Chrysler Repair: Sebring LXI, door locks, tires, sebring owner, highway traffic safety

Question
I have a 2001 Sebring LXI 4 door.  The door locks will not work from the inside or with the remote.  I have to push them down manually.  Would it be possible for me to replace the door lock motor myself, and how much does it run?  Also, I have chrome plated rims and the chrome has recently started to peel off. Since I bought the car, I have had to fill up the tires about every two weeks.  I recently read from another Sebring owner that the flakes of chrome where getting in his tires and causing them to go flat. Have you heard of this, and do you know a solution. Thank you!

Answer
Hi Mitzi,
Before assuming that it is door lock motor related you need to check the function of the central door lock switch on the driver's door and the other door lock individual switches. Do you have a volt-ohmmeter for such testing?
Unfortunately the only manual I have is for the '95 Sebring 2-door but I suspect the principles will be the same. I can xerox copy and postal mail you tha pages from that manual that will allow you to do this checking yourself to see if you can identify the problem's cause. It could also be a break in a wire that has defeated the system. I believe though that if the central door lock switch is not activating the switches, then that has to be repaired before the remote keyless is fixed, because the lattter depends upon the proper function of the former. So let me know if you want to troubleshoot this yourself and if so give me a postal address to mail the pages to.
On the tires loosing air, I haven't heard of that problem nor of the chrome flaking. I would wonder if this is a wide spread problem whether the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration may have registered other complaints and perhaps have caused Chrysler to do a recall. You could contact the Corporation in Detroit (Daimler-Chrysler) and ask to speak with a recall operator to see if there has been any recall of the rims, and also you could report the problem to the NHTSA in Washington so that your report would go into a folder that might result in a recall and replacement of the rims. I would be surpised if this is indeed a widespread problem that it hasn't surfaced as a safety problem that has been registered with NHTSA.
Roland