Chrysler 300M

avalanche165

u think there would be some performance gain if i took the Cat converter off? it be loud thats for sure, but performance wise? or...........i could paint it yellow cuz u know, yellow=performance

tj300m

WING!!!!!!!!!!!!

avalanche165

someone mentioned before about flames on the side of the car, got me thinking, uh oh....

http://frealfso.frostburg.edu/cs1101f00/janjuao/300/misc/flames.jpg

something like taht maybe, not as wild but....and in that chameleon paint i think it would look really good. one of the newer ones has that chrysler platinum met color as the base. so when u are seeing my car at one angle, ghost flames, then it changes colors as you go by. i need to make some pics, i'll post up later............

avalanche165

why are u shouting wing tj? lol

sdmike2

I really don't have a choice on the tint, because the sun gets so brutal down here. I think the 20/50 will be a lot better than the 15/100 that a lot put on.

sdmike2

holy moley

rscheller

I wish I could say there was a difference in my trannys performance after putting in ATF4 but it actually shifts worse than before the fluid was change at 30K miles.

Really gets my goat... I've told them many times and again at the 30K service I'd never been really happy with the shift quality and the shifting variability I experience. All I wanted them to do to the tranny at the 30K service was to replace the tranny fluid with ATF4 but they had to go in and muck with some other things which I didn't ask them to do such as a re-flash of the TCM.

So, when I picked up the car, it had ATF3 and they'd reflashed the TCM. It shifted crappy. I took it back and they changed fluid to ATF4, it still shifted crappy.

Before they did this work in January, the car was shifting pretty good after a number of things they'd done over the first 30K miles.

Now I'm out of warranty and I have to pay a deductible to get anything done and I'm unhappy with the shifting. If they'd have just done what I asked them to do, I might have a clue but because they did several things at the same time, it's hard to figure out what caused my shifting to get worse.

Can you tell I'm a bit frustrated by the 5* service?

Rick

fuzzywuzzy

I asked this once a while ago. The consenses was that:
1-It is against the law
2-might make the engine run bad, because of the way the computer uses the info to run
3-would need to make custom pipe to attach the header pipes to the exhaust
4-would make the exhaust very loud

I had a shop all lined up to do it. I decided not to do it. Mainly because of the noise. I don't want LOUD, just a little loud.

ottowrkr

If you take your cats off the engine controller will go crazy, as all LH cars now use 4- O2 sensors one in front of the cat and one after .If you remove the cats your computer will read a rich exhaust and cut the fuel injector pulse width . Thus giving you poor performance. The only way to go is headers ,hi-performance cats and a free flowing exhaust.
Hey Avalanche ,car looks good cant wait to see the whole thing finished .The flame thing sounds cool , go for it.

spyboy

Hey Forresth,
Listen to (read) SDMike's earlier message. This board and Mike
in particular was extremely helpful to me. I travel all over New England
and stopped in at several dealerships. While most of these new
type salesguys are very helpful, it's their responsibility to get the
max out of you. I was close to making a decision on a nice one,
but walked and saved about $700.00. Who's pocket is it better in?
So listen to Mike's advice. I did and got a '01
Silver/Agate, NON-PHG, lux, sunroof, 4CD, full size spare w/chrome
wheel, side airbags, full tank of gas for $28.8K. I pick it up on
Tuesday. Yeah, I wanted the inferno red (just like Mike's) but
it didn't have all the goodies in it. Good luck!

intrepidspirit

About a month+ ago, I had my driver's door panel replaced because of a break in the plastic inside the arm rest (they have to replace the whole panel -- what a waste!). The dealer pointed out that there was a hole on the portion close to the door opening (not visible when door is closed). He told me all the replacements had this hole. Someone in this forum (scotian?) was having his panel replaced as well after that. I'd like to find out if his had the hole as well. My dealer has contacted DC for some kind of a filler, but I have heard nothing from him. Before I contact the dealer again, I would like to know if the replacements all had holes or if mine was "one of a kind".

If you have had a replacement panel installed recently, please let me know!

Thanks.

fastdriver

avalanche165-

Da link to da movie is in my profile! I like your car! Can't wait to see the rest of it. Send me 24 of your best pics and I'll make a movie for you too! LOL... Seriously.

intrepidspirit-

This was an issue a long time ago about the hole in the newer door panels. It is there on the newer models, but not on the 99. Christine had NO holes. ;-))

fastdriver

sj6

Someone earlier had some hitch questions. I just installed the Mopar hitch and wiring harness last night. Hitch: Easy to istall following the instructions. Wiring harness: I'd like to meet the person that designed it, the person that made the instruction sheet, and see if they ever talked. Thats after I beat them with something that would leave psychological but not physical scars. Knowing what I now know, I would let the dealership screw with the harness. Otherwise, it looks decent enough under the rear valance.

bbraddock

I went to my 5* and asked them about a bunch of the stuff I mailed out earlier today. They'll remove the Chrysler lettering from the sides , no problem. Ordered a new chrome shifter that they sold me for $37, their cost because I bought the car there, thinks the shutter and shake could be warped rotors, which he assured me wouldn't cost me a dime, and then volunteered that the Goodyears are junk and they might be a problem too. Goes in next Wednesday, we'll see. Thanks for the Zaino tips fast.

illini4

Mine was replaced, and there is a small hole. Not a big deal as far as I'm concerned. I had to wait several weeks on the panel - it was on factory back order, so I guess I have the latest. Unfortunately latest is not greatest since it doesn't seem any stronger than the original.

tj300m

I think you need the wing. That open space needs something. Maybe a painted flaming wing!

scotian

I'm still waiting on mine. Where is the hole, exactly?

I wonder if they'll let me keep the old panel. When the new panel breaks as the old one did, as I know it will since the armrest is unchanged, I'd like to still have my old one without the hole. If I'm going to fix this after warranty, I'd rather have the better piece! Actually, I shouldn't have bothered Chrysler with this problem and just fixed it myself. I wonder if they'd glue on a reinforcement before installing the new one...

scotian

Don't ruin what you are doing with a bunch of cheezy flames.

rklass

Hey, avalanche, "that" is spelled t h a t , not t a h t. Sorry to pick a nit, but it is a recurring error in all your posts.
Your mods are looking great, can't wait to see the end result.
Hope you bring it to Detroit in August!

pat

I nearly always first type "the" as "teh" - I try to catch it, but sometimes they just get by you, ya know? (And using the spellchecker around here is a frightful experience, as many have learned!).

:-)

Pat
Host
Sedans and Women's Auto Center Message Boards

kpm61

What brand oil dose DC put in the 2001 300M ?

sdmike2

Thanks, that was me with the questions about the hitch. Any chance of you taking of picture of the rear so I can see how it looks?

-M

sdmike2

If you have to do flames, do ghost flames...

http://www.socalss.org/members/lepict.htm#flames

raceym

thanks for the new checker board clock face, looks great can't wait to put it in. will send you a pic when i get it in. and the stamp with clinton behind bars was funny.

phases78

got my dual exhaust done today!! i got the two into a flowmaster, and they run all the way down to the tips. it is definately louder, louder than i wanted but not as loud as i definitely didnt want. i think i like it. it says 'dont mess with me' mwahahahaa.. im gonna drive it for a few days and see what i think and if its too loud a put a resonator (spelling?) or two on there.

will that hurt the horsepower gain i just got? and there is a hp gain! not as much on the stop go range as it is in the 45+ range. i think... ive only taken it from there to here. ill run it later..

ill post pics soon! i love it!

sdmike2

Pictures are required, of course. I'm surprised that you did your exhaust that way. The flowmaster has virtually no muffling effect whatsoever, you're almost running straight pipes. I bet that's LOUD!

I got my tinting done today. Here are the first pictures. I'll take better ones once the sun comes out. I got 20% in the rear and 50% on the driver and passenger side windows.

http://albums.photopoint.com/j/AlbumIndex?u=1620463&a=13037242&f=0&vt=vp

-M

intrepidspirit

I'm guessing the hole is about half way down the panel about 2-3 inches in from the metal part of the door. When the door is closed you can't see it.

intrepidspirit

illini4--

So the hole is now standard...I probably wouldn't have noticed it, but my dealer pointed it out and offered to get a filler from DC...it really isn't a big deal, just piqued my curiosity...

fastdriver--

My 2000 original panel didn't have a hole in the panel and my wife's 2001 doesn't either. So this wasn't a change from '99, it appears to be a change in replacement panels only for all years!

That means Christine would have had a hole in her door panel if it had to be replaced...I'd say that might have been enough to break the camel's back, but I think it was broken a long time ago! LOL...

Love your movie and your car's really pretty...but she'll never be the looker Christine was! I hope you realize your dream of having a car that never has to be taken in for repair!!

beach15

Where is this hole located at exactly? I have never noticed any kind of hole or opening on the door panel(s) of our 2000, but it might be there. Oh yeah, I just looked more closely at the sticker on the driver's side B-pillar and our car was built on March 9, 2000 at hour 14 (I presume that this means 2:00p.m.). You can find this info. by looking at the area on the sticker that says MDH (Month, Date, Hour). For example, ours said 030914. This was a Thursday.

Hey Otto, do you think that you may have been working at this time/shift?

phases78

yes it is loud. lol. im not sure how i feel about it yet, i may quieten it up, or leave it, dependent on what feedback i get. so far everyone likes it but they've all been guys around my age of course most of em like loud cars... im gonna see what the wife thinks when she gets home tonight, get the in laws opinion tomorrow, etc etc... it could go either way for me. im torn....... if i put resonators or what not on there will it hurt the hp?

sdmike2

Probably not significantly. Putting a small, high flow muffler on each side will tone down the sound yet still allow the engine to breath.

-M

phases78

i might look into that, but my wife just told me not to quiet it cuz its sexy lol, but still, im gonna drive around for about a week and get a feel for it, see whats i think. i once read on here that over time it'll mellow out a bit. is that so?

sdmike2

Mine got louder, with a more throaty tone, as it got older. If you got the "sexy" vote, stop there unless it gives you a headache at highway speeds.

-M

300michael

If you use the 300M front grill wing, it will bulge out 1/8 in the center. It has two clips that must be broken off (easy to do) and a center post that must also be broken off. I used double sided tape on the wing ends and shoegoo on the center part. I took the emblems off earler to day, because I have to paint some garage door scrapes I did years ago. When they are reinstalled I will post pics. It did go on with no trouble and with out the need to to bend them. The only draw back is that they did not come with double sided tape on them.

300michael

You are right about the lovers and louvers. The hood is ok, but that is what the back seat is really for and if you fold them down it is even better.

300michael

Installed my 00-01 center shifter console with the LEDs to indecate which gear is selected. the only problem is with the LEDs. One is a different shade of blue than the others. Apparantly RS changed suppliers or something. Will update the website later to show the differances

scotian

Much better. Still a bit cheezy...

phases78

dont care much for it myself......

denverm

What's the point of inconspicuous flames? Seems kinda contradictory to me. I've seen some photos of some great looking PT Cruisers with flames, but I'm not sure the M is the right car for flames. Maybe some other kind of multi-hued, geometric paint pattern? After everything else he's done, Av should find something exotic to do in the way of paint!

sdmike2

All -

Here is an auction for two chrome 300M rims...just in case anyone has a bad pothole problem or wants to have an extra or two.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/aw-cgi/ebayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=591596932&r=0&t=0

sdmike2

Interesting...

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/aw-cgi/ebayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=591654671&r=0&t=0

phases78

why is it with my new dual exhaust i feel like ive actually lost power? i removed all the factory, ran two pipes into a flomaster and then all the way down to the tips. help???

lonestarsled

Bigger less restrictive exhaust is not always better on a street driven car. You can kill the bottom end power curve by putting on too large dia pipes and low restriction mufflers. This is only a 3.5 liter engine not a 502 CI BBC launching at 6000 rpm. I think the psuedo duals are about as free flowing as you should go on this engine. There was a picture a while back of a true dual exhaust Intrepid, that was way too big of an exhaust for these cars and should be used as an example of what not to do.

phases78

well actually i just did some test runs out front, visual on tire spinning etc etc with the wife. it feels stronger to me. and she says its definately stronger when she drove with me. i think i just got paranoid cuz of what someone said to me today.

as far as an example of what not to do, i wouldnt go that far. i like the sound and believe i did gain some hp, im gonna take it to a dyno and test it for sure. perhaps its would be an example of what not to do if you want it quiet lol...

thanks tho!

avalanche165

i;m not gonna go for it, too cheezy. and doesnt fit the car. in my opinion anyway....but who knows, it may look awesome. and i'll spell 'taht" however i want too, thank you tho. as long as you guys know what i'm sayin, its ok.

avalanche165

YES1!!!! hell yea phases, good job, thats what i got

phases78

thanks man! its louder than i wanted it to be initially, but im lovin it!

questions for everyone...

1) what do i need to make things run cooler under the hood?

2) what about a jetchip? jetchip.com doesnt have anything for chrysler....

300michael

JetChip does have a module for the 300M, cost is about $260. It seems to hurt 0-60 times, but help quarter mile times.
As for the second question drive in Alaska , you could add a scoop or replumb the intake hose to get lower cooler air (not very much room to do this).

300michael

Look good on the old hot rods, but not on the 300M's IMOP. But to each it's own.

kpm61

How about WaterWetter by Red Line Oil Co. .
It is supposed to keep internal engine tempratures cooler. I have been running it in my Reatta for years now and have just added it to my 300M yesterday.

Kevin