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A new problem? OMG!

5K views 31 replies 13 participants last post by  Principal 
#1 ·
OMG.....OK here goes the next thing in what is becoming a LONG list! As I have said before, I thought I was in the clear with the problems until day 12 I think it was and everything started happening.

1.)I have the "ping" which the dealer says is normal and get used to it. Do we have a TSB yet?

2)My chill zone won't stay open. Need to look up the TSB on this one to. The dealer says I'm crazy on this one as well.

3)Front Driver's seat is clicking. Again, need to look up the TSB because the dealer once again said "whatever."

4) My MPG gauge is erratic. There is no constancy what-so-ever. TSB? probably not but who knows?

AND THE NEW ONE, GET READY FOR THIS!!!

I got under the car to look at the muffler due to the pinging and just to see what the heck was under there and I noticed that the weld where they welded the tailpipe and the muffler together is not only raised and but is also ruff since they didn't smooth it. But here is the kicker IT IS RUSTING!! Also, the very edge of the tailpipe on the end is rusting! I have owned this car for 16 days! Not 16 months or 16 years, this is NOT acceptable! Watch, they are probably going to tell me that this is normal and to come back when I have a real problem. Granted I guess it isn't affecting the car right now but it will at some point I'm sure.

Am I out of line for being upset?
 
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#2 ·
:D hello beth ,sorry for all your proplems and i would be Pxxt to but when i see that they just try to tell me that everything is so normal and it isend i would start being not so polide until some one takes me serios and i would make heads fly until they kiss my sweet behind ,i havent done this a lott but when i hat to it allways works,and you are a women and i dont think it is going to be realy hard for you to akt out and lose it for a change,so they no that you are not that nice little girl that they thinkt your are :D ,it works realy trust me ,let us know how it workt and allways remember on thing the customer is allways right now you have to convince them and teach them again because without you and me they want have a job,now go and tell them,Cheers thomas
 
#4 ·
#5 ·
I posted the complete list of current TSBs in the TSB sticky under dealer problem topic. There is one for the seat clicking and exhasut ping.

Chillzone, just remove the damn panel already and be done with it. It will make it work better and you won't have to worry about it staying open anymore.

MPG problem, could be anything from temperature fluxuations, to your driving habits, to the gas you use, to the roads you drive on. Go for three months keeping track of your MPG. Make sure to try and drive consistantly, and always use the same gas station to fill up at, and make sure you "top off" the tank the same way each time you fill up. If you have the computer MPG readout, don't go by that. Calculate your MPG by using miles driven divided by gallons used. The computer calculated MPG is always inconsistant in any vehicle I have owned. There are way to many variables that will affect the computer generated MPG readout.

As for the exhasut rust, sorry to tell you this, but it is 100% normal. Especially around welds where any protective coating that was on the muffler or pipe originallyis burned off during the welding process. We don't have stainless steel exhaust on our Calibers. It's an aluminized exhaust. I WILL rust, and not stay looking pretty. As long as the welds aren't broken and you don't have holes, then there is no problem. If you live close to water, or it's humid where you live, it will rust sooner than if you lived in a dry climate.
 
#6 ·
I replaced the exhaust on both our Calibers with the Mopar catback. The factory units are against the wall in my backyard and all the pipes have rusted. Only been there a short while. The large muffler is OK, it must have an aluminum outer shell. Mopar is all stainless.
 
#7 ·
Beth, do you have another dealer nearby you can go too? Sounds like your current dealer is worthless. Your problems are mostly minor and easily solved. The problem seems to be your dealer that makes owning your Caliber less than fun.
 
#8 ·
#9 ·
HSKR said:
As for the exhasut rust, sorry to tell you this, but it is 100% normal. Especially around welds where any protective coating that was on the muffler or pipe originallyis burned off during the welding process. We don't have stainless steel exhaust on our Calibers. It's an aluminized exhaust. I WILL rust, and not stay looking pretty. As long as the welds aren't broken and you don't have holes, then there is no problem. If you live close to water, or it's humid where you live, it will rust sooner than if you lived in a dry climate.
OK I get the any car a year old should have it but 16 days! lol Oh, well I shall deal. I am hoping that they replace the whol D**N exhaust anyway :) Thank you all for all of your help though. I feel better just knowing someone has listened since noone else in the world will :(
 
#10 ·
Well if u live near the ocean yourll have that problem from the salt from the water. Your have that anywhere with steel and water . If you think the surface rust is bad, imagine cutting open the exhaust. I guarentee it would be ten times worse. The only thing you could really do is buy some high temp paint, and paint the exhaust before it continues to rust. Make sure u sand off the rust as much as you can, Once sometimes starts to rust it will never stop.
 
#11 ·
DodgeCaliberSXT said:
Well if u live near the ocean yourll have that problem from the salt from the water. Your have that anywhere with steel and water . If you think the surface rust is bad, imagine cutting open the exhaust. I guarentee it would be ten times worse. The only thing you could really do is buy some high temp paint, and paint the exhaust before it continues to rust. Make sure u sand off the rust as much as you can, Once sometimes starts to rust it will never stop.
TRUST me, I am NOWHERE near an ocean. I am in Indianapolis Indiana and we are nothing like the coast lol (Obvious I know, but I thought it was funny :) ) I might just try that. Thanks for the advice :)
 
#12 ·
BethJ said:
TRUST me, I am NOWHERE near an ocean. I am in Indianapolis Indiana and we are nothing like the coast lol (Obvious I know, but I thought it was funny :) ) I might just try that. Thanks for the advice :)
There is absolutely no sense in painting your exhaust!
It is just normal, that there'll be a slight amount of surface rust, once the vehicle had been operated a few times, heating the pipes and letting them cool down and then heating up again.
It's a 100% normal condition and won't do any harm to your exhaust system anywas since it is only superficial!

Usually, exhaust systems die from the inside due to corrosion caused by condensed water inside the mufflers, which arises during every cooldown of the system.
You might have seen somewhere, that water is dripping from an exhaust tip!? It's quite common, since virtually every car has it.

If you do a lot of short track driving (3 miles to work and back, with a stop by at K-Mart in between) your exhaust system is going to die from corrosion (inside) a lot earlier though, since the entire exhaust system is never heated up properly enough, to get rid of that condensed water inside.

Complaining about those rusty welds and things at your dealer might be a rather bad idea though, since you'll let him know, that he might be just right in not taking you serious. ;)
Try not to get too fuzzy about your Caliber Beth! Just get the TSBs printed out and hand them over to the dealer.
Reading is understanding and as soon as he is aware, that you have some serious ammunition (knowledge) on your side, he might come to the point, that it is the much easier and better way to deal with you, when he fixes your problems right away. Good luck!

No complaints about that exhaust rust though, since it is an absolutely normal condition even after only 16 days of operation!
 
#15 ·
DodgeCaliberSXT said:
yea my only point was, black paint looks better then rust if it bothers you. My only other thought is buy a stainless steel tip to put on your exhaust pipe, and that wont rust, "make sure its true stainless", true stainless has 0 magnetic properties for a test.
My fiance wants to do that. He says that since the tailpipe pretty much points straight down that we can't though :( Agian, what does he know though?
 
#17 ·
I posted on thread, Exhaust tip for SXT, on how I welded mine on. Stainless steel, same size and shape as the R/T. Less than $20 installed. Original post May 24thcheck my posted messages, I suck at linking.
 

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#19 ·
DodgeCaliberSXT said:
yea my only point was, black paint looks better then rust if it bothers you. My only other thought is buy a stainless steel tip to put on your exhaust pipe, and that wont rust, "make sure its true stainless", true stainless has 0 magnetic properties for a test.
No fronts here ;)

I understood, that Beths' concerns were more like loosing her entire exhaust to the rust in no time. As for the cosmetic point, you are absolutely right - whether it is with the paint or a stainless tip replacement.
 
#20 ·
BethJ said:
Is this for the ping after you shut it off or while you are driving...I have the one after you shut it off. Now that I think about it, I might have the one while driving I never listen :) lol

Pinging after warm soak ( driving then shutting off) is normal on new cars. It is caused by multiple metal surfaces cooling at different rates. In other words ( for example) the the Steel Exhaust header mated to an aluminum head. The head releases heat faster than the steel and cools faster causing the metal to contract at a higher rate. The ping you hear is actually the metal surfaces shifting against each other and popping. This should go away after 30 -60 days as the surface matings relax. If it continues after that then you may ( or all Caliber owners ) may have an issue with gaskets blowing out at mating points.
 
#21 ·
I bought one of the hallowed Rumble Bee's last August (2005) and her entire faux hoodscoop was rusting! To add insult to injury, I was maybe five miles out of the city where my dealer is located and all of a sudden the temperature gauge shoots all the way up. I said "Oh, Poop" not my exact words and after I shut the truck off, immediately called Service. They sent out a flatbed to pick up me and this bright yellow beast, took us both back to the dealership and you know what was wrong?!?!? One of my coolant hose clamps had rusted in two. Sure am glad we're still using that Pittsburgh steel in our cars...I wish!!

"Katya" the Silver Metallic R/T Caliber's Mom!
 
#22 ·
rumblebeegirl2436 said:
I bought one of the hallowed Rumble Bee's last August (2005) and her entire faux hoodscoop was rusting! To add insult to injury, I was maybe five miles out of the city where my dealer is located and all of a sudden the temperature gauge shoots all the way up. I said "Oh, Poop" not my exact words and after I shut the truck off, immediately called Service. They sent out a flatbed to pick up me and this bright yellow beast, took us both back to the dealership and you know what was wrong?!?!? One of my coolant hose clamps had rusted in two. Sure am glad we're still using that Pittsburgh steel in our cars...I wish!!

"Katya" the Silver Metallic R/T Caliber's Mom!
Sounds like it was either a coastal vehicle before you bought it, or as driven in the winter with the salted roads, and in both cases, the previous owner did NOT take cae of it at all. Only reason vehicles should eer get that rusty is bad owners.
 
#23 ·
HSKR said:
Sounds like it was either a coastal vehicle before you bought it, or as driven in the winter with the salted roads, and in both cases, the previous owner did NOT take cae of it at all. Only reason vehicles should eer get that rusty is bad owners.
Thats rises a queston from me before i took the car of the lot i told the dealer that i want on the car rustproving done ,now its comes with a life time waranty and they say that you only hat to do it that one time ,i truly don't believe that because with my mazda i dit rustpoving every year for the first 4 years and then they told me every 3 years its ok now ,because its so thick ,what do you think ????
 
#24 ·
You take care of your vehicle and ash it regularly, making sure to wash under the hood, and under the car, then you should be fine. Most people now days just go to the automatic car washes, or the places that do the "hand wash" while you wait which only gets the outside of the car, and not the undercarraige, or under the hood.
 
#25 ·
HSKR said:
You take care of your vehicle and ash it regularly, making sure to wash under the hood, and under the car, then you should be fine. Most people now days just go to the automatic car washes, or the places that do the "hand wash" while you wait which only gets the outside of the car, and not the undercarraige, or under the hood.
I honesly have to admit that because of all the rust proving i have done i dit go to the carwash and payd for underbody wash but i never dit clean under the hood ,i guess i will do this from now on .Thanks HSKR
 
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