I just phoned the only Chrysler dealer in a 30 mile radius and was told I don't have ignition cables in my 3.5 engine so there's nothing to change. I'm confused. The service manual I bought from the factory in 2003 (shop manual) calls for this replacement at 100,000 miles. What's up?
Yes - the 3.2 (same as 2nd gen. LH 3.5 - *only* difference is bore size) has what is called coil-over-plug - each spark plug has its own coil, and the output of the coil is a direct contact to the top of the plug with rubber boot incorporated - no coil-to-plug wire m(same is also true of the 2.7).
If the shop manual has a replacement interval for "ignition wires" or equivalent, then someone failed to remove that from the standard FSM boilerplate.
I have software copies of both the '02 and '04 FSM's. The '02 FSM does not include the maintenance schedules, but refers the reader to the owner's manual. The '04 FSM includes the maintenance schedules, but does not mention ignition cables or ignition wires. They must have caught the error for the '04 manual.
Well what do you know! Besides the pdf '02 and '04 FSM's that I mentioned, I also have the hard copy of the '99 FSM, and it has the same information as your '00 FSM! I never noticed that before. But - yes - it is an error. Be assured: There are *no* ignition cables on our 2nd gen. LH cars.
That plug would be the NGK ZFR5LP-13G. Yes - it is an $8 plug. You can find it for $7 at places like Advance - occasional coupons might get it down lower. I will say that the people on the LH car-specific forums, including the 300M Enthusiasts Club really do like that plug. Several of them have tried other plugs - some that are more expensive, but they keep coming back to the NGK - it is pretty much unversally agreed to be the best plug for the 3.2/3.5 engine.
Don't know what he's looking up for plugs but the OE plug is a very non-fancy Champion RE12PEC5 which you should be able to buy for under $3.00 each. They work fine.
There are no ignition cables, just a rubber boot on each coil/plug which is advisable that it be changed.
The TDK's were factory plugs on later years, and as I reported, people on the LH car forums, and in particular the 300M Enthusiasts Club, have come to like them after experimenting quite a bit. I will say that there are no complaints on the Champions either, it's just that people seem to like the TDK's more.
Many people on the 300M Club adamantly advise against the Bosch +4 plugs
- more than one first hand report of a ground electrode breaking off in the in the combustion chamber.
Hmm - I've not read of nor experienced (350k combined miles on my two Concordes) any problems with the boots. I believe the boot is part of the coil assembly - not removable or replaceable, so the coils would have to be replaced to replace the boots - is that not correct?
That's what's suggested by Chrysler. But it would be better to do it around 70k miles. You will likely notice mileage drops and performance issues - nothing serious, but some incremental effects - before you get to 100k.
It's a combination rotor/drum - the rotor part is the service brake and the drum is parking brake only.
You can't go wrong with Hawk HPS pads. Performance Friction carbon metallics are also good. Stay away from ceramics unless you know a particular brand and type is good. The term "ceramic" is almost meaningless for brake pads - almost any pad could be classified or not classified as ceramic depending on *how* you define the term "ceramic" (materials and level of content). I can say that there are some real junk pads in ceramic, though there are also some good ones - the trick is knowing which are which.
Raybestos makes a line of rotors that have an electro-deposited black paint coating in the mid price range. NAPA carries them under their in-house "United Brake" brand - you want the "Ultra-Premium" - that's the good-quality Raybestos rotor with e-deposited paint.
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carries the Raybestos, and even after adding shipping cost, should be lower cost than the same rotor from NAPA.
I've had good results from that level of Raybestos rotors.
Sorry - when you said "shoes", I had brakes on my mind.
Of course it depends on what you want in a tire. Me personally - I wrote off so-called "hi-performance" tires about 6 years ago. To me they are a poor value. Besides typically costing a lot more and giving way less tread life, they develop unacceptable noise about half way thru their tread life (even when they are regularly balanced and rotated), and the manufacturers do not stand behind them if there are any problems because - "Hey - they're high performance tires - we assume people abuse them, so the burden of proof is on the consumer to prove that *they* didn't cause the problem" - the dealers and manufacturers literally tell you that if you try to get a failure adjustment on a "hi-performance" tire short of spontaneous explosion shortly after having them installed.
I have been using touring tires, specifically Cooper Lifeliner Touring SLE and CS4 Touring (the CS4 replaced the SLE when the SLE was discontinued) ever since swearing off "hi-performance" tires and have been *very* happy with them. They are super quiet (important in the LH cars as they tend to amplify tire noise), have excellent tread life (80k mile), and are available in T and H/V speed ratings. I might be sacrificing a little G-pulling capability, but I'm not a spirited/aggressive driver and for me they are a much better value IMO.
Thanks Bill. I don't know what class the tires I have fit in but they've ben acceptable. Unfortunately, they've also been discontinued: Firestone's Turanza LS-T P225/60R16 TLBS PS
I don't have the same experience with high(er) performance tires that Bill has (or thinks he has).
I have Yokohama Advan s4 as summer tires for my '00 300m. Because I rotate them with winter tires, I get more life out of them vs having them on all the time. And they remain quiet regardless of wear.
I don't do a lot of driving anyways, so my tires are more likely to wear out because of UV or ozone dammage to rubber (ie - aging) vs actual road wearing.
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Even though they are classified as an "all-season" tire, I only drive on bona-fide snow tires in the winter.
These Yokohama's rank 5 right now in it's catagory. The top tire in that catagory is the Continental ExtremeContact DWS. I normally consider Continental as more of a generic tire maker - the sort of high-milage (ie - rock-hard-rubber) sort of tire you find at CostCo.
I'm running these on the LHS sine the good years only went 28,000
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a little noisy but they wear very very well! and when it rains, get the hell out of the way, I'm coming thru! around 450.00 for all 4.
Thanks Bill. I don't know what class the tires I have fit in but they've ben acceptable. Unfortunately, they've also been discontinued: Firestone's Turanza LS-T P225/60R16 TLBS PS
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