Hey everyone,

I have 04 Chrysler Crossfire and recently my original stereo is going completely dead, OFF and ON. When it dies my shifter locks up. The shifter locks and I cant put my car in reverse or on drive until the stereo comes back on. Is this supposed to happen? Has anyone had this issue?
Sometimes I am able to slap the stereo on the side with my hand which seems to help it turn back on.

Can someone please advise on how to fix it.

Thanks

REY

 

Is that the "No Rock.. No Roll" interlock?

Okay seriously I'd be looking for some stereo removal tools to see if someone did some custom wiring or something.. walmart has them.. becker removal keys.
At least then you could unplug stereo to make sure this is related. I'm thinking maybe a problem elsewhere though.

 

amen to that, I looked at the schematics for the head unit/amp, and for the transmission shifter and see NO WAY they are inter related.

 

It has original stereo, never been replaced. I guy who works on crossfire just told me that it might be that the battery is bad but its been about 8 months since a bought a new one from O'Reilly's

 

Bad batteries are a voodo hex on these cars.. have done several weird things.

If your sure about the battery.. start looking at cables. Make SURE the ground to chassis is not corroded.

Oh.. "new battery" I hope you sprung for one near the 850 cold cranking amps rating..

 

Where do I find the ground to chassis connection on the vehicle so I can take a look if its corroded

 

Folow the black lead from the battery..

 

I got my battery checked out and the Voltage reading was at 13 Volts which the guy at O'Reilly's told me it was high and the actual voltage where it should be is at 12 Volts which means there is a short somewhere.

Is it possible that the stock stereo might be the issue (causing the short) since it keeps coming off & on and causing my shifter to lock once it goes completely dead mode?

 

Unlikely on the stereo.. you'd be the first case history that I know of. But.. spend six bucks at Walmart for the keys.. pull the stereo.. and see for yourself.
"insert keys.. pull .. unplug.." your set to test theory on it. Really that easy..
I'll reserve any thoughts on the battery test.

 

Your kidding me right? The guy said the battery should be 12 volts and a short is making it go to 13 volts? Never never ever go back to that guy again!

 

Yea, George is right about that. Shorts make LOWER voltage along with smoke .......

 

I was just hoping testing was done with the car running.. which ain't right anyways..LOL

Now I will admit a nice tight pair of.. um.. never mind..

 

I expect the radio going dead is another symptom that something is happening with the 12v power, and not the cause. If the radio was shorting the power, the radio fuse should be blowing. It's likely when the power is fluctuating the transmission goes into limp mode, and that is why you cannot shift it.

As the others have said, you should check the battery cable connections. Make sure they are clean and tight on the battery, and on the other end of the cables.

If you still believe there is a link to this problem with the radio you can either remove it, or remove the fuses supplying power to it in the fuse box in the engine compartment. Your owners manual shows where they are.

 

Reading on the battery was 13V when I got it checked out. Also all numbers on the dash board stay on at times. I will see if removing the fuse of the radio helps. I know that the stereo is bad. When I turn the volume all the way down, I can still here a volume sound coming from the passenger speaker. The passenger speaker is always louder that the driver side.

Also why am I able to shift only when the radio has power. When it dies the car lags and makes a buzzing noise coming from the transmission I think.

Also why would the radio turn back on when I slap it on the side?? Once the radio comes back on the car runs like new.

Is it possible that a wire from radio became lose & is causing all of this?

Thanks for your advise, I will check battery connections on both ends.