Thank you for this great write up, tighed1.
My coupe displayed a check engine light before I started to tackle this project. I thought it was time to do the RCM repair after the car stalled a couple times on me.

This project is fairly easy for anyone who's comfortable using a soldering iron. I followed tighed1's instructions (for the most part) with a few changes on my part.

Follow along on my repair through my photos......




I wanted to do a much better job than what you see on the first photo. The first thing to do is to undo the initial repair by removing solder and start over. Unfortunately, I was out of de-soldering wick and I had to improvise.

And later, compare the first photo to the last and tell me what you think.






When doing this repair, make sure to inspect every solder connection on the board. You never know what you will find. I used a magnifying glass with a strong LED flashlight.









And there it is. All nine bad connections are resoldered. I finished the work by cleaning the solder residue left on the circuit board with acetone.

Good news after re-installation in the Crossfire:
The check engine light went away! All that was needed was to turn the steering wheel to full left and to full right to make the BAS/ESP light to go away.

 

Hi Tighed1,

Are you still doing the refurb on the power distribution models? I have an 08 I bought recently that is exhibiting this issue. Been towed twice to my MB guys. MB no longer has this part.

Please advise.

Thank you.
Miss Kitty NJ

 

Vibration is not the reason for failure, the reason accepted years ago was dry joints.
Dry joints occur when the materials being soldered are dirty but mainly because the parts do not reach the temperature at which the solder flows and adheres to both faces.

 

He is.

I'll send him a message on Facebook. His email has not changed.

 

DJ will respond when he is near his computer again.

 

Miss KittyYup! Still fixin them.

Email me for the latest refurbishing information, tighed1@hotmail.com.

 

YIPEE! Sending email for info and $$$.

 

Thanks. My 07 Crossfire was a very special little car. No large issues ever. Water pump, crank shaft position sensor, an easily fixed oil leak and oh, lets not forget
new tires every two years. Other than that at 202,000 + miles I sold it for the 08 with 18,000 miles and not having such great luck but I have to remember the 07 was
only 3 years old and an everyday driver when I bought it on Ebay. Big Red 1 as I call the 08 has sat idle most of it's life so far so I am shaking it all loose driving it
about 70 miles a day. Thanks so much everyone on this forum you and your posts have saved me alot of $$$$$ and my MB techs alot of time!

 

My SE sat a lot before I got it.

AM/FM died on the way home, upgraded to a four channel system with a JVC head.
Then alternator died. Two months later, the replacement alternator died.
Engine started acting funny - new Crank sensor fixed that.
Put new tires on, car still handled funny, put new steering stabilizer on, better now.
Next came valve cover oil leaks - fixed that myself over two weekends.
Top's rear window came loose, glued it back in.
Battery failed with no warning, replaced.

This was in the first 18 months........

 

Good Afternoon Tighed1,

I gave your instructions on the "mystery not start" to the 2 techs at MB who work on my Crossfires exclusively. They preformed your suggested repair today. Hoping this resolves that issue. If not they are going to run a bypass start button to under the dash. Thank you again for your knowledge and willingness to share and help.

MsKittyNJ

 

Well, it looks like my gremlin has found my RCM… so, I should resolder all 3 points?

 

That's what seems to be the fix here on the forum for the mystery no start issue. The techs here at MB did the required repair on all 3 and are buttoning up my Crossfire this week. Only only time will tell if this was my issue. If not...my techs will be installing a under the dash starter by pass button. They were surprised I agreed to that if necessary. I told them just make it look nice if that is the route we need to go. Hoping when you get your RCM board soldered that fixes your gremlin. No fun being stranded in the dark, cold night!

 

Have you emailed me? Installing a bypass when a relay replacement may fix your problem seems like a lot of work.
Redoing the 3 joints won't fix a bad relay. I can refurbish your RCM If that's your problem.
tighed1@hotmail.com

 

Amazing how some trust the so called experts at a garage who throw things at a car and hope it fixes the problem, rather than do the fixes outlined on this forum.
I wonder how much the experts fix costs compared to yours. Did they look at the relays?

 

Okay, here’s what mine looks like after cleaning it up and resoldering it… Do you think that it will work?

 

Hi Tighed1,

More info please about "bad relay." Is this in addition to the bad connection on the board? When you say refurbish the RCM what exactly do you mean?
Send the whole box? I understand the theory but need details the MB techs will understand. I do have to say you are amazing in the Crossfire knowledge
department. The car was in our prep center, hood up and the techs would try is throughout the day for a no start to use their tools on it but...alas it has been
starting up everytime since it was towed in! Thank you for your help it is invaluable!!!!

 

Either buy a new one or send that one to DJ. He will be sure the solder is good and replace any pitted or bad relays, The relays are on the other side of that board. Honestly the solder repair does not look right. DJ will refurbish it for about $60.00 and be sure every thing is working good.

 

Ok but who is DJ and what and where do I send the parts? Is it just the green board and what's attached to it on the back?

 

Email tighed1@hotmail.com Review post #1353. He has already reached out to you. He has been repairing these for as long as I can remember.

 

Maybe. But if it's a bad relay it won't do anything to fix the problem.
I can replace the relays.