I moved to Florida recently from the Motor City and love it here. I have always admired the Crossfires and decided last month to search for a nice one that was well maintained. I found one in Palm Beach from a mid 70's year old man that had a beautiful Blaze Red Crystal Pearl with 34,000 miles in great condition. The records and car fax all looked great. So after an awesome 30 minutes test drive with no leaks on his garage floor the car ran great! I bought it and drove back home over 3 hours no issues what so ever. After two weeks I'm driving the expressway way at 75 miles an hour the speedometer dropped to zero. check engine light went on,' I got off the next exit and pulled into a nearby parking lot. shut the car off wouldn't restart or leave park. I waited 10 minutes car started back up everything was fine so I started heading home 10 minutes latter the speedometer back to zero with a bunch of warning light but car was running great an not over heating. I went to my buddies shop 4 miles away couldn't pull the codes said I needed to go to the dreaded dealer. I took the car home removed the RCM and had the bad contact points resoldered one was pretty bad. I thought that was the remedy, car started after a few minutes speedo stop, check engine light, abs lights etc...car will start after it sits a while but not running as well as when I first bought it..please help with any helpful info, battery was testing fine all connections are super clean. I'm bumming that such a beautiful car has made me so sad not knowing what to do next?..Richard K.

 

I'd try replacing the crankshaft position sensor, get a Bosch. Having to wait a while to start is a common symptom of that. Not sure about the speedometer and other warning lights. Maybe someone on the forum with more experience can help you out.

 

previous owner just put in a new Bosch crankshaft position Sensor...but thanks for your help!

 

Which lights turned on? Sounds very similar to what I recently went through. Could be a bad relay in the RCM. With the RCM shell removed, turn the key to the ON position and check that 2 of the relays stay closed (the fuel relay will close for 2 seconds then open).
If 2 stay closed, the RCM is working as it should. If not, one of the relays is bad. If it needs repair, seek out tighed1 from these forums. Good Luck! (Mine is repaired, but I'm still stuck in park - note that there is an override for it, screwdriver / pen in slot at the back of the gearshift.)

 

thanks for your reply...the dash lights were check engine, abs light, brake light.. the RCM was taken out and checked and there was one bad connection we soldered the 3 connection as per instructed on this site and still having trouble...will the dealer diagnostic machine pin point the problem I'm having?...as much as I had to take it there !...

 

The dealer diagnostic machine will point straight to the center of your billfold.
All they know anymore is replace stuff until it finally works.

 

Did you check the status of the relays as stated by DadsXF? What did you get?


Also. Turn the key to the ON position, wait 30seconds. Did the radiator cooling fan spin up REALLY fast?

 

Thanks Tighed 1 for all you do for the Crossfire community! I have been reading all I could last week on the usual repairs on this car and sure enough the RCM went bad.... I have someone sending me a new one Thursday so I get this car back home before I leave town this weekend.......I will probably send you my spare RCM to be fixed...hopefully, the new one will resolve the problem...I appreciate your response.............. Richard

 

Well I Installed a new RCM Relay Control Module and it solved all the issues I was having. The part was $124 with free shipping Amazon. My Local Chrysler dealer wanted $496.00 for the RCM. I drove it over 400 miles to the Atlantic Coast this weekend, the car runs like new! Thanks to all those who responded to my post, I appreciate that....Richard

 

What does it mean when the cooling fan turns on?

 

Engine control relay is bad.

 

All this talk of talking the car to a dealer.......

WARNING - Any mention of taking your car to a Chrysler dealer will result in a near-profannity-laced post on my part. PLEASE do not take it personally!

 

Yea, right. Not ALL bad solder joints are visually diagnosed. I spend 29 years doing such electronic troubleshooting, there is more to it than that.

Also, it can be pitted contacts on the relay(s) or an open coil on one of the relays.

See what I mean? Always best to send it to D.J.


I'd like to point out, one more time, this was resolved WITHOUT visiting a dealer and for far less money than visiting a dealer.

 

Can you please explain? I am trying to understand how it works... I checked all relays for operation and they work fine.
According to the factory service manual, I have a faulty FCM.

 

With the key in the ON position there should be 2 relays engaged. The traction and engine control relays (fuel relay will energized for two seconds).
With a bad engine control relay the car will not start and the radiator fan will spin up REALLY fast after a few seconds.
With a bad traction control relay the car will start but you will have a variety of symptoms. Wing stays up, BAS/ESP fault lights, speedometer inop and possibly others.
I repair RCMs. If you need help email tighed1@hotmail.com for details.