Chrysler 300M

toms99

here's the short version :

the stock amp on the upgraded stereo is located inside the trunk on the right hand side behind the carpet, there is one tab holding the carpet.
using speaker level inputs tap into the wires coming out of the amp:

white/black = - left rear

white/red = + left rear

tan/black = - right rear

tan/red = + right rear

dark green/red = turn on lead

after you hook up the speaker level inputs, connect the ground to a spot under the trunk carpet, and run a power wire to the battery

toms99

I was ging to suggest you try this just as you posted you were going to give it a try! I think it has become standard operating procedure that when anything wierd happens disconnecting the battery is at least worth a try. Certainly can't hurt anything (as long as the car re-starts!!)

ottowrkr

Mike, I talked to the trans plant rep , he was at our plant a few weeks ago and asked him about putting the 2.7 gears in the 3.5 trans. He said it cant be done.

sdmike2

All -
Thanks for your responses. I agree that there are several ways for an electronic unit to maintain it's memory even with the power disconnected, it's just that I've never seen that in a car before. Maybe one of DC's better ideas, and maybe only applies to the '01 since others here have indicated that they needed to re-set their radio stations. rscheller, do you have an '01 or a prior year? It also sounds like the starting delay isn't unusual. Great news. Thanks everyone for responding. Overall it appears that the disconnect did the trick with my problems AND probably re-set the computer for "relearing". I'll let you know if I notice any performance or mpg difference. Overall I learned a heck of a lot about the overhead console! LOL.

otto, my 5* part guy said the 2.7 gears WOULD fit the 3.5 because it's the same tranny. Other than the gear, all the part numbers were the same in his computer for the two engine types. I guess we won't really know until someone tries it. *wink*

sdmike2

When did they move the plant to afghanistan? Is that why the '02 is less expensive?

fuzzywuzzy

Man, your experinence is why I do not mess with anything in the interior. I have not, & will never remove my own panels, light switches, over head consoles, speakers etc. I have never had luck with it in the past, & it's cost me money to fix some little tab that broke, or connector that "fell" off. I learned my lessons

Glad you 300M is ok.

fuzzywuzzy

I have disconnected my battery many times, & always my radio presets have stayed. I like it that way.

ottowrkr

yeah we only make 2 $ a year , but the weather is nicer .NO SNOW!!!

rstilp

OKAY!!!!!AMEN!!!!Are you a doctor or a preacher? :-) Rick (geezer300m)

mrv2

The inside rear view mirror on my 2000 diesn't seem to dim fast enough. When a car is behind me at night, maybe 10 car lengths back, the mirror doesn't dim at all. But it's to bright to ignore. It seems dumb to have to aim the mirror up every time that happens. Is there a sensitivity adjustment on the thing? Or would putting a piece of scotch tape over the sensor on the back cause it to dim at higher light levels? Anybody have any thoughts?

300michael

Page 29 of the Oct issue. Talks about the 300N sedan for 04 and the HemiC in 05. The picture of the sedan is the same picture (I sure hope they change it) (looks like a CTS) of the one on car-truck news.
Page 136 has a picture of th Muth wid angle singal mirrors. I was dissapointed by the looks. I may go with the 2002 Special mirrors instead.

300michael

sdmike2

I notice that mine sometimes takes a little while to dim....like 30 - 45 seconds...but it always seems to dim when anything bright is behind me. My guess is that the dealer might be willing to swap out the mirror if you're still under warranty. Another option is window tinting. I have 20% tinting in the back, which means that only 20% of original light passes through. It looks nice, helps keep the heat out, and might help your rear brightness issue. Here are some pics. Make sure to click on "view full size".

http://albums.photopoint.com/j/AlbumIndex?u=1620463&a=13138368&f=0

sdmike2

Thanks michael. I'm having a fine weekend. I hope you are too. When you live in San Diego you spend your holidays at HOME. We actually had a friend of the family that we hadn't seen in years spend about 24 hours with us because he was down here on business. He brought his 9 year old daughter that we haven't seen since she was in diapers. It was great. I also broke about 5 little drill bits pre-drilling into my concrete block and stucco walls outside so I could put climbing vine anchors in. Those multiple trips to the HW store were a perfect excuse to go drive Big Red. Ever since my company closed the SD office I either work from home or fly to San Jose. I don't even put 100 miles per week on the car anymore. Oh yeah, with all the talk of leather products I also re-applied zaino to my seats and dash, applied some tire treatment, and did a nice round of Z6.

:-)

scotian

There is a new Basslink that has a clear case instead of black. I don't really like clear or translucent colored stuff, but it's interesting. Saw it in the Crutchfield catalog. That is it's only difference, except for the additional $50 price.

scotian

Part of the Service Manual's mirror test involves covering the forward-facing mirror light sensor.

Turn car on.
Cover forward facing sensor with dark cloth.
Shine light in rearward facing sensor. Mirror should darken.
Put car in reverse. Mirror should return to normal.

I would try covering the forward facing sensor.

sel714

I as wondering if everyone has read #8347. Their a Chrysler spokesman states, that both the Prowler and 300M have the same engines with the same compression ratio 9.9:1 the same Horsepower and Torque. The only difference is the shift points in the transmission. How much difference could there be not more than a couple hundred RPM.
The company spokesman says that premium is recommended in the Prowler because ( GET THIS )
Prowler drivers are expected to drive their vehicles harder than would drivers of 300Ms.
This sounds like a lot of BULL to me. I regularly
drive my 300 hard ( even more so since i got the Borla ) I see this Prowler often on my commute to work and I never see him driving it hard. So I am wondering if I could fill up with premium if I was
going to do a lot of Peddle to the metal driving. Do you think their could be any difference in performance. I wish I had one of those G-TECH performance meters. I would test both 89 octane and then 93 octane and see if there would be any difference. Any opinions on this matter.
Happy motoring
sel714

phases78

you've got me interested........

300michael

I did some G-tech testing I earler with (91 octane) showed no differance be that and the 89 octand gas. I had the dual exhaust with ABS intake and goodyear tires. There was a slight differance between the 89 and 87, but not enough to justify the cost differance. Another factor is the type of gasoline. I have notice while in Califronia (reformulated) for the meet the gas mileage and performance did go down.

sdmike2

I read the article and I agree with you that the "spokesman's" statement about "driving harder" is a load of poo. My guess is that DC wanted to make the Prowler owners feel more special by suggesting premium gasoline. The only other thing I can think of that could make a difference between the M and Prowler is maybe the air intake or how the computer program handles the fuel/air mixture. The simple physics of the engine is that air is sucked into a cylinder, fuel is injected in the right percentage, the cylinder compresses, and at the optimum compression the volatile fuel/air mixture is ignited by the spark plug. If air intake is restricted or if you're at high altitude the engine doesn't get as much air and the air/fuel mixture suffers...thus robbing power. If I understand it correctly, higher octane fuel is harder to ignite, therefore it is used to fight pre-ignition...otherwise known as pinging. Ok, so given all this, it IS possible that the prowler engine is simply tuned, via computer, in a way that requires premium gas for the proper ignition timing at the desired compression. Maybe this is better at higher revs than the way ours is tuned....assuming that the prowler guys will be racing around at 5000 RPM all the time or something. Whether that's true or not, our engines and computers are tuned for a specific air/fuel mixture, compression, and ignition timing where 89 octane achieves optimal results. 87 octane might result in a hair sooner ignition, but too small off optimal to notice except in maybe a little power or gas mileage. My guess is that using premium gas will result in a similarly late ignition that the computer will try to compensate for. Probably still not the optimal ignition point, and might actually reduce power and MPG a hair. It's certainly more expensive than necessary. I'd have to sit and think long and hard (and during the day) about the benefits of switching grades at different altitudes because of the change in air pressure and oxygen.

As Dennis Miller says...this is just my opinion...I may be wrong.

sdmike2

My brain hurt reading that! lol! Actually, it makes perfect sense to me how you did it. If you have the time, what would be the RPM difference if we could put the 2.7litre gears of the concorde in our 3.5litre Ms...assuming no difference in tire size.

toms99

what got me started was denvernm's speedo pic that showed him cruzin at about 140 mph and tachin at under 4500. I showed the pic at work and some thought it was doctored with photoshop. I decided to see for myself what the tach points would be.

What I'll do is throw the formulas in an Excel spreadsheet and then we can enter any tire or gears we want and see the results!!

ain't math grand??

rscheller

- sdmike, I have a 99 300M.

- Well, the Falken tire experiment is done. I've been back to my tire store twice since I had four 235/45-17 Falken Ziex ZE-502 installed. About two weeks ago, I had them do a rebalance because of the slightly harsh ride and the semi-constant steering wheel vibrations. At yesterdays visit I had the Falkens replaced with Bridgestone Turanza ER33 in stock size 225/55-17.
- First let me say a few things about the Falken tires. They are performance tires and I think that may be one reasons for the harsh ride, second the steering wheel vibrations may have been due to the 235/45 profile or the curved tread pattern. They did provide excellent traction and noise level was less than the OEM Goodyears but they didn't serve my needs.
- Now on to the Bridgestone Turanza's. My first impressions after driving them about 50 miles yesterday is I've found the perfect tire for my 300M. These tires are quiet... and I mean quiet... I can hardly hear any road noise and what tiny bit of noise there is doesn't get progressively louder as speed increases. The ride is very smooth but firm, with no steering wheel vibrations. So far a simply a wonderful tire.

A bad thing happened though (not tire related). While my wife and I were out driving the Bridgestones around yesterday doing some errands, I got rear-ended at about 5mph by a Ford Ranger. No one was hurt and no damage to his Ranger, but my 300M sustained some minor damage to the rear bumper. I'll be taking it for repair next week. :-(

That's about it, just wanted to post an update on my tire saga which (knock on wood) is closed now.

I'm loving my 300M again.
Have a great holiday.

Rick

guesswho1

my parents just bought a 2000 lincoln town car they stole the thing. the msrp is 42k, the car is 18 months old 25k miles they bought it for half price and the carfax checked out, still under factory warranty 4yr 50k.

it's BLACK :0. so i told them that we had to get the Z on there in a hurry. so i did the dawn, then the clay and dawn again. it was squeaky clean no wax left on the finish i then put on the Z-1 and a coat of Z-5. it's amazing like looking right into a mirror. i'm going to finish it up today by spraying on some Z-6 and a coat of Z-2.

i'm exhausted, what a big @ss car. the ride is unbelievable michelins of course. and it came stocked with an alpine factory system, one of those that finds the type of music you like. i get back in my m and it sounds like a rattle trap, thankful for the infinity system. now i'm starting to wonder how nice is that rear wheel drive LS?

sdmike2

My gosh man, that's almost as bad as me trying to Zaino my wife's Grand Caravan! I got the hood and front fenders done and said "screw this, it's a 96 minivan and my wife could care less". lol

als2

Purchased 2 months ago 2001 300 M.

First of all, wondering about 6-11 or more degrees higher outside temperature reading error on the information center than what is actually reported by various local radio stations while driving. I live in AZ. While I understand temperatures vary by location, it shouldn't by this amount. Did I end up purchasing a "misinformation" rather than an information center on the car? Anyone else experience outside temperature errors on their cars? Can the outside temperature reading be calibrated by 5 Star so it is accurate to outside temperature (and not to the temperature of the road asphalt)?

Secondly, receiving a slight high pitch whistling noise,I think from the 3 front center AC vents most noticeable at mid fan speed (either on auto or manual) and hear with or without radio on. At 5 Star one of two service writers claimed they did not hear it; nonetheless, they said they took off the vents to see if maybe there was something obstructive that may have caused this noise,
but the same problem is there afterwards. Any suggestions to resolve the problem of the whistling noise?

Finally, five weeks and with 2500 miles after purchasing the 300 M, I had the "common" stuck in 2nd gear tranny problem mentioned on this forum. It took 7 days to get the proper module installed because it was on backorder from the Los Angeles Regional DC Parts depot, which makes me wonder how many others are having this problem? Also does anyone know what the chances are of this occurring again or if DC has or is in the process of correcting the computerized tranny modules causing this frequent problem?

I find this forum to be highly informative and any advice would be appreciated.

fuzzywuzzy

My problems were simlar with the 17" Dunlops. It must depend on the tire.

fuzzywuzzy

Mine if off sometimes. Like when the car sits for a while, then I drive it. If I sit in traffic with varying speeds it is off. Seems It takes a few miles at a CONSTANT speed to correct. But after that it is within 2-3 degrees. It's minor for me, I can live without it exactly right. The dealer can reflash the unit, it may, & may not help. I think the problem is where the temp sensor is located.

99_300m_ric_va

Hey everyone,

The East Coast Club Meeting at Wall Stadium in Wall Township, NJ yesterday was excellent. Mr. George Deane set everything up for us locally, while Rogor and Drpixel got everything setup behind the scenes. We all had a great time. Everyone had their cameras and took lots of pictures, I shot about 145 pictures myself. We also had a local speedway photographer take professional photos of the event including a video tape. All these will be available in the weeks to come.

Everyone made new friends and put faces to names. Trophys were presented for Most Cruisin, Most Clean, Most Mods and one other [I forget ]

The best part was seeing eight 300Ms on the 1/3 mile oval of Wall Stadium. Unfortunately we did not get to race, only a 20-30 mph parade. I think we made 3 laps.

Everyone's car was beautiful. We had examples of each year and trim style I think and one 99 LHS. Some cars were stock, and others had custom clock faces, intakes, dual exhaust, lowered springs, logoed floormats, spoilers, logoed bra, etc.

If no one has seen the Steal Blue Pearl color on the 2001s then you are missing out. George Deane had that one with the luxury group. The real wood trim and steering wheel are very nice. I highly recommend this combonation to anyone considering a new 300m

BTW, I heard the Basslink in Toms99 LHS and thought it sounded very cool. It's more boomy than the Boston 12 in a sealed enclosure I have. I might have to get one for my mom's 2000 Concorde. He also has the wheelskin with the baseball stitch. That was also very nice.

We had a lot of fun. Maybe next year a two day event with a cruise is in order.

sdmike2

Thanks for the re-cap. Who all was there? Where can we see some of those pictures? I agree with you on the Steel Blue. For me it was between inferno red and sandstone loaded and the steel blue with taupe, but without PHG. The PHG made up my mind for me, but if the steel blue I saw had PHG I might be driving Big Blue instead of Big Red.

99_300m_ric_va

Ok Mike, lets see if I can remember everyone...

George Deane and family
Glenn Beye
Robert Powell
Vincent Morrison and family
Tom Sokol
John and Evalese Mulhern
Don Scruggs and wife (forgot her name, doh!)
Tony Pereira and friend (forgot his name too)
Mike Pares and family (Photographers)

I think that's everybody. A great bunch of people to be associated with.

I'll try and upload some of my pics somewhere and let you know when done.

toms99

Ok, I made up an Excel speadsheet. Just change the values of tire size, final gear ratio, and MPH and watch it calculate RPM! (You can add a line by highlighting one of the existing lines, copy, paste, and then overwrite with your own values.)

Indicates that denvernm was doing about 140MPH when the tach was just under 4500...just like his pic!

Fuzzy- this comparison also indicates you are probably correct in that DC changed the "Special" gearing just to compensate for the 18" wheels...

WAll - Well, I probably live the closest but was the last one to arrive! Got lost in Asbury Park listening to Bruce on the Infinity - LOL! Made it just in time for the parade laps. Had fun driving ric va from the pits to the grandstands! Also had a great time holding up the LHS side of the family!

TIRE/GEAR Link:

http://home.adelphia.net/~tsokol/tiregear.xls

99_300m_ric_va

Try this link for highlights of the East Coast Club Wall Rendezvous 2001

http://photos.yahoo.com/bc/rpowelljr300n/lst?.dir=/My+Photos/East+Coast+Club+Wall+Rendezvous

99_300m_ric_va

Tom,

Nice meeting you at Wall Saturday and riding in your sweet LHS.

I'm looking at your Spreadsheet and if the 140 mph and 4434 rpm is correct, then if you plug in a speed to get you to redine of 7000, the answer is 221 mph. That's fast, too fast. Given the published top end of 148, and considering other factors like wind resistance etc, how do we resolve this difference? What am I missing? Another limiter for not having Z rated tires?

What is the real RPM when one is at the top end? I usually think of the top end as being when the engine is near or at redline in the highest gear.

Has anyone conducted a real life test?

olafvaniperen

I bought my 2001 300M late feb 2001, life's been
just great, but this weekend I started to hear a humming sound from the rear of the car. My tires (Michelin's) seem okay, it almost sound like the engine moved the back. Especialy between 50 - 70 M/Ph it is realy loud. Mileage only just over 4000. Does anybody have the same experience ???
Everything else is just great about this car..

laurasdada

Hello, folks.
I've been a 300M owner since June '99 and been reading/posting since probably a little earlier. I've been an import owner all my life (shopping domestics and reading reliability/quality ratings was depressing. Also, never had any problems with my Mitsubishi or Acura or family owned Nissans and Hondas), but the 300M just grabbed me (after shopping and comparing entry level sport/luxury sedans for months), so I decided to take a a leap of faith and buy:
1. A domestic!
2. A first year model! (although mine was built in June '99 after a few minor changes had been made, shifter e.g.)
3. A Chrysler!

From this board, I listened and empathized with a few owners who encountered problems (hello, Fastdriver: former owner of possibly the worst 300M ever produced) and learned of some common problems. To date, the only problem I've had is the replacement of two window motors.
Well, I've only got about 8500 miles of warranty left, so even though my M has been relatively trouble-free, Chrysler's rep for reliability and the knowledge of problems with '99s has been in the back of my mind. So...tonight, on the way to pick up dinner for the family, as I'm slowing to a red light, the tranny CLUNKS noticeably and the CHECK ENGINE light comes on (I'm at 27,500 miles). Switching to Autostick, I find I'm stuck in 2nd gear (limp mode). Rebooting (oops, I'm a computer geek) the car does not change the status. So, I imagine Tuesday I will limp to a 5* close to home and see what's what. Luckily, I'm still under warranty, but this does not give me any warm and fuzzy feelings...
That having been said, I still think the 300M is a great car. Gorgeous styling, great value, performance, practicallity and reasonable economy. The build quality is OK, not up to the imports I was comparing it to, but then, neither was the price. I hope my soon to be dealings with the dealer (nor future reliability) does not reduce my enthusiasm for this car or my belief that with the latest generation LH cars, that Chrysler has turned the reliability ship around. I'll keep you posted. Any advice is always appreciated.

BTW: Mike Mussina is pitching a perfect game against the Red Sox, now in the bottom of the eighth. With the Red Sox anemic offense, I'm surprised that a perfect game hasn't been pitched against them already! Bright side is David Cone is also pitching a beauty. Such a shame, if the Sox could just score 4 runs a game....Oh, well. Wait'll next year. Yeah, it was Jimy Williams' fault.

laurasdada

...but no perfect game/no hitter. With two outs, Carl Everett (get rid of this guy) bloops a single. Kinda shame, a perfect game would have been a fitting final nail in the Sox season of offensive ineptitude(although they've really been done for a few weeks now). My guess is that the Sox lead the league in bases loaded with less than two out situations without scoring a run...
Wait'll next year.
I hate it when something is wrong with my car.

traley

Finally back from Vegas. Enjoyed going back. Two words though....IT'S HOT!!!!! Also, that traffic is ridiculous. Some lady won over 1 mill while I was there. I won 200. I wonder if she'll trade me.

300michael

I live in Phoenix, and the temp sensor is usually off for a couple of minuets. Then is pretty accurate. Since they take the temp. from Sky Harbor it is ususally a little cooler in the outlying areas. The dealer should be able to check the sensor sender out, or adjust it.

The wistling sound. Did they check the foam gaskets that surround the vents? Do you get the same sound with the vent cover off?

Sounds like the dreded speed tranny speed sensor again. What city do you live in, if you don't mind?

300michael

(hope I spelled it right) do you get the same sound if you keep the car in 1st gear at the same rpms?, and second gear at the same rpms? Or is it related to the speed of the vehicle?

toms99

I think there are a couple of issues here that the spreadheet obviously does not cover:

- the Final Drive ratio is 3.66, but the top overall gear ratio (at the transaxle) is 2.52. I don't think the engine is designed to hit the redline (7000 rpm) at the top overall gear ratio of 2.52.

- I ommitted lots of physics like friction, rolling friction, expansion of tires when heated, etc. In short, this is just a guideline.

If anyone can point out some flaw in the math or logic, let me know!

laurasdada

Hello. I live in the Boston area. The dealer I purchased the car from retired, so I'm going to take it to the closest dealer to me. THis dealer actually treated me well during my attempt to purchase the M there, until trade in time. Their first offer was insulting and second and third offers weren't much better. The other dealer offered me the true trade-in value right off the bat, so they got the sale.
I read through some of the prior posts and was reminded of the Input Speed Sensor problem, so hopefully the dealer will be able to take care of it PDQ.
I know I'm over-reacting, but I'm just not used to problems with cars (thank you, Japan, Inc.). If my M starts to fall apart, adios domestics for many more years. I'm sure it'll be fine and I'll have several more trouble free years with my M, though.
Good luck, Bob Lutz. I hope GM doesn't bring you down...

sdmike2

Don't worry, it's either the input or output speed sensor. It should be a 30 minute fix for these guys. It seems that it's a real common problem. However, if everything else with your M is rosey don't stress. You've had a wonderful experience with the car, and it should keep on performing well for you. Consumer Report's ratings of the 99 and 00 repair histories are very very good overall.
-M

denverm

If it's the speed sensor, can you ask them if any mechanic could just plug a new one in, or does it require some special DC tool/electronics to install? I'm starting to think it might not be a bad idea to carry the spare part, at least on long road trips away from big towns.

sdmike2

I've replaced things like O2 sensors in cars for years without the need for anything except the right sized wrench, some pliars/snips (I've had wires that woudln't come unplugged) and possibly some electrical tape to make amends. My guess is that this is similar. Plug and play. Great idea on keeping an extra around!

-M

herrmdogg

Hey guys, what's up? I just thought everyone might like to know (probably not) that I went to 2 car shows this weekend and won at both of them. That makes "ON DUBZ" 3 for 3, so I'm batting a thousand on the show circuit. The show yesterday was a top 60 with about a 300+ car turnout and today's was a top 200 with about a 600+ turnout (then the one from last weekend for best modified vechicle 1958-current), so I'm happy. How is everyone else doing this year on car shows ?!?!?!? Anyone else take their M's to shows? Unfortunately I missed about every show I had planned to be at due to the fact that my air suspension install took WAY LONGER than expected. =*( See you guys later !!!

http://members.cardomain.com/herrmdogg

HerrmDogg

phases78

CONGRATS MAN!!!!! good god almighty... woopin @ss arent ya???

silverbullet4

Ric, the drag on a car increases with the square of the car speed. ie, if a certain drag force is measured at 80 mph, then it will not be doubled at 160 mph, but will be four times the drag at 80 mph. This plus rolling resistance and tires flying apart limit most cars reaching anywhere near the redline in top gear. Exceptions are drag racing rear axles with 4.56 or 5.11 ratios. I have been a passenger in a Porsche Carrera at the Nurburgring in Germany where the driver had to back off the throttle on a slight downhill to avoid redline. This was in 1960 mind you, so we probably weren't doing more than 125 mph. I also rode in a Jag XK150-S (3 SU carburetors) on the same course at 240 kph on the long straight. That's about 150 mph per my circular sliderule/pencil holder. I'll probably never have another drive at that speed again, but 41 years later I still remember it.

Hermdogg-way to go, Dude!

Silver

mike_sp1

While reading a consumer's magazine's rating of vehicles recently, I noticed that the classification of the 300M was"near luxury." I figured this was similar to being pregnant with "near pregnant" not being a possibility. Any thoughts why the 300M, with all of its equipment, is not considered in the luxury class? The only thing I could think of is that the 300Ms don't cost enough to be considered full luxery cars. Mike_sp1

silverbullet4

Mike, I would say there are other differences besides price. The car is very sport sedan oriented, with luxury features as a bonus. Most luxury cars have quieter interiors, less road noise, higher grades of leather (vat dyed, versus surface spray), and a softer ride. Things like perforated leather seat backs with ventilation for cooling your Armani-swathed back and On-Star are missing at our price range. The M has great convenience features and road manners, adequate power--that's what I want, along with ample room.

Silver