Just bought my 2006 Crossfire Limited Roadster about 3 weeks ago. 33k miles, and looks perfect. I absolutely love driving this car. It is just so much fun to drive. Anything as a new owner that I should check for as far as problems? I have noticed that the lock chirp doesn’t work, so I know the siren hasn’t been replaced.

 

1) Order a Bosch crank sensor and put it in the trunk.
2) Find the 'top tool' and put it in the console or glove box, then learn to put the top up and down manually with said tool.
3) Yank the cover off the left side of dash, if it does not say "stick key done" on it, get the sticky key mod done in the next month or so.
4) If the car sits outside a lot (with such low miles I am sure it didn't, but if you are not going to garage it and/or are going to drive it daily, then.....) keep an eye out for water intrusion in the cavities in the trunk and ,annually, take the trim off under the wipers and vacuum out the leaves and crud so water does not back up into the air intake for the cabin.
5) Find out the age of the battery, replace if four years old or more; keep terminals tight and CLEAN, including contact surfaces (yank cables off annually and clean with wire brush), use terminal protection (wafers, spray, etc.) to keep good contact between cables and battery posts.
6) DO NOT put top up or down using the electrics/hydraulics without the engine running.
7) Go to as many Crossfire meets and events as you can - not only is this fun, but you learn WAY more about the car by talking to other owners - also, you find that much of the little maintenance the car needs, is easy to do yourself. (You are close to Carlisle, Woodward and the Dragon.)

 

Welcome, be sure to check this link for lots of info.
https://www.crossfireforum.org/forum...s-repairs.html

 

I never heard this said.....please explain

 

Welcome aboard. Enjoy the ride.

 

OK, YOU asked for it, Gary.

If you turn the key "ON", but don't start the engine and then hit the button for the top, the inductive load of the pump motor can cause voltage spikes and sags. Things are milder if the engine is running and alternator is charging.

I put my top up on the SE back in 2017 one night, too lazy to start the car first. The top and pump stopped just as the lid was raising (the motor cuts out after each phase then starts back up with each phase, sending spikes and sags thru the system leading back to the battery). I turned key off and on, no but no good. I put top up manually with key off (mistake #2).
I had to raise the top manually. Next morning, the top would not move at all, it had lost sync, cause I finished putting the top up with the key off. I started car and put top up and down, fully, manualy, and got snyc back. Top worked fine.

But I noticed that the seat belt light was on, the seat belt module died when the spike/sag went thru the system. I was lucky, it didn't kill the SKREEM.

You REALLY should not put windows up or down without the car running, either, but they are way less of a load than the top pump motor.

See, people think that SKREEMS and seatbelt modules and other modules just "Fail". Sometimes they do. MOST of the time, they fail for a reason external to the module, just like with all electronics.

And of course, this is not just my opinion, this is the way it is; as this stuff is how I've earned a living since 1981. 29 years of my career focused on a strong emphasis of putting electronics in motor vehicles (as aftermarket accessories). Of course, the anonymity of the internet means that I could be any kook with an opinion, so, let's deal with that in this way.........

Mark Christopher
Field Applications Engineer
JVCKenwood Corporation
Communications Sector | Research and Development
Irving Texas

 

Thank you and the other experienced folks here for sharing so much. I cut and save a lot of y’all’s pearls of wisdom.

I’m probably due for a new battery. Do you recommend keeping 12 volts on the car’s system while changing out the battery? I have a weird unnatural fear of something either being reset or lost in the computer or any of the multiple modules in the Crossfire. Is there anything risky about clipping an extra battery in parallel with the battery before disconnecting the battery and replacing it? I don’t care about radio presets being lost but I’d sure be sad if something gets lost in the computer.

Or, is it actually healthy to let the computers in the car reset by disconnecting the battery and letting it sit for a while? The Crossfire just seems to be hyper-sensitive to battery/electrical issues.

 

NO. Do not do that. While we did do that in one shop I worked at, it seemed to cause more issues than it resolved; the policy was dropped in maybe a year. First of all, you are messing with an electrical system while it is energized, when you do this, that alone is a risk. Let the battery positive cable touch ANYTHING that is at 'ground' and you just caused yourself some potential issues - the least of which is that the 12 volt supply you are using just blew a fuse, and your presets are lost anyway.

One thing we finally DID realize, was that we had fewer issues by using a neat trick to stop the inductive kick that happens when the battery is disconnected and the new one connected: Adding low resistance across an inductor decreases inductance. So, how do you do this? Easy, in order to more safely change the battery, do this (the steps in red are the "inductive kick" suppressing steps, the rest is standard safe practice):

1. Shut engine off.
2. Turn high beam headlights on, if you have fog/driving lights, turn them on as well.
3. Disconnect battery ground cable.
4. Disconnect battery positive cable.
5. Cover battery positive post (just a caution, if not just be careful to not lay tools across posts of battery - the spark can ruin your day).
6. Yank old battery, dispose of properly (I burn all my old batteries, the smoke is really pretty.)
7. Put new battery in place, fasten down the clamp(s) and restraints that hold it.
8. Clean, with a wire brush, the inner contact surfaces of the battery clamps.
9. Pull off the protective cover from the positive post (that should be there on any new battery).
10. Place anti-corrosion wafers around the posts on the battery (or do step 14).
11. Connect positive cable.
12. Connect negative cable - some minor sparks will fly from post to clamp, do not be concerned.
13. Turn lights off.
14. Spray anti-corrosion spray on the posts and terminals (if you did step 10, this step is optional but never a bad idea.)

You have now down a "Throttle reset" as that information is lost without the battery in there. Some radio presets will also be lost unless you have a JVC radio.

 

Thanks for all the info here Mark !!

 

Thanks!!!

 

As always, great information 1

 

Congrats on your purchase and welcome to our Forum. As you are aware by now, lots of really good info & feedback from knowledgeable owners who have "been there, done that" experience.

 

Thank you all very much for the information. I hope to have this car for a long time, so I appreciate all the pointers I can get.

 

This procedure works!!! I finally got the courage to replace my battery. I've had the '05 Roadster for two years and never could decode the age of the battery from the info on the top of the battery. (Turns out the date was near the bottom of the side of the battery and was 3 years old.) I was worried about changing the battery because of potentially having my Kenwood Model DNX891HD lock up AND the unknown factor of a Clifford/Viper remote start/alarm system that the previous owner had added. I received ZERO information from the specialty car dealer that I bought the car from two years ago.

I set the security setting in the Kenwood to OFF before disconnecting the battery. But I was still worried it would lock up. With regards to the remote start system, (which has never worked), I just kept my fingers crossed.

I followed Pizzaguy's procedure to the letter and everything is working fine. I guess that's another dinner I owe him.