Chrysler 300M

peva

Here in Virginia, we don't call it the Civil War. We prefer to call it "The Recent Unpleasantness". I live 30 miles from Appomattox Court House.

(Sorry for the off-topic.)

fastdriver

peva-

Have you tried ebay? Some have found quite a few 300M parts there.

fastdriver

ottowrkr

jona57,hotrodtodd -guesswho1, yup spray foam thats what did it.

peva -rocko on the corner may be able to cut you a better deal.Sorry man , rims check ebay or this link www.aaarims.com/index.html . Other than that sorry.

blonda

Saw a new Chrysler commercial today. Shows someone in a car watching various models passing them by on the freeway. One is a silver Special. Can really hear the exhaust ---sounds nice!

300michael

Check the local salvage yards (ie junk yards) they can search other states for you. They are not very good if you want small parts like trim, as they sell whole assemblys.

300michael

I hope the LV meet is not near the 16th of Febuary I have out of state relitives comming in. and would hate to miss eather event.

easyrider300m

I have a 2000 M built in November of 1999--did they use the foam at my build date. Is there foam in all wheel wells. Did they add even more for the 2002 model.

Happy New Year to all!

kosh_2258

Some changes I noticed on my 2002 from the 98 Intrepid for sound control:

1. Modified windshield trim, reshaped, stands taller off the windshield
2. Thicker, heavier door seals
3. Rubber seals on the door stops
4. Insulation mats on the rear wheel wells
5. Cover over the structural beam under the parcel shelf.
6. More use of asphalt patch deadner on the trunk floor and under rear seat.
7. Feels (and sounds) like more deadner used on the firewall and front wheel wells. (Didn't look)

arby500

Kosh, the ride is really nice on the Special. I've had it up to 95MPH on the Highway so far and it wanted more. Tonight we have a 2 hour drive to where we are spending New Years Eve. It'll take all the restraint I have to keep it at the Speed Limit. The wife just rolls her eyes at me.

May everyone here have the best New Years ever! If you are on the road tonight don't drink and drive! Be aware of the guy in the other car too! Have a Happy and a Healthy!!!!

fuzzywuzzy

JetChip..... Save your money! I did have it. Made some improvment at higher 5000+rpms, but nothing in the low end. Gas milage was the same. A easy mod that really does save gas in the Boush +4 spark plugs. Most who put those in see better gas milage. It also fried 2 MAP sensors. 1 replaceed under warranty, but the other was at 38K miles, & they refused to pay for it, since they proved it was an aftermarket device(jet modual) that caused it. I have wrote several letters to them on this. I think it's prolonged use caused it. I was running it for about 9 months.

ottowrkr

Easyrider300m- sorry easy don't remember the actual date we started this foam spray.You can see yourself if you have it by removing any of the lower plastic trim pieces that hold the door opening seal down to the rocker panel of the body.They are just pushed on ,lift one off and look down in the holes in the body,if you have foam ,you will see it its yellow.

Kosh- Yes the door seals are thicker , also door glass is thicker (this happened last year) the mats around the wheel wells are actually different (better or worse not sure) form last year.The original mat was a high density rubber ,they changed a few months back to a material that looks like carpet underpadding . Not sure which works better ,but the original looked and fit nicer.As for trunk and back seat floor deadener ,nope same as always(what did you do take the back seat out?) firewall mat ,no change.

Arby -95 MPH ? punch that baby ,see if you can peg the needle on that 150 MPH speedo!!

HEY . Happy New Year to all you 300 guys and girls.

peva

Yeah I'm watching ebay, and I had found aaarims - they have what I want - would like to find more of a bargain if possible. I looked in my local yellow pages under "Rocko" but didn't see him listed (just kidding). I will check salvage yards. After posting here, someone on the rec.autos.makers.chrysler newsgroup says they might have a gage set. Just didn't want to leave any stone (or rock-o) unturned. Thanks again.

mikeyjohn

I have been saying for quite some time, that if you are near the Cdn border and need parts or mods come to Canada as your dollar is very attractive. If you missed it I posted last week the MSRP on a fully loaded M Special at $44,732 plus tax. You do the math and it would make sense to shop in Canada. I just checked my local business TV channel and the Cdn dollar is worth 62.65 cents to the US dollar. Even if you are not close to Canada, you might want to just come for a cheap vacation.

mikeyjohn

I just checked your Bio and see you live in Virginia, I know it is quite a distance from Canada, but not impossible as I used to live in Colonial Heights VA, and had fun being a Cdn in a southern school in the 50's. It did not take me long to get a southern accent. Have a happy New Year everyone from the land of snow and cold and the birthplace of our M's.

laurasdada

I too, prefer MS both for the ambience and (until the last few months!!!) I seemed to win more (I'm a blackjack player, or so I think...)than at FW. The new section is separated from the original by a large mall with several restaurants (including two by Michael Jordan) and many shops (and a waterfall!) The new side is quite Vegas-like including a nice little NO SMOKING section. It's only about 10 minutes up the road from FW.

BTW, we pulled the trigger on the Lexus RX300 last night. We pick it up tomorrow. I think I got a good deal, but not nearly as good as I got on the M. My wife is giddy...

Have a safe New Year's Eve, all. Hopefully, 2002 and beyond will be as wonderful for the civilized world as 2001 was horrendous...

Stay well. See you in 2002!
Oh, yeah. GO PATS!!!

russklass

Didn't know that! Very interesting.
By the way, did you ever read "The Thousand Mile War"? It's the story of WWII in Alaska. It's a great read, and an astounding story.

P.S.: Time to let go man! The war has been over for 135 years, and in the end, we ALL won!

Went out to play in the snow today with the M, great fun.
Y'all be sure to watch the Olympic Torch in Buffalo on TV tonite!
HAPPY NEW YEAR to everyone!

kosh_2258

Otto, ya caught me. I popped the seat out to refit the front edge of the trunk mat down. It kept working up and I couldn't get it worked all the way down from above.

My 98 Intrepid didn't have any deadener under the seat that I recall. I had the seat out of it to install a CD changer kit. I keep forgetting that the Intrepid is 6 inches longer than the M so I guess it looked like there was more because the trunk is smaller.

I thought there was something different about the window seals on the doors.

When did they do away with the tint band at the top of the windshield and add that "sun screening" behind the review mirror?

kosh_2258

I'm having the same problem of keeping the speed down during break in. The State Patrol here will let you fudge it up to about 78 before they bust you so my habit has been to run about 75 unless the traffic flow is moving at 80. [Don't want to be a road hazard ya know! ]

I'm super happy with the HD brakes. They have a good feel and can really slow her down in a hurry if need be. The Intrepid brakes always felt mushy.

rdl40

arby, I'm still waiting for my "special" to show up at the dealer. I think the truck got stuck in the snow on I-80 at the Donner Summit en route to Cali.
Unlike you or Maybe like you I didn't have to put any money down when I ordered my car. The dealer can probably still sell just as quick I guess.

I'm having some second thoghts about this car.
I went out and drove a new A-4 with all wheel drive and a gear box. This car is a lotta fun to drive and stickers about $4k below the special.
So this is my question, are you absolutely happy with the special, would you do it all over again?

I will wait before making any decision until the "special" comes so I can drive it. I did drive another 300m with phg, I'm anxious to see if the special drives any differently.
Happy New Year, Ron

arby500

I didn't drive the A-4. It looks like a nice car though. How was the acceleration? Does it have an Autostick? My buddy picked up a TT a few months ago and loves it.

As for the Special. I only had to put $500 down on it when I ordered it. If you didn't have to put down a Down Payment I'd wait for the car to come in and then decide. As I've previously stated, I drove the Mercedes E320 and the BMW 330 and 530. These were REALLY nice cars. Then I drove the 300M and the rest is history. "I'm extremely happy with the Special". It's 30 degrees outside and I was out cleaning it up this morning.

As for the Donner Pass reference. I hope the guy driving took some food with him. I'd hate to be his passenger :^)

arby500

The wheels on my car need to be cleaned every 100 miles or so because they get so dirty with Brake Dust (I assume). Is there anything you can buy to stop the dust from getting all over the wheels. I saw something for the Explorer a few years ago that was like a bowl that went over the brakes. Do they make anything for the 300M like that?

ruski

A4 that stickers $4 below 300M?

that must be the 1.8 L 4-cylinder turbo

that's only 150HP, right?

uxca300m

As you have asked I have posted several (9) pictures of the Joshua Tree dash kit I installed on the 300M, "Beast" on the Yahoo 300m club site. Just click on the photo section on the left and side and scroll down to, "Uxca dash kit" and take a look. I think it's awsome but others may not like it.

It's gottaa be a guy thing cause I had my wife come out to look at it after I was finished and she told me that she couldn't see anything different about the car. Of course I wouldn't notice if she'd cut her hair and dyed it green until about a month afterwards.

 The url is http://clubs.yahoo.com/clubs/chrysler300mownersassocation

hmk123

Yes, I would also like to know wether we are talking about the 4 or 6 cylinder A4. The A4 for sure is a great car. And even the 1.8T is probably a lot of fun. I used to have an '89 Probe GT. It had about 145 hp but felt a lot quicker because of its Turbo.

For me the big plus of the 300M is its space. I get a lot of visitors and it's just nice to not have to move your seat even if you have 2 rear passengers. Even a 5 series BMW is no comparison. I have not sat in the new A4, but I assume it's a lot smaller than the 300M.

To me the 300M is a car made for I-280 where the A4 or 3 series BMWs are fun cars for HW-9. Those who are in the SF bay area will know what I mean :-)

beach15

Well, as I posted before, our passenger's seat in the M is broken and the seat bottom up/down control does not work. The whole seat also cranks back and forth with any pressure. In addition, since we got the car back after the 2 month "re-construction" the wipers didn't work right. You'd turn them on the first notch, they'd shift upwards slightly, and seemed "glued" to the window. I thought that this was probably because they sat so long unmoved, but wasn't sure. So, the car went in today.

Anyway, yesterday I gave the car a good scrub. Washed down the inside and got most of that crappy Amorall off, vaccumed, and treated the leather. Then I washed it all, treated the tires, and cleaned up a little under the hood. Whew! We had made an appointment for the car to go in today for the seats and wipers, so we had to drop it off Sunday evening. While cleaning it, I also found that the plastic cover around the steering column was unsnapped on the left side and wouldn't go back together. I assume this was from the accident, but it got put on the list anyway. Another thing I found under the passenger seat was a palm-sized seat motor with an exposed grease fitting on one end that was laying on the floor still connected by a wire and with a broken off bracket on one end. This was probably from the accident too. We drove the car over to the dealer and parked it right beside a slightly dirty 00' Garnet Red/Agate M with a bra. It must have been in for repairs to.

Well, I wanted to see if they had any 02's, they only had one. But it was nice! I looked and then went over to the lot and they had a new Onyx Green and Light Taupe 02' 300M. It had the Lux. Group, chrome wheels, sunroof, and 4-cd 360-watt stereo. It looked great! I actually like the Onyx Green on an M, despite thinking that it was kind of cheap looking before. Even more, that light, creamy taupe interior and real wood was a trully beautiful site! I wish we had that combo. I must say though, all shined up and sitting in the building's shadow, our Deep Slate bute' looked pretty darn sharp. I still wish someone around here (Delaware) had a Special to look at though.

So, what's the verdict? Everything is on order, including the seat parts and the steering column cover. They must not have cared what it was caused by and just considered it under warranty. But then again, they all know my mother and that car a little too well there. Everyone is on a first name, friendly basis. As for the wipers, they said they were working fine there. Oh, and they still must not have been able to figure out the gauge cluster rattle after a fix was requested again. Whenever the parts are in, we have to take the car over again.

And, oh yeah, we must be keeping the car for good. It's as good as it was before the wreck with no differences, and queen mother must have fallin in love with it again. She hasn't complained once since the first day we got it back. She even seems to smile more after she gets out from driving it! We'll see how long it lasts! (I think she's wacko, by the way!)

Well, so long for tonight everybody! Happy motoring and a Happy New Year!!! See you all next year!

300michael

and that you are returned safely home with no scratches.

laurasdada

As usual, the evil wife was asleep by 9pm so I had to get my New Year's kiss from the dog!
We're now off to pick up her new 2002 Lexus RX300. She get's a Lexus for Christmas, I got shirts and pants (at least I got a new Patriots shirt!). She's giddy about the new car. She never cared about cars 'till she met me (she thought her Camaros and Monte Carlos that leaked in the rain were great cars!). So I educated her. Now, that was a bright idea!

Anywho, welcome to what I hope will be a memorable year, for all the right reasons! See you at MS!

indydriver

Just did my own oil and filter change for the first time at 78,000 miles (my dealer ended his "lifetime" $7.50 special). This is a tough car to get underneath! At first glance, it appeared a special tool would be required to get the oil filter off as there is no room for a standard strap wrench. However, I was happy to discover that I could get just enough leverage if I reached beyond the frame member and made a blind approach from the direction of the oil pan drain plug. The new Fram "Sure Grip" filters are a big plus here as you can get a tight enough grip on the thing to hand-tighten without the wrench.

My '99 continues to burn up the highways without problems since my mid-30's tranny warranty work and front sway bar bushing failure. I am considering a front end brake job as I'm getting a little bit of rotor wobble. Original pads still have plenty of thickness. Also starting to think about my first tune-up. I'm getting a loud ticking during cold startup... the kind of noise I always associated with the need for valve lash adjustment plus its occasionally "soft" on hot start-ups (worn plugs?). Any tune-up advice would be appreciated.

sdmike2

i've done nothing on a vegas meet due to the holidays. however, as of today i'm officially jobless so i'll have some time 2 look in2 it.

sdmike2

your startup tap dry valves? might want to throw the "fram" or equivalent in the garbage. horrible anti-drain valves. I use a mobil 1 filter. It got good reviews. If you haven't done so already, throw a set of Bosch Platinum +4 plugs in her. You'll notice a difference, especially if your current plugs are wearing.

greasykid1

As posted a couple of weeks ago I had some oil leaking on the garage floor so took it to 5*. They found leaking oil cooler lines and ordered the parts. Took in for the repairs on 31st. Was told that there was also a leak in the oil cooler section of the radiator so got a new radiator & coolant. Called this morning (I have a loaner) and was told that another part had to be ordered so do not expect to get my M back for a few more days.

Mine is an early 2001. Has anybody else had similar problems? Just bought the car 3 weeks ago with 1600 miles on it. Wonder if any of these problems are result of the car not being driven over a long period? Dealer had radiator in stock so that may be a clue.

5* seems to be very thourough and not rushing things so as long as I have a free loaner I am satisfied. No other problems that I know of. Anything else I should be aware of?

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

sdmike2

Sorry I haven't been around. My inlaws have been in town for the last week and my office is also the guest bedroom...and when I get a chance to sit down it's usually with a sleeping baby on my lap. Makes it hard to type.

I hope everyone had a safe and happy New Years eve! We have a new tradition here of getting a bunch of families (with kids) together and celebrating the dropping of the ball on east coast time (9pm here). That way we can celebrate and still have the kids in bed by 10:00. I was in bed by 10:30. Getting old isn't for sissies.

sdmike2

Anyone had any luck getting to photopoint recently? I have a sneaky suspicion that they've gone belly-up...and have taking my money with them.

indydriver

Filter creating tappet noise? That's a new one for me, I'll think about it. I just put the Fram on it last week. Prior to then, it had nothing but dealer installed Mopar and I had the noise. I've used Fram (and even lesser, generic filters) on DC engines for years and never had a problem.

I am interested in the Bosch plugs. Did you install them yourself? A quick check under the hood looks like there's more to it than just wrenching out the old plugs. I've heard horror stories about plug removal after 100,000 miles on the newer alloy blocks. Comments?

fastdriver

sdmike2-

This is the latest I have found about photopoint.com. I have written to the FTC to see if there is anything that they can do to help us get our pics.

indydriver-

IF you can get this site to load, you will find some oil filter info here-

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

Happy New Year to everyone.

fastdriver

achance

Just striking a pose! We've all won the lottery of life by being born with an American passport. Yes, I have read 1000 Mile War. There's also a good documentary on it put together by the Alaska Department of Military and Veterans Affairs a few years back - shows up on History Channel from time to time. From whence your interest in Mil. History? I'm pretty seriously into it avocationally - researching and writing the history of the 48th Georgia, Wright's Brigade, Hill's Corps, Lee's Army. What 300 do you have? Mine's a Candy Apple Red non-PHP '99 that I love dearly. You hate to treat a car like that the way they're inevitably treated in this climate, but I'm a sucker for bourgoise decadence, and a 300 is about as much of that as you can get for the money.

achance

My '99 has always sounded like a threshing machine when cold started. Have used Fram, Mobil 1, and Mopar filters - no noticeable difference. The dealer says there's nothing wrong with it, but for us dinosaurs who remember such things, it sure sounds like the valves need adjusting, though I wouldn't begin to know how. I just change the Mobil 1 every 3K, hope for the best, and rely on the warranty.

russklass

Mine's an '01 w/luxury group, my second 300M. The first was a very early '99 on which I put 70,000 trouble free miles.
I don't like to post a lot of non-300M stuff here; if you e-mail me( RussKlass@aol.com ) I would love to discuss more war stuff.
Another great book "American Caesar" the non-glorified life story of Douglas MacArthur.

sdmike2

Sorry I wasn't more verbose when I typed that message. I had a sleeping baby on my lap which made it nearly impossible to type. I used to have a link on my 300M page to an oil filter study which discussed, among other things, the construction of anti-drain valves in various oil filters. These are the valves intended to keep some oil up in the engine so your valves aren't dry when you start the car. The study indicated that there was a significant difference in noise and wear with the poorly performing filters (e.g. fram) and higher performing filters (e.g. mobil 1, Purolator synthetic..). Unfortunately the link died and I haven't bothered to search for a new one...yet.

On the plugs...I had my 5* do it when I took my car in for her 5,000 checkup (something I do with new cars), and I also had them do my oil/filter. They charged me $8 labor for the oil change (I provided my own oil/filter) and about $70 for the plug replacement. Some on this board have done it themselves and it can be tricky because you have to remove a couple of "easy to mess up" torx screws to get at each plug. I guess I'm at a point in my life that I'm more inclined to let the professionals deal with it. At least if they break something they'll have to fix it.

Big Red's Home Page

sdmike2

That link that fastdriver posted is the oil filter study that I was referring to. I guess I just found my new link. Thanks fastdriver!

fastdriver

sdmike2-

Knew I had that link bookmarked somewhere! ;-)) Just had to find it.

Thanks for posting your URL again. I love looking at Big Red!

Happy New Year.

fastdriver

PS Any new job prospects yet closer to home? Good luck. I'm sure that something will turn up.

rdl40

ruski- the A-4 has 170hp(4 cylinder turbo) and all wheel. Many a Audi and Volkswagen enthusiasts can easily chip their engine to 250hp or better, the 1.8t is the powerplant to have.

tmk123- I live in the bay area(east bay) , I know what you mean.
However, 95% of the time I am solo in my car so space is not a big issue. Yes the audi is smaller but a gas to drive, especially with the gear box.

I'll let you guys know what I end up with.

indydriver

Interesting reading indeed! I will experiment with one of the preferred filters on my next oil change and let you know if it improves the cold start noise.

drpixel

and a Happy New Year to everyone. Hope all my friends here on this forum and in the club had a great New Year's eve and holiday season. The clock is ticking down again......as I count down the minutes to go back to work tomorrow. The idea of getting up at 4:30am tomorrow morning nauseates me--oh, well...someone has to earn a paycheck, right?

Was able to put up page 2 of the Rogues Gallery (Mugshots pages) and so far only have Anny S (sleepymw ?...) pic up. Seems our members don't want to be immortalized in pixels!

Take care all, see you in the forum!
drpixel/glenn

99_300m_ric_va

Hey,

Doing the plugs requires a couple of extra steps, but is a piece of cake. You gotta remove the wire plug and then two torx screws. Make sure you have the correct size torx bit. I have a small torx rachet kit and a torx screwdriver set. I use the rachet and proper pressure to break loose the bolt and then the screwdriver to do final extraction. Lift the coil and spark plug boot out of the hole. You might have to twist it a little. Blow out any dirt before removing the plug.

A standard small sparkplug socket on the end of a rachet and extension will remove the plugs. Just make sure the rubber insert is in there so it will pick up the plug and pull it out of the hole.

I did this at 10K when I changed to the Bosch +4s. I pulled them again at 40K for inspection and to be sure things aren't gonna seize by not touching them too long. You can also use anti-sieze lubricant on the plug threads to avoid the problems with 100k engines and plugs.

99_300m_ric_va

Hey I use the high dollar Amsoil premium oil filters that have a anti-drain back valve and I still hear the noise fairly often when I start up. Reving the engine a little makes it go away. It gets the oil pumping I guess. Synthetic oil is probably the best defense since it pumps faster especially in cold weather.

99_300m_ric_va

When I had my accident back in July, I feared the worst. I had pretty much assumed the car would never be the same again and was getting mentally prepared to trade after the car was repaired.

After about a month, I got the car back and you'd never know it was hit in the pass rear quarter. Car drives as good as ever on the highway. I guess they replaced everything that could have possibly been affected (i.e. the whole right rear suspension and links connecting to left side.)

99_300m_ric_va

Anyone know the TSB number for this and if you can order the parts at the dealer and do this yourself? What parts are involved? Revised bolt or is a bracket or whole dang lower seat assembly? I've heard the problem comes back, is there a fix or is the dealer just giving you new parts so it will eventually happen again?

I don't wanna lose my car for a couple of days it would probably take the dealer to do this.

sdmike2

Good thing I don't have many days like today. Nice weather, good music, and a slow poke in front of me on a merge ramp. I couldn't resist the urge to take off. I pushed the speedo past 120mph and she was hungry for more, but I had to start coasting towards my exit ramp. Smoothest car I've ever been in at that speed....for sure.

Fastdriver - I haven't started looking for a job yet. I DID notice, however, that the classified ad section in Sunday's paper was a lot smaller than I remember. I'll pull a resume together in the next couple of weeks and start looking hard in March. In the meantime I've got about 100 projects that need to get done. I don't want to waste the opportunity.

ruski

that's still a 4-cylinder. A4 is a pretty heavy car.

Dude, why don't you just get an S4?