Short version: Battery and all modules were disconnected for a month. After reconnecting everything car would not start. Actually it would start for a half second then shut off, after about two or three attempts no response from starter untill battery gets disonnected and reconnected again. Everything worked except keyless entry and the obvious no start.

I tried new batteries in both remotes and still didn't work.

Solution: Read the long version

 

Long Version: So I have a pet snake, a red tail Boa. I feed it one mouse every week or so. One day i decided to be generous and surprise him with two mice! I'm a great guy. So i get the two mice in a little cardboard box and head home as usual, but i get a phone call about a work emergency. So i rush to work and do my thing. A few hours pass and I'm excited to get home to watch Desperate Housewives on my DVR.

So I jump in the car and ready to burn out, but in the corner of my eye i notice the little box on the passenger seat. "Oh ****!" i think to myself, knowing it takes about 30 minutes for one of those mice to chew out that little box. "No biggie" I say, cause this has happened before. I figured I'd find them under the passenger seat, No luck. Driver seat? No. Trunk, Glove box, cup holder? No No and No.

So now i panic cause I'm going to miss Desperate Housewives even though its on my DVR. But is ok, I install car alarms, stereos, tvs, all sorts of stuff people dont need in their cars. I will find these rat bastards in no time. So i proceed to take out the side panels, glove box, and under dash panels. Still nothing and I can hear those critters laughing at me.

I take a break, my girlfriend comes over and we have a bite to eat. An hour goes by and my lady yells "there he is! get em!" So I caught the ******* and put him in a bigger more cardboarded box. "What about the other one" she says. I tell her dont worry about it. Its late we need to get home and watch the "football game" I'll find him tomorrow.

Little did I know that sucker would die the next morning (maybe thats the noise i heard when I turned the heat on)

 

Even Longer Version: So I'm worried about the smell so I start taking things apart. The trunk was already stripped because I'm building a fiberglass box. I took apart the upper dash, lower dash, radio, center console, seats, climate control, blower motor, cluster, windshield wipers, cowl, air bag, everything but the heater box.

A couple days go by and the smell is starting to permeate. Luckily its the start of winter so it isn't that bad. The smell was strongest in the heater box where the blower sits so I took that out. I didn't want to drain the coolant or have to disconnect the AC lines so I only took out half the box. Still nothing and now I'm pissed. I vacuumed the engine bay and under the cowl and still no sign.

I give up! So I let car sit for 3 1/2 weeks thinking the body would decompose. I got organic deoderizers and it just made it smell weird.

So that is why the battery and components were dissconnected for so long.

The car was taking up shop space so I had to move it. I reconnected the SKREEM module (a transponder unit that allows the car to start with a coded key). Car wouldn't start. So I hooked up the cluster, still no luck. I then realized i forgot to hook up the reciever ring so that the SKREEM can "see" the key. After doing all that and eventually reconnecting everything else I had the same issue: car will start, shutter, then shut off. After doing this a few times I turn the key, nothing.

Now I feel like a totall idiot, untill my co-workers told me about a corvette owner that lost a snake in his car, what a fool!

I eliminated other faults such as bad gas, weak car battery, and weak key fob battery. So that only left the SKREEM module which is also the keyless entry reciever. Being that everything worked but the keyless entry this had to be it.

So the solution is....

 

That is a funny tale.

Now the question I have had for a while. Is there a rechargable battery in the SKREEM module?. I have read that the alarm will sound with the battery disconnected. The only way that can happen is if something is powering it.

When I have looked through the electrical schematics, I have not found another battery, any where. I suspect there may be one in the SKREEM itself. Just a thought.

 

Final version, not as long as I thought: So I read the service manual and it scared me into thinking I have to ship the car to Germany for a proper fix. Then I looked to the forums for a solution, I feel sorry for the poor guy that was 100 miles from home. I tried the reprograming key thing but that didn't work either. And FYI, you dont need batteries in the remote to start the car.

So now I was ready to start a new thread and hope someone was in the same exact perfectly identical situation I'm in, but before I did that i decided to check the fuses. Everything checked out on the driver side so moved over to the passenger side. I opened her up and next thing I knew the hand of the devil came up slapped me square in the face and burned my nose off with a dirty curling iron. And by that I mean i found the mouse!

After four weeks of tearing my car apart and taking the bus, that bloody mouse was in the bloody fuse box! Not bloody in the morbid sense, but the way Europeans mean it.

To this day I dont know how it got in there or why it was flattend like some one shoved it in there. The wire harnesses are tight and there are no apparent vent tubes, but thats not the point of this story.

The point is how did i fix the problem? Well the service manual said nothing about having to reprogram the SKREEM unless you were getting a new one. So it must have a permanant memory. And i put new batteries in the remote thinking maybe they are out of sync with each other and just need too be re-learned as mentioned in other posts

Then I remembered that i put everything back together separately and probably cause a confusion somewhere with the computers.

But I disconnected the battery like 12 times, wouldn't that reset everything? Apparently not. So I disconnected the battery one last time. Unplugged the module for a few seconds, then reconnected it and the battery. Keyless entry worked, and the car started right up!

Moral of this story: don't be generous to a snake cause it probably doesn't care.

 

I've obviously disconnected the battery many times, never triggered an alarm.

The SKREEM is lighter than a deck of cards, there is no battery in there.

 

I should have said, that if your alarm is sounding, and you disconnect the battery, the alarm will continue!

 

You are right, just tried it and sure enough the siren continued. This is why:

page 1556 of service manual

"SIREN

The vehicle theft system alarm Siren contains a built in rechargeable battery back up and can sound if its electrical
circuits are disconnected or if the vehicle battery cables are disconnected. The Siren can also sound if the electrical
circuits between it and the CLP/SSM are disconnected. Once triggered, the Siren can only be silenced by unlocking

the vehicle with the RF key transmitter or by unlocking the vehicle with the mechanical key."

 

Thank you for that answer!, Sorry I jumped in before the grand finally.

That is some great info that you have posted.

P.S. After reading that section in the manual, I wish we had the U.K. alarm system, it has motion sensors!

 

UK SECURITY SYSTEM MODULE

DESCRIPTION

The Thatcham Alarm monitors the vehicle doors, liftgate, hood, and the interior of the vehicle for unauthorized operation.
The vehicle doors, liftgate, and hood use ajar switches as inputs to the BCM to indicate their current status.
The interior of the vehicle is secured by the use of Intrusion Sensors. The Intrusion Sensors are used as inputs to
the interface module to report any motion in the interior of the vehicle. The interface module is located above the
courtesy lamp assembly in the headliner. The alarm activates by sounding the siren, and flashing the hazard lamps.
The Coupe uses an Ultrasonic System with two sensors facing rearward attached to the inside of the windshield
below the headliner and above the mirror.
The Roadster uses a Microwave Sensor located in the console below the cupholder.

OPERATION

Coupe The Coupe uses an Ultrasonic System with 2 Intrusion Sensors mounted on each side of the rearview mirror.
These sensors are connected to an interface module that is located above the courtesy lamp assembly in the headliner.
A defeat switch in the courtesy lamp assembly can disable the intrusion sensing function in the event that the
vehicle is parked for a short time with a pet/child/or object which could cause false alarms if left in the vehicle. The
interface module is connected to the standard alarm module. The Ultrasonic System provides full coverage of both
the passenger compartment, and the cargo area.
Roadster The Roadster, because the soft top can move with gusts of wind or external vibrations, the ultrasonic
solution is not practical. This vehicle uses a microwave sensor located in the console below the cupholder. This
sensor will provide full coverage of the passenger compartment. Similar to the Coupe, a means is provided to disable
the intrusion sensing portion of the alarm in the event that the vehicle remains occupied or is locked with the
top down.
The following procedure is used to arm and disarm the Thatcham Alarm:
Arming Before arming, all doors, liftgate, and the hood must be completely closed. The system can only be armed
by locking the doors with the RKE Transmitter.
Disarming To disarm the alarm system, use the RKE Transmitter or turn the Ignition Switch ON. This will disable the

alarm once it has been activated.

 

My 2005 Coupe is now on the dealership in Auburn Hills, MI. ?Apparently I need a new SKREEM. $450 for part. Got new cam and crankshaft modules last month. Car is falling apart one electronic doo hickey at a time.

Will update thread even if I haft do it from the side of I-75......right in front of Chrysler Heasquarters. car died there twice in September.

 

starting to see a trend here... you are at least the 4th 05 model lately..

 

Blame Mercedes. They designed and built the mechanicals and insisted on using the aging SLK as the platform.

 

Hello everyone,I have an '05 roadster with 43,000 miles on it. The story about the Skreem module is scaring me. Does it have anything to do with the amount of milage on the car? The only problem I've had was two weeks ago I went to the beach about an hours drive with the top down, it was about 90 degrees outside, went to put the top up and it just beeped at me, lights for top, air foil, and traction control all lite up. Turned off the car, started it up 3 times and everthing worked no problem since, has this happened to anyone else? I had Auto Zone do a battery check, starter check and alternator check, everything good. What should I be keeping an eye on? BTW you guys are great, I have fixed many little annoying problems with the advice on this forum. I am in Tampa Fl also. Thanks for any help.Gary

 

In one of my posts I mentioned I took out my battery out to get it tested because my 04 would n' t start...for about an hour. Battery tested fine. After I reconnected the battery...car started up just fine...never did find out what was wrong. My question is this...after reading this posts...shouldn't my alarm/siren gone off after I took the battery out of the car?

 

It would have gone off if you had locked, and then opened a door! Or locked it and reached in and opened the glove box...

 

I believe it also would have gone off if you removed the POS cable first. Now, if you have a missing or defective alarm siren then it will not go off no matter what.


.

 

This is an old post, so no sure anyone originally involved is around to respond, but this sounds like the problem I am currently having. (Oddly enough, I also have a mouse, although I think my mouse may be unrelated).

I have had some Skreem-like starter failures, all of which were fixed by disconnecting the battery, letting it sit a bit, and reconnecting the battery, over the last couple years. Maybe 3 times?

Today for the first time, disconnecting and reconnecting the battery didn't result in the car starting, but in the dreaded Skreem reset, where the car would turn over generally a couple times and immediately die. (Oddly not 3 this time, mostly 2 and sometimes 1).

This post at the end says "disconnect battery and unplugged the module for a few minutes" -- and then this was the solution. Does that mean disconnecting the battery and unplugging the skreem module? Is that a possible working reset? Any more recent ideas?

Thanks!

Kara

 

Hi Kara,
Are there any other symptoms? Like after it starts and dies, does it just crank, but no crank at all? If you leave the ignition in the on position, do the fans rev up to high rpms. If it starts, is it a rough idle? are there any DTC lights showing in the instrument cluster? Is the car an automatic or manual? Any info that might narrow down the possibilities.
-Jerry

 

Also, milage and how long you have owned it. My two guesses would be CPS and RCM but more detailed info is needed such as anything that has been replaced and any codes read.