Chrysler 300M

jona57

While oil-related engine failures are indeed unusual, this is still a very real issue for many folks. Look at the recent press reports about Toyotas and the alleged oil sludge-related engine problems.
Regarding the MM Act, manufacturers are allowed to put conditions on their limited warranties, and auto maker warranties are limited warranties. There is nothing in my understanding of the Act which states that the conditions must be related to product failure per se (e.g. companies can require timely &/or regular product registration or reinspection as Ziebart does). Some manufacturers claim to have every legal right to deny coverage for "technical" violations of the conditions of the warranty (i.e. not following rec. service intervals like oil changes-without documenting oil failure per se), although there would clearly be a price to be paid in negative publicity for doing so. They clearly cannot require routine services to be performed at their dealership or use any specific brand of oil, but some claim they can require specific service intervals.
Personally, I have use name-brand conventional oils and change intervals of 4-6K miles whether my vehicle is under warranty or not. With the quality of modern conventional oils, contamination is more of an issue than breakdown of lubrication in most normal automotive applications. I am aware of the warranties offered by some synthetics, but imagine the hassle of trying to collect (i.e. how would you document that an engine was absolutely sound prior to its failure??). I do not always take my 300M to the dealer for their high-priced oil changes. I am NOT willing to take the chance that my car warranty will be voided by greatly extending the oil change intervals as recommended by some advocates of synthetics.

BTW- I thought this was a 300M site, not a motor oil debate.

Jon

300michael

I use conventional oil, but only name brand Castrol, Mobil, or Valvoline ect. The reasons are simple I preferr to pay 15 cents for oil, and change it every 3K miles. Since I drive most of the time very short trips (half mile to work) and because it doesn't burn off most of the water I find it helps keep down the slege from forming. In another year if my oil supply runs out I may start to use synt. oils.

300michael

I think as long as the topic is related to the car it is ok, and oil is related to the car in IMHO. I think when it starts turning into a commerical then it starts getting iffy.

videoman1

If you change your own oil, where do you get rid of the old stuff? Can you take it down to your local gas station or something? I don't think our Quick Oil Change places will take other people's dirty oil for disposal.

-vman

denverm

I've been changing my car's oil myself every other time (in between 7,500 mile trips to dealer for tire rotation and any other service). I buy my oil and filters at Checker Auto Parts, and they have a tank in back to accept used oil.

glennbp

Just about all auto parts stores (at least here in So Cal) will accept used oil. I usually take mine to Kragen.

mikeyjohn

Mike, the picture showing the flag on your hood is quite good. I thought I saw a speck of dust on it however LOL. I did notice that the black plastic vent appears to have a waffle effect. Is this an add on or a photo quirk? My vent is straight lines with no waffle look, and my car is exactly like yours and I believe the build date was fairly close.

rstilp

Which of your Ms sounds most like the Special M?
Rick/Geezer300M

muskateer3

Where do you get it? Do you order it online or do you have a local dealer? Do you use their filters as well?

300michael

I take my used oil to the same place as Denverm, which is Checker.

glennbp

I order online or by phone. The first time I ordered, I paid an extra $10.00 (I think) to become a "preferred customer" which then entitles you to pay the discounted dealer prices on subsequent orders. Yes, I use their filters as well. (They're rated number one!) I will also be using their tranny and diff fluids in the future.

Lots of good info at:

http://www.amsoil.com/

guesswho1

do you recall the mileage when your speed sensor went out? thanks

99_300m_ric_va

Don't forget chat tonite. 10 pm EST

http://www.300mclub.org/chat.htm

99_300m_ric_va

Ok everyone,

The Carlisle All Chrysler Nationals Rendezvous is this weekend. Myself, wyche1, great 300m, joshuajelico, sirjohn, arndts, plymouthgtx are scheduled to attend. All other members are welcome to drop by throughout the weekend.

The event is July 12-14, but the club meets Sat July 13th at 9am at the Carlisle fairgrounds, Gate 3. It's $45 to park on the field (includes 2 person admission), otherwise just park in the regular parking area and look for us on the field.

If interested in the event, email me at rpowelljr@comcast.net.

toms99

Here's a pic of my new spoiler:

Other pics are at:

http://mywebpages.comcast.net/tsokol5/rear_spoiler.htm

toms99

Here's a pic of the hood of my wife's 2001 Concorde with one coat of Z5:

The flag shows up better on her Deep Sapphire Blue Concorde than on my Champagne LHS. (Yeah, I'm trying to "Be Like Mike!" :-)

More pics at:

http://mywebpages.comcast.net/tsokol5/karen's_concorde.htm

99_300m_ric_va

A Powhatan, Va man huh? I'm down the road from you in Midlothian, Va.

Regarding your problem. Are there any codes? Almost sounds like a camshaft or crankshaft position sensor gone bad or possible broken timing belt. The car has a PCM, BCM, and TCM. You said the PCM was replaced, how about the BCM (Body Control Module)?

Please list more info (especially any codes) so I can look in the manuals and see what's plausable.

Email me at rpowelljr@comcast.net if you like.

sdmike2

It's just a photo quirk. The downside of an otherwise good but inexpensive digital camera. At certain angles straight lines get jaggy.

sdmike2

nice! lol! For a second there I thought that was mine!

sdmike2

Awesome read! Thanks. Glad I'm running mobil 1 oil $ filter!

ottowrkr

Well Beach , you beat me. Thats about it. 03-04 will not be very good years for new things on the LH cars. The big news will be 2004.5.The LX cars will be in dealer sometime in late Jan 2004.Start putting the money away NOW.

bluesky999

Those "flag in the hood" photos were really cool. That was very creative, and funny too. BTW, are these speed sensor problems very common? What is the function of the sensors? And is the result of a failure always a limping car?

easyrider300m

yes, bad sensor--limp mode is the result--but they are very easy to replace--and probably less than $100 if dealer installs unless covered under a warranty---you can install yourself by following ricva's directions---

300michael

The function of the sensors is to coreograph the engine and transmission. They track the shift patterns and monitor the load placed on the system, in order to maintain the best combination of power and economy. If the sensor malfunctions it always goes in to defalt mode, other wise known as limp mode, which is second gear.

beach15

I am starting to put away the money "NOW". Wouldn't exactly bet on it being for a new LX car (hey, I'm a little young for such a pricy auto so soon), but you never do know.

I only hope all this extra time they're taking is to make another very successful "quality" launch like with the PT and the Liberty. Use top quality materials, make it built like a rock, very refined (hope there is NO road noise, finally!), but also with a very aggressive, road-rage like power, handling, braking, etc. Basically, make it a refined beast, kind of like the new G35, but only bigger and a little more Chrysler unique.

Oh yeah, forgot one thing about the 2003! The chrome exhaust tips are no longer used and will be replaced by the old silver metal ones. Ha! Beat yoy again Otto--just joking!

Built anymore 2003's?

fuzzywuzzy

Don't remember offhand, but it was between 20K-30K miles. Maybe around 25K? Time wise, it was about a year into owning the car.

ottowrkr

The last of the 02's will roll of the line sometime Friday.Then we have to build arounf 250 2003's before we shutdown for holidays.

videoman1

I just made hotel reservations for the 300M Rendezvous Woodward Dream Cruise / Chrysler plant tour. I'm looking forward to meeting other 300M enthusiasts there since I think I'm the only enthusiast in Pittsburgh.

This gives me only a month to finish any new mods I want to complete. I'm sure the time will fly.

-vman

mikeyjohn

Thanks for the update on the picture. I also saw that you might want an extra 300M decal for your hitch. I have ordered one for my car and in Canada they are $16.00 plus change and plus tax. I imagine they are about $12.00 in the US.

ottowrkr

Good to hear. Well just little over a month and a week till the meet . So whos coming????Lets see a show of hands.

splatt

I wish I could be in brampton, but I'll be on a cruise ship at the time. Oh well

Videoman, will you be coming this weekend to Carlisle? It's not that far...

300kam

Sorry a side topic: a question to those car rental experts, "Should I buy the insurance when renting a car?" I plan to drive to Canada.

My early 2001 still humming nicely, no problem yet, close to 18000 miles.

rstilp

So far there are 3 Ms coming from N.Indiana. Two of us have our reservations, the third,any day now. Really looking forward to plant tour and meeting everyone.
Rick/Geezer300M

videoman1

I'm in Pittsburgh. If anyone else is in PA and want to meet up somewhere to follow each other to the Rendezvous, let me know.

-vman

uxca300m

I just booked my room at the Holiday Inn in Brampton for Sunday before the tour so me and
Beast and the my wife; my former sweetheart will be there ( Actually she still is. Married 33 years but she is getting a little jealous of the attention I spend on Beast.) As I'm not going to be at the Detroit meet and unable to meet you guys there can somebody e-mail me a cell number so that I can at least contact somebody to see what floor, rooms etc. we will all be in. Holiday Inn said that we should all be on the same floor. Preferably the guy with the most beer

Mike

guesswho1

got my infinity reference speakers in today. what a job. i did it just like glenn, cut right through the rear deck, that's the easy part. getting to the two outer screws on each speaker is a major pain. i must say i fogged up my back seat for the first time today sounds great, nice that the tweeter rotates, highs and mids sound much cleaner. i'm gonna put dynomat around my front door speakers this weekend, getting a little vibe, those suckers hit so hard.
oh got a chrome shifter today too, looks so good with the agate.

300michael

Too far for me to make it. I sure would have loved to show D.Z. my 300M. Have a good time.

300michael

I have never really checked but is it possible to just remove a layer of the backing so that the rear deck material is still intact? I figured since auto dealers like the cars in stock (I know, I know, after all the things I have don to my M) condition I would hate to cut holes into the rear deck mat.

no1trust

Rented the car w/only 112 miles on it, returned it with 970+ miles on it. Only gripe was the seat. Very comfy for my interstate drives (more than the LS), but dw pointed out to me when she drove it on an errand "I like the Lexus better. And the seat moves". Still enjoyed the car, but can't DC correct this minor nuisance. Glad DC went ahead and made the 7/70 standard, according to Edmunds' pitiful News site.

scotian

Who has the pic of the bag of seat bolts? I need the part#. Thanks.

99_300m_ric_va

Scott,

Here you go.

http://photos.yahoo.com/bc/rpowelljr300n/lst?.dir=/My+Photos/Seat+Movement+Fix&.src=ph&.order=&.view=t&.done=http%3a//photos.yahoo.com/

99_300m_ric_va

I'm going to both the Dream Cruise and the plant tour. Can't wait to see everybody.

BTW, those that are in the Carlisle, PA area this weekend, come out and see us at the All Chrysler Nationals car show. It looks like a lot of Mopar clubs are planning on attending (Viper club, Prowler club, PT Cruiser Owners, Lots of Vintage owners too).

bigmike5

Otto--Wife and I will be there as part of a 3- week vacation. Hope some of the guys from the plant can make it down for the Cruise and dinner like last year. Hold the rain though.

kosh_2258

Yeah, I'm noticing the same thing with mine as well.

I took off the door panel and reworked the wiring to bring the door tweeters on line since the amp crossover rolls off everything but the lows.
Easy to do, just cut the high frequency side wires from the crossover and splice them in series into the + wire of the sail speaker. I tested it with parallel wiring but the sound had too much "sizzle" in it.

Dynomat may help, but what I'm finding is that most of the vibration is coming from the speaker grill. Like you said, the two ways fit but just barely. I think what's happening is that the tweeter is coming just enough into contact with the grill to transfer the speaker vibrations. I'm considering how to slightly reshape the grill to get some clearance. And also putting some felt around the perimeter of the grill to act as a damper. FYI, I'm also hearing some amount of distortion coming from the sail and dash speakers. It may have always been there, but it's more noticable now with the clean sound of real Infinitys to compare with.

The shield behind the door panel is a very heavy duty vinyl material held on by a bead of black adhesive that has interesting properties. It releases pretty easily, but re-adheres well too.

guesswho1

you could but the fabric would probably sink down and look loose. i think the grills look great they say infinity on them and plus they are hard to see unless you climb in back and look for them. with the tinted windows you can't see them from outside. the reason i did it was to get more sound out. i can here more highs coming from the rear now. that should be the least of your worries at trade in.

guesswho1

i have the refrence not the kappas, i'll let you know how the dynomat works out. yeah i'm noticing the distortion too, the problem is we can really crank it now without the doors speakers distorting.

glennbp

I agree with guesswho1. The fabric is quite thin and stretches easily so it would definitely dip down considerably. The sound from the rear is definitely more crisp just using the grills. Also, the grills are almost invisible. If you have tinted windows, it's almost impossible to see them from the outside even if you know they are there! If you didn't know they were there, you would never suspect. Also, because they are so far to the ends of the deck, the rear head restraints block them from being seen from the inside unless you climb in the rear seat and look over the head rest. All in all, cutting out the mat for the grills is the way to go IMHO.

ottowrkr

99_300m_ric_va - so you are going to the Carlisle show, I guy I know from the plant is going also. He has a very customized Dakota pick-up. If you see a black Dakota with Ontario plates say HI.

bigmike5 -Hey Mike, a few of us will be down in Detroit on Sunday .Are you all staying in Dearborn again?

murrayp1

None of you folks will show bias I'm sure? ;>) I'm possibly looking at buying a 1999 300M for $14K, but I've read some horror stories with regard to reliability. Tranny problems, electric window motor problems... ...others who just love the car. Should I or shouldn't I and why (if you please). Thanks in advance!

splatt

Have him look for a bunch of Ms on the field and come over to say hi We're meeting at gate 3 at 9am right now. Shouldn't be that hard to find since we've got 5-6 Ms coming I believe.