Chrysler 300M

fastdriver

sdmike2-

LOL... That's like the houses in FL- no basements either. From the pics, it looks like a 2-car garage, but I guess with the cabinets installed the area shrinks. It's not like you have snow to contend with. How often does it really rain there? I think you should alternate every other week- M and van. Buy your wife a golf umbrella. Then they can all fit under it for the 10 foot trek from the house to the van- even shorter if they go out the garage instead of the front door? LOL...

The M is worth more than the mini-van- no? I agree with denverm. ;-))

fastdriver

splatt

So no one has done the plugs themselves? Still want to know if I'll have to replace the screws when I remove them or if there is anything under the cap to be careful of. Took it for a oil change yesterday - from here on out I do it myself... :sigh:

As for the garage, I completely understand. We've only got a 1-car so guess who uses it That's right, the wife's S70 get's to use it... Oh well. That's why I have heated seats

99_300m_ric_va

I did the plugs about a year and a half ago myself at 10,000 miles, and removed two yesterday to check condition 30,000 miles later. I used the Bosch Platinum +4 (#4428)

I used a T25 torx bit on a rachet to slowly and firmly loosen the two screws that hold the coil. Then I used a T25 torx screwdriver to finish the job and reinstall hand tight. Pull gently on the coil and rubber boot assembly. You may have to twist and pry a little on the rubber boot, but I had one so tight that I pulled the coil off right off. I was initially concerned, but found it was easy to put it back on.

Many people recommend a little dialectric grease on the end of the boot to eliminate corrosion and sticking. Also some anti-sieze compound on the plug treads before you install them is popular. I was too lazy to do this, and had no problems removing the two for inspection yesterday.

If you don't have the tools, I suggest getting a craftsmans torx screwdriver set and a torx socket set. I've had to use them for spark plugs and the throttle body removal, etc. They are a must have for working on a new Chrysler.

The plugs come out with a standard small size spark plug wrench, just make sure it's got the rubber insert that helps pick up the plug and pull it out of the hole.

sdmike2

I lost 4-2, with me taking credit for what I'm SURE was a vote by one of the dogs.

splatt

Thanks very much! I didn't think it would be too difficult, but was a bit converned about the assembly on top of the plugs I've done a lot of plugs before, but not on engines like this - older ones.

I usually use a drop of motor oil on the threads of the plugs. That will help prevent crossthreading (the biggest problem to avoid). Just a touch on the finger and rub it around the plug. As long as it's gapped correctly, it's no problem.

I'll have to get mine next week sometime when I can find the time. Have you noticed any real improvement?

sdmike2

I left a lot of stuff off my list just for the sake of space. I did include some dog food, a road flare, fire starters, a small duraflame log and some other stuff too. This tub is BIG. I didn't include a little stove, but then again this is San Diego.

sdmike2

I noticed an improvement immediately, but I don't know if it was psychological or real.

fastdriver

sdmike2-

LOL... You should have taken the vote when some family members were OUT! Oh well. You better put on a few more coats of Zaino so that when it does rain, you'll get a free carwash. Any water restrictions there? Not sure if they ever lifted them in FL. Fuzzywuzzy or ruski would know.

The alternating week thing didn't go over either? ;-)

fastdriver

sdmike2

Fastdriver - When I suggested alternating I got "the look". You know the one... the "you have GOT to be kidding me" look.

I just pulled out the local paper and my 4* (claim they used to be a 5* but lost it through a paperwork glitch..yeah, right) has 2001 Ms, LHS' and Concords for $7,000 off MSRP. Anyone in SoCal looking for an M, try Rancho Chrysler/Jeep on Clairemont Mesa Blvd.

fuzzywuzzy

My my..... Prices went up. I did not pay anywhere close to $600 for mine. Mine were less then $500 I got all 4 rotors, & front/rear pads. Be carefull though. The front pads I got did not fit the 300M's calipers. I bought another set & just returned the KVR's.

fuzzywuzzy

I also did mine myself. Did them at 25K miles. I didn't have a problem. No stripped bolts or anything. The plugs are too easy to cahnge on this car. It's harder to changed the headlights bulbs then the plugs

fuzzywuzzy

Yeah the restrictions are lifted. They should be it rained like everyday in September, & has been raining since Thursday.

fuzzywuzzy

If you are insured in the state of FL, your in luck. FL state law states that crack windshields, are covered for FREE with car insurance. Call your insurance company up, tell them what happened, they will get a glass company to come out to you & fix, or replace the windshield. For FREE! This will not affect your rates or anything. It's a FL LAW.

fuzzywuzzy

Just SUCKS!!!!!!!

Was very dismayed by the offers of some of the dealers here in FL. Got me mad to! They wouldn't even come close to book value. Book is like $17.5 for my car. Now it's perfect, not a scratch, or dent, or door ding. The interior is perfect too. Engine is clean. The highest I could get was $14K!!!!! That's just crazy!!!! Dealers claimed that since all the american company's are offering 0% now to boost sales, or great rebates on 2002 models the used car market is suffering. One dealer had a 99 M on the lot that was a trade with 50K miles. They are selling it for only $10,500! Seems the big 4 MB, BMW, AUDI, ACURA are not giving any big discounts. It's only the American car company's.

99_300m_ric_va

Thanks Jason for the heads up. I'll email KVR back and see what they say about it. How do you like the cross drilled rotors? What pads did you choose instead? What did you use to bleed the brakes? Did you change the fluid? I'm considering getting a MityVac Brake Bleed Kit.

fastdriver

sdmike2-

"The LOOK"- that ends that conversation! Get a car cover. ;-))

fuzzywuzzy-

It's raining in the Sunshine State? ;-)) I didn't know that FL insurance gives you free glass coverage. That's good news for ruski. Are you still looking for another car? Is the inside holding up now and staying dry with all that rain? Sorry to tell you that it was close to 70 here in CT. A bonus for us at this time of the year!

ruski-

Call the glass shop ASAP. Make sure you get a reputable shop so you don't get any leaks.

fastdriver

fuzzywuzzy

The rotors seem fine. No warpage after allmost a year of use. I got some really hard pads orginally, I think they were from performance friction. They were really noisy! Squealed like crazy. After about 3 months I took them off, & used Mopar priemiem pads. Those have been on since. I still have the KVR rear pads. The pads are in great condtion. Have plenty of pad left. I didn't bleed the brakes. There was no need to. You don't have to disconect the brake lines, so bleeding isn't nessary. I'm running the same fluid that was in from the factory.

fuzzywuzzy

Yep, no leakage so far. I guess the body seam was it. Yeah I'm still looking, but the TL-S is out. Maybe the CL-S though. Still have to get out of the M. I'm not in a hurry, I guess I can "live" with the 300M for a few more months

99_300m_ric_va

Two more questions on the brakes. Did you use a pad spreader during installation and let the fluid back into the master cylinder? Does it brake any better than stock?

avalanche165

check this out guys...the shifterboot, its turned WAY towards the drivers side. i thought it was cool how they engineered this.



first i thought it was from me yanking the thing in and out so many times, but the plastic lips and clips aer actually shorter and everything on the driver side. otto, ever noticed that before? coooooooo

avalanche165

i molded together the piece around the AC and radio controls to the shiftboot. and the ashtray is being replaced by two custom made custom mounted gauges (voltage and temperature for the new surfboard amp). also filled in the accent line around the shifter. someone say smoooooooooooooooooth

300michael

We want Pictures.

300michael

long time ago it was 169 not sure of the mods if any.

99_300m_ric_va

I think I remember the Dodge R/T guys getting about 150 stock and 180s with the 68mm intake mods and 3" tubes. I recall none had dual exhaust.

Given they are about 10 or more HP less than the 300 and we add dual exhaust, I'm hoping that 70 mm TB, 3" intake tube, and Dual Exhaust gets us to the 200 HP mark.

I will make some phone calls and try to find a dyno available soon. 300Mike and others, you guys should do the same for comparison.

avalanche165

damn you guys are some impatient 300'er's (i just made that word up)

what i did was mold together the radio/ac ontrols piece to the shifter piece, and the filled in the deepset around the shifter. primered it. and gel coated. now i am makign a fiberglass mold from it. after the interior is done it'll all be painted chromalusion. i'll get more pics later on...

avalanche165

here i scanned in some sketches...this is what im working on for the dash...gonna custom make the back end basically of the center console...choosing between these two. the squares are 7" screens and the vent pod up top with the 6.4"

avalanche165

what was your site again. it was you who did the micro switches on the shifter right? i got an idea fro you. instead of a flip screen for the back, that rear piece on teh console, with the vents, i can make a fiberglass mold from that, mold in a tv flush, and still have all the vents and controls perfectly working. and the piece will snap right back in. if your interested that would only be like $80, $100 painted, if you already have the screen. if you dont i can get you a real good deal. i have some 5.6" right now i can use on that. email me or just post up here.

fastdriver

av-

I'd like to see this car in a car magazine when you're all done. Doesn't Chrysler have a Mopar magazine? Maybe they'd be interested. Keep up the good work. Ever thought of applying to Chrysler's design studio for a job? Your resume(don't know how to make that little accent make over the e)would be your car! ;-))

sdmike2-

Didn't get to finish reading the newspaper yesterday, so I did that this AM. The weekly insert, USA Weekend, had an article on page 16 called "The Great American Garage"!! Thought of you instantly! Looks like Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak built the first Apple computer in a garage. Walt Disney started his animation studio in his uncle's garage and Henry Ford worked on his "horseless carriage" in a "garage"! Looks like I'm in the minority using my garage for my car! ;-))

fastdriver

ski1001

I think this came up before. I hadn't used my 2000 300M for about 3 days and when I started it I saw a cloud of blue smoke come out of the exhaust and engine appeared to have a knocking sound. All went away after about 30 seconds but was wondering if this is normal. I have about 16500 miles and this is the first time I have noticed this.

My wife recently purchased a new 2002 Camry and we have been using that mostly on the weekends so the M sits around while I play with the new toy.

Any thoughts on what this condition might be?

300michael

Nice ideas, but I do not want to loose the use of my center storage (Cell phone, tissues, 12volt power outlets, ans so on) compartment. My site is http://www.homestead.com/chrysler300m/chrysler300m.html or it is featured on the http://www.300mclub.org site. The buttons on the side of the shifter have been moved to the back (by the cup holders) for better view of them (the shifter tended to hide them) I have pictures of both. I am taking out my stock radio and putting in the motorized screen just below the AC contols the Panasonic am/fm DVD player will go below that and I may move my Alpine nav unit below the DVD player where the motorized screen now is. That way the screen when opened will only cover the AC controls and the vents will be free.

drpixel

hello from drpixel! I am lacking the tool gene DNA helix, but I have the same or very similar 'problem' with my 2000 M. Several posting here have had this occur also. I would gues that when the car sits for a period of time, the oil settles down somewhere (NOT a technical explanation, okay...). When you start the car up, you get a 'valve tap' kind of noise until the oil begins to circulate again. I think there was a 'technical service bulletin' on this, but 'they' say its normal.
It used to spook the daylights out of me, but from what I undertand its nothing to worry about. Perhaps some of the others posting here can give you a better explanation.

Regards,
drpixel

drpixel

the ongoing 'discussion' about your most excellent 'mods' to your "M". I'm not going to comment on the messages exchanged--enough of that has been done.
But speaking from an artistic and esthetic point of view, I admire what you've done to your car. You've done things that most people wouldn't have thought about or even tried doing, and I give you a lot of credit for even attempting them.
Watching (vicariously..) what you've done over these past months is truly amazing..to me, anyway. Keep up the good work, my friend!

Doc

sdmike2

I hear ya on the garage as a place of development! Some of the greatest inventions of our time were developed in garages. Mine? I just store one car and enough crap for an army. lol!


Actually, here's a picture of one of the few times Big Red has been in the garage. It's when I took my chrysler lettering off. You can see the space-taking cabinets in the back. lol

Mike's Garage

splatt

did you check out the sprialmax at all? lmk if you get one, I'd love to see the results...

sdmike2

Is the smoke blue or white? Blue smoke is oil, white smoke is water/steam/fog. It's not unusual at all to get a little white smoke from condensation accumulating, but blue smoke means that you're getting some oil into your combustion chamber. Not a big deal in small amounts but keep an eye on it. As for the tapping, it's definately not unusual to get some valve tapping when you start your car for a few seconds. Like Doc said, it's because the oil isn't up where it should be yet. That's why starting your engine is the hardest thing you can do to a car (other than what Av and Michael do...lol). One way to minimize the valve tapping is to make sure your oil is fresh and of the right viscosity for your climate, and make sure you have a good oil filter that has a good anti-drain valve in it. If all of your oil is in the pan it takes longer to get to where it belongs than if some of it is already in the filter.

You can read more about oil filters at the link below. Mobil 1 and Purlolator One seem to perform pretty well. Fram sucks (according to the study).

http://www.dorianyeager.com/oilfilterstudy1.html

drpixel

SPLATTHowdy-doo from smokey Noo Yawk! Yup, saw the posting about the SpiralMax. Looks/sounds like the same thing as the Tornado. I like the fact that its $100 off if you buy it online, and have 30 day $ back, yadda, yadda...
I'd still rahter wait and see if the local PepBoys, etc. will be carrying it. This way I could save the $9.00 S & H. (I know, if I don't buy it at ALL, I could save $70+....)

radtech....: did you receive your sticker/clingy yet? As a result or your problems, I've modified my procedure by wrapping the sticker in another piece of paper to avoid another ocurrance like yours.

sdmike2...garage?....what's that?....oh, the place where you're SUPPOSED to put your car when the weather gets bad.... I'd love to put eMily in the garage, but I've got more junk in there than you can shake a stick at!...One of these days, I'm going to clean it out....

Doc

drpixel

That should have been $10.00 off if you order on line....

A slip of the keyboard.....

Doc

avalanche165

i didnt explain it right. the last piece, its connected to the center storage bin, just with little nipple type things (yes, that is the actual technical term sit in the rear seat and you can pull it off. that is teh piece i am talking about. you will not lose anything at all whatsoever, only gain a screen...

fuzzywuzzy

Not directly related to the 300M but I need some help. I have a buyer for my M, He wants to use something called Escrow?? I understand the basics of how it, works, but I'm confused on some aspects of it. If anyone who has some detailed info can email me, any help on it, it would be great. JTalbot@Broadwaytrading.com

Thanks

fuzzywuzzy

I do like the dash piece. Also some nice designes of the console area. Is that all going to be fiberglass?

avalanche165

i hear "thanks doc" all the time from worki in the hospital, thanks for the comments, it really feels good to know someone likes it. maybe i should say supports it, lol. my old man isn't a pro-mod affiliate. actually he hates it. maybe thats why i post so much on here , its good to get some feedback, as well as criticism. i know some, wait rephrase, MOST of the stuff i do your prolly sitting there going...what the? why the? and i think this kids looney. if so, your just like everyone else i know. but i've said it over and over, its all for fun. its a hobby. like collecting baseball cards, you jsut buy and buy, in this case, we just customize and customize. ask yourself this....can you ever have enough baseball cards?

avalanche165

yea bro its all gonna be glass. that piece in teh picture, broke last night man i was heartbroken but...was expecting something like that. see theres this new technique out, several layers of adhesive, then Gold rage Filler...this stuff is like bondo but A LOT easier to sand. but its only good because it will last enough to make a fiberglass mold. i was hoping since this is in the interior and it doesnt get exposed to rain snow wind or xtreme temps that it would hold, nope, bondo just sucks, literally. so yea it will all be fiberglass.....good part is they'll be cake to recreate. just make another mold.

sdmike2

Escrow is when the money goes to a third party that releases it to the proper parties once certain conditions are met. The buyer is doing it to cover his butt in the event that you sell him a lemon. The process would be for him to put the money into escrow, with it released once certain conditions are met. Your risk lies in what those conditions are. If you go the escrow route please make sure that you carefully craft the conditions so you don't get hosed. Make sure there is a realistic time limit (I wouldn't give him more than a day or two). Make sure the agreement specifies that unless the car is delivered back to you in the current condition (be specific) with less than XX miles on it you get all the money. That will help protect you against him running off with the car or parts of it. Make sure you guys work out, and put it in writing, what happens if he wrecks it during escrow. Make sure HE pays the escrow fees. Anyway, make sure you go with a reputable 3rd party to perform the escrow services. If so, they should have all this stuff covered. Just don't put yourself at risk. It's a nice car and you don't want to get screwed.

ottowrkr

SSMMOOOOOOOOOTTHH ,Man.. Yes I did know that the center console was tilted to the driver
.Fastdriver is right ,your car should be featured in a mag. .When she's all done ,maybe a few Mopar mags should be contacted . A talent like that should be shown

fuzzywuzzy

I understand that part. Now here's my problem, & his. The car is stil under a lien. Once that's payed off I get the title sent to me in 14 days, then I have to sign it over to him. His point is what happends if I die, or take the money or something & don't ever give him the signed over title. I can agree with his concerns. Now if he opens the account, & the agreement is to relese the money when he gets the title, how do I pay the lien holder ti get the title in the first place? I can open the account, but it's the same as him giving me the money from the start. Confused?? I am

denverm

In Colorado lien holders have to sign off on the title that the lien is released, and obviously they aren't going to do that until they get their money. If the escrow concept was only proposed to deal with the buyer's concerns about getting title, I would think that a much better way of handling this would be for the two of you to go to your lender's office, the buyer provides certified funds for the purchase, the lender keeps the loan payoff amount and signs off on the title, you keep the balance of the purchase price and sign off on the title, and the buyer sends in the title to get it reissued in his name. That's probably how it would be done here in Colorado anyway (I've never sold a car that had a lien on it before, so I'm not completely sure). Call your lender and ask them how you should handle it.

tictac3

Recently had my 2000-M in for service; the windshield defroster would not close when I changed from windshield/floor to floor only. The fix was to disconnect the battery for 20 minutes or so and let it reset.

Mentioned to the service rep that my steering wheel leather was beginning to deteriorate and that I could feel the driver’s seat move slightly when I accelerated from a stop. After checking these out, told me that they ordered a new wheel and replacement torque bolts for the seat. Parts should be in later this week. All of you who have experienced seat movement, I’ll let you know if the new bolts work.

splatt

I don't think there would be a way for him to purchase using escrow. Only some sort of collateral (hey you could sign the house over seriously though - the escrow is so that you will deliver the goods. It gets held third party. Even if you were to put it in the lein holders name (the bank) the other guy could still reneg if you don't give him the title.

See if you can do it the way denverm suggested. Give the money to the bank and have them issue it to the seller instead of you. I think they should be able to do that. I believe he'd be able to take the car on the spot as well...

Just had a thought - do you own a house? If you have equity in the house greater than your payoff you could get a line of credit. Use that to get the title, get the money from the seller, pay off the line of credit w/in the first month. There may be some fees involved, and you can haggle the fees into the sale price...

Doc - did you know you could edit your posts w/in 30 min of posting? (comment on the repost about $10 off not $100

drpixel

Had eMily in for similar problem (seat shifting backwards upon acceleration..). They odered some kind of 'bar/brace' for the seat. Happens only on driver seat.
Escrow?...isn't that some kind of edible plant?...

chuckle..Doc

grunschev

When I was considering trading the 300M (1999, 38k miles, PHP, moonroof, 12 disk CD changer, tinted windows) for a cheaper car, the dealership offered me $16k in trade. They even made a big deal about my 18" wheels being a plus (which surprised me).

So (including the cost of the wheels) that's about 50% depreciation in 30 months.

Igor