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Troubleshooting & Technical Questions & ModificationsHave technical or modification questions about the Crossfire?
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I am in desperate need of a new SKREEM Module. My 2005 manual has 133,000 miles on her and runs great, I would hate to part with her over such a little fix. I have searched high and low and cannot find a part via the web, Chrysler or Mercedes. If anyone has any suggestions I would greatly appreciate your input. Please... and thank you in advance!
Rob and Needswings.com is well known and has the knowledge and connections to resolve any of our SKREEM issues now
I recently bought a spare SKREEM made VIN specific to my Crossfire for immediate replacement if ever needed
I don't have a specific amount for the spare because it was part of a larger job I had Rudy do for me
He lives only 40 minutes from me fortunately
I posted in a thread recently after having this done
Hello Valk...I am a new owner and have been trying to absorb as much as i can in short amt. of time....The skreem unit seems to be a big problem for these cars...The spare Skreen you have, will it work with the keys/ fob that you are using now? I have 3 keys / fobs that came with the car, i want to have a spare, just in case...can i buy a used one and have it programed to my 3 keys in case of emergency...I have seen the part 170 820 1826 also described as a control door module...This skreem unit is a lot to understand......i have bought spare cam and crankcase sensors by bosch, and i have a reciept for the rcm replacement from a Chrysler dealer...thank you, Jeff
Hello Valk...I am a new owner and have been trying to absorb as much as i can in short amt. of time....The skreem unit seems to be a big problem for these cars...The spare Skreen you have, will it work with the keys/ fob that you are using now? I have 3 keys / fobs that came with the car, i want to have a spare, just in case...can i buy a used one and have it programed to my 3 keys in case of emergency...I have seen the part 170 820 1826 also described as a control door module...This skreem unit is a lot to understand......i have bought spare cam and crankcase sensors by bosch, and i have a reciept for the rcm replacement from a Chrysler dealer...thank you, Jeff
First of all Welcome,
Yes my spare SKREEM is programmed to work for my specific VIN and with my original keys It is a very complicated thing to explain but Rob at Needswings would be the best one to contact to answer your questions correctly
586-531-1413 Sales@NeedsWings.com
I'm starting to think buying this car was a mistake (2005 Crossfire SRT-6 / Aero Blue). Hard to believe that a car with only 30,000 miles on it can suffer this SKREEM issue.
I drove the car last weekend, no issues, and then parked it in the garage. I went to drive it today, and the key-fobs - plural - did not work to open the door by pressing the buttons. Batteries in both key-fobs were replaced less than 6 months ago, so it's not that. Fine, I manually open the door with the switch-blade key, and of course, alarm goes off.
I get in, go to start the car hoping the alarm will then shut up (doesn't at first but eventually does but there is still a subtle "heartbeat" noise from the dash indicating the alarm is still processing) - Try to start it, and it starts/and dies immediately (1), try again; starts/and dies immediately (2), try again - won't turn over or try to start. Classic SKREEM symptoms.
The battery to the car obviously has full charge; everything works fine, and when the engine did turn over, it was plenty of oomph to start the car. I have not tried to disconnect the battery yet to try the cycle again to verify the SKREEM (which is making me scream) but from the symptoms, I'm quite sure the SKREEM is the issue.
Very frustrated. The car looks showroom new; 30,000 miles. I've had it now just going on 3 years. As soon as I bought it, replaced the transmission socket that was leaking. Did the sticking-ignition fix BEFORE it became an issue, so I'm ahead of the curve on that. And I replaced the sagging headliner in July, still haven't found a NOS window belt-strip to replace my wonky one and seems likely I never will - all annoying things at any rate. But this SKREEM thing takes the cake!
Before I pull this and send it off to Needswings - Uggh - in the hole for $1,548.95 is just crazy (as I'll likely get the back-up/replacement SKREEM too) - is there ANY CHANCE that the SKREEM symptoms also present themselves in the same manner due to some other fault?
ALSO: Does anyone have any comments on this option from 'Precision ECU'? Someone else posted this in another thread in February, but that thread ended there, no further comments. From their Ebay seller page and their website, it seems a lot of people are pleased with it.
It appears to defeat/immobilize the SKREEM entirely; what would be different and how might that work/not work with other functions? There doesn't seem to be enough feedback or explanation as to how this option to manipulate the ECU by 'Precision ECU' varies in actual end-user performance and operation from what Needswings is doing to rebuild/replace the SKREEM. They seem to have good/100% feedback on Ebay with a lot of replies from Crossfire owners happy with their work
I want to be 100% sure I'm on the right track before disabling the car for the next 3 weeks and lay out that much cash for this. I read that someone else messed with the Tow Switch a couple of times which presented a similar issue, but I tried that; didn't work.
What other test or hoop might I jump through just to be sure it is the SKREEM?
I originally got this car as a reliable "newer" car and suitably presentable for "business-like" appearances in my career-role when meeting with clients, as all my other cars are pre-1970 classics (yet never fail on me, ironically). And no, it's not lost on me that a 15 year old car has just entered "classic" status in eyes of the insurance companies, but geez - 30,000 miles is new, no matter the age. Should have just stuck with my Ranchero, with its 289,000 miles on the original 289 and C4 - still runs like new, has never left me stranded - which I still drive daily anyway. I would drive that to New York tomorrow if I had to; can't say now that I would ever try that with the Crossfire.
I must say, I'm glad I can fix anything on most any car myself (short of reprogramming a SKREEM, of course) but I would not want to be a person that was not so mechanically inclined as my self with 40 years of experience rebuilding/restoring cars, and own a Crossfire. What a REAL costly mistake that would be.
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Last edited by Heli-Cal Blue; Sep 13, 2020 at 06:11 PM.
None of the SKREEM-fixers talk very openly about what they are doing to 'bypass' the SKREEM. I think the only thing you can do it to contact them individually and ask.
As to this being something OTHER than the SKREEM, well, the "three starts and nothing" is the built-in sequence that is designed to tell you that the SKREEM is not giving the ECU what it expects. This means teh SKREEM is bad, the key fob's RFID chip is bad (not possible if multiple keys fail), the ECU is bad (not likely) OR the SKREEM is not powered up due to a blown fuse.
I'd download the service manual and check the fuse(s) that power the SKREEM. If they are OK, I think its time for a SKREEM bypass.
Where are you getting the "$1548.95" number for a SKREEM?
None of the SKREEM-fixers talk very openly about what they are doing to 'bypass' the SKREEM. I think the only thing you can do it to contact them individually and ask.
As to this being something OTHER than the SKREEM, well, the "three starts and nothing" is the built-in sequence that is designed to tell you that the SKREEM is not giving the ECU what it expects. This means teh SKREEM is bad, the key fob's RFID chip is bad (not possible if multiple keys fail), the ECU is bad (not likely) OR the SKREEM is not powered up due to a blown fuse.
I'd download the service manual and check the fuse(s) that power the SKREEM. If they are OK, I think its time for a SKREEM bypass.
Where are you getting the "$1548.95" number for a SKREEM?
Thank you - I did not even think to check the fuse as I decided not to even touch it today; I was working on another project, but I'll give that a check - and unless I get lotto-winner lucky, the inevitable SKREEM gone kaput seems likely.
As for the cost from Needswings, I was adding in the "extra" back-up SKREEM they offer if you buy it at the time of getting the primary fix procured; so it's $699.95 for the primary (yikes!) and then another $849.00 for the additional SKREEM if you want a back-up - thereby a total of $1548.95 (yikes too!).
I'm lucky it died in my garage, but I would have hated for this to have gone out while mid-trip somewhere without a back-up to swap in short order, or if I needed the car and couldn't wait some 3-weeks for a replacement; so the extra cost of back-up purchase, seems to be an attractive offer.
Pending the SKREEM fuse is not blown, I'll likely set time to extract it out of the car next Saturday. I would have dove into it today, just had another project to complete (I was swapping the tumblers/float pins from a donor set of door-locks on a '69 Cougar, which the original door-lock bodies had cracked/crane retainers crumbled, and doing the swap to get working door locks to also match the ignition key - and worked very well, I must say.)
There is a bit of irony there to the similarity of these two jobs; each serves in different ways to "lock up" the vehicle (just that one doesn't turn the car into a 3200lb paperweight.)
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Last edited by Heli-Cal Blue; Sep 14, 2020 at 04:15 AM.
Precision ECU out of Chicago can delete the need for the skreem for $400. If you don't care about losing the security, that's the cheapest way to getting a running car. You send them your ECU and skreem, you get them back and you don't need to plug your skreem back in.
Thank you - I did not even think to check the fuse as I decided not to even touch it today; I was working on another project, but I'll give that a check - and unless I get lotto-winner lucky, the inevitable SKREEM gone kaput seems likely.
As for the cost from Needswings, I was adding in the "extra" back-up SKREEM they offer if you buy it at the time of getting the primary fix procured; so it's $699.95 for the primary (yikes!) and then another $849.00 for the additional SKREEM if you want a back-up - thereby a total of $1548.95 (yikes too!).
I'm lucky it died in my garage, but I would have hated for this to have gone out while mid-trip somewhere without a back-up to swap in short order, or if I needed the car and couldn't wait some 3-weeks for a replacement; so the extra cost of back-up purchase, seems to be an attractive offer.
Pending the SKREEM fuse is not blown, I'll likely set time to extract it out of the car next Saturday. I would have dove into it today, just had another project to complete (I was swapping the tumblers/float pins from a donor set of door-locks on a '69 Cougar, which the original door-lock bodies had cracked/crane retainers crumbled, and doing the swap to get working door locks to also match the ignition key - and worked very well, I must say.)
There is a bit of irony there to the similarity of these two jobs; each serves in different ways to "lock up" the vehicle (just that one doesn't turn the car into a 3200lb paperweight.)
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Try dicsconnecting the battery for a few minutes, then reconnect. Worked for me when I had your symptoms.
I cannot see where the battery was disconnected and then starting tried. Doing this and the car starting and stopping three times would surely indicate a SKREEM problem.
I did not read all the thread but ......
Last edited by onehundred80; Sep 14, 2020 at 07:22 PM.
I cannot see where the battery was disconnected and then starting tried. Doing this and the car starting and stopping three times would surely indicate a SKREEM problem.
I did not read all the thread but ......
Sorry for the delay in reply/updates, or clarification. At the time I created these posts, within a short time after logging out, something else serious and pressing arose that commanded my full attention, for the entire rest of the week. Therefore, I was not able to do the battery-disconnect/reconnect test.
So today rolls around and I'm finally able to get out to the car and do the battery-disconnect/reconnect/re-try test - and well - GOOD NEWS!
'Blue' started right up, first try, no hesitancy or issues. All security functions (opening locks/re-locking) are back in order, and no weird or strange signs. So while that's a blessing, obviously good, it brings me to wonder... has this arose shortly before anyone else's SKREEM gave up the ghost for good?
Is this an anomaly or a symptom it's bound to go out permanently soon, an ominous knell? Do I have a fast-approaching date with that most infamous iniquitous of Crossfire psychopomps, the SKREEM-Reaper himself?
Any reports of others experiencing such a quirk, yet weeks, months, or just a few years later the SKREEM fully went kaput?
It conveniently happened to me in my garage, and this is not my primary daily driver, so it's wasn't a big deal. However I'd be sorely on the wrong side of sanity if this should have revealed itself at an inopportune time, say 200 miles from home, in the rain, middle of nowhere, with a body in the trunk, and immediately after having run out of bacon.
With that in mind, should I pull the SKREEM and send it off to Needswings to have them build a back-up anyway? Would they do that for an otherwise "normally" working SKREEM?
The cost is not a big deal to me - I just like things to work and fully invest in the view that two-is-one, and one-is-none. To think a simple item could so totally disable the car is beyond me - isn't that why we all carry a spare in the trunk?
Last edited by Heli-Cal Blue; Sep 20, 2020 at 11:21 PM.
With that in mind, should I pull the SKREEM and send it off to Needswings to have them build a back-up anyway? Would they do that for an otherwise "normally" working SKREEM?
The cost is not a big deal to me - I just like things to work and fully invest in the view that two-is-one, and one-is-none. To think a simple item could so totally disable the car is beyond me - isn't that why we all carry a spare in the trunk?
Or you wait for my Skreemulator (see link below) I'm still working on this but struggle with the control of the central locking system who I also need to completely replace the Skreem Module. I think this would be a cheaper way.
SKREEM Module Replacement NEEDED
Re: SKREEM Module Replacement NEEDED
