Ignition cables - 2000 Concorde -3.5 L - 111Kmiles

Correction! That's a 3.2L engine.

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.

Hi Bill! Yep. Page 0-4 for Schedule - A says for 100,000 miles....

• Replace the spark plugs
• Replace the ignition cables
• Replace the engine timing belt
• Flush and replace the engine coolant...
• Chanhe teh automatic transaxle fluid and filter

It's from the red "2000 Service Manual - LHS, 300M, Concode and Intrepid by DaimlerChrysler Corporation (pub #81-270-0040)

All's done but the first two. After the guy told me it didn't have ignition cables, I asked about the plugs. Eight bucks each! Is he pullin' my leg?

So you're confirming there are no "ignition cables" as part of this schedule. OK. What about "plugs"? And what about that "eight bucks each"?

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.

So the only error in the schedule involves the ignition cables. Those plugs SHOULD be replaced at 100,000 miles. Right?

P.S. You have any recommendation for the rear brakes; rotor and shoes (I assume it's a rotor).

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.

FYI, some spark plugs are now over $25 each.

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?

fords are high-priced for sure but try a Mercedes.....X2 per cylinder

Are you dubbing some music tonight Bill? TDK?

NGK makes excellent spark plugs, i just thought I'd mention that the OP has options WRT where and what he can buy.

Yech... Bosch Platinums...

IMO, there is a greater chance of the boots carbon tracking on applications where the plug/boot reside deep in the cylinder head.

The boots are available separately for about $5-$6 each and since it's a once every 100K affair, cheap insurance.

Ahhh,,, but it's Cherman.

Ooops, so is a 2000 Chrysler.

I'm just glad i don't have to buy 16 high priced 4 ground strap plugs at a time

Hah! I have no idea where that came from. The mind is a terrible thing!

OK - good info. Again, I have not read of any problems with the boots on the various LH car forums.

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.

I've had good results from that level of Raybestos rotors.

arries the Raybestos, and even after adding shipping

Thanks for the advice. In summary: Plugs: the NGK ZFR5LP-13G Cables: forgettabodit Rear brake pads: Hawk HPS Rear rotors: Raybestos electro-deposited black paint coating Tires: ???

You're welcome.

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.

YMMV - literally. :)

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

jaygreg full-quoted:

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.

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.

Ouch! :)

I'm running these on the LHS sine the good years only went 28,000

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