Catching up on what I’ve done on my 2005 Crossfire.

Back around Christmas, I added a cheapo external tire pressure monitoring system using the screw-on sensors. It’s still working great. I can’t feel any difference in tire balance and I’m not seeing any difference in tire wear. It sure is nice to see the actual pressure reading on each tire. I don’t believe I’ve had to add any air to any tire since January and I’ve checked the accuracy using several other digital tire pressure gauges.

End of January, I added a cheapo Heads Up Display. It just plugs into the OBDII port. It works surprisingly well and I was surprised at how nice it is to not look down to check speed. I liked it so much I put one on my wife’s Jeep, too.

Two weeks ago, I replaced the spark plugs. I’m at 74,000 miles. I didn’t have any records of maintenance when I purchased the car three years ago. I found the previous plugs were Autolite Platinum. I replaced them with NGK Iridium from Needswings. Also replaced original spark plug wires with Needswings Magnecor Race and Street competition spark plug wires. I can feel a difference in the pep and acceleration from the new plugs and wires. The special Mercedes bent-wrench tool for removing the original spark plug wires really helps a lot. Also, the pivoting socket that I got from Needswing makes getting to the rear spark plugs a bit easier.

Today, I replaced the steering damper. I used a Stabilus steering damper from partsgeek.com. The old steering damper looked original. But the piston was pretty firm. I could tell from the test drive that the new steering damper helped smooth out bumps like manhole covers and small potholes. Previously, I was feeling a bit of a clunk through the steering wheel.

Now, I’ve got to have a little fun with the Crossfire before the temperatures here in Austin, Texas gets too hot to drive around with the top down. Just got back from a fun drive.



One more thing: I got a notification that a wrecked 2005 Crossfire Coupe, black, showed up at a Wrench-a-Part yard near me. I’ve never gone out to wrench-a-part and was wondering if anyone could suggest some parts that I might go for. The front end, passenger side, is crumpled. So, that headlight is gone. Grill is missing, too. Wheels looks standard, in the photo. Since it’s a coupe, there aren’t any convertible top parts for me to harvest. I figure that the folks who run the yard probably know the value of certain parts. I don't expect to get something for nothing but maybe there's some rare part I should look for.