Does anyone know of a dealer that can/will service a well loved 2005 Crossfire in the NYC area? Chrysler dealers won't touch it (not even the dealer I purchased it from) claiming they no longer have the computer to read it. Mercedes dealers laugh. I truly love my ittle red convertible, but it's getting to the point that I won't be able to keep it if I can't maintain it. It seems a shame. We've only explored 18K miles in the 16 years we've been together. Any help would be greatly appreciated!

 

Your best hope is to find an independent garage that works exclusively on European automobiles. Your Crossfire mechanically is a Mercedes 2004 SLK, either a SLK 320 if not supercharged or a SLK 32 if you have the SRT6 supercharged engine.
here are two in New Jersey if they are not too far from you :
New jersey- Auto Sumser, Saddle River Rd in Fairlawn, 201-797-7684

New jersey -Motorsport GmbH, 101 Park Ave., Lyndhurst, (201) 460-000

 

Thank you for the new leads! I tried that route in the city but got the same "we don't have the computer to read this car" brush off, Hopefully one of these two will have the right card. I'll call them and see what I can figure out. They are far but not too far of they can do the job.

 

What is wrong that you need a reader. A reader that does almost anything can be bought on Amazon, After all it is a 2004 Mercedes SLK 320 mechanics wise.

 

I wish I knew enough to be able to give you a useful answer. The two obvious issues are that the spoiler seems to have a mind of its own and the tire pressure sensor light stays on. But what concerns me is all the stuff I can't see that might be an issue in a 16 year old car. The last time I took it to the dealer where I bought it was for a check-up and they said it obviously needed an oil and filter change but "the only tech" who knows about Crossfires was away so they would call me when he's back. I had them do the oil and filters and was planning to go back for the spoiler and tire sensor but (I later found out) they used the wrong oil so all the "alarms" started going off and I was stranded in rush-hour traffic on a bridge. Not cool. Then I took it to our local European car garage who said they can't figure out how where the short is to fix the spoiler issue and that they don't have the software to turn off the tire pressure sensor. I'm too old to risk get stuck 20 miles from the nearest off-ramp and civilization no matter how much I love the car.

 

The spoilers problems may simply be a weak battery, how old is the cars battery?
The wrong oil will not cause the car to just stop, how did you get home? What was the real reason?
The tire pressure sensor light comes on when the small battery in sensor in the wheel dies. You can either disconnect the wire behind the roof light and mirror or get them all replaced if they are the originals. The instructions to disconnect a wire is to be found on this forum.
Going to any garage and asking them to look for unknown and unseen problems gets them estimating how deep your pockets are. If a real problem exists the CE light comes on, if the brakes are failing you hear a squeal or the braking is poor.

The last thing you want to to do is tell a mechanic to look for trouble. For sure as heck he’ll find something wrong even if there isn’t.

 

A darts fan?!

Thanks for the response and you're right. But unfortunately diagnosing most things in my cars is way out of my league and I have always been at the mercy of dealers and mechanics. And we all know that Chrysler dealers abandoned the Crossfire community long ago.

We dropped in a new battery last week, but the spoiler still retracts on its own.
The tire pressure sensors were original but were changed last year when we bought new tires. Now I'm being told that we need a DRBIII with and orange card to reset the on-board computer.
The brakes are soft, so they are top of the inspection list when I find a mechanic. I just hope it passes its state inspection for another year.

And when the dashboard lit-up after the oil change, I slowly drove the car off the bridge and onto a surface street where I had the car towed back to the dealership (at their expense). That's when they told me about their mistake. I'll never know what really happened but that was years ago and the oil and filters have been changed several times since.

I'm not giving up yet. I still have the names of a few independent mechanics to call.

 

I have a DRBIII with the Crossfire card and multiplexer. As long as the tire shop installed the correct tire pressure sensors I can program them to the car computer for you. I also have the factory TPMS tester to check that.

180's recommendation about changing the battery was valid. Having the rear spoiler go up on it's own is a common symptom of a weak battery. A problem with the braking system ABS sensors or even the brake pedal switch can cause the spoiler to go up by itself, and many dash indicator lights to go on. I can use the scanner to check for error codes, but not all problems cause error codes.

I agree with ZIP439 about using an independent European car garage for maintenance on the car. If they work on Mercedes m112 engines they can work on yours because that is what it is, and underneath the sheet metal it's basically an SLK320. That would be a good choice for oil changes. I'm no fan of quick oil change places. It was 27 years ago a Jiffy Lube failed to put oil back in my car engine. I've done all of my car oil changes since then. I can show you how to do your own oil change either with the conventional method, or an alternate way that does not require going under the car, that uses an oil suction extractor through the dipstick tube.

I'm not a mechanic for hire. My day job is information systems management. I've just learned and done a lot with cars over the years. I'm just offering to help a fellow Crossfire owner. I live North of Philadelpia. it's not clear where in NY you are.

 

Darts fan correct. You are the first to make the connection. I have played darts for 65 years, 60 years ago I was very good and I have been on a downward slope ever since.
When you ask a question you must add all the relevant info, new battery, TPMS sensors installed but never set up from day one.
Otherwise you get wrong answers which wastes other people’s time and do not help you.So someone installed sensors but could not set them up but made you pay for them anyway - nice people.

 

Exactly, Dave.
I once responded to every new person's post asking for help, but over the years, I have burnt out. It takes way too long to get details from people.

Also, I have lost patience with people who think a damn dealer is their first and only option when it comes to service. So the brakes feel soft? ANY shop can bleed brakes and change the fluid, you do not need a dealer and their $15 an hour "technicians" for that.

 

You WISH !!!!!!!

 

$15 for the tech and $100 for the dealership.

 

Came to our little community looking for help. Didn't expect to get flamed by my elders. I can take a hint.

 

Don’t be saddened, Phenomemom, you are in pickle because you are all alone with your seemingly unsolvable problems. Some people thrive as self directed troubleshooters, others need handholding until they can gain confidence............Many are destined to just enjoy the car and pay the piper.

1. you need to have a face to face with someone who has the ability to solve your number 1 headache........find a local (?) Independent shop that does Mercedes work.

2. After your number 1 is taken care of you will have a fresh outlook knowing the to do list is getting smaller. Decide which road you want to take.

 

Where did you get flamed?

 

I was thinking the same thing. I reviewed all the posts and didn't even see any smoke, much less flames.

 

Posts #9 &10 were just telling it like it is and in my opinion(even though you didn't ask for it)not directed at you as much as they were "in general statements". I think you have been given very wise direction so far. Hope you can locate a trusted independent mechanic w/ Mercedes experience. Good luck.

 

You aren't getting flamed, you are getting good advice.

In post 1, you specifically asked "what dealer" to take the car to - the answer is NO dealer.

You then indicated a shop or shops have told you that they "don't have the device to read the codes" - this is asinine BS, any $70 code reader will read the DTCs in these cars. What NONE of us have, is the STAR computer to read the cars - and yet, most of us here can service our own cars just fine. What I am saying, is that the shops you are talked to simply don't know what they are doing, and hide behind the 'it's a rare car and we have no equipment to service it with" thing.

The spoiler problem WILL NOT be solved by ANY computer, code reader or similar. Take our word for it, it is battery-related OR it is a bad wheel speed sensor. The very vast majority of the time, it is one of those two items (well, it can also be the traction control relay but usually you get some significant other symptoms - like no speedometer indication) . And I will say it again, there is no reliable way to test the battery in this scenario, replacing the battery is your only diagnostic tool - and it's way cheaper than paying a 'tech' $90 an hour to fiddle around. If the battery is new, another cheap trick is to do one of these two easy mods that any shade tree mechanic or local shop can do - you don't need a dealer or "Mercedes specialist":
https://www.crossfireforum.org/forum...le-engine.html

Owning a Crossfire is very enjoyable if you are at least a bit of a mechanical or "techy" car guy or girl. Owning a Crossfire when you are one who only takes cars to dealers for service is NOT an enjoyable experience, in most cases. Tech support for our car is GONE; Chrysler dealers are not familiar with the SLK320 at all - so service at any dealer is usually an expensive and horrible experience. We cannot fix that, no one can.

As to the TPMS - I'm happy my SE does not have that feature. The TPMS in these cars is a unicorn, and it has caused TERRIBLE frustration and expense for MANY owners. Clint, one of our members, is a retired engineer who worked on the safety systems in cars including the Crossfire. He has written a great tutorial for owners to use in getting service on the TPMS. I'ts here on this forum somewhere, if I can turn it up I will link to it.

But again, I am thankful my car does not even have TPMS.

 

Here is CLint's paper on the TPMS
https://www.crossfireforum.org/forum...ms-issues.html

 

My car was made in October 2004 and the TPMS light came on last Summer, I disconnected the wire above the roof light and I am quite happy with that. I may or may not install the Schrader universal sensors when I change my tires in the future, I probably will.
I had the TPMS light come on twice when driving, once when a sidewall got slashed, the light would not have saved me then and once it came on but I could not stop safely and the tire was ruined by the time I could pull over.
It also came on over night a couple of times when I had a nail and a screw in the tread, that was helpful.