2003 SRT10 Clutch problems with only 4K miles

[Viper 24]

Was curious if other SRT10 owners had trouble with pressure plate in clutch? My car has 4400 miles, original tires with tons of tread left and now a new clutch assembly. The pressure plate got out of alignment and hosed the clutch disk. The dealer found several hot spots, but really couldn't explain why. Unfortunately the car is over two years old, so Dodge didn't do much under warranty.

I have a call into Dan Cragin here on the west coast to see if he has any suggestions to prevent this from occuring in the future. I will say, spending $1500 every 4K miles was not in the owners manual. Thoughts/suggestions are welcome!!

 

[Bill Pemberton Woodhouse]

Assuming you put the aluminum flywheel in when your replaced the clutch? You never said if you were the first owner or second? Just asking as one could obviously question the flywheel install if it was done by the Dealer before.

We haven't seen many clutch issues at all, so just questioning to try and ascertain if the Dealer missed something?

 

[Skip White]

James, the SRT clutch is not the strongest out there, and it's a hit and miss thing. Many people are fine with the oem unit. It's my opinion that they tend to slip a bit when going into second, under heavy load, but they have very good drivability, and will last under most conditions, and there cost is very low.

I've been through it all on different clutches. If you want a nice strong unit, you will have to sacrifice some drivability, (mild chatter occasionally, engagement lacks smoothness, etc)

If you want an oem style unit, let me know, and I can get one right out to you for a great price.

As far a hot spots on the flywheel, they all have those. It's not a problem most of the time, and is not an indication of a problem.

The best flywheel on the market is the RPS segmented flywheel. I can get this and a clutch if you like. I'm running an RPS clutch and pp stage II, but they are somewhat aggressive. Most people would not like the nature of these units.

Call if you need some pointers on this 423-288-3881

 

[Viper 24]

I am the only owner, actually bought the car from you Bill . I did have an alluminum flywheel installed over six months ago, Dan Cragin did the work. The dealer looked at the flywheel assembly and said it was done perfectly.

It seemed odd that there were hot spots on the clutch plate itslef, but overall it showed very little wear. The dealer felt the pressure plate was the cause, but not clear what drove the heat or the plate springs from getting dislodged.

Thanks Skip for the info, I like the feel of the clutch but am now worried about durability. I like to be confident when i get on the throttle and change gears. I will see how this new clutch feels, if the problem persists I will definitely give you a call.

Thx

 

[Viper X]

Hey Viper23,

Skip and I have both been down this road a few times. This first clutch / pp problem I had was due to improper torque applied to the pressure plate bolts. PP bolts backed out (came loose) and caused the pp fingers to fail, created some hot spots, difficulty shifting and eventually no shifting at all. Second failure, installed by the dealer, same problem. On both occaisions the dealer stated that the RPS l/w flywheel was the problem.

Third time around I had West Coast Viper do the install. When installing a clutch / pp combo in conjunction with a light weight flywheel, the bolts must be properly torqued and loc-tited. No problems since (5000 supercharged miles, drags, track, etc.) The RPS l/w flywheel is a very nice piece. If the pp / clutch combo was PROPERLY INSTALLED , you should have no further problems.
Good luck,

Dan

 

[Vipera Russelli]

Skip and I have both been down this road a few times. This first clutch / pp problem I had was due to improper torque applied to the pressure plate bolts. PP bolts backed out (came loose) and caused the pp fingers to fail, created some hot spots, difficulty shifting and eventually no shifting at all. Second failure, installed by the dealer, same problem. On both occaisions the dealer stated that the RPS l/w flywheel was the problem.

Your dealer was wrong, as you know. The same thing happened to me twice -- pressure plate bolts backed out twice (I posted all the details both times it happened) -- and my trans was entirely stock both times. The second time it happened, however, I had a the OEM flywheel replaced with a Fadanza flywheel (since labor was warranty work anyway) and had the bolts loc-tited at the recommendation of my trusty Viper tech. No problems since.

 

[BigCarrot]

My clutch blew up at 4k also. *****. I replaced it with a Spec clutch and have ahd nop problems since.

 

[redsrt03]

The clutch went out in my '03 SRT-10 at 4k miles within 4 months after I bought the car new. The ***s at dodge(the warranty) refused to cover that as well.

That's why I WILL NEVER BUY another DODGE, a CHRYSLER, or even a MERCEDES from that company.

Even their top-of-the-line high performance 85K sports car is built with the same shoddy workmanship as their cheapos. And to not honor their warranty to boot.

Why would anyone buy an "extended" warranty when their standard warranty is questionable, is beyond me!

 

[Viper 24]

I feel better just knowing I am not alone with this issue. It seemed really peculiar, but understand these cars can be temperamental. Hope this is a one-time fix and I get a reasonable life out of the next clutch assembly.

I would like to see DC pay attention to these types of issues going forward, this is mother hood and apple pie stuff for a car of this caliber.