1997 Chrysler Sebring Convertible JXI from North America - Comments

We got a '97 JXI convertible last Tuesday... nice looking car, and my wife loves it!

Here is what I see as the issues, and what I need help on:

We have had rain for the past three days, so we had water on the passenger side of the car. I cleared all of the drains I could find on the underside of the car where it's spot-welded, staring with the back one. Now, we find that the car leaks on the driver's side at the window, about halfway from the front, and one that runs all the way down the window and drips onto the door right at the mirror mounting. How do I fix that?

There is wind noise coming from the front of the car, where the roof and the windshield come together. Any idea how to adjust the latches to get rid of that?

The car misses at idle once it gets warm. I made the mistake of taking it to a car wash and scrubbing the engine. The car then had poor acceleration, and the check engine light blinked. It seemed to run OK above 2k RPM.

The knob for the recirculate/fresh air control is way stiff. Can I spray that cable to get better function?

We have some of the other stuff, like the cloudy rearview mirror, courtesy lights on the mirrors that (originally didn't work) work only when the door opens, not with the switches.

What should I be looking for in terms of things that break?

Any pointers would be appreciated!

I just bought a 1997 Sebring JXi convertible and it runs like a dream.

The only problems I see so far are the easy ones to fix like the tach/odometer going out. I’ve found tons of web pages on how to fix this.

And the only other problem I have is the Multi-function switch is acting up on me, but my car has 200k miles and looks like its been treated well.

I don’t know, but maybe this car had all these problems and the owner before me fixed them all (thanks past owner whoever you are ;)

I’m impressed with all the little buttons and power everything. I love this car and I’m willing to put a few bucks into it to make it perfect.

Hello everyone.

The one thing I have noticed when reading most of these comments is that the majority of the people that are having problems with their vehicle stalling at low idle speeds, and having starting problems have high mileage vehicles and have never changed their timing belts.

As the belt stretches and is worn out, the teeth on the sprocket attached to your cam can become misaligned, causing a lot of the posted stall and idle issues. I believe that the owners manual recommends that the timing belt be changed at 70K. Hope this helps.

All cars break and need repairs, preventative maintenance is the key to a long and happy relationship with your vehicle.

I own 1997 a Sebring Convertible JX. I've had most of the problems mentioned on this forum, water on the floor, tach/odo problem, "blower on max only" problem, service engine light always on, etc. Thankfully I have never had that stalling problem.

I think I can safely say that Sebring Convertible is one of the worst cars ever made, if not THE WORST EVER. Chrysler should be ashamed of themselves. Every Sebring Convertible car from 1996 to 2005 has the same "water on the floor" problem. It took them 10 years to fix this infamous well-documented problem. What a car company! I will never buy Chrysler again. I hope they just go bankrupt and stop making cars.

I have a 1997 Chrysler Sebring Convertible, and when it rains, it leaks in the car, but I don't know how the water get in, because the trunk is dry and the back floor had a big puddle.

I have a 97 JXi with 81k and the check engine light stays on, the tach/odometer work when they want to, although miles are still recorded. It also stalls, but starts right back up. The speaker covers are broke. The 2 door speakers do not work anymore and I know there not blown. Maybe the amplifier under the passenger seat got wet or something. Also leaks and you can hear the "sloshing" behind the back seats. Makes a thumping "popping" noise when the clutch releases (eg starting out, giving it gas from a cruising state). The top is starting to rip also. I love the car but poorly engineered, think twice before purchasing.

I have a 1997 Sebring Convertible. It is leaking into the rear driver side floorboard, and also under the front seat and into the front floor board of the driver side.

My car doesn't run as of now, but when it would run, I could hear a sloshing sound that sounded like water sloshing from inside of the body. I have a tarp over the top of the car, but yet there is still water coming in from somewhere. I believe it is getting in through the back part of the top (where the rear windows are) and leaking into the body from there. I can see the water in the car. It is under the carpet, and when I dry it out and return a few moments later, there is standing water there again. I also can see the water leaking out from underneath the car at the driver side. Someone told me something about a drain on the bottom of the car, but I never checked into it or heard of anything else about it.

Can someone please help me. Any type of help would be nice. I am wanting to fix this car and keep despite the problems I have had out of it. It is a good car. Thank you. Please forward all answers or help to Atlman834@aol.com. Thank you, Josh.

I have a 96 Sebring. Yep it leaks and water is all over the floors, and when I vacuum it out it comes in again. I like the car, but will not buy another Chrysler. Now my radio and inside lights are out and I don't know if they will ever come back. :-(

I was so happy to drive this convertible, but with the problems, I am not so happy. Maybe my radio will come back. I am up to 206,000 miles. How many do I have left on this car? I had visions of keeping the car, but with the leaks, I don't see it happening.

I have a 1997 Sebring Convertible and haven't had much problem until now. I just had the cam shaft position sensor replaced because the car was cutting off on me in traffic. That stopped the car from cutting off however it sputters now. While driving longer than 45 minutes, it starts to sputter and won't get above 40mph like there's a hose or cable or something disconnected. I don't know what the deal is with this. It's only happening after the car is good and hot. If anyone knows what to do about this, please help. Contact me at office2870@gmail.com

Thanks to everyone who made posts, a special thanks to those who posted solutions as well. I'm thinking about buying a 97 this week, for only $3000-so all the info. on here was helpful notes I can take to the pre-purchase appointment.

Glad I found the site!

I have a '97 too. It's been nothing problems. It's a good looking car. But in a year it's cost me thousands in repairs. Not two months goes by when I have to bring it in again. Good looking car... but that's not enough.

Flooding:

There are plugs in the rear wheel wells. Pop those out and the undercarriage should drain. It's no fun driving around in a pool, I know.

I've owned a 1997 Chrysler Convertible Sebring for about 5 years now. In that time, I've spent over $17,000.00 in repairs to the car. Parts are unreal, price wise. A muffler was quoted from $650.00 to $50.00. Depending where you shop. This car is a total nightmare to work on, and it's like every part is hidden so you have to tear the car apart to get at anything. I saw the recalls regarding this car, and it appears that Chrysler refuses to back any of them up. I could have bought a very nice, expensive car, brand new with the money I've put into this car so far. I've replaced everything but the roof so far. Some things up to 3 times so far.

Hello.

Thanks for the all information. I just bought a 97 Chrysler Sebring Convertible JXi with 163,000 miles on it yesterday. Things seem to be going OK however driving home last night I noticed the tach / Speed Odometer is not lit up at night. I can adjust the brightnessm but can only see the mileage and where it tells you gas mileage and temp (those brighten with no problems) just the speedometer and tach have no lights... Is that a fuse or PC Board?

Any information would be grateful! My email jburtt978@yahoo.com

Thanks.

I have a 1998 Sebring Convertible and while driving, even though the doors are closed, the door chime is going off and the interior lights are flashing. The constant dinging is driving me crazy. Anyone with an answer on how to stop this, please email me at BGraham41@aol.com. Thanks.