Very helpful post.

I initially had the 3 strike issue last Aug but it started up with a battery reset and I had no problems over the winter. Yesterday it happened again after I tried to drive home from work. After trying some suggestions on this forum, I was unable to get her going again.

I just had the Xfire towed to my garage today and I will probably be ordering the Needswings SKREEM kit on Monday. This appears to clear up quite a bit of confusion from the many past posts regarding this vexing problem. Hopefully in a week or so I will end up as satisfied as Fred.

Does not appear that anyone has a handle on what the primary failure mode of this unit might be but looks like if you really want a back-up you just order two.

Thanks

 

Everytime I read this forum I get different reactions.

My SKREEM is malfunctioning and I have cycled the battery and tried starting it X number of times since it happened last Aug.

Now I read this posted by Jimmy John last year:

"I checked the MB World board and found that after 10 cycles (30 tries) the ECM shuts down."

I have no way of knowing where I am. I am the 3rd owner. The first owner would have carefully documented this if it happened, but the second would not. I am assuming I am the first to have this happen with this car. I guess maybe I have cycled the battery a a few times - maybe as much as 6 and tried starting maybe as much as 18? times.

I have not found anything in the service manual that explains this.

I am assuming that you can disconnect the battery as many times as you want but you only get 30 failed starting attempts.

I also tried the "Possible SKREEM fix" with no results (which uses up tries.)

If there are no other issues, I am fairly certain I need to replace the SKREEM with a preprogrammed unit based on my VIN.

If I am lucky and do a good job, the car will start again. If not, I may end up using more tries.

At this point, I realize I need to be careful about wasting tries, The thing that concerns me is how would I know if the if the ECU (PCM on XFire?) is already disabled?

After all the frightening posts I have read I am very leery about towing it to a dealer because finding a shop that has the trained staff and proper equipment appears to be rare and yet they will gladly accept your repair job.

My plan is to open up the dash and check all the connections to the SKREEM and the unit itself and call Needswings on Monday.

 

I would guess if the ECU goes mission impossible on you.. an OBD II reader won't retrieve the VIN data from it.

 

My '04 Coupe was doing the turns over and starts for 2 seconds then dies thing (3 times before it doesn't turn over until you disconnect and reconnect the battery for 3 more attempts).

Ordered a Skreem and Ring module from Needswings with the highest priority shipping to Canada. I think they screwed something up at the border, because it took almost 2 weeks longer than the expected delivery date.

Removed the old Unit and installed the new Skreem module and ring, reset the key fobs as per Needswings instructions, and waited about 20 seconds with the ignition on before trying to start. Started right up on the first try, so I let it warm up and then tried a few more times. Started fine each time.

Thanks, Needswings!

 

One thing. Do not forget to transfer the rubber around the old ring to the new ring. It goes on the back and if you forget, you have to remove the dash cluster again, pull the wire from the skreem module and slip the rubber cover over the back of the new ring and wire. Then re-assemble.

Or you can do what I did. Cut one slit in the rubber/plastic cover and slip it over the new ring, without having to remove anything again. Fits perfectly.

 

Thanks - My unit is arriving tomorrow and I have already removed old unit. Hopefully this will be as easy as you describe.

I did inspect the old SKREEM under a microscope and it looks like there are some hairline cracks on some of the solder connections around the connector pins. I have seem this phenomenon on a number of older automotive modules - like the relay box.

I design electronic circuits as well as assemblies and what I see here is possible a design practice that leads to poor reliability and this is common in a lot of automotive parts. Because the contacts are captured in a plastic assembly and soldered into a PCB, the coefficient of expansion is different between the PCB and the plastic part so that over time and temperature cycling, stress is placed on the contacts leading to failure of the solder joints. I would be very curious to see someone touch up these solder pins and then try to see if it works again. Of course, that uses up tries.

 

The RCM suffers from cold solder joints when soldered in production, it was said to be stress related due to temperature changes but some thought would have discredited that notion.

 

I wouldn't discount vibrations from having a bit of an affect on the solder joints, in addition to heat...

Another thing to remember is to TAPE THE TOP FRONT OF THE DASH, just above the gauge cluster. The paint that feels a bit rubbery. Otherwise, the panel that surrounds the gauge cluster will scrape the **** out of the rubbery paint.

Now I need to figure out where to buy similar paint to re-do that area.

 

If your SKREEM hasn't arrived yet, and your experienced, go ahead and touch up the solder where you found the hairline cracks and see if your SKREEM works. Nothing lost since your SKREEM is being replaced anyway, right? I mean, its already all apart and opened up so hit the solder and place together and see if it works? Or am I way off base and it is impossible to test with it all opened up.

.

 

Thanks for posting about the SKREEM, I had to have it replaced 3 times in my roadster. Seem to last only one year, was costly from the dealer and they blew my PCM when installing. Glad to hear Needwings has the skreem replacement.

 

The RCM does not get hot as the whole box it sits in is cooled by a fan.
Soldered joints are very strong and there will be no vibration to one of the soldered parts and not the other, if they both vibrate there is no damage.

 

Rekon how many people check to see if the fan is actually running ?

( note to self : check the fan )

 

As far as I am concerned, when possible, it is worth it to inspect and/or rework the solder joints on any module that fails before replacing it - especially at the connector pins.

 

Thanks for the reminder jes... it was a good bit of advice at the right time.

Key ring went together OK - just the instrument cluster bezel was a bit difficult without removing the steering wheel.

Got the new SKREEM in and re-synced the old keys (btw this is in the owners manual pg. 17-18) and the car is running again!

Kudos to Fastfred for posting this his detailed account.

See you on the road.

Now on to replacing the supercharger in the MR2....

 

Awesome news! Glad she's running again.

3 days and mine is still going strong, feels a bit odd to have no issues at the moment :-)