December 20th 2008 accident occurred. Vehicle started on fire and was totaled on the right passenger side. Inner tie rods and bushings were replaced not even two weeks before along with two tires and brakes. Vehicle pulled to the left while in an intersection. A truck coming from the opposite direction hit the vehicle on the front left passenger side and the hood. Vehicle was in a 180 degree position with little damage to the left side.
2001 Chrysler 300M steering complaints
Page 2 of 2: complaints 11 to 29 of 29, newest first, as owners wrote them.
Some background: I noticed the steering wheel was a little sloppy on my 300m and took it to a local dealer to be diagnosed. They told me the rack and pinion should probably be replaced. I had it replaced for around $1200. A year and a half later while traveling for christmas, I pulled off the interstate (from doing 70 MPH) to stop at a gas station. I stopped at the top of the off ramp for the stop sign. Traffic cleared, as I accelerated to turn left, when I turned the wheel I heard a noise, and the car went straight. I had no steering. Luckily I had enough room past the intersection to get out of traffic, but still had my wife and two small children in a precarious position. If this had happened while doing 70 MPH down the interstate, I'm sure we all would have been seriously injured or killed. The car was towed to a dealer whose opinion was that the bolts that hold the inner tie rods to the rack and pinion were loose and caused the failure. The dealer had to replace the rack and pinion again. Police were on scene but did not take a report.
I was stopped at a city intersection waiting to make a left turn. When traffic cleared, I attempted to make the left turn. I heard a 'clunk' and the wheels did not turn. The steering wheel turned, but the tire wheels did not! I had no function except forward or reverse, so I was forced to drive into the curb in an attempt to get out of the way of oncoming traffic. I was not able to get safely off the roadway and my car blocked an entire lane of rush hour traffic which put me in a very dangerous situation. The police were called and a tow truck had to lift the car to move it out of the roadway. I was petrified. The car was towed as instructed by the police officer and is currently with the repair shop pending availability of a steering rack kit. The bolt to the rack was severed! There was no warning prior to this incident. Although I was not injured thanks to the slow speed I was traveling I am very concerned about others that may have this same experience when traveling at a higher speed and making a turn or exiting a highway off ramp. This is clearly a mechanical safety hazard and appears to be faulty workmanship in the automobile. My car is maintained regularly and I have never been advised by chrysler to replace the steering rack. I have contacted the chrysler customer assistance center (reference # 18030539), but they are of no assistance concerning this incident. I'm shocked that there has not been a recall as research shows this is a recorded known deficiency in the workmanship.
2001 chrysler 300m with 68, 300 miles has steering vibration at 60 MPH.
My sister's 2001 chrysler 300 m experienced sudden steering failure while driving. Fortunately she was travelling at low speed, so no one was killed. She described the feeling at failure as a loud noise followed by the sensation of sliding on ice. It was towed to a repair shop, where they found that the threaded holes on the steering rack that the inner tie rods connect to were both stripped out and that the bolts had fallen out, resulting in complete loss of steering control. This seems to be a common problem with the large chrysler vehicles, and puts a lot of people at risk of death. Please force chrysler to recall these cars and to install a redesigned steering rack and tie rods that are not going to kill people.
Cluncking noise coming from front end and steering locks up while turning full right or left. Car was serviced and rack and pinion was replaced under warranty at 50,000 miles. Returned to dealer after 100,000 miles for wheel vibration problems especially while braking. Inner tie rod bushings were replaced.
Violent shaking began while traveling at highway speed, approx. 70 MPH. The shaking seemed to be originating from the right front end of the vehicle. Vehicle was brought in for service and mechanic informed me that the right side tie rod was defective. The mechanic showed me the "play" of approx. 3 to 4 inches to the left and then an additional 3 to 4 inches to the right of center. Apparently the shaking I felt was the right front wheel swinging left and right while I was traveling straight along the highway.
Noise in front end, when turning steering wheel would catch and not return to normal position, steering wheel would not re-align properly.
Lose steering, bobbing steering with rumbling noise- diagnosis need new rack and pinion, having 3rd one put in now. Will lock up in a turn, will become very hard to turn left, sounds like out of steering fluid but not. I think possible part has changed or something not right with car or part. Something needs to be done about this. Car had 60,000 when it first began and very well maintained.
2001 chrysler 300m rack and pinion had to be replaced because the rack broke. The brakes failed and the car accelerated out of control, due to a failure in the vacuum system. *ts
Dt*: the contact stated while driving at 15mph, the rack and pinion fractured with no prior warning. The steering was extremely difficult while making a left hand turn. The vehicle was driven to an independent repair shop for inspection. The repair shop offered to make repairs, however the repairs were not made.
Grinding noise - and play in the steering wheel - steering wheel sticking on turns I brought it in to the dealer and the cost was $934.10 for the part and $412.50 for labor plus the cost of another front wheel alignment of $60 - not under warranty and an email to customer service at chrysler was not fruitful, they really don't care that the power steering rack went out at just over 40,000 miles.
Power steering locked up going around a corner due to faulty power steering rack at 58,000 miles
While driving 50 MPH rack and pinion steering failed. As a result, the tires failed to respond to steering movement.
Rack and pinion steering on 2001 chrysler 300m has suddenly work loose internally. Company will not explain why steering has become loose. There is 50,000 miles on vehicle. We do not know if vehicle steering system is breaking down and are replacing rack and pinion before accident could occur. There is now a quarter turn of slack in steering, creating a driving hazard. Chrysler will not stand behind the issue. It appears as if the worm gear in the system is breaking loose from the shaft.
While traveling 40 MPH, the consumer noticed play in steering wheel. When the vehicle was slowed to make a left turn the steering wheel became stuck. The dealer was notified. *ak *scc
Per dealer "steering rack has internally failed and needs replaced". The car was bought used with 32,000 miles and condition existed then although I did not recognize it at the time. Car now has 44,000 miles. The steering felt a little loose and front tire wear were my only clues and I attributed those to car possibly being out of alignment. Took car in for alignment and told cost to fix rack will be $1,100 or as much as $1,500 if tie rods need replaced. Not a please experience with my first chrylser product and on their "premium" car no less.
I have a 2001 300m chrysler with 50,000 miles on it. My car already has to have a new steering rack assembly. The steering wheel wanders, with excessive play in the wheel and makes a large grinding sound when wheel is turned to the right or the left. Also, sporadically the gauges will all drop to zero for 5 to 10 seconds and then reset while driving down the road.
Poor steering, accompanied by knocking when going over bumps. Car wanders as the road surface change. No visual sign of problems. Told the rack and pinion may be bad.
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