I'm so glad to have found this site. I have a few questions and not sure if its just my car, or maybe to all the vehicles. BTW, there was no manual. I downloaded a manual on line, but none of these questions were addressed.

My car has apparently always been garaged. It is mint. No fades, no rust, interior is super. HOWEVER, the interior smells. It's an "odd" smell. I have put febreze every day, and have also put a canister of Fresh Wave in since the day I bought it I've had it about five weeks now). The smell won't go away.

Second, the hatch sounds like it has a slight rattle to it. I'm not sure what I can do about that.

Third, I cannot get the automatic door opener to work. I've read other forums about this issue and have followed every advice, but still nothing.

Fourth, the radio is original...however, what does the button "TP" do? The ***** are worn and a little sticky and I thought about using a silver paint to recover them (I don't know why they annoy me, but they do!)

Thank you so much for listening to me!

Dawn

 

Welcome, Dawn !

The smell is most likely the burnt candle wax smell. This comes from the German adhesive used during assembly.
Not much you can do, other than replace the filter in the blower system, as it tends to retain the odor and keep passing it on.

The 'TP' is referenced in the owners manual :
I don't know about hatch rattle, as I have a roadster.

Personally, I never liked the OEM radio, that was one of the first things I replaced with a bluetooth capable after market head unit.

Is the 'automatic door opener' the key fob lock/unlock ?

 

Thank you so much for the info! I thought maybe the "TP" button was for a TelePhone feature! LOL....

I liked the idea about helping with the "Rattle" which I read on another discussion thread...I do have a question about that though...WHERE do you put the soft side of the Velcro strip? I am not a mechanical person, and will ask LOTS of questions unfortunately.

Now, this blower that you are talking about...is that something that I will need to ask a mechanic to replace for me?

I would love to change the radio to make it more in the 21st century; however, I usually don't like the "look" of after market radios...do you think there's a replacement out there that would fit cosmetically in where this one was? I love how the look of this dashboard flows...

Again thank you so much for writing me back so quickly...would LOVE to get rid of that nasty smell for SURE!!!!

Dawn

 

The filter can be replaced by following this guide :
https://www.crossfireforum.org/forum...narrative.html

If looking for an aftermarket head unit, look at the 'marine' units, they are usually painted a silver that closely matches.
( Crutchfield or SonicElectronix or Amazon )

Try to find one that has 4 volt pre-amp outputs, that is what the amplifier expects.

This one is quite pretty :

 

Hi Dawn,
Had the same problem with the ratle coming from the hatch. Took it to the Chrysler dealer, who fixed it the first try. The invoice said: "ADJUST REAR HATCH STOP PADS FOR DECKLID". $45.00

I've also had an odor, a bit like coolant when the heater core is ready to fail. But with my car, you can only smell it a very little bit, at start up, when the car has been sitting for a few days. On mine, it goes away in less than a minute. I also asked the dealer to check this out, they tested the cooling system when it was flushed,, and said there is no problem. I didn't know about the adhesive that other posters have referred to, but it makes sense that this could be the source of the brief odor. When you park your car, do you leave the vent system open, ie don't turn the air system off. I turn the a/c off, but leave the system on the vent setting. This prevents, I think, the air in the car from getting stuffy when the car is parked for hours/days, and might reduce the buiid up of the adhesive odor in the car. May be worth a try. Also make sure the air recirculate swith is off under most conditions.

 

Thank you! No, the odor is constant, not just when I first start it up. My daughter when she first got in the car thought it smelled like melted crayons, so the adhesive thing sounds about right. It doesn't dissipate. I will have to check into seeing if the vent system is open when I leave the car. I'm still learning so much about this vehicle!

Thank you so much for responding to my questions!

Dawn

 

melted crayons is the most common description. This is a gift from Karmann / Mercedes Benz, not something a previous owner might have done.
Change that cabin filter with an activated charcoal one, and maybe spray a bit of the Febreze on it before installing.

 

I have read that our amps expect SPEAKER LEVEL inputs, not preamp inputs at 2 or 4 volts.
Am I right or wrong? I mean, ALL heads have speaker level outputs, she's just got to find one that has the features she wants and LOOKS the part.

The hard part is finding one that LOOKS the part - which is why I have the OEM one to this day.

 

Mark, I once had a Sony ( traded it to Max ) that had 4v preamp outs, it would drive the amp just fine at good volume levels and no distortion.
I now have an Alpine installed that has 2v preamp output, I tried it and couldn't get any volume. I hooked up the speaker wires to the amp and now it works fine.
So, I guess it all depends on how good the preamp p-p voltage is.

 

I will keep that in mind as I consider what I'm gonna do.

 

For the rattle... There are two rubber pieces on the hatch. You need to adjust them out so the hatch puts all the weight on the rubber. Not sure if that makes sense to you but it is difficult to explain. It is a very simple screw adjustment.

As for the radio, get a silver faced blaupunkt radio from crutch field. It is a plug and play. You can install yourself in 15 min by simply sliding out the factory radio (with a key provided by crutch field) and plugging the new radio in. The harness and plug are the same. Real easy. You can read all about this on the forum.

 

Welcome! I fixed my hatch rattle with a piece of electrical tape. Open the hatch and you'll see the metal latch in the middle that the hatch locking mechanism grabs. Wipe it off with a rag as it may be a little oily. Then, cut about 3" of black electrical tape. It is just wide enough to cover the whole width of the latch. Wrap it tightly around the latch 5-6 times and cut off the excess. It will act as a buffer between the metal parts of the hatch lock and the latch. I've had no problems or noise since I did mine in 08. Depending on your use and tape quality, it should last a few years. I've just recently changed mine for the first time when I noticed the tape was cracking.

 

Maelstrom's fix works, try this first. this is a common problem and an easy fix




replace your cabin filter. under the dash on the passenger side is a panel held in place with 2 Phillips screws. remove these and pull off the panel, you will see a black rectangular box

there are 2 clips that slide over allowing the cover to be removed

don't be surprised to find the filte rvery dirty




my radio ***** were the same as yours

I removed mine, (they just pull off)and cleaned them with brake clean

then I painted them with rustolium (sp) 'matt nickle' paint

let them dry in the sun for a few hours

they now look great and the color is a perfect match




hope this helps




we will be here when you need help with the cup holder and the headliner ;^)




Cheers

Dennis B