Before I get started her, this is a 2004 Chrysler Crossfire, Automatic, with 63500/km on it. (about 39.4k miles)


So I've been having a few different problems as of late, actually on going for a few months now. (it's a story of what's been going on, I'll try to summarize at the end)


In October of last year my dash/headlights/taillights all started to flicker (at the same time in unison) so I figured there might be a battery/alternator/grounding problem. Took it to mechanic, all the wires were tight, battery and alternator running good. For the next month or 2 nothing happened.


Then it starts again around January. Only as time progresses it starts to semi-stall at lights and stops and such, so I'd hit a red light, stop, radio would shut off and come back on.. then the engine would cut, but not long enough to completely stall.


Bring it back to Mechanic, they can't get symptoms to repeat, car runs fine for another 2 weeks or so, starts again. This time (we are around April now) car begins to full stall at lights, however, no issues turning it back on, and the stall doesn't kill all the power, just the engine. There is one sign this might happen, and that's the light flickering thing, however while the car is in motion and running over 2k rpm's I don't have the flickering. Additionally after the semi-stall the car has a really hard time leaving first gear, (RPM's up over 5k before it decides to switch to second)


During the light flickering, there are huge power losses experienced to other parts of the car, power windows and windshield wipers all run extremely sluggish and cause huge draws on the power to the car (lights dim but still flicker and car has actually turned off while putting a window up once)


So I read something about the mass air flow sensor and it seems to be able to cause a good portion of the problems I've been experiencing, and so I've started to drive the car in "W" mode as opposed to "S" mode, which has stopped the car from full stalling, however I notice the flickering and such still. Even if I cant see the lights flickering (during the day for example) I know when it's been happening because when I turn the car off the radio will cut immediately as opposed to running that extra second or 2 then fading out like Crossfires seem to do.


So I guess my real question is, has anyone experienced these similar issues all at the same time? If so was it the MAF or was it related to something else. Should I be cleaning the MAF first and then checking to see if these issues repeat, if so, what was the cause in your case?


Summary:
Lights and Dash flicker
Car Semi-Stalls or full stalls
Power draws during light flickering on other power options like windows and windshield wipers.
(something I didn't mention above) after stopping if I go from "W" to "S" the car drops gear and stalls.


I also have the engine light with the p0410, however it looks like that one is fairly common and I've downloaded the PDF on that already.

 

quick suggestion : get one of those $5 cigarette lighter voltage readout things and see what it says during a "power draw".

( I suspect battery ground connection issues )

http://www.ebay.com/itm/like/390560508882?lpid=82( I got 5 of these and gave them out to friends )

 

@ala_xfire


I will try this, however I did take it to a Chrysler dealership and they had tested all the grounds and the battery and alternator and everything checked out okay, running and off.

 

Sounds like a ground or short problem to me, but not sure why or where. "W" just starts the car in second -- no other known differences.


Does the car stall in any way before stuff starts flickering? Or is it running fine and then the flickering starts?


I'm just guessing here, but if it is 1) stall, then 2) flicker I might suspect the CPS is starting to fail. Lots of write-ups on this issue.

 

That's just my problem, I've had it to an independent mechanic and a Chrysler mechanic, both checked the grounding and it's all immaculate they said.


It starts with flickering and then I have issues after that.


I haven't had it stall out in "W" yet, however when I switch from "W" to "S" at say a light (I've only tried this once btw) it stalled out immediately, as soon as it tried to go back to first gear. It does occasionally flicker while in "W" and even driving slowly, if I put the windows up (say I had them down) the radio sometimes turns off while the windows are going up and then comes back on once I let go of the button.

 

I'm out of ideas. Those symptoms are very unusual. All I can say is that it is stuff like this that cements my decision to buy MT6 trannies in my Audis and Crossfires as much as possible. I had a problem with my roadster not going into 1st or 2nd and it turned out to be the linkage had partially disconnected. Reattached and adjusted for $170 and life is again good. Good luck. Let us all know when/if you get to the root cause.

 

Has it been checked for codes? How old is the battery?

 

Sorry for the late response, I should probably be checking this forum a lot more often lol.

It has, the only code currently triggering is p0410 - Secondary Air Intake.

I have explored the forum a little bit and found that quite often this code triggers as a result of faulty soldering in the RCM. That one could be tricky because I don't know a whole lot about how cars work and especially not their electrical, I do have the PDF that was posted on how to fix it but I'm still not entirely sure I want to be mucking around with it.

As for my original issue, I had to order some bits online because I couldn't find a 5 point Torx Security bit anywhere in my area (Scarborough) to take out the MAF for cleaning.

Once I try cleaning that I'll see what/if any other symptoms described continue, due to how long it's been going on, I may have to replace the MAF sensor though.

 

I don't see the connection to the auto transmission. Did I miss something?
MAF - sounds strange to me.

I'd go with volt meter and soldering the relays.

 

Well I'm no car guy, I've just been reading what a dirty MAF can do, and a lot of the symptoms are similar is all, so I figured there would be no harm in at least cleaning it, however it's turned into a bigger situation with that then I thought since I couldn't find the bit to take it out anywhere.

Volt Meter checks out, it's all where it should be (I cant remember the exact readings it's supposed to be but it was all fine, running, idle and off). Paid $80 for a Chrysler Mechanic to tell me so lol.

The relays need to be done for sure. I don't want to attempt it, I want to get it done and sell it this year if possible.

If you know of someone in or around the Scarborough area that is pretty good with the relay issue and can do it quickly I'd really appreciate it.

 

If you want to come up here to the Orangeville area I will remove the RCM and resolder it for you. Unless someone closer to Scarberia can help out.

 

If you don't need the car as a daily driver, you can pull your RCM and send it off to one of the board members(there is a long post on the board somewhere) and he can typically send you one that he has "fixed" for a small fee(10 or 20 bucks if I remember right), and he will then keep your board, repair it if necessary and save it for the next person that needs one fixed.

It's actually pretty easy to fix. I was getting the 0410 error the other day as well, so I pulled mine and found that the first relay had alot of carbon build up on it. I used the dollar bill trick(use a fresh clean brand new dollar bill, and run it between the contacts of the relay and it will pull the carbon off without damaging the contacts). Although some RCMs also require some re-soldering work, luckily mine didn't(I am familiar with doing soldering work so was able to make that determination). The other option if you are not comfortable with doing soldering work, is to try and take it to a TV replace shop(they are becoming few and far between), they are usually very experienced in doing soldering work, and most of them will do it for ALOT less then it would cost to buy a new RCM unit. Also there is in that other post the mentioning of the part number for the relays, I looked them up about a week ago, the relays themselves only cost about 3-4 bucks a piece(and there are 5 or 6 on the board), if you decide to take it to a TV repair place, I bet they could replace those for you as well if they are damaged.

 

I would have no problem with that at all. I do however want to have a look at it myself, dunno where it is though.


I know roughly what it should look like vs what it could look like.

 

Unfortunately for now, it is my daily driver. I am going to be selling it, I just want to get this stuff fixed before I do. (A. I don't want to sell it to someone with problems I'm aware of, it makes me look lazy and B. as an every day car, its just not practical. It was fun, but now it's time to fix it up and part ways)

 

Thanks for your help and opinions everyone.

So I was finally able to clean the MAF sensor, since doing so, I have yet to see a flicker, it has not stalled on me or even feigned a stall.

The only problem left is the p0410 code, which based on many other threads I've seen is an issue related to the Air Pump relay.

If anyone has a diagram or a video of how to access the Relay Control Module I'd greatly appreciate it.

 

https://www.crossfireforum.org/forum...-no-start.html

 

Does anyone have a power window wiring diagram ?

 

One or the other of these :