Help Dealer says he has to pull engine and send it out for head gasket job

[CAVIPER]

This kind of sounds fishy to me. I have a 94 rt/10 with 3,000 miles on it and I smell a coolant leak so I had the local Dodge dealer viper tech check it out he says no leak no problem. When I inquired about a head gasket problem he says "Well we don't really want to go there because we have to pull the engine and send it out (somewhere) and it will take about 2 months". I have the extended warranty and it sounds like they are dodging the job (no pun intended). From what I've heard its not a big deal and lots of owners do it themselves. Where should I go from here.

 

[BigCarrot]

It's a very easy job. He should be able to do it, but some dealers still send that kind of stuff to Arrow.

 

[RX VIPER]

Re: Help Dealer says he has to pull engine and send it out for head gasket job

Are you loosing any coolant? How does your oil look? If the coolant is disappearing and the oil looks milky you probably have a head gasket leak at the very least. Find out where they want to send it. You could also try another dealership in your area. A Viper tech can replace a head gasket in a couple days max. Why be without your car for 2 months if it's only a head gasket? I'd want a lot more info from the dealer before sending your car off.

 

[SoCal Rebell]

Re: Help Dealer says he has to pull engine and send it out for head gasket job

Two months, sounds like they want to send it to Arrow. If they do want to send it to Arrow it's a score in my opinion. Arrow will open the motor and go through EVERYTHING. They will replace your waterpump, camshaft, any valves that aren't right, lifters, crankshaft and much, much more. They will replace anything that doesn't look right even things you may not yet know about, in short you'll get a brand new motor back! I had it done it was great, email me if you want the full story.

 

[BADVENOM]

This kind of sounds fishy to me. I have a 94 rt/10 with 3,000 miles on it and I smell a coolant leak so I had the local Dodge dealer viper tech check it out he says no leak no problem. When I inquired about a head gasket problem he says "Well we don't really want to go there because we have to pull the engine and send it out (somewhere) and it will take about 2 months". I have the extended warranty and it sounds like they are dodging the job (no pun intended). From what I've heard its not a big deal and lots of owners do it themselves. Where should I go from here.

Had my head gaskets replaced by chuck tator aka "viperwizard' at tators dodge. He said that only a few dealers are registered and have been okayed through DC to do such repairs. Of course Mine were replaced under warranty and that fact may have something to do with authorization givin by DC. Otherwise what the above viper owners have said is right. Arrow will go through the engine with a fine tooth and comb.

Adam

 

[VardaMan]

Please check your private messages.

 

[BigCarrot]

The Arrow thing wouldn't be a bad deal. They really do go through them.

 

[Marv S]

Local member here had his Gen 1 sent to Arrow for a rebuild after a coolant issue.
He thought it ran much stronger so he brought it to dyno day with 500 miles on it.

Stock (even stock air filters, stock exhaust manifolds & cats, etc. but had replaced the side mufflers with dynomax or something.) and posted 435 rwhp, ~-~- that was higher than the stock Gen2 vipers that day. And it posted higher than a 2002 with headers and cat-back.

Not bad for a car rated for 400 hp at the crank.

 

[Rich Detert]

If they're sending it to Arrow, go for it!
Arrow did a rebuild on the 94 I had prior to my current GTS.

It felt stronger, sounded better, and the best part "No More Coolant Leaks"!

From what I've been told, the Gen 1 Arrow rebuilds average 425-430 horsepower.

 

[FRANK]

Re: Help Dealer says he has to pull engine and send it out for head gasket job

Two months, sounds like they want to send it to Arrow. If they do want to send it to Arrow it's a score in my opinion. Arrow will open the motor and go through EVERYTHING. They will replace your waterpump, camshaft, any valves that aren't right, lifters, crankshaft and much, much more. They will replace anything that doesn't look right even things you may not yet know about, in short you'll get a brand new motor back! I had it done it was great, email me if you want the full story.

There's gonna be alot of wear and tear on a motor with 3,000 miles...lol...I am sure the water pump is on its way out and the cam has a few flat lobes...lol..and I'm sure that they'll find something out of spec by .0000000000001" somewhere that will justify the job.

Anyway, I just replaced my head gaskets on my 94 with roughly 8,000 miles. When I opened the motor up everything looked like new. The job isn't hard...just time consuming and being careful not to scratch the paint etc. More of a surgery if you will working on a Viper as opposed to working on a work/****** car. Personally, find a dealer who will do the head gasket job for you and have them foot the bill for it. I am sure where you live you can find at least one dealer who can do it.

 

[RAno Sports Car Company]

Re: Help Dealer says he has to pull engine and send it out for head gasket job

Don't know if you had the car since new, or can account for how the 3,000 miles were driven. We have seen cars with that kind of mileage that were abused to the point that we would not even consider buying them. If they are sending the engine to Arrow and you can wait for the whole process go for it. As others have said, you will not be disappointed.