Looking for an autoelectrician for my crossfire (56 plate).
Noone at all will touch it.
Took it to Westbury Garage Shrewsbury who also cant fix it.
Any suggestions of someone who can please? I live in Worcester UK.

this is Westbury Garages assessment:

"Fault – Bulb warnings & bulbs blowing.Alarm sounding frequently. There has been a jumper fuse fitted to the interior fuse box, not sure of the reason why so this needs investigating. The alarm fault looks like a possible wiring issue or maybe the BCM/UEC modules – I would suggest a Chrysler main dealer or a decent auto electrician.Unfortunately neither of the faults are ones we have seen before."

 

Most likely leaking batteries in the alarm siren under the cowl in front of the windshield. They short out the circuit board. Use the search feature at the top of the page for alarm siren. It is a cheap easy repair.

 

Bulbs used to blow a lot when the voltage regulator was faulty, I am not sure about these days though.

 

It would help us if you told us what bulbs are blowing. What fuses have a jumper going to them.
The siren going off all the time sounds like a common problem with the sirens on this car. Make a long story short the batteries leak over time and short out the circuit board that they are a part of in the siren. My buddies did the same thing. He unhooked the negative battery terminal and pulled the number 9 fuse under the hood on the passengers side.There should be a card under the lid to tell you which one number nine is. It is usually a 10 AMP Red fuse. The siren has a battery back up so it will go off(very loud!) for awhile till the batteries drain. Then reconnect negative battery cable and he has had no more problems with that.
He also has no mechanical skills so that was his simple solution.
Now my solution if you want to go a little further you will have to unplug the siren located under the front cowl where the windshield wipers are connected. There is a thread here that is great on how to do it. You will need a puller to help take the windshield wipers off. (highly recommended!)
I just did this because my siren was sounding like a cricket on crack as they say here. And mine would go off at the most random times especially when it was hot out! I bought a new siren for mine. I bought my new siren from needswings.
I am also trying to repair mine but it is in pretty bad shape so we will see how that goes but for $11 for the replacement batteries I said i'll give it a shot. The batteries can be found on ebay. If you want the link let me know.
Hope I helped.
P.S> If you go the cowl removal route take the time to clean out the four drainage ports under there there is one on the drivers side one in the middle and two on the passengers side.

 

Thank you guys so much for the replies. Im in no way mechanically minded... or even technically minded for that matter. Although i am an expert in breaking things. Also im recovering from a medical procedure so really really hoping that i can pay someone to fix this for me.

 

I am sorry UKNeil due to the age of the car and the dealerships really not providing any support anymore we are on our own. The people here can lead you to repairing it yourself or if you have a friend like I am to my friend to repair it for you. They can help you do anything. Trust me I have had many issues with my 05 SRT and this is the place I come to get the solutions. I have found them all here.
Good luck. If I was in Worcester I would help you out.

 

Thank you. Im happy to travel to anyone who might be able to fix it and am happy to pay them for the work.

 

Did you contact the Crossfire Club in Great Britain as I suggested in a previous post/thread. There should be people near you that can help.
I'll make it easy for you, just click this link : UK Crossfires

 

Thanks... i think i had tried previously to join a different club. I will fill the form in when i am back home next week and have access to a scanner as unfortunately the form is in pdf.
Thank you again. Neil

 

Also many times an Independent shop that works on Mercedes can help. Mechanically they are a 2004 Mercedes SLK 320 R170 .

 

1) You can't take it to a CHrysler dealer, as it is a Mercedes product and there is no factory support for the car anymore.
2) There is no such thing as an "auto electrician" - what you need is a competent electronics technician who has access to the service manual (available on this site) and who has some familiarity with the Crossfire and SLK320.
3) 'Bulbs blowing, alarm sounding and warning lights" - 1) If bulbs are blowing, I'd suggest a bad alternator overcharging the system. 2) Alarm sounding - if the alarm sounds but lights are not flashing, it's the siren module - remove it and order a new one. Or dont order a new one, I see no need for a siren. 3) "Warning lights" is not helpful, WHAT lights?

Also, does the car start and run? If it runs, does it run well but it just has these three issues? These determine how we proceed - but if you expect to just take it 'to get it fixed' somewhere, I hate to tell you, but you are about to spend a LOT of money and even spending all that money won't get the car fixed. The Crossfire is an orphan, it actually does take the community to keep the cars running in many cases.

 

Well i tried to join the crossfire club but never got a reply.
The guys that have tested it have given me the following quote.
Headlight (NEW) £800
Body Control Module £1120
Labour £640
Coding £120

This was their diagnostic report
"Diagnostic Report

Have ran full diag on vehicle and no codes relating to fault described bit didnt access the bcm

Managed to gain access to bcm (after a few love taps) and found it wasnt communicating to the immobilizer module reset it and it was working but lost communication again and could gain access to it

Tested lights and found resistance was higher in driver side light signs of corrosion

new bcm and headlight to fix. may need to come into garage to code in"

They said they can fit a pre used bcm but it would need to be virginised. Whatever that is?
Not sure if i should just sell it and what it would be worth.

 

Welcome back!
Sorry that no one replied I would try again on the crossfire club. A lot of great people around the world own these cars.
I take it by this last post it is a headlight bulb that is blowing? Is that the only bulb blowing? It could be as simple of cleaning the corrosion out of the connector.
The siren issue try pulling fuse # 9 in the fuse panel under the hood on the passenger side near the battery. There should be a card in there that will tell you which one is #9. If you send pictures that would help. If the alarm stops it then we have a great start to that problem.
If you get the Mercedes codes from the shop that tested it that would also help us.
I doubt that it is the BCM. In my limited dealings with this issue it has never been the BCM.
I know you stated that you are not very mechanically inclined and I truly hope someone near you reaches out and can help you.
The more detailed information you give us the more we can help from a distance.
Remember you could just take a picture and point to something and that would even help.
The immobilizer module is what we call the skreem module. You can search on this forum and find a lot of info on that topic.
But your keys work and the car runs so that also is a hard sell to me as your issue.
I will do all in my power to help you. I would hate for you to sell your car over something that we could help you repair.

 

Thank you for the post and offering to help.
its the headlight on the drivers side but also the backlight on the drivers side sometimes. 2 garages seem to think its the bcm though.
Im not sure what the mercedes codes are and doubt if the garage would give them to me as they were not very helpful. Is that the technical name for them?
thank you again for your post. I wont be back home for a few days so unable to send pics straight away.

 

If you ask them for the OBD codes they should know what you are referencing but a lot of shops unknowingly use a standard OBD tester you need one that can read Mercedes OBD codes.
They should give them to you you paid for the diagnostics.
Drivers back light as in the break light, or blinker light, or reverse light?
I'm sure some others will chime in on this. To me you seem to have two different problems and I still don't believe its the BCM and don't want you to waste your money.

 

Okay - i am back home now. Again i am not technically minded with cars (or much for that matter!) but I will do my best.
Yes door locks work.
Car drives okay with the alarm going off.
Yes - i believe they are 2 separate faults as the problem with the bulbs blowing was happening for a while before the alarm problem.
Battery is a new one as it was originally thought i needed a new battery as the previous was the original.
So... I took it for a drive for about 15 mins (ah..... I love driving this car!!!)
The lights were all working to begin with.
I then washed it with a jet wash.
I got back home and bulbs have blown (i believe there should be rubber caps on the back of the headlights but mine doesn't have any).
I haven't done any suggestions on this thread yet but I have taken some photos.

 

Welcome back,
A lot of people will never run these cars through an automatic car wash due to the spoiler leak issue so I recommend only hand washing it if possible from now on to minimize water intrusion.
I still think you have a siren issue. If you feel you can tackle that project let us know and we will walk you through disconnecting it. If that takes care of the alarm going off issue we will get you the part number for a new one that either chirps when you lock/unlock the door or not your choice.
I would like to know what that extra fuse goes to on the side of the illumination control.
what happens when you pull that fuse out?
We are here to help.

 

If i disconnect the alarm will the indicators (blinkers i think you call them in the US) still flash? What tools would I need?
Also how long would it take for the backup battery on the alarm to drain. That is a big issue for me as I am in a built up area and the neighbours patience is already strained with the alarm going off a lot in the past.

 

Hello,
Link below has a great list of tools needed.It is a T40 security torx and not a T 30 but if you read down a little you will see Post 64-67 is where you find what you need. It also has pictures.
https://www.crossfireforum.org/forum...tml#post253613
Ok for new sirens if this is your issue.
OEM P/N does not chirp 5124443AB
MB that chirps 512443AA I have this one as a replacement. I like the chirp personally it is not loud and will chirp 3 times if all latches are secure if something is wrong like a door is open or the trunk it will only chirp twice. I have not tried to leave multiple latches open to see if it will only chirp once if both doors are open or the trunk and a door is open.
This should get you started.
To answer your question yes they will still blink when you unlock and lock the car as well as when the alarm/panic button is pressed.
Further questions please ask.

 

I rang the garage and they just reiterated what they originally said. They said there were no codes given.
Their report was:
"This was their diagnostic report
"Diagnostic Report

Have ran full diag on vehicle and no codes relating to fault described bit didnt access the bcm
Managed to gain access to bcm (after a few love taps) and found it wasnt communicating to the immobilizer module reset it and it was working but lost communication again and could gain access to it
Tested lights and found resistance was higher in driver side light signs of corrosion
new bcm and headlight to fix. may need to come into garage to code in"

I'm reluctant to disconnect the alarm if the hazards lights are flashing when i'm driving.
It is ironic - I have had a horrendous few years what with family members dying and relationship breakup and major health issues on top. This car was supposed to be a bit of enjoyment.