Hi everyone, I'm a proud owner of a 2004 Chrysler Crossfire in Alabaster White. I'm writing this post to give a sincere thank you to all of the XF owners who have contributed their knowledge to this site. You guys have saved me thousands of dollars and numerous headaches. THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU!!! Below I will list all of the issues I've ran into through the years and if someone needs help with any of them, be sure to email me or post.

1. Infamous hatch rattle. 4 passes of electrical tape around the latch (part attached to car) and foam pads where the bumpers contact the the gutter. Though the tape should stop the rattling, the foam is also helpful as it prevents the bumpers from chipping the paint off the gutter over time. THANKS FORUM!

2.Out of the blue, car stalled at stoplight and would not start back up until a few hours later. Read a few threads and concluded that the CPS (crankshaft position sensor) had failed. Bought a new one, installed myself, good as new! Note: I did take it to Chrysler and told them that it was the CPS and they told me it was not covered under warranty. They quoted $400 for the fix. I want to advanced auto parts, bought the sensor for $40 and installed it in less than an hour. THANKS FORUM!

3. Headlights fogged and hazed over. In Pennsylvania, we have tough winters out here. As such, my headlights became severely hazed and pitted over the years. At first, I took the forum suggestion of using Meguiars Pastic X. This stuff didn't touch my headlights but it did work great on some of my other vehicles. So I decided I might have to just dish out the money and by 2 new headlight assemblies. Body shop quote was $1100 for the job. So, I figured I'd try one more thing. I bought the 3M headlight restoration kit which was also suggested on this site. It's a multistage kit and it worked wonders. My headlights look brand new. It took out the pitting and the scratches!! Highly recommended. THANKS FORUM!

4. Airlock pump in rear making loud noise for a few seconds after locking or unlocking doors. This was a tricky one, and I didn't find much information in the forum about it. But there was enough threads here and there to allow me to solve the problem. At first I thought my pump was on it's last limb and therefore it would need replacing (quoted over $1000 from dealer). Before dishing out the cash, I thought I'd trace the air lines to see if there were any cracks. No cracks, but I did find a hose that had come lose near the top of the rear hatch gutter on the right hand side. Pull the rubber weather stripping out and you'll see some electrical wires and your yellow air line hoses. The hose had simply come out of the rubber elbow. I put it back in, taped it up, and everything worked as good as new. Thanks Forum!

5. Oil Changes. This is a simple one, but I was glad to find step by step instructions on this forum. Dealer charge=$120. Do it yourself $35.

6. Finally, I just decided to buy new wheels for my XF. After viewing many threads, I decided to keep the stock diameters (18/19) and not to go with the 19/20 setup. I didn't want to deal with the speedometer/odometer issue and I certainly didn't want any wheel well rubbing under any circumstance. I decided to go with the TSW Donington. TSW specializes in wheels made for Mercedes. They offer a LARGE variety of sizes and staggering which is exactly what XF owners need. As you know, finding wheels with the correct diameter, offset, and width is quite challenging. I went with 18x8's in the front and 19x9.5's in the rear. Quite similar to stock, but a half inch wider. I haven't installed them yet, but I will be sure to post some pictures when it's completed. Many of you younger guys won't like these wheels because they don't have a 4inch lip and they're not chromed out. But I like them because they have clean lines and bold look. Not to mention they're NOT "pimp mobile"ish. Plus I got a great deal. $1300 shipped with nitrogen gas, wheel locks, and Nankang NSII tires. It was their Christmas Special. BTW, I did not buy the TPMS sensors so I'll be going with the black piece of electrical tape on the dash Thanks Forum!

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Welcome and thanks for joining. The more the merrier. My headlights were so crappy that I let a body shop do the polishing. They look great now and a whole lot cheaper then new ones (if you can even get them).

Be sure to post a picture once you get the wheels mounted.

 

Congrats on your first post, took you awhile, I noticed you joined back in March. Nice wheels. like Uncle Al said, please post pictures when you have them on your car.

 

What oil and filter did you use?

 

Though I joined last March, I've been visiting this site as a guest for much longer than that. I use mobile synthetic 0W40. The auto parts store around me runs a special every so often- 5 quarts of synthetic for $25 and you get a free filter. Of course the XF takes 8 quarts, but I usually stock up when this special comes along.

 

Welcome to the forum! Please post where you are getting the oil and filter for $35. My experience has been that Advance Auto will have 5 quarts of 0W40 oil and a Mobil 1 oil filter (up to $10.99) for $32.99 (used to be $29.99) plus tax, but they have never included a Mobil 1 oil filter that will fit our Crossfires. I've asked if a purolator (mann fleece) filter ($11.99) can be substituted and pay the $1 difference.? They have tried but no way to get around it when they scan at the register the oil comes up at reg. price 'cause the filter isn't a Mobil 1 ($17.99 for the Crossfire). So I buy 10 quarts of oil and get 2 oil filters for my Explorer. I pick-up a Purolator filter. Total damage is about $84 with tax. Oil Filters are priced out at $8.00 a piece on the receipt and the oil about $5.00 a quart. When I do the math, that makes the Crossfire oil change about $50 and that's a long way from $35!

 

Actually $35 is very close to $50, by that I mean it's closer than to $60.

 

I purchase my oil through a local store called brandywine auto parts. My uncle works there currently and I used to work there as a kid so I get a special discount when they ring it up. They run the same special advanced auto parts has every so often. 5 quarts for 29.99 and a free filter. I get a percentage off on top of that (code bbus in the computer) and my total comes to around $25.

But, speaking of advanced auto parts, try this next time. Order all of your items online through advancedautoparts website and have them sent to your local store for free. Upon online check out, enter BIG25 where they permit you to enter the discount code. This takes $25 off any purchase of $65 or more. Hope this helps.

 

Thanks for the tip, I'll try it next time!

 

If close is good enough for you Dave, I'll give you $35 for every $55 you give me.

 

...as in brandywine, MD.?

 

I go to the one in glenn mills, PA. But I'm fairly certain it's affiliated with the one down south.