Crossfire Dudes and Dudettes,

I'm still loving my base Crossfire 6-speed, but I wonder if its long sit (1.5 years from day of build to my purchase as a new car) might have the engine in need of a tune.

Maybe I'm being too much of a "new dad," but whether the engine is warming up or already at operating temperature, the exhaust sound has a slightly erratic sound to it. The tach does not change, and the power seems to be steady when I accelerate (except for the ridiculous first-gear bog we all experience).

Here's what the "miss" sounds like. Very quietly whisper the letter "B", then cut off the "ee" part. In other words, about every .5 to 1.0 seconds the exhaust makes a tiny "buh" sound. If there is traffic around me, like at a stop sign, the sound is not loud enough for me to hear it. The engine light has not come on, so I'm thinking this is just the Crossfire sound.

Any thoughts before I bother the dealer to put it on the diagnostic machine? A friend of mine who also bought a 1.5-year-old Crossfire with no miles said his dealer was instructed by Chrysler to change the oil and give it a tune-up before it went to the owner.

Thanks for your input on my other threads. If you've ever spent any time on other automotive forums, you will realize how mature and helpful the crossfireforum.org members really are.

 

i know when i start my car (with a cold engine) the exhaust has a throaty pulsating burble noise for the first few minutes or so... then sputters/burbles
and returns to its normal constant/stable sound after warming up to operating temperature... all of this is during the start up idle phase in my garage, etc...

 

As Andrew mentioned, it seems that the little "miss" is inherent with this motor often times until the O2 sensors, etc warm-up... Warm the car up to operating temp. and sit at idle and watch the tach... it should stay solid... sometimes you'll get an occasional blip, but shouldn't be more often than every few minutes... If it happens more often than that, and you are a DIY mechanic, remove your spark plugs and take a look at the burning pattern to see if they are all firing the same...

Since your car sat so long, you might want to keep an eye on your seals... tranny, oil, etc... Those will dry-out and crack when cars sit for long periods of time...