Hello all!! This is my first post on this site and you all have put some valuable information out there. I own a 2005 Crossfire Ltd. purchased in Nov. '05 and it has 2,000 miles on the clock. It's my toy, and I baby the crap out of it. I was wondering if someone out there might be able to help me; I just installed a factory nav. radio in my crossfire. All parts were purchased separately (radio and discs on ebay, gps antenna from dealer). Everything is up and running smoothly except the antenna. First of all, the instructions that came with antenna said to remove from metal plate and install on top of dash (that's not happening). I followed the regular install instructions to install under dash top, but no signal when plate was left on. I removed the plate and a slight signal is received, if any (two or three sats). I did try it on top of dash, but signal was very poor there also (4-6 sats.). I'm guessing that the antenna is bad. The other thing I don't understand is when car is shut off and left outside, you would think there would be some signal, but it drops to 0 sat. acquisition! I have navigation in my Pacifica, in my motor home and I had it in my two Jeeps that I previously owned, and never had any issues. Has anybody had a problem with this or have used aftermarket antenna that works better? I have other antennas here, but none have the prong type that this one has. The manual says you're suppose to receive up to 23 sats.!!! Any help will be appreciated. Thanks and keep enjoying your Crossfires!!!

 

In regard to your last question, my factory installed Crossfire Navigation unit shows the exact GPS location of the car when the ignition is turned off and the radio is turned on. There is no difference whether the car is moving or not. I have no idea what the answer to your first question is. (BTW, the trip navigation is so complicated to set up that I only used it on one trip in 2 years; I ended up arguing with the sexy lady's voice most of the way home before I finally shut her off; for some reason she was telling me the exact opposite directions)!

 

Four to six satellites should be what to expect. I’m not sure who wrote the manual, but their information is a little off. A little background information about GPS:

• There are only 28 GPS satellites orbiting the globe, of which 25 are active with 3 backups. Therefore, based on where you are on earth, 6 would be the maximum one could expect. You get a perfectly good position with a minimum of three satellites (four is better).
• I am not totally familiar with the Navigation system in the XF, but if there is a way to check the Figure of Merit (FOM), this would give you an idea of your reception. The lower the number (from 1 to 9), the better the signal strength and the more accurate the position information is.
• The GPS system requires power to operate, (be it battery, engine, DC from lighter for aftermarket). Take a hand held outside or a running GPS without the power on and one gets nothing. It’s the same here. The system needs power to receive and process the signal.
• Not sure this will help other than for information’s sake.

 

Thank you both for your help- I agree: 23 sats. seemed excessive. I agree with ror0; Last night I tried it for the first time, and when I got to my street, she was telling me to go in the opposite direction. i just shut the nav. off- If I need to get somewhere real bad, then I'll use my portable unit. I know I can count on that one!!

 

Here's the deal with GPS, not the XF system specifically, just GPS systems in general. The way GPS works is by triangulating the distance from your car to 3 GPS satellites that are in geosynchronous or ab orbit that leaves them in a fixed position above the earth. It only needs 3 sats to work. The system uses GPS, compass, gyroscopes, and vehicle speed sensor to accurately plot your position and direction. As for the GPS antenna, they all have a standard connection, but the plastic housing may be a little different around the connector. The antenna can be underneath anything BUT metal. if there is any metal object, or very thick plastics, the antenna will not be able to receive the signal from the sats. This means it can be mounted directly under the dash if it is plastic, and mounting it on some kind of metal plate is ideal to boost the reception. as long as there is power to the radio, is will find your position. After full power up, the system will take some time to calibrate its self using the movement of the vehicle. this can take a long time depending on the system for it to be truly accurate. when you turn the ignition off, the memory power will allow the system to remember your last position, and power up in that position. If the car is towed, it will need to find its new location which takes about a minute of driving. This explanation applies to all modern GPS systems. I personally thing the XF one is a waste of money since it has a terrible user interface, with a very small dot-matrix b&w screen. But if you get one at a great deal, the fit and finish is of course perfect. But as a dealer option, very bad deal.

 

You mentioned this:

Radio and discs on ebay, gps antenna from dealer...

Hmmm... are you sure you got the RIGHT parts for the Xfire NAV system? Might first want to check, double check, and check again, especially with the antenna you bought at the dealer. The rest of the pieces (radio, etc) are actually from a Crossfire, yes? You might want to post up the actual part numbers that you have on each of the pieces just to make sure. Someone that has diddled with the radio or NAV system itself may have knowledge of the actual part numbers on the back of the units to ensure you have a correctly matched system. We have the factory installed NAV and it works pretty good... If you get wrong directions, you can do the "recalculate route" part of it to not have arguments with the sexy woman that tells you what to do and where to do... Uhh, the OTHER one, that is, not your wife... Mine doesn't speak so nicely when I go the wrong way... and rarely has the NAV system called me a fricken idiot.

 

I agree. Plenty of address that it can't find. Probably impossible if not costly as hell to get updated cd's.

If you're going to spend money, you're better off getting the Garmin NUVI's. I have Nuvi 350. I can't say enough about it. Beside it's portable and can use for your other cars.. Another cool factor is its so small i actually use it as a map replacement when im out of town and just walking around. No need to go to AAA for maps at all.

 

I really would like to go to the factory nav unit for the Crossfire, but the cost is pretty steep. I currently use a Garmin dash mount unit (not sure of the model name @ 2 am) and love the thing. Easy to read color screen that is big enough that I don't need to put on my glasses to see it, and the price was right when I bought it 6 years ago. Swap it from rig to rig in just a few seconds. The only problem I have with it is the sexy voice that came with it gets annoying at times when it tells you that you are off route, but not as annoying as my x-wife can be... LOL.

 

The CD's are from 2004 and the company Navteq does not offer an upgraded CD. I contacted the company many times and at this point they do not intend on making an upgraded CD for our NAV units.


http://www.navteq.com/

 

Did you ask specifically about the Infinity model in our car? Or on the Becker Traffic Pro?

 

Rather than go through the extra expense of the factory unit, just get a Garmin Nuvi-350 unit from Amazon (less than $400 now). You can mount it right next the rear view mirror and have a touch screen and a very user friendly interface. Hell, you can even take if down and slide it into your pocket and use it to find shops, restaurants, etc with it's 4 hour battery. Nice bright screen too. What I like about it is the fact that, driving at night, you can see the streets coming up on the screen without having to shine your headlights on the street sign poles. And, it voice guides you even better than the factory NAV in the Xfire. And of course, you can pop it between each car you have at the touch of a suction cup tab.

 

Adding to what Crossfire LTD stated, I previously spoke with someone at Navteq and they said that they always try to issue updated navigation CD's for all of their products every 6 months to 1 year. They can't issue Crossfire updates because Chrysler RETAINED THE RIGHT to issue all follow-up CD's for the Crossfire. When you contact higher officials at Chrysler, they don't even know that they retained this right contractually and have no idea how to order updated ones! Nobody at Chrysler seems to be in charge of this operation!! May, 2004 Navigation CD's should have been updated by this 3 year point and Sales should not be including them with 2007 Crossfires! Does anyone know someone at the top of Chrysler Management who could look into this?

 

Funny you should mention that... About 3 months ago I got a flyer in the mail from Chrysler offering an upgrade for our old (pos) 2004 Pacifica. We sold the pos about a year ago so we just tossed the flyer, but it seems the cost for the CD was about $200. We bought the pos in late 2003, so the update was about 3 years in the making... The pos was nice looking but total junk.. And no, I really didn't like it, but my bride did. She should have bought the diesel pickup I was looking at... LOL.

 

Esteemed Crossfire owner: I just got my 2004 Crossfire and it’s an interesting story. My wife bought the car for herself six years ago, from its previous (and only) owner, who had purchased it new along with a 70K mile dealer warranty. That’s when he sold it to my wife, when the 70K mile warranty expired. My wife drove it for 2 years, when we retired and moved to Las Cruces, NM from Peoria, Illinois. On the way here, the car’s brakes failed in spectacular fashion: we ended stranded in Tucumcari, NM for 3 days and had to buy 2 brand new tires (the brake failure caused the 2 front tires inside walls to get shredded). My wife got super angry with the car and as soon as we got to our new home in Las Cruces, she sold it. I had never driven the car; it was her car and I had never tried to drive it. Fast forward to 4 weeks ago: our next door neighbors, who had bought the car from my wife and given it to their daughter came up for sale due to said daughter’s pregnancy (no child seats safe on a car’s front seats, etc.). Ever since my wife sold the car, I’d began to research the Crossfire’s history and had begun to regret not having taken an interest in the car and had gotten so impressed with the car that now I wanted it for myself, so 3 weeks ago I bought it back. Which brings us to my reasons for writing this letters. The pregnant girl replaced the factory installed Infinity System with a Pioneer DEH-X6800BS and now I can only hear sounds from 2 of the 6 speakers, the mid-range ones. I cannot hear any sounds from the tweeters or the sub-woofers. I was forced to find a factory 2004 Crossfire radio from eBay but instead of the one that came with the car, I got one with the NAV option. My questions are: 1. Where/how do I get the right radio connecting harness (I’ve come to distrust eBay sellers) and 2. How can I make sure I do get the right radio connecting harness first time? Do you by any chances have this connecting harness for sale? I’m NOT so much interested in any NAV options; I just want the original 3-channel stereo the car had before.

Any/all help will be most appreciated!

 

Esteemed Crossfire owner: I just got my 2004 Crossfire and it’s an interesting story. My wife bought the car for herself six years ago, from its previous (and only) owner, who had purchased it new along with a 70K mile dealer warranty. That’s when he sold it to my wife, when the 70K mile warranty expired. My wife drove it for 2 years, when we retired and moved to Las Cruces, NM from Peoria, Illinois. On the way here, the car’s brakes failed in spectacular fashion: we ended stranded in Tucumcari, NM for 3 days and had to buy 2 brand new tires (the brake failure caused the 2 front tires inside walls to get shredded). My wife got super angry with the car and as soon as we got to our new home in Las Cruces, she sold it. I had never driven the car; it was her car and I had never tried to drive it. Fast forward to 4 weeks ago: our next door neighbors, who had bought the car from my wife and given it to their daughter came up for sale due to said daughter’s pregnancy (no child seats safe on a car’s front seats, etc.). Ever since my wife sold the car, I’d began to research the Crossfire’s history and had begun to regret not having taken an interest in the car and had gotten so impressed with the car that now I wanted it for myself, so 3 weeks ago I bought it back. Which brings us to my reasons for writing this letters. The pregnant girl replaced the factory installed Infinity System with a Pioneer DEH-X6800BS and now I can only hear sounds from 2 of the 6 speakers, the mid-range ones. I cannot hear any sounds from the tweeters or the sub-woofers. I was forced to find a factory 2004 Crossfire radio from eBay but instead of the one that came with the car, I got one with the NAV option. My questions are: 1. Where/how do I get the right radio connecting harness (I’ve come to distrust eBay sellers) and 2. How can I make sure I do get the right radio connecting harness first time? Do you by any chances have this connecting harness for sale? I’m NOT so much interested in any NAV options; I just want the original 3-channel stereo the car had before.

Any/all help will be most appreciated!

 

Esteemed Crossfire owner: I just got my 2004 Crossfire and it’s an interesting story. My wife bought the car for herself six years ago, from its previous (and only) owner, who had purchased it new along with a 70K mile dealer warranty. That’s when he sold it to my wife, when the 70K mile warranty expired. My wife drove it for 2 years, when we retired and moved to Las Cruces, NM from Peoria, Illinois. On the way here, the car’s brakes failed in spectacular fashion: we ended stranded in Tucumcari, NM for 3 days and had to buy 2 brand new tires (the brake failure caused the 2 front tires inside walls to get shredded). My wife got super angry with the car and as soon as we got to our new home in Las Cruces, she sold it. I had never driven the car; it was her car and I had never tried to drive it. Fast forward to 4 weeks ago: our next door neighbors, who had bought the car from my wife and given it to their daughter came up for sale due to said daughter’s pregnancy (no child seats safe on a car’s front seats, etc.). Ever since my wife sold the car, I’d began to research the Crossfire’s history and had begun to regret not having taken an interest in the car and had gotten so impressed with the car that now I wanted it for myself, so 3 weeks ago I bought it back. Which brings us to my reasons for writing this letters. The pregnant girl replaced the factory installed Infinity System with a Pioneer DEH-X6800BS and now I can only hear sounds from 2 of the 6 speakers, the mid-range ones. I cannot hear any sounds from the tweeters or the sub-woofers. I was forced to find a factory 2004 Crossfire radio from eBay but instead of the one that came with the car, I got one with the NAV option. My questions are: 1. Where/how do I get the right radio connecting harness (I’ve come to distrust eBay sellers) and 2. How can I make sure I do get the right radio connecting harness first time? Do you by any chances have this connecting harness for sale? I’m NOT so much interested in any NAV options; I just want the original 3-channel stereo the car had before.

Any/all help will be most appreciated!

 

Esteemed Crossfire owner: I just got my 2004 Crossfire and it’s an interesting story. My wife bought the car for herself six years ago, from its previous (and only) owner, who had purchased it new along with a 70K mile dealer warranty. That’s when he sold it to my wife, when the 70K mile warranty expired. My wife drove it for 2 years, when we retired and moved to Las Cruces, NM from Peoria, Illinois. On the way here, the car’s brakes failed in spectacular fashion: we ended stranded in Tucumcari, NM for 3 days and had to buy 2 brand new tires (the brake failure caused the 2 front tires inside walls to get shredded). My wife got super angry with the car and as soon as we got to our new home in Las Cruces, she sold it. I had never driven the car; it was her car and I had never tried to drive it. Fast forward to 4 weeks ago: our next door neighbors, who had bought the car from my wife and given it to their daughter came up for sale due to said daughter’s pregnancy (no child seats safe on a car’s front seats, etc.). Ever since my wife sold the car, I’d began to research the Crossfire’s history and had begun to regret not having taken an interest in the car and had gotten so impressed with the car that now I wanted it for myself, so 3 weeks ago I bought it back. Which brings us to my reasons for writing this letters. The pregnant girl replaced the factory installed Infinity System with a Pioneer DEH-X6800BS and now I can only hear sounds from 2 of the 6 speakers, the mid-range ones. I cannot hear any sounds from the tweeters or the sub-woofers. I was forced to find a factory 2004 Crossfire radio from eBay but instead of the one that came with the car, I got one with the NAV option from Harman Becker Automotive Systems. My questions are: 1. Where/how do I get the right radio connecting harness (I’ve come to distrust eBay sellers) and 2. How can I make sure I do get the right radio connecting harness first time? Do you by any chances have this connecting harness for sale? I’m NOT so much interested in any NAV options; I just want the original 3-channel stereo the car had before.

Any/all help will be most appreciated!

 

Esteemed Crossfire owner: I just got my 2004 Crossfire and it’s an interesting story. My wife bought the car for herself six years ago, from its previous (and only) owner, who had purchased it new along with a 70K mile dealer warranty. That’s when he sold it to my wife, when the 70K mile warranty expired. My wife drove it for 2 years, when we retired and moved to Las Cruces, NM from Peoria, Illinois. On the way here, the car’s brakes failed in spectacular fashion: we ended stranded in Tucumcari, NM for 3 days and had to buy 2 brand new tires (the brake failure caused the 2 front tires inside walls to get shredded). My wife got super angry with the car and as soon as we got to our new home in Las Cruces, she sold it. I had never driven the car; it was her car and I had never tried to drive it. Fast forward to 4 weeks ago: our next door neighbors, who had bought the car from my wife and given it to their daughter came up for sale due to said daughter’s pregnancy (no child seats safe on a car’s front seats, etc.). Ever since my wife sold the car, I’d began to research the Crossfire’s history and had begun to regret not having taken an interest in the car and had gotten so impressed with the car that now I wanted it for myself, so 3 weeks ago I bought it back. Which brings us to my reasons for writing this letters. The pregnant girl replaced the factory installed Infinity System with a Pioneer DEH-X6800BS and now I can only hear sounds from 2 of the 6 speakers, the mid-range ones. I cannot hear any sounds from the tweeters or the sub-woofers. I was forced to find a factory 2004 Crossfire radio from eBay but instead of the one that came with the car, I got one with the NAV option from Harman/Becker Automotive Systems. My questions are: 1. Where/how do I get the right radio connecting harness (I’ve come to distrust eBay sellers) and 2. How can I make sure I do get the right radio connecting harness first time? Do you by any chances have this connecting harness for sale? I’m NOT so much interested in any NAV options; I just want the original 3-channel stereo the car had before.

Any/all help will be most appreciated!

 

Esteemed Crossfire owner: I just got my 2004 Crossfire and it’s an interesting story. My wife bought the car for herself six years ago, from its previous (and only) owner, who had purchased it new along with a 70K mile dealer warranty. That’s when he sold it to my wife, when the 70K mile warranty expired. My wife drove it for 2 years, when we retired and moved to Las Cruces, NM from Peoria, Illinois. On the way here, the car’s brakes failed in spectacular fashion: we ended stranded in Tucumcari, NM for 3 days and had to buy 2 brand new tires (the brake failure caused the 2 front tires inside walls to get shredded). My wife got super angry with the car and as soon as we got to our new home in Las Cruces, she sold it. I had never driven the car; it was her car and I had never tried to drive it. Fast forward to 4 weeks ago: our next door neighbors, who had bought the car from my wife and given it to their daughter came up for sale due to said daughter’s pregnancy (no child seats safe on a car’s front seats, etc.). Ever since my wife sold the car, I’d began to research the Crossfire’s history and had begun to regret not having taken an interest in the car and had gotten so impressed with the car that now I wanted it for myself, so 3 weeks ago I bought it back. Which brings us to my reasons for writing this letters. The pregnant girl replaced the factory installed Infinity System with a Pioneer DEH-X6800BS and now I can only hear sounds from 2 of the 6 speakers, the mid-range ones. I cannot hear any sounds from the tweeters or the sub-woofers. I was forced to find a factory 2004 Crossfire radio from eBay but instead of the one that came with the car, I got one with the NAV option from Harman/Becker Automotive Systems. My questions are: 1. Where/how do I get the right radio connecting harness (I’ve come to distrust eBay sellers) and 2. How can I make sure I do get the right radio connecting harness first time? Do you by any chances have this connecting harness for sale? I’m NOT so much interested in any NAV options; I just want the original 3-channel stereo the car had before.

Any/all help will be most appreciated!

 

You won't have the NAV antenna on your Crossfire, so that much you obviously know. As for the exact harness, a junkyard is most likely your best bet. Instead of getting the stock radio, some really good pop-out screen aftermarket stereo's will work, and have touch screens. Some of those have backup camera ports so that you can hook a backup camera (if you want to string the camera wire from the unit to the rear license plate since the Xfire doesn't have good rear visibility in general. Also be wary of your headliner falling down due to foam-rot of the headliner. If not already happening, it will be due. The hotter the climate, the sooner it will happen. If you go to a good stereo shop, they may have the right stuff for you so that all the speakers will work. Alternately, just run the cables from the rear ports to the right destination hardware after downloading the wiring diagram for the stock stereo (or use the aftermarket stereo which will have "plug-in" ports with standard connections.