About a week ago the yellow engine light came on in my 2002 PT Cruiser. No problem while driving, the car runs fine.

Now the guys at the (Swiss) garage tell me that the engine control unit (an electrical part) on my car has "gone bad" and needs to be replaced. Cost: 1'600 CHF.

Can this really be? The car runs fine. What is this part doing? Do I really need to have it fixed?

Any advice is appreciated

T.

sounds like bollocks to me..... phone them up and ask for the fault code.. i met they cant give it to you as they are ripping you off!

THe ECU ia the computer brain for the car and it controls everything to do with the engine and some cases the alarm system etc.
get a second opinion.

any garage can do a fault read out. get the code and then hit google with the code and your car model...

If you want to bring the car to glarus I can read the fault codes

Very often it's not the item, but the sensor at about CHF30 that is at fault. Worth a second opinion...

Thank you all. It's: P0601 ("Summenstörung / interner Fehler")

Googled it and it they all say: Replace

I guess there goes my winter trip to Vegas.

Tom

http://www.obd-codes.com/p0601

Seems like a common fault on your car. I can also clear the code if you want, worth a shot to see if it comes back

Get a quote from a German main dealer for Chrysler.

With the fault code things are clearer. the module is reporting an internal communication fault and for your car need to be programmed by a dealer. its not just a straight swap with another vehicle.

I would suggest resetting the fault light (i hope that the garage have done this) as a first step and see if it comes back.

if it does I would go to germany and get some prices there.

Yes Rob and BigBlue, they have cleared the memory twice and the error came back.

I have warranty insurance but the part is not covered.

I have a feeling that if I just ignored the light the car would still run until "Hanooka". But I'm not going to risk it because I love this car and I wouldn't trade it for any other car in the world.

before forking out a load of money, join a PT crusiers owners forum, there is bound to be one, as its a common issue then someone may have worked out a cheap fix, owners forums have saved me a fortune over the years

Most common reasons why "Check Engine" light is on:

- O2 sensor (or Lambda sensor which is monitoring the air/fuel mixture) - you should try to replace this one first
- Fuel quality or fuel filter - if it's not in the fuel tank, you could try to replace this one also
- Spark plugs (could be wires also)

However, it's worth checking it on tester to be sure what the problem is before replacing half of the car. The three points mentioned above shouldn't cost you much.

Hope it helps

not really as the OP already posted the error code, and its a common fault on his car

Aaah, ok then.