Piston Slap: Ultradriving the Budget Beater?
TTAC Commentator mopar4wd writes:
Sajeev,
So, I’ve noticed over the years that common wisdom for purchasing budget cars is all about condition and less about mileage. But other than my trusty ’88 Ramcharger, ’00 Durango, ’91 Eagle summit (Mitsubishi Mirage) and ’87 Toyota pickup, most of the vehicles I have owned all started becoming awful to own going somewhere between 150-200k miles. The list includes Fords, Subarus, Jeeps, Nissans, Chryslers, Volkswagens, Volvos, etc., since I pretty much only buy sub-$5,000 cars and have to rely on them daily. I have shifted to a little older and lower mileage (and of course well taken care of). Usually between 90-120k miles and 10 to 12 years old.
Which leads me to my question. I’m now the owner of a 2004 Chrysler 300M with 42,000 miles. The owner bought it from a Chrysler dealer locally in 2006. It’s well maintained and clean despite living its life outdoors: new tires, new battery and oil changes every 3k miles. The owner had it up for a reasonable price but everyone was low balling her — I brought a reasonable offer (about 15 percent less than asking) and picked it up.
After driving it a thousand miles a few things have popped up: cam sensor going out (a common issue that I’m DIYing today), I’ve made an appointment to have the timing belt and water pump replaced (there was no record of this work), and based on feel I think the rear struts may need a change.
Given the like-new condition of the car is there anything else I should be looking at doing (fluid changes are on the list) given that it’s closing in on 14 years old?
Sajeev answers:
Nice find! The 300M is arguably the best LH car ever: I’m a big fan of its “cab forward” design over its retrograde LX replacement. I’ll never forget wanting this sleek, black-on-black, leftover 2004 Chrysler Concorde in the showroom as my father was signing the papers on a (surprisingly awful) 2005 Chrysler 300C. Did I mention that before in a previous Piston Slap? Anyway…
Focus on the 42LE transmission upgrades: install a shift kit and upgrade to the largest transmission cooler that’ll fit in the same spot as the factory cooler.
At your low mileage, considering it’s been well maintained (new TIRES? You lucky duck!) the only problem is keeping the transmission alive. Chrysler’s Ultradrive gearboxes deserve their bad reputation, but play your cards right via frequent fluid services/cooler upgrade/shift kit and you’ll be happy with your 42LE. I have faith, as the owner of an upgraded/rebuilt but similarly awful Ford AXOD transaxle, but let’s not take my word for it as a transmission jobber/blogger says this about the similar 42LRE:
The 42LRE is one big headache of a transmission. The internet is littered with stories about this transmission failing and leaving customer stranded. Make sure to insist to your customer the need for timely transmission services that include a fluid and filter change. When possible also suggest the install of a performance shift kit, such as the one made by Transgo.
He didn’t recommend an aftermarket transmission cooler, but do it. The factory cooler is puny, will get overworked in hotter climes, and there are several improvements available that look like a pretty easy conversion.
[Image: Chrysler]
Send your queries to sajeev@thetruthaboutcars.com. Spare no details and ask for a speedy resolution if you’re in a hurry…but be realistic, and use your make/model specific forums instead of TTAC for more timely advice.
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These were such pleasant cars. I drove them as rentals on 3 or 4 occasions and they were great looking, very nice to drive and had wonderful interiors for the time. However, I really notice whenever I see one, or any LH car, today as they seem to have a low survival rate compared to early 2000s Asian cars (Tauri also disappearing fast, although clapped out Malibus seem to soldier on). I'm wondering if some of those cooling issues affected their longevity here in Texas.
totally off topic but I'm slightly desperate for an answer as to why this keeps happening. I have a 1999 GMC Yukon with the 5.7 Vortec. I'm on my 2nd (soon to be third engine) and here's the issue I'm having. First engine ran fine up until 148,ooo miles then with no warning other than a slight tick which could be mistaken for the normal chevy tick some late 90s early 2000s engines exhibit from tensioners it spun a main bearing and knocked a chunk out of the block just in front of the first main bearing behind the harmonic balancer inside the oil pan. Now motor number 2 is a used engine that had 100,000 and we've put only about 10,000 on it and the front two mains are showing abnormal wear (3 thousandths), the motor knocks, and we have to run 20w50 just to hold 20lbs of oil pressure with a high volume pump. My question is why in the world is it the front 2 main journals? Is this normal for Vortecs or have I managed to get 2 screwed up factory mistakes? Either way the truck is going the way of the dodo as my wife cannot trust the vehicle for any trips over roughly 30 miles and my 95 YJ Wrangler with 308,000 has proven to be far more reliable than the Yukon. I also need a couple of suggestions for a good under 5 grand priced vehicle of approximately the same size with 4 wheel drive.