300M clunking is fixed

It definitely applies to the LH, possibly to some (but definitely not all) other cars. In contrast to the inner bushing that pivots perpindicular to the long axis of the tie rod on the LH car, rack & pinion steering cars I had in the past had axially oriented ball joints going into the rack from the tie rods - unlimited rotation at the rack joint, so no binding possible. With the LH design, those bushings fix the orientation of the tie rod on rack (inner bushing) end. The other end (outer end) has a limited rotation (around the tie rod length axis), so if the alignment guy biases it all the way over in one direction, you get the stress/binding that crushes and severely wears the bushing when the steering wheel is turned from lock to lock and the tie rod geometry changes (forcing some small but definite rotation of the tie rod about the length axis).

HTH

Bill Putney (To reply by e-mail, replace the last letter of the alphabet in my address with the letter 'x')

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Bill Putney
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Where can I find a list of cars equipped with interference engines? Does the

300M have one?

Ken

Reply to
NJ Vike

formatting link
(give it plenty of time to download (also can link it from here:
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An asterisk next to an engine listing = interference. 300M 3.2 (not listed for the M?) and 3.5L engines '99-'04 are all shown as interference. I'm not sure everyone agrees that all listings are accurate in that regard, but I have no opinion.

That guide contains only engines with timing *belts*. The 2.7L (used in other LH cars and in European 300M's) is chain driven, so does not show up - it is interference.

Bill Putney (To reply by e-mail, replace the last letter of the alphabet in my address with the letter 'x')

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Bill Putney

Bill,

Many thanks!

Reply to
NJ Vike

You're welcome!

Reply to
Bill Putney

There was some early conflicting information about whether the 2nd generation LH 3.5 was interference or not but most people now believe that it is. But don't make your decision strickly on whether an engine is interference and uses a timing belt. The 2.7 has a chain but has major other problems. The 3.5 is known to be extremely reliable. One place to check engines is in timing belt catalogs. They often indicate whether the application engine is interference.

Reply to
Art

So I called up the Chyrsler dealer today and told them about their screw up. I received nothing more than an apology and a promise that they would take it up with the mechanics who screwed up.

Practically speaking, there is nothing much you can do these days to get satisfaction in a case like this. If you decided to sue them, you would need expert testimony to support your case which isn't worth the expense. Also, work orders are written in a manner such that the dealer could argue that they are being paid to do something, and whether it corrects a problem is irrelevant.

Any way, as I explained to my wife, this is why I buy an extended warranties and usually get rid of the car a few months before the warranty is over. Having a warranty on a used car makes it easy to sell. In this case my wife wanted to keep the car, and then she decided to give it to her parents. Hopefully it will have no issues for a while.

We replaced our 300M and Avalon with a Honda Odyssey and Accord Hybrid (yes, I know the hybrid feature is a complete waste of money but she wanted it). We bought zero deductible, 8 year 120k mile Honda service agreements for each of them for about $1200 each so I won't have any out of pocket repairs for a while. The minivan in particular, with all of the motorized doors, it is hard to believe that it won't eat up $1200 in repairs at some point.

We are getting the 300M cleaned up and touched up and then shipping it to Florida. Another new experience.

Reply to
Art

Art,

I had thought about it. My problem is that I'm too tall and not comfortable with this car. I have looked at many cars and have decided that I will sell my M and get into a new 300C.

I really liked the looks of this car but since my wife no longer commutes to work, we really don't need the car.

I'm still looking at reviews of the 300C. Interesting comment from Consumer Reports is the reliability of the vehicle. CR says the reliability of the six cylinder is average and the eight is below average (you saw this too) but what CR fails to report is WHY the hemi is below average. Specifically, they don't say so I'm at a loss here.

Ken

Reply to
NJ Vike

I don't think they'd be using that in the new line if DC didn't at least think they had resolved those issues (primarily sludge) with some certainty.

Bill Putney (To reply by e-mail, replace the last letter of the alphabet in my address with the letter 'x')

Reply to
Bill Putney

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