The car had nice looks, a smooth engine and nice acceleration when the transmission wasn't in limp mode.

What can I say, it's a Chrysler product and suffers from bad engineering: junk electrical connectors, bad transmission, bad electronics. Friends don't let friends buy Chryslers.

This car was towed to my house twice and the owner eventually signed the title over to me for $20. Sadly, he waited until the registration was late and that cost me over $250 in registration related fees. I replaced a broken-off side mirror, and broken trunk latch, replaced the crank and output speed sensor, and before I knew it, I had $750 in it. I have since sold it for $400, and was probably fortunate to get anything above salvage (~$356 at the time).

The transmission electrical problem is difficult to isolate because the infamous Chrysler "no bus" message is displayed in the odometer. "No bus" means that the bus connections between one or more of the processors in the car is bad (not connected, shorted together, or shorted to ground). Since the computers can't communicate, functions don't work correctly.

The gauge cluster would stop working but turned out to be cold solder joints on the back of the electrical board that runs the cluster. Apparently the problem is endemic to several Chrysler/Dodge vehicles.

The Cirrus has a Body Control Module (BCM), Transmission Control Module (TCM), and a Powertrain Control Module (PCM). Possible causes of the no-bus issue:
1) Ignition key switch harness
2) A sensor has failed with a VREF short to ground, thus sinking all of the amperage from the PCM to ground
3) Possible PCM failure or PCM "no-power" problem
4) Blown fuse in the Power Distribution Center or under-dash fuse box
5) Bad CD Changer. Unplug it and test

Diagnosing this failure can be tough because the DRB-III scanner the dealer uses can't communicate with the processors due to the disconnected bus wires.

   Last update: Dec 7th, 2019