My Crossfire will start, and shut down, and then wont start. It doesn't turn over, no clicking, nothing. All the lights and electronics work fine. If I let it sit for 8 hours or more, the battery completelly discharges. I'll charge the battery, and it starts fine and runs for days , and it will do this again. So far, I've replaced the following, but the problem persists. It has shut down on me even while driving, but for the most part will do it when I try to start it.

• Replaced the battery
• Replaced the cam sensor
• Replaced the crank sensor

Any ideas?

 

May have 2 issues here FP :
1. You didn't mention the RCM resolder ( fits the above start symptoms )
2. The battery drain - hook up a milliamp meter between the disconnected negative battery cable and the negative post on the battery with every thing off : should see around 30 ma or so drain. If lots higher, start pulling fuses one at at time till the ma reading drops - that will be the area where the problem is.

 

I hate to say it buy I believe it's the RCM. Mine went from an occasional hard start to no start. When the battery was weak I got nothing, not even a click. I purchased a cheap battery ($25) and it started and ran fine for weeks then it happened again. My impression was the cheapo battery had failed so I purchased a true battery. The car cranked, started and died. Then it would crank and not start. Then it wouldn't even click turning the key. After disconnecting the battery it cranked and on the 20th try it started, ran 2 seconds and died. I did the usual head scratching, soldered the RCM and made a mess of it, purchased a new one and haven't had problems since. No occasional long cranking, no occasional weirdness at all like before, actually since new, it would have a strange episode every few months. Of course, I could be wrong. Mine never died on me while driving.

Les

 

Interesting you say it's the RCM. This problem started after I replaced the RCM. I did this as a preventive to an outage. My RCM was fine, and it's seems it's biting me in the ****.

 

I hope I'm wrong. The dying while driving was the CPS on my car and only happened with the Borg Warner replacement. Yours is new, correct? If it is check the connection to be positive it's clean and tight. In the end my CPS problem was plug related. All I did was clean it, use a tad of dielectric grease, plug and unplug it a few times to be sure I knew when it was fully seated and viola! And that was reusing the original that threw the code in the first place.

Les

 

From a post of mine in February 2011, this is my 2004 Crossfire.
Quote; 'By coincidence I have just checked the parasitic drain on my battery.
Unlocked it averaged 15 mA and locked it jumped back and forth between 15 mA and 20 mA. The 15 mA reading flickered between 13 and 16 mA. The 20 mA reading flickered between 21 and 19 mA.'

I'd say FPs problems are the RCM and the battery drain may be the fault of the RCM as well if the problems started at the same time.

 

Did you keep the original RCM? . Was the replacement new or reworked?. One of the relays may be bad.

 

I had DJ rebuild the RCM. It was an exchange, so I don't have the original . It might just be a bad rebuild. Like I said the Cam and crank sensors were replaced after the car stalled while driving. This and the battery were replaced to address this issue. I do think the RCM is defective at this point.

 

BTW, I bought a used RCM I'm going to install today. Let's hope it resolves the issue. I'll just ask DJ to fix it again and have a spare.

 

I can turn a wrench but I'm not good with this electronic stuff, so what I'm going to say is just a guess, heck, I'm new and I haven't had to do anything to or even look at my RCM, not even sure what it does. But from what I've read above, it sounds like your RCM has shorted, if so, I'm not sure if anything done to the connectors now, will change that. Of course, making sure the connectors are well sealed should you install another unit, would be wise. I would think you should be able to check the RCM to see if it's allowing a power drain. If so, you will know what to do.

 

So you replaced the RCM and then the battery and sensors when you had problems. You had no problems before replacing the RCM I take it?

Did you replace the battery before the RCM? If so it may be a bad battery. The exact order of part changes could be important in finding the problem.

 

The RCM that DJ reworked could have had other issues other than the soldier joints. If I would have had DJ repair mine, I would have wanted the same one back. I am sure he does great work and his efforts are greatly appreciated, but he has no way of knowing of other issues of a particular board.


James

 

Agree James.

 

Here's the order:

1. Replaced the RCM as a proactive measure
2. Started having the issue a few weeks after the RCM was replaced
3. Replaced Battery
4. Problem continued including Car stalled while driving
5. Replaced Cam Sensor and Crank sensor
6. Problem persist when starting

 

I say RCM. Engine Control Relay in particular. THis one could have a bad ECR Relay - so resoldering the board would not fix it.

But the battery drain part has me wondering. Only if a relay on the board was stuck closed would a RCM cause a battery drain - there just isn't anything on the board to be a current sink. All the switched power and grounds to throw the relays come from the PTCM or the ignition switch itself.

 

I don't have an answer to why your car is acting up but I do want to say that I hope you bought only "Bosch" Cam and Crank sensors.
Others here have bought other brands of these and reported failure of the new part quite quickly if it worked at all.

I suspect it is the reworked RCM that is giving you all these issues though.
Ask DJ if he still has your original RCM and ask him to ship it back to you.

 

Yes, I agree the draining puzzles me. It only happens when the failure to start occurs, and I let it sit for a while. Once the battery is recharged it starts with no problem. This tells me that something gets reset after the battery discharges.

 

Rudy supplied the parts, so I'm sure he bought the right ones. I've also sent DJ an email asking if he still has my original RCM.

 

You are describing a stuck/hung up relay. I'm not saying for CERTAIN that is it, but still...

(I spent 30 years in component-level troubleshooting - I'd almost lay money on a sticking relay on the RCM and that would explain everything. But, of course, I do not KNOW for sure.)

 

He might be the guy to identify your problem quickly
At least you know if ya get a part from Rudy or Rob you are getting the highest quality parts.