Thread: Needswings (Rob) and rcompart (Rudy) did it !!!
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Old Jul 23, 2011 | 02:01 AM
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Valk
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From: Aurora , ILL
Default Needswings (Rob) and rcompart (Rudy) did it !!!
A long read but worth the time IMO.....Members here like these deserve the recognition........

As I posted in a few other older threads earlier this week I began having trouble with my Crossfire last Friday.
It all started when every time I would go to start the car it would crank all the way through a cycle (which I believe was 8-10 seconds)
at this point the car realizes it is not going to start and then shuts off the starter.
Try it again.... same thing happens and finally on a third try it fires up and runs normally.

This goes on for several days until Wednesday when driving the car home about 7 miles from work it nearly quits running on me.
Apparently the fuel pump is now failing to supply the fuel needed to keep me running so I barely make it home but I do.... but on only about 3 cylinders !!

Now I want to add that during all of this I never got a CEL so I ruled out the cause to be a CPS
(crankshaft position sensor / camshaft position sensor)
So I do a search with the word "Cranking" here on the forum and find this subject had been discussed before.
turns over but trouble starting
Long Cranking problem I've had...

In these threads I read that in the fuel pump there is a check valve that holds pressure in the lines when the car is turned off.
This supposedly prevents the fuel from returning to the tank when you shut the car off, and allows quick fuel when you hop in to start the car. This is prone to leaking on the SLK32's from what I've read which causes hard starts.

Also the fuel filter has a pressure regulator valve built inside it.
A defective pressure regulator valve can cause a priming issue just as a bad check valve and create the same problem.
Ironically I did just have the fuel filter changed 8 weeks ago

So I called Rudy (rcompart) and tell him what is going on and what I have read here and he also suspects the fuel pump is my problem but won't rule out a defective fuel filter either.

He makes a call to Rob @ Needswings and asked for a fuel pump and a fuel filter to be sent FedX overnight to a shop near my house in Palatine, Illinois.

Rudy has built a relationship with this shop and now frequently will work on cars at this location on his own time.
The shop is called... SPEEDRIVEN
I call Rudy back today and he says bring the car up to the shop tonight and I'll have ya back on the road driving it home.

So I have the car towed (flatbed) and ride up to the shop with it.
About an hour later I have a new fuel pump and a new fuel filter and the car is back to running as it should !!!
We believe that the fuel pump was the actual cause but since we had a new filter there anyway I just decided to have Rudy put that on as well.

My thanks to Rob (Needswings) for the fast delivery of the parts and to Rudy (rcompart) for driving more than an hour from his home in Wisconsin and spending a Friday evening at a shop just for me to repair my car.

Without guys like this and the Crossfire forum I suspect that I might have been at my Chrysler dealer and not had such a good experience and reasonable repair bill.


Gary
 
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