Recall Friday Part II: Chrysler Recalls Nearly 300,000 SUVs for Brakes

I think they should ask lexuzzz for help!

First it was roll-overs due to rusted out front suspension components (ball joints if I recall correctly) and now major brake problems. Is it safe to drive any Chrysler product or is the simple solution to simply fire the people responsible for extreme cost cutting?

Maybe this time they fitting some decent brakes.. I drove a Jeep Commander HEMI V8 the other day and the brakes were weak and unsafe.

More nails to its coffin. So the question is when will Cerebus take the hammer and nail down Chrysler.

I think that day will come sooner than later. I just hope that GM ends up owning the Jeep brand in the process and that GM will retire the H2 and H3.

Not going to happen! Cerebus to the rescue. H2 and H3 Jeep wannabees are already on their way out!

They can thank Daimler for all that quality that trickled down! (Daimler sucked them dry and nearly ran them into the ground.) It looks like things will get better now that they have a competent management team assembled by Cerebus.

Whats all the fuss , they are just fine tuning their vehicles . Isn't that what the Toyota people say . All this recall involves is a computer hookup to the diagnostic link , perform a little computer wizardry and everthing will be just fine

While they're at it, let them fix the throttle delay in the Hemi ones.

And lets get rid of cylinder deactivation also. I don't trust it even if the response time of the Chrysler's cylinder deactivation is 6 times quicker than GM's. Unless the system is totally fail safe, pistons can still hit valves at high RMP in the event of failure. Cylinder deactivation uses the hydraulic pressure of engine oil and the oil specified for these engines is a super light weight oil which minimizes risk of failure due to engine oil for example. But the system is not totally fail safe so I don't trust it,

Cylinder deactivation poses no more risk of valve collision than the engine does when it is getting fuel. It only disables fuel and spark, the valve operation is in no way affected. They still act the exact same as they would normally, being as they are still driven by the same camshaft.

TehShibbs, whose cylinder deactivation are you talking about? I saw a diagram in one of the domestic auto maker's early brochures that clearly showed a hydraulic circuit associated with cylinder deactivation. This hydraulic circuit used engine oil pressure.

If a system is designed the way you claim, i.e. only spark and fuel intake are disabled and valves operate normally, then the system will suffer from power-robbing compression strokes in "deactivated" cylinders. If, however, valves are disabled by keeping them in an open position, the deactivated cylinders will not be able to act as an air compressor during the compression stroke. I admit that when the compressed air expands on the down stroke it will act as stored power but it is not an efficient cycle.

TehShibbs, I've had a chance to look at some old info I have on file that I never had a chance to digest properly and I have to tell you that you are correct about the fact that the common design characteristic of cylinder deactivation design does involve keeping the valves closed and not open. However, these systems all use hydraulic mechanisms to initiate valve closure. Hydraulics does play a major part and the electronic shutting off of spark and fuel does not act alone.

Bottom line here is that you are correct in expressing low risk of pistons hitting the valves but the incompetent marketing of auto makers has failed to explain this properly to the public. Instead of telling people what the system does, I expect manufacturers' literature to fully disclose the design details so as to make it easy to evaluate the technical merits of the various systems available, I resent the fact that these guys wasted a lot of my time just to find out that GM's cylinder deactivation response time is 240 milliseconds versus Chrysler's 40 milliseconds.

Apart from the issue of added complexity (my motto is "keep it simple stupid"), one outstanding isssue keeps me from fully trusting cylinder deactivation: deactivated cylinders run at a lower temperature, thereby causing temperature differentials in the engine block. I understand that some manufacturers recognize the detrimental effect of uneven block temperature and have their deactivated cylinders fire up again periodically to minimize the problem but that is not good enough for me.

apparently, we rented a sebring, which sucked ass. the interior falls short and is nowhere near our accord. the driving is very hesetant (excuse my spelling) and sluggish. I probably mashed the pedal. we rented a nitro too, and that was horrible. same thing, but uglier. driving it was dull and our 97 sportage can do better.

By the looks of your grammer, spelling and choice of a '97 Sportage as a personal vehicle, you'd be just the person whose advice I'd seek when asking the opinion of a car!

TRacer, lets not complain about spelling here, this happens often when I type quickly and not everyone has the time to tripple check their spelling. I disagree with your perception of KIA products. I believe them to represent great value and, in many models, I prefer KIA's conservative tyling to that of Hyundai.

OK David, here's your chance to jump in and defend your father's Lexus again.

Domestic cars just suck period. Until we stop all taking all of these short cuts and cost cutting we will never rise up. The only thing keeping the American auto industry going is the die hard loyalist who will only buy american now mater how crappy they are and the truck buyers.

You are obviously a BMW fan which I am not. I don't like BMW's lack of protective side strips that defend against parking lot door dings. I would only consider buying a BMW with an in-line 6-cylinder engine because in-line sixes are inherently in balance. In the BMW range, I would narrow that down further to the N54 engine that has an aluminum block with cast iron cylinder liners. I do not trust those brittle silicon-impregnated V-8 blocks that BMW has been using without iron liners.

They should send the bill to mercedes they still owned chrysler when thes vehicles were built.

Boy, if they have problems braking UP the hill, imagine trying to stop coming DOWN it. :)

It might be a problem as to where the throttle position sensor is, meaning that the computer is slow to react as soon as the throttle is released

someone forgot his medication this morning.