I was surprised to learn 97 percent of all Americans have a Riverside in their state.

 

I'm in Riverside, IL, which is a near western suburb - about nine miles from the Sears (oops - Willis) Tower.

I would hope that someone here in the US who is tech savvy would see the size of the potential market for a bypass. I've imported cars and parts and there is always some pain-in-the-*** regulation that delays things. It would be a reasonable solution to just send the ECM and key and get this done here in the US - no parts, I take it, just programming. So simplifying the car by eliminating all this extraneous crap. This could be a nice little business who knows this stuff.

I assume that many/most of the people who are online here have not had the SKREEM problem, yet. Or they had it back when they could get the part from Chrysler or through Needswings and replaced it and have not had a recurrence. Good for you. I've never seen any suggestion of what causes this, except the part just fails. I assume it's some kind of board like the RCM with some memory chip or...... Stop. I can't talk about this at all as I know nothing whatsoever about this stuff - I assume it's something like a fuse burning out but that may be totally wrong.

I looked at that ebay thread someone posted and it seems there are lots and lots of SKREEMS out there, and whole groups of parts so you can replace everything connected to this system and start with a new set of modules, computers, keys and locks. Has anybody done that? I think this situation surpasses absurdity when people even contemplate attempting these run-around fixes when all it takes is FCA to stock and distribute the parts and codes. This situation is their fault for doing that. Some vague excuse like "changing supplier" shows they messed up, and left an unknown number of owners in the lurch, and all owners in jeopardy of instant inoperability.

 

If the fix eliminates the panic that occurs when a SKREEM goes **** up it is surely worth a go around in my opinion.

 

Flash: I just got a call from a gent at FCA who had the letter I wrote Mr. Manley. Sounds like this situation has been put in his hands to solve. He said he is looking into it and will get back to me in a day or two. Sounds like progress.Hope so.

 

This is encouraging news !!!

 

I'm encouraged because he sounded sincere and I suspect that he has been charged with solving this. I like it when people offer to give you phone and email contacts.

 

Great job wolfstalker, it would still be great though to come up with a way to bypass this expensive problem.

 

Also, while you are at it, please ask him about replacement keys?

 

First things first. Let's solve the SKREEM situation first.

 

Crossfire owners unite! You have nothing to lost but your wortless cars if this SKREEM thing happens to you.

 

Really? $33,620 (US) was their highest priced car?.

 

Please let us know if and when you hear anything back!!!!

 

Wolfstalker, Thanks in advance for the effort to fix the SKREEM issue. I know that most, if not all, forum members would like to see this fixed so we don't end up with a pretty metal brick in our garages. Please keep us informed and thanks again.

 

2005 SRT6 roadster with nav option listed for $50k US.

 

I am in same situation about the key i dropped the transponder fell out i been online looking calling every locksmith online no one does this for this car . How fustrating and my local chrysler stealership wants me to pay for the key and i may never get it and the cost is more than a rolls royce or aston martin key oh my god !!!!!! I have a feeling most everyone with this car will end up junking it due to lack of parts to repair them even if it is a pristine condition. Perhaps we should all convert them all to electric and be done with the whole dam system !!!

 

Personally I would go w/ a nice Chev small block w/ FI & w/o a carb but only w/ access to a good elec sche & diagram of the existing configuration .
I enjoy this original engine but don't know for how long w/ this game of Mercedes roulette .

 

So if you had to spend $800 on a set of brakes, tires ????? etc you would, just to keep rolling and....yo love your car. Why does everyone have such a problem with a key price. "Special Interest" vehicles require "special interest" owners. Be grateful, parts are available for most everything, you just have to look a little harder. Any 15 year old car has service issues, parts issues etc. These things are built like tanks and finished like Mercedes. They will last a very long time. Take it from a long time street rodder who built a few cars from scratch over the years. These Crossfires are a cakewalk, and you can actually do most of the work yourself with some not so specialized tools and tons of help from the forum. So 50k for a roadster, no biggy. Wait 10 years. I understand a hemi cuda recently changed hands for $750k. Anybody have a problem with that?

 

It is not so much the price of a replacement key or screem module, it is that right now they are not available for any price and are vin specific. You can't buy one from a salvage yard and swap them out. You can change all of the components but them when hooked up to a testing station it will not match your actual vin # This may not be an issue in Canada?

 

I sent this to the gent at FCA who contacted me. It illustrates the difficulties with servicing these cars. Somewhere I seem to remember reading that if you have tried 30 times to start a car with a faulty SKREEM it will be necessary to reprogram or clear something. That requires somer kind of scanner, some kind of card with data specifically for the Crossfire, and maybe some kind of pigtail for connecting it. No dealer I contacted seems to have all these. When I see the Needswings plug-and-play video it seems that none of this is necessary. Can anyone that has has to make this repair tell us exactly what was required?


"I went to my three closest Chrysler dealers to get contacts for you regarding fixing my SKREEM module and getting my car rolling. Info as follows:


Jack Phelan Chrysler, Countryside, IL - Brian Paluch, Service Advisor - 708 352-5300 - says they don’t have the DB scanner that might be necessary., said the cod eto go into the SKREEM module is the VIN - don’t know if that is accurate


Ziegler Chrysler, Downers Grove, IL - talked to the Sales Manager - can’t find his card - they are the guys that purportedly have the two SKREEM modules in stock that they ordered for a customer who didn’t buy them - Chrysler said they would not take them back - don’t know if you could reprogram if you did.


Hawk Chrysler, Forest Park, IL - Corey Hayes, Service Advisor, closest dealer to me. He thinks they still have the DB scanner, of course no part. He said last Crossfire they worked on some time ago and they had to get some card from Chrysler for the Crossfire to go into the scanner.


Prior to writing Mr. Manley, several months ago in fact, I saw this web page from an aftermarket supplier of Crossfire stuff. At that time they were projecting an availability of the part, but now they say no ETA. They are located somewhere near you, and have a good reputation, and seem to have supplied these parts before, so I ordered and paid for one ($710.) but now the availability reads "NO ETA.” I guess you can see how frustrating this is - no car to operate since November, value of the car plummeting since this issue became known, no way to fix it without the properly coded part, etc. That’s why I sent you the rant clip yesterday - hope you enjoyed it.


I’m trying to keep in good humor about this, but it is getting ever more frustrating. Maybe you guys should have my car towed to your tech center and have those guys fix it - dealers don’t sound like they know what to do or care much. As you can see from the video Needswings posted on youtube, the fix doesn’t seem like much, works plug and play, IF you have the proper part.


NeedsWings Performance Products. Crossfire SKREEM and Antenna Ring


I’ve also seen some chatter about dealers attempting to fix this and trashing the main computer, so it needs to be fixed properly."

 

I may be in worse shape than you.....eventually. I imported our loaded 05 yellow roadster, (a soon to be collectors item) from the US to Ontario this spring. The way one hundred 80 put it either in this thread or another one, the Dealership in Windsor selling keys at a fair price needs a VIN to do it, and on a US based car, the codes won't work so they won't sell the keys to a US owner. As a matter of interest, I went to my local Chrysler dealership and they quoted $270 fully programmed and operational guaranteed on my original US based car. So, something tells me that most of the stories going around are just that, stories. I like to deal with the facts and then make my decisions.
I don't know how old you are, but I am 71. I really don't worry too much about what MIGHT go wrong with my car at this stage in life. It's too hard to live life to the fullest if you are a worrier. Just got back from the pharmacy picking up my life saving prescriptions. Beautiful day, tops down, tunes are rockin, Crossfire started. I'll fix tomorrow that which needs fixing tomorrow, and continue to follow some of the forums and always look for advice.
By the way, I have done many of the "fixes" and improvements on the machine since getting it. 99.9% stock except LED lighting improvement. So far it has been nothing but fun. Better than new!