Please Help! Convertible top stopped working!
Thread Starter
Joined: Dec 2006
Posts: 236
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From: Diamond Bar, CA
Please Help! Convertible top stopped working!
Hi all!! I'm a fairly new member (Jan. '07) of the forum and new owner of a black '05 Crossfire SRT6 convertible, which I purchased the first week of January of this year. The car had 2,800 miles on the odometer and I got a great price. The wealth of information on this site is amazing, as I spend at least 30 minutes a day browsing through the forum, learning everything I can about the car.
However, the short couple of months with the car has been disappointing thus far.
The first month was great but since, it has been falling apart on me!! I took it in to service in the middle of February when I heard a loud pop from the rear and the car started making a weird rattling noise when depressing the gas. As it turned out, the rear differential gave out and needed to be replaced, which the dealer did. It took about a week and a half as the part had to be ordered (6 days) and installed. I was told by the service department that it looked like the first owner of the car "dragged the sh** out of it!" and the differential took the grunt of that abuse. Anyway, it was disappointing to hear and I must say, I was ticked that this 'problem' was not known by the dealer. Well, maybe it's hard to know until it gives! Perhaps the car was one of those "track experience" cars? Who knows!!! After the differential was replaced, the car was great for about 3 weeks!
The car is back in the shop now because the convertible top stopped working! I tried to fix the problem myself by reading some of the threads here but nothing has helped. It's now been a week and the dealer has no idea what the problem is!! They thought it was the 'actuator', which they ordered and installed, but that did not work. They've been in contact with Chrysler in Detroit on a daily basis trying to diagnose the problem but thus far nothing has worked! Oh, so frustrating!!
The car has 5,000 miles! Are you kidding me???!!! Am I really going through all of this with a car with so few miles? I've owned mostly Japanese cars in my life (S2000, Civic, Sentra) and not once did I take them into service! I am trying to be optimistic here!
Ok, thanks for letting me rant & vent!! Any thoughts from you guys? Anyone had a problem similar to this? I know it will eventually be fixed but the thought of the car potentially being in the shop for the next month (or more) is killing me. Any help is greatly appreciated!
gr8len
However, the short couple of months with the car has been disappointing thus far.
The first month was great but since, it has been falling apart on me!! I took it in to service in the middle of February when I heard a loud pop from the rear and the car started making a weird rattling noise when depressing the gas. As it turned out, the rear differential gave out and needed to be replaced, which the dealer did. It took about a week and a half as the part had to be ordered (6 days) and installed. I was told by the service department that it looked like the first owner of the car "dragged the sh** out of it!" and the differential took the grunt of that abuse. Anyway, it was disappointing to hear and I must say, I was ticked that this 'problem' was not known by the dealer. Well, maybe it's hard to know until it gives! Perhaps the car was one of those "track experience" cars? Who knows!!! After the differential was replaced, the car was great for about 3 weeks! The car is back in the shop now because the convertible top stopped working! I tried to fix the problem myself by reading some of the threads here but nothing has helped. It's now been a week and the dealer has no idea what the problem is!! They thought it was the 'actuator', which they ordered and installed, but that did not work. They've been in contact with Chrysler in Detroit on a daily basis trying to diagnose the problem but thus far nothing has worked! Oh, so frustrating!!
The car has 5,000 miles! Are you kidding me???!!! Am I really going through all of this with a car with so few miles? I've owned mostly Japanese cars in my life (S2000, Civic, Sentra) and not once did I take them into service! I am trying to be optimistic here!
Ok, thanks for letting me rant & vent!! Any thoughts from you guys? Anyone had a problem similar to this? I know it will eventually be fixed but the thought of the car potentially being in the shop for the next month (or more) is killing me. Any help is greatly appreciated!
gr8len
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Joined: Jan 2005
Posts: 736
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From: Long Island, NY
Re: Please Help! Convertible top stopped working!
It might be very simple. Is the partition in the trunk SECURELY locked in place in the UP position? If its not or not making proper contact the system to lower the top isn't supposed to work. Just a long shot. Also make sure the trunk and all doors are securely closed.
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Joined: Jan 2007
Posts: 3,062
Likes: 1
From: Mid-Michigan
Re: Please Help! Convertible top stopped working!
Originally Posted by gr8len
Hi all!! I'm a fairly new member (Jan. '07) of the forum and new owner of a black '05 Crossfire SRT6 convertible, which I purchased the first week of January of this year. The car had 2,800 miles on the odometer and I got a great price. The wealth of information on this site is amazing, as I spend at least 30 minutes a day browsing through the forum, learning everything I can about the car.
However, the short couple of months with the car has been disappointing thus far. The first month was great but since, it has been falling apart on me!! I took it in to service in the middle of February when I heard a loud pop from the rear and the car started making a weird rattling noise when depressing the gas. As it turned out, the rear differential gave out and needed to be replaced, which the dealer did. It took about a week and a half as the part had to be ordered (6 days) and installed. I was told by the service department that it looked like the first owner of the car "dragged the sh** out of it!" and the differential took the grunt of that abuse. Anyway, it was disappointing to hear and I must say, I was ticked that this 'problem' was not known by the dealer. Well, maybe it's hard to know until it gives! Perhaps the car was one of those "track experience" cars? Who knows!!! After the differential was replaced, the car was great for about 3 weeks!
The car is back in the shop now because the convertible top stopped working! I tried to fix the problem myself by reading some of the threads here but nothing has helped. It's now been a week and the dealer has no idea what the problem is!! They thought it was the 'actuator', which they ordered and installed, but that did not work. They've been in contact with Chrysler in Detroit on a daily basis trying to diagnose the problem but thus far nothing has worked! Oh, so frustrating!!
The car has 5,000 miles! Are you kidding me???!!! Am I really going through all of this with a car with so few miles? I've owned mostly Japanese cars in my life (S2000, Civic, Sentra) and not once did I take them into service! I am trying to be optimistic here!
Ok, thanks for letting me rant & vent!! Any thoughts from you guys? Anyone had a problem similar to this? I know it will eventually be fixed but the thought of the car potentially being in the shop for the next month (or more) is killing me. Any help is greatly appreciated!
gr8len
However, the short couple of months with the car has been disappointing thus far.
The first month was great but since, it has been falling apart on me!! I took it in to service in the middle of February when I heard a loud pop from the rear and the car started making a weird rattling noise when depressing the gas. As it turned out, the rear differential gave out and needed to be replaced, which the dealer did. It took about a week and a half as the part had to be ordered (6 days) and installed. I was told by the service department that it looked like the first owner of the car "dragged the sh** out of it!" and the differential took the grunt of that abuse. Anyway, it was disappointing to hear and I must say, I was ticked that this 'problem' was not known by the dealer. Well, maybe it's hard to know until it gives! Perhaps the car was one of those "track experience" cars? Who knows!!! After the differential was replaced, the car was great for about 3 weeks! The car is back in the shop now because the convertible top stopped working! I tried to fix the problem myself by reading some of the threads here but nothing has helped. It's now been a week and the dealer has no idea what the problem is!! They thought it was the 'actuator', which they ordered and installed, but that did not work. They've been in contact with Chrysler in Detroit on a daily basis trying to diagnose the problem but thus far nothing has worked! Oh, so frustrating!!
The car has 5,000 miles! Are you kidding me???!!! Am I really going through all of this with a car with so few miles? I've owned mostly Japanese cars in my life (S2000, Civic, Sentra) and not once did I take them into service! I am trying to be optimistic here!
Ok, thanks for letting me rant & vent!! Any thoughts from you guys? Anyone had a problem similar to this? I know it will eventually be fixed but the thought of the car potentially being in the shop for the next month (or more) is killing me. Any help is greatly appreciated!
gr8len
I will tell you that the other day I was detailing the car and had the top half up/half down, so I could clean all the 'mechanisms' for the top. After about 5 minutes the tonneau cover stopped holding in the upright position and closed on top of the soft top. I held it back up for a few minutes and it stayed. I then lowered the top all of the way. Not sure if there is a time limit on how long it will hold or what.
I drive Hondas and Toyotas so I know what you mean about that. These Crossfires are finicky little cars IMO. Hope it gets better for you.
Senior Member
Joined: Aug 2004
Posts: 2,443
Likes: 6
From: Varina, Virginia (LI Transplant)
Re: Please Help! Convertible top stopped working!
Originally Posted by buggy4crossfires
It might be very simple. Is the partition in the trunk SECURELY locked in place in the UP position? If its not or not making proper contact the system to lower the top isn't supposed to work. Just a long shot. Also make sure the trunk and all doors are securely closed.
Senior Member
Joined: Aug 2004
Posts: 2,443
Likes: 6
From: Varina, Virginia (LI Transplant)
Re: Please Help! Convertible top stopped working!
I have had my tonneau cover open at car shows and usually after about 15 - 20 minutes it will automatically close.
Thread Starter
Joined: Dec 2006
Posts: 236
Likes: 1
From: Diamond Bar, CA
Re: Please Help! Convertible top stopped working!
Well, got my car back on Friday! It was a nice surprise as I was assuming it would be at least a week or more! So, the fix was replacing both the 'actuator' and a module/chip set, which was ordered on Thursday and installed Friday morning. The problem was, according to the service department, the 2 devices were not communicating with one another and both were replaced, which did the trick.
Thank you to those that chimed in! I appreciate the support!
gr8len
Thank you to those that chimed in! I appreciate the support!
gr8len
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