Problems with 2005 Chrysler 300 ELECTRICAL SYSTEM

November 3,2009 automobile was a 2005 chrysler 300 touring series. was driving on interstate 57 south bound and the car caught fire in the rear trunk on the passenger side, where the battery is stored. car was completely destroyed, there was a recall on these cars in 2005 and i was never informed. it recall stated that about 20,000 units were effected by the possible defect in assembly, and the recall stated that the battery cables could possibly come off causing fires. and chrysler said it was not a defect. *tr

Purchased the chrysler 300 jan 2005 and within a few months vehicle started pulling to the right. we took the car in 3 times within the first 6 months of having it and they tried to fix, said they had and was not. on the final attempt, they told us to take it to an alignment shop on our own to fix, "we tried." now, after 3 years driving with the same problem. we have a new problem, the speedometer gauge broke. we were told sorry, its out of warranty and we have to pay 1000.00 to fix. another dealer, said they would charge 800. ii was told that our cluster would be sent out and replaced with a refurbished one. so we did not have it fixed, we decided to purchase one on our own (from a junk yard or refurbished) and now the mileage needs to be reset. but were told that they could just reset the mileage for 100 dollars. took the car in now being told that we can not do that. so what's the difference if they put in a refurbished one or we did, it still needs to be reset. it seem to me, they still want the money to fix and that's al they care about! when it should be only 100.00 to fix now. *tr

Tl*the contact owns a 2005 chrysler 300. the contact stated that the fuel gauge became inoperable. also, the theft auto light illuminates intermittently on the instrument panel. while driving 35 mph, the fuel gauge indicated that the fuel tank was half full; however, the vehicle sputtered before coming to a stop. upon further investigation, it was deemed that the vehicle had in fact run out of fuel. once fuel was placed in the vehicle, the engine started immediately. this is the second occurrence of this failure. the vin was unknown. the failure and current mileages were 54,000.

Electrical fire began in engine compartment due to grounding failure in that negative battery cable was consumed w/ no damage to positive cable or surrounding area. vehicle was declared a total loss. *tr

Last summer i was driving toward my grandson's ballgame. i slowed to make a left turn. suddenly, i lost power steering, power brakes and air conditioning. however, my motor was still running. the next day i took the vehicle to a dealer and was told there were no code showing anything had happened. it is very dangerous, particularly for my wife who would probably panic or not have the strength to control the vehicle. others have had this problem from reading complaints. afterwards, i had to replace an o2 sensor for the 3rd time and then replaced the evaporator on the ac. *tr

A smell of burning wire in the passenger cabin. a yellow light cane on the dash . the passenger cabin filled up with smoke. the car quit running on the road. the trunk had popped open. that cabin was full of smoke. the car was completely dead. *tr

The vehicle will frequently shut off while driving. it will completely lose power. it also stalls, the gear shift has gotten stuck in park and would not move. the main concern is the fact that it cut off on me on the highway again today at 75mph!! very dangerous!! luckily the semi truck was able to swerve around me but that could have been a fatal accident! something needs to be done about this.... *tr

I am the owner of a 2005 chrysler 300 which suffers from electrical system failure under power, leaving me with no control over the vehicle. it has been into the shop five separate times for this problem, and has not as yet been repaired. however, this is not the main complaint i am contacting you regarding, even though it is in itself extremely hazardous. in this instance, when it was brought into the dealership for electrical failure, the repair technician was pulling it into the shop to look at it, and the left front control arm on the vehicle snapped in two. upon observation, it was found that the right front control arm was severely bent and ready to snap. the replacement control arms are twice the thickness, and twice as heavy, as the original. this is proof beyond a reasonable doubt that chrysler not only knew that the original control arms were defective and/or ineffective, but that chrysler corrected the problem without the issuance of a recall for the said defective/ineffective part. breaking control arms on the vehicle constitute a known vehicular hazard that can cause injury, death, and property damage. i hereby request that the nhtsa consider this a formal complaint and request for immediate safety recall for the 2005 chrysler and any other of the chrysler vehicle(s) which may use the same control arms, part number 4782561ae, in the interest of safety. this defect endangers not only the driver and passengers of the vehicle itself, but also other drivers who may be in the way when the control arms snap. when i contacted chrysler about the problem i was told that it was just ?too bad? and that i could not prove i had not done something which caused the problem. even though i advised them i knew that they had replaced their inventory with bigger, stronger control arms. utilizing the ?reasonable person? legal tenant, any reasonable person would understand that chrysler is trying to deny responsibility for their defective vehicle. *jb

300 c fails to start after four dealer attempts to fix what was diagnosed as an "electrical problem" - a fifth occurrances documented on 9/4/07 is yet to be resolved by dealer since car parked inside garage will not start

My 2005 chrysler 300 limited with 41,000 miles has had numerous problems. the latest problem is with the keyless remote entry keyfobs. both fobs now do not work. the control panel indicated the battery was low. after replacing the battery, the panel still indicated the battery was low. after opening the spare fob to replace its battery, found the housing that holds the battery had completely separated from the circuit board. took the car back to the original dealership, where all the other problems have been dealt with. the dealership told me since my car was now out of warranty (the car is only a little over 2 years old), i would have to pay $311 for two new key fobs and programming. in the meantime, i am dealing with locking the car, and then unlocking it through the door, letting the horn sound and the lights flash, looking as if i am stealing my own car until i can drop all my packages in my hand and get in behind the wheel and insert the key into the ignition. other problems, after 15,000 miles, the continental self sealing tires had to be replaced. fight for this problem with continental people! after numerous phone calls and faxes, continental did replace the tires at a charge of $250 for four new tires. the navigation system on this car was replaced three times. the button which controls the view broke all three times. all the speakers have been replaced in the car. since it is now out of warranty, they can't be replaced again. they sound awful and that is the way they have to stay until i can afford to upgrade my "premium" chrysler stereo system with a premium system from an electronic store. the sunroof was not closing properly. took it to the dealership before the warranty expired. they performed a "software update" and supposedly fixed the issue. two weeks later, i took the car through a car wash and was flooded with water coming through the sunroof. z *nm

For about 7 days now the instrument panel consistently flickers causing complete loss of electronic stability to vehicle. occurrence most active between 15 - 50 mph including slowing to a complete stop. engine does not appear to be directly affected by this failure and continues to be functional and operative. esp/bas illuminated and did not shut off after first occurrence. all occurrences there after esp/bas does not illuminate. parts affected during failure: speedometer, tachometer, fuel gauge, air conditioner, stereo, entire sensor cluster, engine temperature gauge, signal / lighting cluster. vehicle has history of esp/bas sensor illumination on occasion when vehicle is started. usually occurs when engine hesitates to start and shutters before completing full start. dealership has never been able to replicate nor find any of these failures during diagnostics tests in the past. will be bringing vehicle back in for another test and inspection a.s.a.p. *nm

Dt*: the contact stated while driving 15 mph on a street, the instrument cluster panel and gauges intermittently flickered off and on, followed by the engine stalling without warning. afterwards, the contact shut off the engine and restarted without further incident. the vehicle was inspected by a dealer who was unable to duplicate the problem. the problem persisted, and the manufacturer was alerted.

I have a 2005 chrysler 300 touring edition, which i purchased in nov. 2004. in oct. 2005, i took my car into the local dealership because i was experiencing difficulties with my interior and exterior lights flickering. at that time, i was told by the dealership that they flashed the computer and the problem was corrected. then about 3-4 months ago, i took my car back to the dealership because i was experiencing problems with my stereo. there are times that i get into my car and i do not have sound and none of the functions will work. i then have to manually turn the stereo off and back on for it to work. but unfortunately, i was told that since the problem was not occurring at that time, there was nothing that could be done. well this past sunday i was driving late at night, and all of my lights went completely out, and everything on the dash went out. my speedometer and gauges went to zero, then warning indicators started flashing. once again, i took my car to the dealership and i was told that several codes were stored in the computer but at that time they could not fix the problem because they weren't sure of the exact problem. i was told to continue driving the car and hopefully it will occur again and they will be able to find out the problem. at this point i am becoming frustrated with my car and i am ready to trade it in. *nm

I drive a chrysler 300c, when i purchased the car i felt the car veering to the right. well i had taken the car in to the dealer and i was told that i needed a wheel alignment and i also needed to have my wheel rotated. well i did that and still i had the same problem. so i took the car back and was told that i needed another wheel alignment and my wheels needed to be rotated i did all of that and i still have the same problem. i also have a problem with my horn not blowing when the car is not running. i find all of the above complaints to hazardous and dangerous to myself, family and friends. i am told by the dealer that there is no problem. i have tried calling the service manager for the last two days and have yet a receive a response. *jb

Getting ready to go to a basketball game and at the stop sign yards from our home the inside of the car went black then the lights flickered and went black again. the car then starting smoking from behind the car dash. we managed to push the car back into the carport but we couldn't understand why a 2005 model would do something like that. so we got on the internet started searching for answers and came upon a recall that involved electrical wiring problem that if not fixed it could cause damage to the dash and cause a fire. at the time i had a seven year old in the car and this could have been worse if we headed out any further and then the car broke down. *jb

The horn only works when it wants to. it takes a lot of pressure to activate the horn. *nm

Ongoing problem chrysler 300c...heater control panel gets so hot you can't touch it for extended periods (you can smell the hot plastic or electrical materials. when the problem occurs, headlight switch also gets quite warm. at same time, random other problems occur...seats forget settings, back up warning fails (my wife relied on this because of high back end and backed into a concrete post damaging rear bumper; we now do not trust it) radio errors reported, windows stop working or go in both directions with one push of button to name a few.. in addition, problems with engine warning light coming on.. engine sputters and quits. if turned off and restarted, problem corrects itself but, according to dealer, throws strange error codes into computer. problem reported to several dealers. main one acknowledges and has seen/felt heat problem. can not locate problem..they suggest contacting chrysler customer service who simply say to call dealer. dealer also reports that chrysler engineering can not or will not help them. *jb

Vehicle just shuts off while driving with no indication or no reason...lose all steering and brakes. able to wait a of couple minutes and vehicle will start up again but then will shut off while driving. *jb

2005 chrysler 300c - 2 issues 1) horn is difficult to activate. the button on the steering wheel is difficult to press, and sometimes does not sound the horn. this is a safety concern. 2) horn does not operate while the car is off. this is a design feature (flaw, in my opinion), which may not be a safety item, but may be related to item #1.*jb

4/04 my wife and i purchased a chrysler 300c at riverfront chrysler, we reported to them on numerous occasions the car stalls out when making a left or right turn, dealer claims it was a hose causing stall, when car stalled again dealer claimed it was control module when car stall again dealer claim to see no duplicating problem this has been going back and forth for months now other electrical problems are happening the horn don't blow all the time the back driver window don't always work, passenger airbag light goes off and on, driver door misaligned car brakes and tires are giving us problems. *jb

Seat/mirrors, pedal,radio & steering column remote memory settings do not operated when pressing the open button on key. does work when using buttons on left door. dealer unable to repair. dealer contacted mfg rep. still unable to repair. dealer rep said they checked memory settings on four other new vehicles in stock. memory would not work on any model 300 vehicles. *jb

2005 chrysler 300 key will not unlock has been like year after the car was brought. *tr

Dt: contact purchased a 2005 chrysler 300 limited edition sedan on 7-27-05. he drove it home. the next day his wife parked vehicle in the parking lot where she worked. 30 minutes later, the manager of the building called contact wife's office informing her there was a car on fire in the parking lot. flames came out of the engine block. the car was totally destroyed in less than 24 hours after purchasing it. the car parked next to contact's vehicle was destroyed, as well as 2 or 3 other cars were damaged. he contacted daimler/chrysler, and they were going to send someone to look at the car. the dealer agreed to give contact a loaner vehicle. contact did not notice any defect within the car prior to the fire. this was reported to the fire department and police department. contact had pictures of the car. he said that dealer installed a passive alarm system with an ignition kill, a remote start feature, could start the car without the key. a lo-jack anti theft system was installed. also, the car included a navigation system, power adjusted gas and brake pedals, self sealing tires, and side/curtain air bags . he purchased a an extended warranty of 7 years,100,00 miles bumper to bumper. *ak

Dt: contact states he bought a new 2005 chrysler 300 m touring on approximately 1-04. on 6-23-05 he took the car in to the dealer where he bought it;(sparsest chrysler) to let them fix a problem he was having with the button that allows him to see the temperature outside the car and also allows him to see the mileage he has driven. the button would not work; so he asked the dealer to fix it. on the same day, he got the car back from the dealer and he noticed it was doing the same thing but after a while it did start to work. on 7-13-05 while the car was parked in his garage, the car caught on fire. he is not sure where the fire originated from but he did say the car has a big hole in the dash. he called chrysler and they told him they would have to investigate it. his insurance adjuster has looked at it and determined that it was an electrical fire. the adjuster also gave him a recall #04v334000 .the recall applies to the electrical system; battery cables. the dealer denied that was the problem that caused the fire.*ak

Dt: there was a complaint filed on this vehicle odi 10125270 concerning the air bag light coming on and staying on. the dealership found out it was the clock spring, and they have replaced it 3 times , but it kept failing. currently, the vehicle is at the dealer, the dealer stated that there was inferior wires used on the wire harness. dealer was to replace entire wire harness under dash board. there was going to be a week or two delay in getting the parts. then there was concern that if there was inferior insulation involved with the wire harness this could cause severe problems such as a fire. *ak *jb the vehicle could not be filled through the fuel pipe to the gasoline tank and the fuel gauge was stuck on full. upon examination by the dealer, it was found the vehicle would not take any gas. the dealer decided that the vehicle needed a kit to be placed on top of the fuel tank. *jb

2006 chrysler 300c with 5.7 liter hemi engine, 1,500 miles on odometer. stalls and will/or very difficult to re-start. stalled while driving which nearly caused an accident. car at dealer now in port huron, mi. told by dealer that chrysler does not have fix for "computer problem" and that computer will be pulled from vehicle and sent to chrysler engineering for evaluation; not sure when car will be fixed. definitely a safety concer. stalls without warning with total loss of power, steering and brakes.

My car stalls when turning left at low speeds. the first time it happened i had to pull over and restart it. just minutes later i was approaching an intersection and turning left and the car stalled. i took it to the dealership and they advised that they couldn't find the problem and sent me away.

Tl* the contact owns a 2005 chrysler 300. the contact stated that the rear driver side window did not open or close without warning. the failure recurred on several occasions. the vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. the manufacturer was not notified of the failure. the approximate failure mileage was 200.

Dt; consumer bought a chrysler 300 model year 2005. when driving forward at 5 miles per hour the car turns off, also when driving in reverse it turns off. everything goes off even the lights. after placing the vehicle in park, it starts again but does not turn off. in a time lapse of 1 week it happened 3 times. vehicle was taken to the dealer april 9, 2005 and it is still there. dealer can't find the problem. consumer was told to come and pick up the car. consumer feels he/she is risking his/her life and is afraid to pick the vehicle up. *tt

Dt: consumer states that there is a safety defect in the air bag disbursement mechanism. the clock spring has been replaced three times, and the red airbag warning light comes on and stays on. the light being on causes the airbags not to work. the warning light has come on every time the clock spring has been replaced.*ak the consumer was told the under wiring needed to be replaced because the material was of poor quality. *jb

Horn is extremely difficult to work, only a small area seems to work. in an emergency it would be difficult to find this "spot". *nm

the vehiclewas brought to freehold chrysler for service for the engine light coming on, not shifting properly, hesitation, left and right side molding coming off, trunk latch broken and car pulling to the right. freehold chrysler stated they could not duplicate the problems and found no codes and the wheel alignment was done at a cost to me of $95.00,molding and trunk latch was replaced. we then brought the car back again for pulling to the right about 1 week later and again the told us it was fixed.the vehicle was not pulling as much but still was. about 2 weeks later the car was red lining, not shifting and stalling on her. we brought the car to eatontown chrysler in which they found a transmission solenoid to be bad and replaced it. we then started to experience electrical problems such as rear window not working all the time and air bag light sometimes flashing on and off while driving and again hesitation when stating from stop. also the moon roof interior shade opens to about an inch after driving to vehicle for about a week. we contacted freehold chrysler about these problem and the previous wheel alignment and made an appointment for may 3, 2005. now its may 8th and we have approx. 20,000 on the vehicle and we are being told the wheel alignment was completed based on a service bulletin and at no cost to us, even though we paid $95.00 originally, and the rest of the problems cannot be duplicated and there's nothing else they could do. i contacted the chrysler corp. service center at 18009921997 and spoke to numerous people in reference to these problems and was told to take the car to another dealership and there's nothing else that they could do. ...

When i turn on the headlights, the headlights and interior lights flash in intensity, and brightness. the result of this hazard is that it distracts the driver of my car, and any driver on the road who come into view of the chrysler 300. this condition is amplified by switching head lights from low to high beam. the chrysler corporation has been aware of this problem since january12, 2005. this is a serious hazard and affects the safe operation of this vehicle. why hasn't there been a recall to give relief and safety in this matter????????????????????????????????????????

2005 chrysler 300c/dodge magnum, horn button in steering wheel difficult to operate especially in emergency conditions. horn also does not work without key in and engine running.*ak

Horn requires extensive pressure to operate in "key" locations on steering wheel. often, horn does not operate in emergency situations. this is almost identical to the 1995 chevy impala ss horn problem due to airbag placement in the steering wheel. this should be addressed now, otherwise there will surely be accidents which were avoidable if the horn operated properly.*ak

The horn button on the steering wheel of my 2005 chryler 300c requires excessive force in order to operate. during several "events" over the few months i have owned this car, i have been unable to operate the horn on the first press of the button. it is simply useless as a timely warning device. *ak

Chrysler 300c 2005 horn difficult to operate in emergency situation - must try pressing in several spots - there is no specific horn operating marking on the steering wheel. *ak

I purchased a new chrysler 300 on 11/03/04 and experienced difficulty with the vehicles lights both interior and exterior. called grogan dealership on 11/9/04 to issue the complaint. was told to bring the vehicle in. the vehicle went into the shop at the dealership on 11/30/04 and was returned to me on 12/02/04 with an invoice stating there is no fix at this time. made several complaints since then about the safety concern related to this vehicles lights flickering continuously. then on 12/17/04 the vehicles lights went completely out causing an accident with an injury. the accident resulted in an injury and severe damage to the vehicle. this is a safety concern for individuals in the vehicle and any oncoming traffic. chrysler was contacted and the dealership and neither are owning up to the safety concern. neglect is unacceptable. i have young children and have been blessed that they were not in the vehicle at the time of the accident. something needs to be done immediately before a fatality occurs from someone's neglect. as i can see from this website that several complaints have been issued regarding this problem. i am sure there are many more that just haven't surfaced. in addition, the vehicle is sitting at a towing lot and neither the dealership nor chrysler have taken the initiative to have this vehicle towed and worked on for correction. meanwhile, i am sitting without a vehicle. anyone having this problem feel free to contact me, we need to have this corrected immediately. *jb

(1) when stopped at a light the engine intermittently vibrates and runs rough for a few seconds and almost stalls then idles normally. also sometimes the engine will stall out when driving. vehicle was brought back to the dealer several times. dealer did a computer modification #489614a1 but condition persists. (2) air conditioning. when stopped at a traffic light in gear or in neutral, the air conditioning compressor cycles on for 15 seconds and then off for 5 seconds. each time the ac cycles on there is a clunk and vibration & grinding thru the steering column and brake pedal. the dealer installed an ac compressor pulley kit. condition still persists. (3) when the vehicle slows down from 12 mph to 3 mph whether in drive or neutral with or without applying the brakes there is a vibration and whine noise coming from the front thru the steering column. the dealer said it was from the tires and rotated and balanced them several times. the condition still persists.

The consumer stated that the horn would not blow unless the key was in the ignition. the consumer did not find this out until after he had purchased the vehicle. the consumer complained to the dealer and went to the dealer. the consumer found that all of the 200 chrysler 300's had the same problem. this is a safety issue. *ak the horn would only activate in one spot. *sc

I am the owner of a 2005 chrysler 300c. i noticed that my horn is inoperable unless the key is in the ignition and turned on. in talking to other owners, it appears that this is a common trait on this new vehicle. i brought it to the dealers attention when i had it in for service. they checked other new vehicles in their inventory in stated that they were all like that. they then contacted chryslers help line and were informed that "unbeleivable as it is, that is the way the vehicle was designed". in my opinion, this could pose a safety issue. if i am sitting in my car with the ignition off and the possibility of someone backing into me is imminent, i will not be able to warn them with my horn.

I have had my rear view mirror replaced because the sensor went, sunroof replaced several times, passenger window on the driver side sometime inoperable, interior lights come in when you lock, car has cut off exiting a major highway and just waiting, steering wheel shaking and pulling to the right, air bag passenger light come on,has been to two dealership, notified man via phone and e-mail--had to file a complaint with attorney general for new car lemon. *jb

2005 chrysler 300 with ignition problem. consumer states that after the installation of the ignition switch was completed. she continued to have the exact same problem as before with the eas light indicator. *nj the consumer was told there was an open circuit in the ignition switch. the consumer stated the problem became more serious which caused the steering wheel to violently vibrate in excess of 60 mph. another service provider informed the consumer the tie rod end was broken and the struts needed to be replaced.*jb

Was parked in post office parking lot and other patron backing out of spot. went to honk horn to warn them to look up but the horn did not work. result was bumper smashing. ignition has to be on for horn to work in this car. is chrysler 2005 300c. *nm

The horn is very hard to blow, and when the key is not in the vehicle the horn won't blow at all. . consumer is concerned if there is an emergency he cannot use the horn to get help.*ak.....the thick vinyl/rubber horn pad has several areas where the horn does not blow. essentially, there are only two spots on the entir epad where the horn activates. it is poorly designed. *ak