19th Oct 2008, 22:07

I just brought my 1997 Chrysler Sebring Convertible and the car is sweet looking :)

The owner before told me had no big issues with this car, and in the week I've own it I haven't had any either, but he told me when I purchased the car that the odometer display won't work when it's light is out, but if you wait until dark, you can see it very faintly. That's the only issue I have so far. It won't rain until Tuesday here but I do keep the care VERY clean. The car is love of my life being I am a single man :)

Also it's expected to have brake jobs done on any make of car about once every 6 to 12 months, depending on how you use your brakes, maybe sooner. Instead of racing up to a stop light and slamming on the brakes, how about you let off the gas and ease into the stop? The owner before me said he only did the normal brake/pad change when it's scheduled, and he too was not a rough driver, so I am sure I will not have too many brake/pad issues.

16th Nov 2008, 17:22

I bought my 1997 JXi Convert 2.5L since new and it has been the love of my life... Have driven it over 120,000 miles I have had minimal or no problems... mostly simple wear and tear.

Replaced timing belt and engine mounts at around 110,000 miles, and I have no brake pad issues since with the Auto stick I downshift instead of using the brakes coming to a stop and softly braking.

A recent issue is the Service Engine Light stays on and it stalls from time to time. When starting up I let it idle now for a few minutes. Although Idle Control was replaced... it sometimes has a fast idle or high RPM... wants to accelerate when the brakes are on.. I suspect it is electrical in nature, wiring shorting out or touching metal. Computer says it's Idle Control Module, and although mechanically inclined, I'm not familiar with auto problems. Searching for some feedback, email: signart101@yahoo.com....thanks.

24th Nov 2008, 14:04

I've got a '97 JXi with 271,000 miles on it, that I've owned since '99. A couple of hints I've picked up is that the odometer/tach problem is caused by cold solders between two large resistors in the instrument cluster printed circuit board. It took me 90 minutes to fix, 4 years ago. There are 4 layers to the cluster, and naturally, the PC board is the very last.

One other little hint is that there is apparently a sensor on the cold air intake that will tell you when the air filter is dirty. This indicates by lighting up the "check engine" warning. Replacing the filter, (a $7.00 item at Walmart that takes two clips) turns off the light. I hope this helps someone.

Oh, and the top leaks...

30th Dec 2008, 23:08

I own a '98 Sebring Convertible JXI, and am having SERIOUS problems with the flooding (like most others...). Can someone please explain in thorough detail where exactly the drain holes are on the passenger side? I'm a little confused about where to look.

Also, the very first time my car flooded, it blew the amp and those bizarre noises were heard. The amp drained my battery and that could be an explanation to why the lights are dim if your car makes those eerie noises.

I am at another problem with the amp though. When the amp was making those noises, I unplugged the fuse to the radio/amp and now I cannot receive any music via radio or CD player because the fuse is undone. Is there any way to re-fuse the radio to bypass the amp so that I can turn my radio on and hear something?

14th Feb 2009, 02:04

My 1997 Sebring Convertible has 89,000 miles on it and has the usual wear and tear of a 12 year old car, however it does have a few things going wrong that have stumped my shade tree mechanic's mind.

The running lights stopped working, but all the fuses are good, the horn stopped working as well as the power receptacle. The illumination of the dash instrumentation and controls do not work. Anyone have any experiences with this lot?

26th Feb 2009, 13:54

I have a 1998 Chrysler Sebring Convertible JXI. I bought it used and was told that it only needed a new fuel pump because it would jerk at 70mph. So for awhile until I could get the money to replace it, I stayed under that speed. Well even after replacing the fuel pump, I have had a problem with it not taking off and basically "stumbling" at idle and up and go. When it starts gliding and going it's usually fine, but if you have to stop it dies and then restarts, but it jerks for you to finally go.

I have owned it just over a year, and have replaced the fuel pump, fuel filter, crankshaft and camshaft sensors, catalytic converter, both O2 sensors, Spark plugs and spark plug wiring, fuel injectors, new valve cover seals, new spark plug seals, air filter, oil filter and finally a new wiring harness. Yet it is still having the same problem. Any suggestions?

12th Mar 2009, 12:21

98 Sebring JX - battery needed replacing and when I finally got to its location (under the left front fender, behind a difficult to remove piece of plastic) I unfortunately found a lot of rust from a leaking battery sometime in the past. What a mess! The paint has pealed, and the rust has invaded the seams and layered sheet metals. I am still trying to get the plastic battery tray out (very difficult) and will try to use rust stopping solution to arrest the rust. Do they actually work? What a shame on an otherwise very good car. Any ideas on how to keep the rust from getting worse? I would like to keep this car for a long time as it mainly sits in the garage to drive on sunny weekends, and eventually, it would be fun to take to car shows when it is old enough.