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Chrysler 300M: Problems & Solutions - READ ONLY

621 messages,  Last post on Oct 13, 2006 at 5:47 AM

You are in the Chrysler 300M Forum.

What is this discussion about? Chrysler 300M, Sedan

Messages Page 38 of 63

#369 of 621 Re: 2004 300M any problems? [used300owner] by intrepidspirit

Aug 29, 2005 (10:29 am)

Replying to: used300owner (Aug 26, 2005 7:21 pm)
Re gas mileage:
 
My wife and I have had a total of 4 300M's. The first, a 2000, had an EPA rating of 18-26, but got better gas mileage than the 2001 18-27. Similarly, the 2 2003's we know own, have the worst gas mileage of all.
 
My 2000 would get about 22.2 on mixed freeway/city driving to L.A. The 2001 would get about 21.3 for the same driving. My wife's 2003 gets about 19.5 for the same driving. Maybe the freeways have gotten more crowded, resulting in more stop and go traffic.
 
However, there are changes on long freeway trips ( e.g. - from L.A. to San Francisco) as well. The 2000 would get about 26.2 on this round trip. The 2001 would get 25.5 and my 2003 would get about 24.8 ( 75-80 mph). One thing I noticed with the 2003 vs. the 2001 and 2000 was that the emission numbers came way down. So I surmise that Chrysler got their MPG numbers maximized for the 3.5L engine and then worked on reducing emissions, which cost them mileage. If the EPA restested the engine today, it would get lower MPG, IMHO.
 
Your 96 LHS did not have a 250 h.p. engine, so you should expect lesser gas mileage. Hope this helps.

#370 of 621 Re: 2004 300M any problems? [used300owner] by naatz1

Aug 29, 2005 (6:09 pm)

Replying to: used300owner (Aug 26, 2005 7:21 pm)
I have posted a few comments on my 2004 bought new Mar 04 in both this and the standard 300M forums. At 14000 miles we have had no, ie ZERO problems with the car. Best quality of any car owned! And I have had 7 new in 20+ years. I now have another 19 months of full warranty and expect to be adding more miles per month soon (my Gr Cherokee with extended warranty that expires in December will see less use), however I doubt if I will hit 36000 miles before the 36 mons main warranty expires.
 
As for gas mileage, as commented before I do get 18 mpg summer city (just checked, last 300 miles of city driving) and got 26 mpg at 70 mph flat midwest road freeway driving over 50 miles this past weekend (pretty ideal, no AC). I sped to 75 and the mileage dropped 2 mpg; with our $2.50 probably soon $3 post Katrina gas I expect to see some government edicted speed limit drops within a year and alas the 300M is not much fun at 55-60 mph. BTW, I see no difference in 87 vs 89 octane gas, neither in power or mpg. So despite an extra 60 hp from the 300M, I get over 4 mpg better than my Jeep most likely due to aerodymanics.
 
And the car is still classy. While many seem opinionated on the new RWD 300 (love it or hate it) both my wife and I get frequent comments from 30 somethings to those 60 plus that our red 300M is a nice looking vehicle. ENJOY yours!

#371 of 621 Re: Stalling at Highway Speeds [mlars22] by bigmike5

Aug 30, 2005 (5:22 am)

Replying to: mlars22 (Aug 28, 2005 3:25 pm)
Had a similar problem with the wife's 00 Eldo, and it turned out to be crank shaft sensors. The dealer knew what the fix was as soon as I described what was happening. So...it must have been a pretty common occurrence for that model for them to know exactly what the problem was before doing a diagnostic. It was under extended warranty, but the bill to replace the sensors, per the invoice, was about $320.

#372 of 621 Re: Car Shakes at slow ideling [kmenon] by redcar4

Sep 03, 2005 (10:51 am)

Replying to: kmenon (Aug 01, 2001 2:58 pm)
Sorry I can't be of help, I have the same sort of thing. Idles rough stopped in drive, in neutral it's fine. Seems to run great at speed, good enough mileage (23 city, 28 hwy). Changed plugs to platinum, nothing, no error codes. Car has 33k. If you hear anything or find a fix I'd be interested to hear it. Otherwise, I love this car!

#373 of 621 RE: repair manuals by kylito

Sep 15, 2005 (8:15 am)

Is there a specific one that can be downloaded for the 300M? I noticed the ones you had posted were for a LHS and general Chrysler one

#374 of 621 Re: 2004 300M any problems? [naatz1] by used300owner

Sep 17, 2005 (1:04 pm)

Replying to: naatz1 (Aug 29, 2005 6:09 pm)
Thanks for the info. I will enjoy it as long as I can afford to fill the gas tank! Gas is $2.85 a gallon where I live. I take it you have not run into any tire pressure problems. I have always had a soft spot for red, but my 300M is metallic black. I've done some researching on the octane debate, and it appears that as long as it doesn't ping you can get by on the lower octane. I will probably continue to use the recommended octane in the manual just to be on the safe side. Let me know if any problems arise.

#375 of 621 Re: 2004 300M any problems? [used300owner] by illini4

Sep 19, 2005 (10:48 am)

Replying to: used300owner (Sep 17, 2005 1:04 pm)
It's not going to ping on 87 octane. The engine has detonation sensors that cause the ECM to retard timing slightly if detonation (ping) occurs.

#376 of 621 RE: repair manuals [kylito] by naatz1

Sep 24, 2005 (3:04 pm)

Replying to: kylito (Sep 15, 2005 8:15 am)
Goto the main 300M forum this msg, note it's a 54 MEGABYTE download so you better have broadband or DSL and plenty of harddrive space.
 
Message 25940 of 25944 Service Manual 2004 300M, Concorde and Intrepid by spark9 Sep 21, 2005
 
I downloaded a version a few months ago, but after 18 months still no problems (half way through the new car warranty, so the dealer would fix them anyway, but car quality remains superb).

#377 of 621 Re: 2004 300M any problems? [used300owner] by tdrum

Sep 27, 2005 (8:03 pm)

Replying to: used300owner (Sep 17, 2005 1:04 pm)
I bought my 2004 300M new with 5 miles on it. Nothing but problems from day one. Over heating, head gasket replacement, several oxygen sensors, and crank sensors. Finally the engine locked up on the dealers lot. They replaced the long block at no charge and the dealer has been great. Now with about 30k on the new long block the have replaced several oxygen sensors and now the crank sensor on the new engine. Seems like we are going down the same path. Dealer has been great car has been terrible.. Sorry for all the bad news but its fact.

#378 of 621 Re: 2004 300M any problems? [tdrum] by illini4

Sep 28, 2005 (8:24 am)

Replying to: tdrum (Sep 27, 2005 8:03 pm)
I've been following this board as well as other 300M boards for over 6 years and have never heard a story like yours. None of the problems you mention are common - they are more like unheard of. You are having some incredibly bad luck.

Messages Page 38 of 63

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