sounds like one guy didn't buy the van he should have. - Ryan M

4)   over 50% of all minivans ever sold in this country have been Chrysler built, so most people prefer that there Dodge Caravan. The VW Routan is a re-badged Chrysler/Dodge minivan so dont spend the extra money just for the German logo. The Kia is the cheapest (both price and quality) and definitely worst mini-van out there. The Nissan ive never known an owner so cant tell ya anything about it. The Toyota and Honda are very nice vehicles; good on gas, reliable, cozy. Both very similar in design and quality. For my money, i'd buy the Chrysler built vans. I had a 92 Plymouth Grand Voyager (my first car). It was my grandparents before mine, they bought it brand spankin new. In the first 140K miles they had it, they only needed a starter, and a freon conversion (all pre93 vehicles did too). I had it till 160K when my dad destroyed it on the way to Flagstaff. Best vehicle my family has ever had. I will never even look at another min-van. Mopar or no-car - DodgeDude


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Question 4
i love my 2006 pt cruiser but how can i get better gas mileage?...  

Answers
1)   Make sure your tires are inflated to specifications
Clean your air filter
Replace spark plugs, wires
Use the fuel injection cleaner additive (altho some ppl would say this is debatable)
Don't use the AC or window defogger if you don't need to
Stay current on your oil changes, and use the proper weight oil according to manufacturers specifications
Drive easier - Marble

2)   Besides the obvious, like keeping the air filter clean, you could slightly over inflate the tires.
The things you can do to the engine would be to slightly advance the ignition timing.
Just make sure it does not knock from pre-ignition ping when accelerating in 2nd gear.
If it does, then set the timing back.
Turn off the AC, and anything electrical you can, and close the windows to reduce drag.
You could consider a rubber air dam under the front, because cars have such a rough bottom surface to air flow.

Other things like free flow exhaust would cost as much as you would save in gas.
And leaving the spare tire at home would save 100 lbs, but not be worth the risk I would think. - Motorhead

3)   Keep your tires inflated to the proper tire pressure, check wheel alignment, check that your air filter isn't too dirty and replace the spark plugs at the recommended interval. That's pretty much it on a modern car as far as routine maintenance if the engine is running smoothly. There is always the possibility that something is wrong with the engine such as poor compression but engine work is a last resort. Remove unneeded junk from the car. Extra weight hurts mileage.

Probably the largest improvement in mileage will be to change your driving style. Most people can easily increase mileage 25% or more with a few simple changes. Don't accelerate too quickly, don't drive at above average speeds, and don't use too much braking. Leave enough room from the car in front so that if he slows down you don't need to use your brakes. Stops and starts kill mileage. Coming up on stopped traffic if you can let your car coast at say 20-30 MPH without using too much brake you save the fuel you would have used to accelerate back up to that speed if you had to come to a full stop. - Howard L

4)   i can get about 30 mpg (no joke no lie) out of my 98 Jeep Grand Cherokee 4.0L and 4x4, so i can guarantee that all of the things everybody else is answering works. Most important is to drive easier. Coast when stopping, accelerate smoothly, and never drive over 55mph (i know this sounds crazy, but in my truck at a steady 55 i get 30-32 mpg. At 75 im lucky to see 18). keep it well maintained: oil, tranny fluid, power steering fluid, chassis lube and alignment, coolant, spark plugs, air filter, and wheel bearings and cv axle grease. Keep the tires inflated to the "max PSI" printed on the tire side wall (dont listen to your owners manual thats only for the factory tires). The one thing that no-one else has mentioned that does work, is to keep your car cleaned and waxed. It sounds asinine, but the aero drag from a non waxed paint job will hurt fuel millage. - DodgeDude


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Question 5
How can i reset the electronic control unit on a chrysler voyager?...  i have a 2001 chrysler voyager apparently the fuel pump is gone on it so i took into my local garage, it must have been standing for two days before they tried to work on it but the alarm started going off even though the central locking is working the alarm does not turn off, can some one tell me if this problem could be linked with the fuel not being pumped. Someone has told me to re set the ECU unit but don't know how to can anyone help ???

Answers
1)   Try disconnecting the battery for a few hours as this resets some ECUs - Cass

2)   You could unhook the battery but you also reset the alarm and at times it will just go off, you need to know if the alarm is factory or aftermarket, aftermarket it has nothing to do with your voyager.
Also a very common problem with alarm randomly going off it that the battery has a low charge or is starting to go bad, Have a charge and load test done on the battery - rick b

3)   If your key fob had a panic button on it, try pressing it. If the van has an anti theft alarm on it you should be able to turn it off by turning the key in either front door lock. Otherwise, have a dealer check it out. - Jackolantern


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