Originally Posted by
MrZarumba
Hello All,
So I am a new Crossfire owner of a couple of weeks now. They are beautiful cars, as you can all atest to. Mine is a 2004 coupe with only 44k miles. The dealer I purchased it from is reputable and certifies used cars with Motor Trend prior to selling. They put new Summer tires on it, new brakes, and new valve cover gaskets. Ive read this is not uncommon (valve cover gaskets). I have a moderate skill level in mechanical reapairs of vehicles and have even rebuilt a couple of dinosaur engines (pre elctronic era). I am beginning to think, however, that I should have done more research on this brand before I signed up. (tell me I'm wrong, please) The first night I came home I was introduced to the washer fluid resevoir. Ha! Ha! Good Joke! I hope to meet the engineer some day. The following Sunday I ran into a friend, who is an insurance adjuster for Allstate. He told me to be sure never to wreck it because parts are scarce. He shared a story with me of a client who needed a new bumber cover and the part shop couldn't locate one so they were trying to piece the client's back together from four pieces. AAAAAK! The other night my daughter drove it to a basketball game and the locks froze. No problem I live 5 minutes away and was there with lock deicer and got in. The only problem was that the key fob would not lock or unlock the doors after that and neither would the lock button on the dash. I have read threads here that seem to explain that the locks work off of a pneumatic system?!? Say it aint so! Who does that?!? The next morning the key fob and the button on the dash operated the locks fine. So my question is: Was it the frozen locks or the beginning of a bad pump that caused the issue with locking and unlocking? Help? Tell me I bought a fun car that isnt going to cause me more gray hair. LOL
You bought a Mercedes with an exotic skin. Body Parts are hard to find. Mechanical parts, like the Vacuum pump, are easy as Mercedes supplies them readily but not cheap.
You did not by a Chrysler anything. Nothing in the car is Chrysler.
Allstate is a great insurer but they don't seem to favor these cars. I am about to send my agent of 45 years packing. They will charge you a lot because the car is "expensive to fix" however, they will total it for just about any damage over $5K.
Sorry but that is the bad news.
The good news is you found this Forum. It should become your support group. You are gonna need one after you drive this puppy for a while. They are addictive. The guys and gals here will get you through the birthing process. Save you dough and keep you rolling. I don't care how reputable your dealer might be, they are usually not in business to save you money. These folks here are.
Pizza guy is a good source, So are many others like Chuk, onehundred eighty, Rudy, Rob at Needswings, and many more.
Welcome to our little ship of happy fools.
BTW, The Security Pump is on E-Bay used for $199 to $350 most anytime. It is the same as the Benz 350SL and easy to find. New they are about $500. Pump is most likely fine it's probably the control board. Not sold separately. However, unless your interior, or parking lights are malfunctioning, I doubt the Security Pump Module is the issue. You might look for a broken vacuum line under the rear floor deck. However, if you find the sponge material around the pump to be soggy, THAT's the issue.
Technically not a tough job. Just getting to the pump can be a hassle. There are Threads on it here. use the Search feature.
Here is my recent adventure (with lots of pictures) into the trunk area to replace the SCM pump unit.
https://www.crossfireforum.org/forum...ol-module.html