Av - you can find the list of PHG parts in my "parts guide" that's available at www.ritchiefamily.com/links.htm. Here is a direct link to the document:
The ride was at Mammoth Mountain. You first take a gondola up to over 11,000 feet and then you have a choice of dozens of trails from relatively straight and flat to OH MY GOD black diamond rated trails. The previous picture is at the top of a black diamond run appropriately called "skid marks". Should have called it "aaaaAAAAaaa". lol! Thank heavens for full suspension. Here is a later picture from an intermediate run further down. You can see the gondola in the background. I'll shoot you a link to more pictures once I put them on my web site. It was awesome.
I double checked at the Michelin Web site. On a 99 300M 225/55-17 Pilot XGT Z4 tire on stock rims Michelin recommends 30 psi F/R.
I think I'm running 34 psi F/R. I may adjust it down further, not sure yet, still experimenting. I'm definently about to invest in a decent tire pressure guage with a big dial or LCD display and a bleed off valve. Saw one at Wal-Mart for $13 but still checking around. It will be worth it compared to new set of XGT's prematurely.
BTW, Remember that's a COLD reading. Not after a 20 min. drive home from work and stopping for gas. I read on tirerack.com that after about 20 minutes of running under load your tire pressure can be up 2 PSI. Also summer heat exposed to the sun can cause you psi to be up even without running the car on the road.
So folks keep that kind of stuff in mind before adjusting a tire's pressure, If you check the pressure at a gas stop in mid July after a 200 mile trip and bleed off 4-5 psi to get to the proper number your tire could actually end up being underinflated the next morning.
All- Check the manufacturer of your tires' website, and also tirerack.com has very good info on tire care.
food for thought , please pass the ketchup :-) tnsc_300m
We're beginning to think that this car of ours is more of a problem than it's worth.
As some of you may remember, our M was at the dealer about 2 or 3 weeks ago with a list of issues. When we got it back, things were looking good, and they actually appeared to have done something. For one, our steering wheel had melted, and we were told that it would be replaced. Okay, fine, I thought. But then we thought that maybe we could instead get a 2001 wood/leather wheel instead and pay the difference. So, my wife called them and asked if this could be done and for how much. Two weeks went by, with her having to call them every single day without ever getting called back, until she finally yelled at them and they told her that they couldn't do it. Yet again, we thought okay, they'll just get the standard one and it will be fixed. At the same time, they were going to both re-allign the front suspension and rotate the wheels to fix the pulling, replace or fix the weatherstripping, and install the new wheel.
In the meantime, I went away to Pennsylvania for the past week, and my wife stayed at home. She called me Wednesday and was really P.O.'ed with what they had done. They had called her Tuesday and said that the parts were in, and she could make an appointment. Just to be sure, she asked them three times if they were sure they had everything so she wouldn't need to come up yet another time. They told her yes, and that it would all be done in the day. Also, she had told them about the lights flickering and blinking and they were supposed to check it out. So, she took the car up Wednesday morning, had to get a ride to work with a friend, and went about her day at work. When she got back up there in the evening to pick it up, they told her that they had accidentally forgotten to order the main part--the steering wheel!! Boy was she mad! She said that she started telling them that they were idiots and that their service sucked, and then the manager walked out and asked what was the problem. This moron then told her to calm down and that it's really a nice car, she shouldn't be mad. So on the way home that night, she discovered the other little suprise--the car shook and vibrated all over the road!
So, a few days went by, and she drove up to Pennsylvania to pick me up and visit for a day. I too, then saw the crap that was going on with the car. She then added that they supposedly "fixed" the light show, but on the way up, they started blinking again. I decided to look at the weatherstripping to see how bad they had screwed up. I still can't see what they did though. She said that they ordered some kind of clips for them, but I don't know what they're talking about. It still looks the same, the b-pillar corners just fit a little bit better. Problem is, now you look around the opening and see where they're sticking out from another place. Whatever they did, it didn't do very much. In addition, when going over even a little crack or bump in the road, our back seat passengers heard squeaking and crunching. Probably the struts or springs.
Yesterday coming home though, I got to feel and SEE how bad the car was shaking. When we started driving, you could feel it vibrating a little more than usual. But then, if you'd put on the brakes, it got really bad. On a smooth, new road at about 45 mph, she pressed the brakes and took her hands off the wheel. I looked over and it was shaking back and forth and vibrating very bad. It was like the rotors had warped horribly at the same time they did their "work" on the suspension and wheels! The rest of the trip, you could feel vibration at any speed on the highway.
So, we got home yesterday afternoon and parked the car in the driveway as usual. I'm home certain days of the week and happened to be today. My wife came home for lunch, and as I was expecting, she had a few select words for the car and the dealer that's supposed to be 5* (maybe it's negative 5!). She told me that now, all the lights had been flickering like crazy again and that it was still vibrating bad on the road. Within a few minutes, she called the dealer and was not pleased. She asked for a certain person, and as I expected, all she had to do was mention her first name and he knew exactly who it was. He was told about the lights going nuts again and how bad it started shaking and vibrating ever since they worked on it Wednesday. He didn't have much to say except to arrange for another appointment and that the vibrating was probably the brakes--well, it never did it before Wednesday idiot! Oh, what a lovely few days this has been so far.
So, where are we now? She's mad as can be and told me that she wants to get rid of "the piece of crap" in her words, even if she does lose money on the car. I gave her the arbitration booklet from the glovebox, but she said it's not worth going through the aggravation, hassle, mileage, and gas continuing to drive this car back and forth from the dealer. Well, I can only imagine what comes next in this dark and dreary M'er story!
Isn't there another dealer you can take it to? Even a dodge dealer will work on it. Try that. I have also found that being there while the work is being done helps. The tech/service guy can walk to you if there's a problem, or something cannot be duplicated. Also doesn't help with the SO calling them idiots in front of them. If I was the service guy & someone did that, I'd refuse to work on the car, or set it aside, for the last one, or take my sweet time looking at it. Just suggestions.
As for your problems, The vibrating could be an unbalanced wheel. A weight might have been knocked off. Are they goodyears? Goodyears are crap! Many many people have had vibrations with them after getting them rotated. I know it's hard sometimes, but being calm, & persistant does help.
Well, looks like I'm getting a new one because of the mush! It's on back order, though. I'll still get a Wheelskin, if for nothing else than a thicker wheel.
Yeah, that's my 99LHS! I checked the brochure - Interior colors back then were: Camel, Light Pearl Beige, and Agate.
Power Steering: Haven't had that changed yet. Not sure I EVER changed the PS fluid in any car. I'll have to check the manual. At 30K I had the tranny fluid changed and because it was 36 months I had the cooling system flushed and the brakes checked (this was in addition to the regular oil/filter change.)
The biggest problem with your car appears to be the "service" department where you get it worked on. Find another dealer and make it clear that you are very upset at the other dealer and that they'll have your business if they take care of you. Dealers love to take business away from other dealers. Also, ask for the name and address/phone of the regional dealer rep and cut/paste your last 30 messages to this board to him/her, asking what they can do to make things right.
In addition to meeting Dieter Zetsche, we met "otto" and 3 of his co-workers from the Brampton, Ontario 300M plant. We had dinner and some conversation with this great bunch of guys, and they invited us all(?) to come to Brampton next summer for a plant tour. Brampton is very close to Toronto, which in turn is about 80 miles north of Buffalo, NY. So your move Roger, Toronto Trip 2002!
Actually ,Fred, the trout would have a shorter, but slower, route. The 80 mile drive takes you around the western end of Lake Ontario. I estimate the drive to Brampton would take about 2 hours from Buffalo, assuming no delay at the border.
What a great time at Woodward . For those who didn't make it this year, you must try and make plans for next year its well worth it. .Then getting to meet a bunch of you great 300 enthusiast later in the day and talk cars . The passion you guys have towards your 300's is overwhelming. Then to see some of the stuff you have been doing to your cars was cool . To bad the rain was pouring down and we couldn't get more in depth. All I can say is hope to see all off you up at the plant soon.
from none other than drpixel, Vice President of OUR Club/paert-time webMMMaster (thanks again, Brent..)graphics guy/assembler and creator of Membership packages. As you sit in fron of your monitors, basking in the afterglow of the Monterey Rendezvous 2001 and the Detriot Dream Cruise, I envy y'all for you have gotten together with your bretheren and sisteren (?!....) in true 300m Camraderie!..but W A I T: there is ANOTHER event coming up for East Coasters! (drum roll please.....) Yes my fellow members it's the Wall Stadium Speedway Chrysler 300m Enthusiasts Club Rendezvous 2001 on September 1st! If you are an East Coaster, residing on ..well, the East Coast; then you owe it to yourself and 300m owners and enthusiasts everywhere to contact George Deane to register for this--as the Monterey and Detriot events were--One of a Kind East Coast Event. Email him at george_deane@hotmail.com or go to the Club website where a link will magically whisk you away to the Event Web site. There, you'll be able information about this upcoming event. George and I are looking forward to meeting as many of our fellow 300m 'nuts' that can make it to this fun-filled event. We'll be able to tke our "M"s out on the race track itself for some, like you know, laps around the track itself. I've sent out an email message to the members that I have email addresses for, and will be sending out another message tomorrow morning for other members whose email address that I don't have at home. Regards to all my fellow 300m Enthusiasts from drpixel/Glenn
I don't mean to sound a little abrupt here, but you seem to be making us seem like idiots. Sure, there are other dealers out there and this is not the first one we have taken our car to. The next closest is about 45 minutes away and neither of us has time as it is to make it to the current one that's just 15 minutes up the road. Second, this place is not just a Chrysler dealer but also sells Dodge and Jeep; their a full-line Chrysler dealer. There is no Dodge-only dealer anywhere near here. Third, their a 5*, and should be a little better at satisfying their customers. We took our van over once or twice for a warranty fix and they were always knowledgable, friendly, and took care of the issue properly--that was for a stripped $20,000 base minivan and this is a $32,000 supposed luxury sport sedan.
Don't get me wrong here, this is still a very nice car when it wants to be. It's just that when you spend this much, you expect a little more.
P.S., To whoever asked, we do have the crapyears. I know this probably may be the cause of the vibration on the highway, but when applying the brakes, it shouldn't be the tires that make the steering wheel shake violently. Chrysler was dumb enough to choose these tires in the first place, so now they should take the responsibility to fix the problems they cause. We are not about to spend our money to buy new tires for a car that just turned on 13,000 miles.
Now, come to think of it, I have a question for you guys. I have driven cars with ABS before, and when you hit them on a slippy surface, you'll usually feel a slight pulse in the pedal and the wheels won't lock up. This past winter I was outside shoveling and as my wife left the driveway and hit the brakes at the end where there must have been a slick spot, I saw the front wheels lock up completely while the backs kept moving. Then yesterday morning, two deer ran right in front of us, and when she hit the brakes hard so we wouldn't hit them, it felt like they locked up and we heard them sqeaul. I'm beginning to think that our ABS is not working properly. Any ideas?
so how many of our members showed up for the Detroit meet---did you guys parade down Woodward ave all together? How was the weather on Saturday---how bout some more pics?
Sounds like your car is posessed. I suggest contacting a priest immediately. At least we know where the statistical balance to our trouble-free Ms are. We should ask otto if they ever let VIPs touring the factory "try their hands" at car assembly. but seriously, your ABS should not lock up.
"so how many of our members showed up for the Detroit meet---did you guys parade down Woodward ave all together? How was the weather on Saturday---how bout some more pics?"
It's not the QUANTITY, John, it's the QUALITY! There were 6 members at Dream Cruise, bur no more than 4 at any one time. Four, that is if you don't count "otto" and company, then there were 8 at dinner. The weather was great when it counted, rainy when it didn't. We will post some photos soon. We didn't parade down Woodward, as that would have taken most of the day! Highlights: Watching 100 Prowlers and more than 500 PT Cruisers depart the Walter P. Chrysler Museum for a parade lap to Pontiac. Enjoying more than 35 THOUSAND cars(along with 1.75 MILLION other people) at Saturday's cruise. Meeting,and talking to, Deiter Zetsche at "Dodge City." Dinner with "otto" & friends Sat. nite. Greenfield Village tour on Sunday. We need more participants for next year!
Mike, Intermediate, huh? Looks pretty steep. I skied it about 16 years ago. Terrifying headwall. I went with some locals and friends from SF as my wife was "great with child". The skiing was pretty good, as I remember.
Hi folks, thanks for the responses on the sliding seats issue. I was readaing some of the old stuff in the archives, and I ran across an old post from indydriver that went something like this.
Is indydriver around these days? I would like to get more detailed info from him. Indy, if you read this, please email me at Rey_Garza@dell.com.
#50 of 63 Transmission Ed. 101 by indydriver Mar 15, 2000 (07:40 am) If anyone is having tranny problems with their 300M, contact the service manager at Carson Chrysler in Plainfield, IN (they're on the web). He's become an expert after working on my car the past year. I bought in Dec. 98 and now have 35,000 miles on the clock. Car was delivered from the factory with the famous 'valve body' defect which manifests itself by failing to shift out of park on cold starts even though the digital dash indicator shows it shifting. Trans eventually engages after a few revs and pressure is built up. Replacing this part involves complete removal of the trans from the car--make sure you've got a good mechanic! I continued to have shifting problems, especially a "thunk" on the downshift from 2nd to 1st when coming to a stop. Dealer replaced the TCM (transmission control module) and Speed Sensor with no improvement. Dealer finally nailed it by replacing the solenoid controlling 2nd gear. Works great now and I use the Autostick all the time.
Is indydriver around these days? I would like to get more detailed info from him. Indy, if you read this, please email me at Rey_Garza@dell.com.
from Monterey, about 2700 miles total in the past six days, and I loved every one of 'em. After 13 months and 20,000 miles, my respect for this car keeps going up. The daily commute in to work just doesn't do it justice. Cutting loose on a curvy road (some cars tried to keep up with me; none did) or blasting on a straightaway, the M is simply fabulous in every way. Wow!
My "99" 300M has been running well.(2 years/26K. miles) However, at the height of a recent heatwave, my A/C started blowing hot air. It needed to have the electronic module that controls the "doors" replaced. I noticed that this was covered by a "TSB" and the warranty. I'm not looking for trouble, but is there some way I can access all the TSB'S (on the net) that have previously been issued by Chrysler on my car? All ideas will be appreciated.
You're in luck. Go to http://www.300mclub.org/sites.htm for a lot of great links, including links to TSBs for the 99 and 00 300Ms. If you're not a member, join us!
Has anyone ever seen a bike on an M. If so, did it look stupid? Since I put the Basslink in my trunk I can no longer fit my mountain bike in there with the seats down. I'm considering either a roof rack or a trailer hitch. Any opinions would be appreciated. -Mike
There has been a temporary delay in getting the caps. We had the first batch done last week but only a few of the black ones (and none of the light ones) turned out satisfactorily. We were trying to get them done before the monterey event so I had them shipped directly to Roger. Normally I would have been around to QA them but I had to bolt for vacation. Anyway, the plan is to have Roger send them back to me and I'll go fight the good fight to have them re-done. Hopefully in a couple of weeks they'll be available. Sorry for the delays.
mike; sorry to hear about bad run of caps---maybe they will let you keep the bad ones or charge you a buck or two each----these could be used to give out to spectators at the New Jersey event coming up in September--would be a good way to promote the club at low or no cost---they are obviously of no use to the manufacturer---
Maybe. They did that before when they messed up a shirt order that I placed for my company. I haven't seen the bad ones yet to know if they're salvageable. I have to talk to Roger about it.
Funny you say that because when my wife's not saying her few select, not so nice words about the car, she's always telling me that it's possessed. Even that moron of a dealer joked about it the last few times we've been there. Real funny!
Here's why I think it is possessed:
1. A few months ago, I started noticing that the trunk would pop itself with no interaction with either the remote or dash button. Really strange. We'd get out of the car just to run inside for a few minutes and the trunk was closed but when we'd come out, it would be popped.
2. About four times while driving, there is a single beep that comes from somewhere in the dash. No one is touching anything when it does this, it just does it.
3. Lately, all different lights inside the car will just start putting on a show whenever they feel like it. First, all the green lights in the car would flicker between night and day mode. Then only certain ones would blink. And just yesterday, the dome light and one of the lights in the door came one while driving and then went off. We always check to see if the switch is in the right position, and it always is.
4. Once, we were listening to the radio and when I pushed in the button to turn it off, out popped one of the CD's in the changer. Just weird.
5. One time I closed the door, and before we could push the lock button, the horn honked and the car did it itself.
Then are all the other beauties. Steering wheel shaking, vibration, ABS locking up for some reason, rattles that appear and disappear, etc.
If the car was red like fastdriver's, mayeb we could call it Christine too. Any ideas for our psychotic Deep Slate beauty?
It's messed up how the dealer is with your car. But if to get it fixed requires you to do things which you don't want to do. Like driving a distance to another dealer, or taking a day, & being there with the car. Do it. It's your car,& you will never be happy until it is fixed. It's bad, & it shouldn't happen, & it's not your fault, but it's life. Try taking the car to a good tire shop & have them rebalance, the tires, see what happends. Man if you lived closer to me I'd do it for you we could trade cars for a week I'd like to drive a possessed car
That's not an M, That's an Impala. Is that yours? The M's interior is darker then the grey in my 96 Impala. I also hate 2 tone with a passion, so I'm not a person to say if it would look good or not. I will say the spokes on the M wheel are a little bigger, You also will not have 8 feet left. I had maybe 6 inches left when I did my M.
from drpixel in -actually a decent day today-- New York City! I agree whole-heartedly, Russ. At this point, George (and I by extension..) arre expecting about 9 cars--defintitely 6 for the last of the 300M Enthusiasts Club Triathlon of Events in Wall Stadium Speedway on September 1st.
I have bulk-spammed/emailed as many members as I could find in my spreadsheet who are east coast members again this morning (you're included, Russ.) as a reminder. Some of our members have already expressed a desire to attend and either have already replied to George, or are still possibly undecided., so if you're rerading this please respond to George Deane at george_deane@hotmail.com
George, as I'm sure you and Roger both did..has been pulling out al the stops to make this a really nice event, as the pictures of the Monterey Event have shown that event to have been. I've been busy generating--surprise!--membership packages and sending them out in near record (for me, anyway..) time; as well as generating stuff for the Wall Stadium Event.
We all have to remember that our site went live on February 15 of this year, and as of this message we are 158 members strong and still growing, all thanks to some planning and a little web site. So maybe this year is was 'only' 6 or 8 people. Maybe next year it will be 12 or 14--the number doesn't really matter, for even if we can't actually meet in prson, we are still friends here online.
On a personal level, I look forward to meeting ANY number of members--whether its 1 or 15--in person.I try to call at least one or two on the weekend when I can get my habds on the cell phone, just to get a voice to connect with the name/picture. As a graphics guy, I'm visually and aurally oriented.
Like most of you who have posted here, my 'schweetie' Linda regularly kids me about 'THE CLUB'. She's acepted my obsession with eMily, even though she drives eMily way more than I do! When she does 'gripe' about doing 'club stuf-which is rare, I tell her better I'm home doing this than hanging out at Hooters (a local gentleman's establishment.
Last but not least, i too have the mysterious moving seat syndrome, and will put it on my list for my 1 1/2 * dealer when I go.
Every participating vehicle goes home with a nice certificate of participation, every participating driver also gets a personal momento from the track, and then there are the door prizes, trophies, programs, pictures... what more could you ask for? Oh yeah, turning laps on a race track? OK, we'll throw those in for free!
Russ, Ottowrkr, Madcity Russ and Mykem--Had a great time and enjoyed meeting you all. The trip home was virtually all at 70mph and I finally broke 26 mpg on the round trip meter. Car ran great at the high speeds with several passes over 80mph and smooth. Russ and Myke the photo of you on the old Ford at Greenfield Village came out good and I have one copy and can send if either of you want it. Otherwise, I can send it to SDMike and ask him to post it.
Otto--What did you think of the "300" on the center brake light? Man, I almost couldn't get out of the parking space with the downpour and the idiots parked in the firelane. I could see accident written all over that backing out attempt, but fortunately I missed the Mercedes.
Every participating vehicle goes home with a nice certificate of participation, every participating driver also gets a personal momento from the track, and then there are the door prizes, trophies, programs, pictures... what more could you ask for? Oh yeah, turning laps on a race track? OK, we'll throw those in for free!
That was someone else's website, but it seemed informative and had the grey and charcoal colors in a real life setting (as opposed to mere color swatches). Also, they stitched up the holes across the spokes. I plan on getting my own appropriate thread and do the "baseball" stitch. Someone here said they could describe how to do it...
Well yester day the dealer installed new pads and rotors on the front of my M at no charge. They called it a good will gesture. And guess what. Still shimmying (is that a word). So the dealer proceded to tell me that yep you guessed it. One of my Goodyears was bad. Now I don't believe them at all because just by chance they happened to blame a tire that I just had replaced Sat. morning due to my tire dealer thinking that the one that was on there was bad. Now the tire dealer says the rim is causing it. So the dealer is going to order up a new rim. To be continued...
The '99 M I bought in Georgia (I'm in Alabama) a couple of months ago seems to have a history to it that I wasn't aware of. While my wife was having it serviced at the local 5* dealer, the SM told her it had been a Mfr. buyback in Georgia and we are the 3rd owners. I had run a CarFax report on it prior to buying it, and it checked out fine, except that it had been a lease vehicle (which might explain the other 2 "owners"). No reference to a buyback. It only had 14,000 miles on it when we got it. The car has been fine for us so far...we love it...except for the accident that my wife had in it because she swerved to miss a nut hogging the road.
CarFax has a guarantee of some kind that will pay 10% of the wholesale value of the car if I can show a different title or representation of the car from what I got. Before I ask them, should I be able to get whatever records from my local 5* that he was referring to when he was talking to my wife (he told her he shouldn't have shown that to her - it is confidential)? It apparently had record of the dealer in GA which the buyback went through and some repairs they made. My wife wrote down the dealer name.
By law, you have to be told at the time of sale the car was a dealer buyback. If you were not, your could sue the dealer. However since you are not having problems, it should be ok. Not sure if carfax has that option in the report. You will have to call to be certin. And you still have to have the report. They will not honor anything unless you still have it.
Just thought you would like to know that I took the back lettering and 300M logo off the back of the trunk..with the dental floss..worked great..the car looks so much better without those on there..
I'm going to work on the front doors this weekend..Then put 3 coats of Zaino on..wow..what a shine...now nobody knows what type of car just went zipping by them! Thanks for the suggestions!
Comments
http://www.ritchiefamily.com/misc/partnumbers.doc
http://www.ritchiefamily.com/misc/P0002544.jpg
On a 99 300M 225/55-17 Pilot XGT Z4 tire on stock rims Michelin recommends 30 psi F/R.
I think I'm running 34 psi F/R. I may adjust it down further, not sure yet, still experimenting. I'm definently about to invest in a decent tire pressure guage with a big dial or LCD display and a bleed off valve. Saw one at Wal-Mart for $13 but still checking around. It will be worth it compared to new set of XGT's prematurely.
BTW, Remember that's a COLD reading. Not after a 20 min. drive home from work and stopping for gas. I read on tirerack.com that after about 20 minutes of running under load your tire pressure can be up 2 PSI. Also summer heat exposed to the sun can cause you psi to be up even without running the car on the road.
So folks keep that kind of stuff in mind before adjusting a tire's pressure, If you check the pressure at a gas stop in mid July after a 200 mile trip and bleed off 4-5 psi to get to the proper number your tire could actually end up being underinflated the next morning.
All- Check the manufacturer of your tires' website, and also tirerack.com has very good info on tire care.
food for thought , please pass the ketchup :-)
tnsc_300m
As some of you may remember, our M was at the dealer about 2 or 3 weeks ago with a list of issues. When we got it back, things were looking good, and they actually appeared to have done something. For one, our steering wheel had melted, and we were told that it would be replaced. Okay, fine, I thought. But then we thought that maybe we could instead get a 2001 wood/leather wheel instead and pay the difference. So, my wife called them and asked if this could be done and for how much. Two weeks went by, with her having to call them every single day without ever getting called back, until she finally yelled at them and they told her that they couldn't do it. Yet again, we thought okay, they'll just get the standard one and it will be fixed. At the same time, they were going to both re-allign the front suspension and rotate the wheels to fix the pulling, replace or fix the weatherstripping, and install the new wheel.
In the meantime, I went away to Pennsylvania for the past week, and my wife stayed at home. She called me Wednesday and was really P.O.'ed with what they had done. They had called her Tuesday and said that the parts were in, and she could make an appointment. Just to be sure, she asked them three times if they were sure they had everything so she wouldn't need to come up yet another time. They told her yes, and that it would all be done in the day. Also, she had told them about the lights flickering and blinking and they were supposed to check it out. So, she took the car up Wednesday morning, had to get a ride to work with a friend, and went about her day at work. When she got back up there in the evening to pick it up, they told her that they had accidentally forgotten to order the main part--the steering wheel!! Boy was she mad! She said that she started telling them that they were idiots and that their service sucked, and then the manager walked out and asked what was the problem. This moron then told her to calm down and that it's really a nice car, she shouldn't be mad. So on the way home that night, she discovered the other little suprise--the car shook and vibrated all over the road!
So, a few days went by, and she drove up to Pennsylvania to pick me up and visit for a day. I too, then saw the crap that was going on with the car. She then added that they supposedly "fixed" the light show, but on the way up, they started blinking again. I decided to look at the weatherstripping to see how bad they had screwed up. I still can't see what they did though. She said that they ordered some kind of clips for them, but I don't know what they're talking about. It still looks the same, the b-pillar corners just fit a little bit better. Problem is, now you look around the opening and see where they're sticking out from another place. Whatever they did, it didn't do very much. In addition, when going over even a little crack or bump in the road, our back seat passengers heard squeaking and crunching. Probably the struts or springs.
Yesterday coming home though, I got to feel and SEE how bad the car was shaking. When we started driving, you could feel it vibrating a little more than usual. But then, if you'd put on the brakes, it got really bad. On a smooth, new road at about 45 mph, she pressed the brakes and took her hands off the wheel. I looked over and it was shaking back and forth and vibrating very bad. It was like the rotors had warped horribly at the same time they did their "work" on the suspension and wheels! The rest of the trip, you could feel vibration at any speed on the highway.
So, we got home yesterday afternoon and parked the car in the driveway as usual. I'm home certain days of the week and happened to be today. My wife came home for lunch, and as I was expecting, she had a few select words for the car and the dealer that's supposed to be 5* (maybe it's negative 5!). She told me that now, all the lights had been flickering like crazy again and that it was still vibrating bad on the road. Within a few minutes, she called the dealer and was not pleased. She asked for a certain person, and as I expected, all she had to do was mention her first name and he knew exactly who it was. He was told about the lights going nuts again and how bad it started shaking and vibrating ever since they worked on it Wednesday. He didn't have much to say except to arrange for another appointment and that the vibrating was probably the brakes--well, it never did it before Wednesday idiot! Oh, what a lovely few days this has been so far.
So, where are we now? She's mad as can be and told me that she wants to get rid of "the piece of crap" in her words, even if she does lose money on the car. I gave her the arbitration booklet from the glovebox, but she said it's not worth going through the aggravation, hassle, mileage, and gas continuing to drive this car back and forth from the dealer. Well, I can only imagine what comes next in this dark and dreary M'er story!
As for your problems, The vibrating could be an unbalanced wheel. A weight might have been knocked off. Are they goodyears? Goodyears are crap! Many many people have had vibrations with them after getting them rotated. I know it's hard sometimes, but being calm, & persistant does help.
Power Steering: Haven't had that changed yet. Not sure I EVER changed the PS fluid in any car. I'll have to check the manual. At 30K I had the tranny fluid changed and because it was 36 months I had the cooling system flushed and the brakes checked (this was in addition to the regular oil/filter change.)
http://www.accessone.com/~mlinkesq/wheelskin.html
http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tiretech/pressure.htm
Their whole section of info called Tire Tech is worth a read. Especially if you're considering laying down large $$ for new Hi-Perf. treads.
tnsc_300m
We had dinner and some conversation with this great bunch of guys, and they invited us all(?) to come to Brampton next summer for a plant tour.
Brampton is very close to Toronto, which in turn is about 80 miles north of Buffalo, NY.
So your move Roger, Toronto Trip 2002!
The install isn't finished, so keep the jokes to yourselves.
http://members.sounddomain.com/traley
Actually ,Fred, the trout would have a shorter, but slower, route.
The 80 mile drive takes you around the western end of Lake Ontario.
I estimate the drive to Brampton would take about 2 hours from Buffalo, assuming no delay at the border.
What a great time at Woodward . For those who didn't make it this year, you must try and make plans for next year its well worth it. .Then getting to meet a bunch of you great 300 enthusiast later in the day and talk cars . The passion you guys have towards your 300's is overwhelming. Then to see some of the stuff you have been doing to your cars was cool . To bad the rain was pouring down and we couldn't get more in depth. All I can say is hope to see all off you up at the plant soon.
As you sit in fron of your monitors, basking in the afterglow of the Monterey Rendezvous 2001 and the Detriot Dream Cruise, I envy y'all for you have gotten together with your bretheren and sisteren (?!....) in true 300m Camraderie!..but W A I T: there is ANOTHER event coming up for East Coasters!
(drum roll please.....)
Yes my fellow members it's the Wall Stadium Speedway Chrysler 300m Enthusiasts Club Rendezvous 2001 on September 1st!
If you are an East Coaster, residing on ..well, the East Coast; then you owe it to yourself and 300m owners and enthusiasts everywhere to contact George Deane to register for this--as the Monterey and Detriot events were--One of a Kind East Coast Event. Email him at george_deane@hotmail.com
or go to the Club website where a link will magically whisk you away to the Event Web site. There, you'll be able information about this upcoming event.
George and I are looking forward to meeting as many of our fellow 300m 'nuts' that can make it to this fun-filled event. We'll be able to tke our "M"s out on the race track itself for some, like you know, laps around the track itself.
I've sent out an email message to the members that I have email addresses for, and will be sending out another message tomorrow morning for other members whose email address that I don't have at home.
Regards to all my fellow 300m Enthusiasts from
drpixel/Glenn
Don't get me wrong here, this is still a very nice car when it wants to be. It's just that when you spend this much, you expect a little more.
P.S., To whoever asked, we do have the crapyears. I know this probably may be the cause of the vibration on the highway, but when applying the brakes, it shouldn't be the tires that make the steering wheel shake violently. Chrysler was dumb enough to choose these tires in the first place, so now they should take the responsibility to fix the problems they cause. We are not about to spend our money to buy new tires for a car that just turned on 13,000 miles.
Now, come to think of it, I have a question for you guys. I have driven cars with ABS before, and when you hit them on a slippy surface, you'll usually feel a slight pulse in the pedal and the wheels won't lock up. This past winter I was outside shoveling and as my wife left the driveway and hit the brakes at the end where there must have been a slick spot, I saw the front wheels lock up completely while the backs kept moving. Then yesterday morning, two deer ran right in front of us, and when she hit the brakes hard so we wouldn't hit them, it felt like they locked up and we heard them sqeaul. I'm beginning to think that our ABS is not working properly. Any ideas?
It's not the QUANTITY, John, it's the QUALITY!
There were 6 members at Dream Cruise, bur no more than 4 at any one time. Four, that is if you don't count "otto" and company, then there were 8 at dinner.
The weather was great when it counted, rainy when it didn't.
We will post some photos soon.
We didn't parade down Woodward, as that would have taken most of the day!
Highlights:
Watching 100 Prowlers and more than 500 PT Cruisers depart the Walter P. Chrysler Museum for a parade lap to Pontiac.
Enjoying more than 35 THOUSAND cars(along with 1.75 MILLION other people) at Saturday's cruise.
Meeting,and talking to, Deiter Zetsche at "Dodge City."
Dinner with "otto" & friends Sat. nite.
Greenfield Village tour on Sunday.
We need more participants for next year!
Silver
Is indydriver around these days? I would like to get more detailed info from him. Indy, if you read this, please email me at Rey_Garza@dell.com.
#50 of 63 Transmission Ed. 101 by indydriver Mar 15, 2000 (07:40 am)
If anyone is having tranny problems with their 300M, contact the service manager at Carson Chrysler in Plainfield, IN (they're on the web). He's become an expert after working on my car the past year. I bought in Dec. 98 and now have 35,000 miles on the clock. Car was delivered from the factory with the famous 'valve body' defect which manifests itself by failing to shift out of park on cold starts even though the digital dash indicator shows it shifting. Trans eventually engages after a few revs and pressure is built up. Replacing this part involves complete removal of the trans from the car--make sure you've got a good mechanic! I continued to have shifting problems, especially a "thunk" on the downshift from 2nd to 1st when coming to a stop. Dealer replaced the TCM (transmission control module) and Speed Sensor with no improvement. Dealer finally nailed it by replacing the solenoid controlling 2nd gear. Works great now and I use the Autostick all the time.
Is indydriver around these days? I would like to get more detailed info from him. Indy, if you read this, please email me at Rey_Garza@dell.com.
I'm not looking for trouble, but is there some way I can access all the TSB'S (on the net) that have previously been issued by Chrysler on my car? All ideas will be appreciated.
-Mike (Big Red, '01 loaded inferno red)
Rogor: whats the latest on the caps with the club logo---(one of the many benefits for club members)
-Mike
Mike
http://members.cardomain.com/traley
mike; sorry to hear about bad run of caps---maybe they will let you keep the bad ones or charge you a buck or two each----these could be used to give out to spectators at the New Jersey event coming up in September--would be a good way to promote the club at low or no cost---they are obviously of no use to the manufacturer---
Mike
http://members.sounddomain.com/traley
and
http://members.cardomain.com/traley
should be working.
I have added 2 new pics to my site, one of my clock face and one of my car sittin on dog leg.
http://members.cardomain.com/herrmdogg
HerrmDogg
Here's why I think it is possessed:
1. A few months ago, I started noticing that the trunk would pop itself with no interaction with either the remote or dash button. Really strange. We'd get out of the car just to run inside for a few minutes and the trunk was closed but when we'd come out, it would be popped.
2. About four times while driving, there is a single beep that comes from somewhere in the dash. No one is touching anything when it does this, it just does it.
3. Lately, all different lights inside the car will just start putting on a show whenever they feel like it. First, all the green lights in the car would flicker between night and day mode. Then only certain ones would blink. And just yesterday, the dome light and one of the lights in the door came one while driving and then went off. We always check to see if the switch is in the right position, and it always is.
4. Once, we were listening to the radio and when I pushed in the button to turn it off, out popped one of the CD's in the changer. Just weird.
5. One time I closed the door, and before we could push the lock button, the horn honked and the car did it itself.
Then are all the other beauties. Steering wheel shaking, vibration, ABS locking up for some reason, rattles that appear and disappear, etc.
If the car was red like fastdriver's, mayeb we could call it Christine too. Any ideas for our psychotic Deep Slate beauty?
I have bulk-spammed/emailed as many members as I could find in my spreadsheet who are east coast members again this morning (you're included, Russ.) as a reminder. Some of our members have already expressed a desire to attend and either have already replied to George, or are still possibly undecided., so if you're rerading this please respond to George Deane at
george_deane@hotmail.com
George, as I'm sure you and Roger both did..has been pulling out al the stops to make this a really nice event, as the pictures of the Monterey Event have shown that event to have been.
I've been busy generating--surprise!--membership packages and sending them out in near record (for me, anyway..) time; as well as generating stuff for the Wall Stadium Event.
We all have to remember that our site went live on February 15 of this year, and as of this message we are 158 members strong and still growing, all thanks to some planning and a little web site. So maybe this year is was 'only' 6 or 8 people. Maybe next year it will be 12 or 14--the number doesn't really matter, for even if we can't actually meet in prson, we are still friends here online.
On a personal level, I look forward to meeting ANY number of members--whether its 1 or 15--in person.I try to call at least one or two on the weekend when I can get my habds on the cell phone, just to get a voice to connect with the name/picture. As a graphics guy, I'm visually and aurally oriented.
Like most of you who have posted here, my 'schweetie' Linda regularly kids me about 'THE CLUB'. She's acepted my obsession with eMily, even though she drives eMily way more than I do! When she does 'gripe' about doing 'club stuf-which is rare, I tell her better I'm home doing this than hanging out at Hooters (a local gentleman's establishment.
Last but not least, i too have the mysterious moving seat syndrome, and will put it on my list for my 1 1/2 * dealer when I go.
Regards to all,
Doc
track, and then there are the door prizes, trophies, programs, pictures... what more could you ask for? Oh yeah, turning laps on a race track?
OK, we'll throw those in for free!
Otto--What did you think of the "300" on the center brake light? Man, I almost couldn't get out of the parking space with the downpour and the idiots parked in the firelane. I could see accident written all over that backing out attempt, but fortunately I missed the Mercedes.
track, and then there are the door prizes, trophies, programs, pictures... what more could you ask for? Oh yeah, turning laps on a race track?
OK, we'll throw those in for free!
CarFax has a guarantee of some kind that will pay 10% of the wholesale value of the car if I can show a different title or representation of the car from what I got. Before I ask them, should I be able to get whatever records from my local 5* that he was referring to when he was talking to my wife (he told her he shouldn't have shown that to her - it is confidential)? It apparently had record of the dealer in GA which the buyback went through and some repairs they made. My wife wrote down the dealer name.
Just thought you would like to know that I took the back lettering and 300M logo off the back of the trunk..with the dental floss..worked great..the car looks so much better without those on there..
I'm going to work on the front doors this weekend..Then put 3 coats of Zaino on..wow..what a shine...now nobody knows what type of car just went zipping by them!
Thanks for the suggestions!