WARNING! We're Starting To See A Trend Here Again

[Larry Macedo]

WARNING! We\'re Starting To See A Trend Here Again

We've had a couple of 04 SRT's in the past few months with very loose crankshaft damper bolts. One in particular was so loose the damper was backing off of the crank snout. Luckily we caught this problem while we were supercharging these cars or it could have been very bad for someone. I would recommend red loctite on theses bolts @ 150 lb ft. torque minimum, guys/gals.

 

[Volltage]

Re: WARNING! We\'re Starting To See A Trend Here Again

Mine too! The check engine light came on and took it in right away. They found that the cam sensor was being ground away from the bolt backing off due to no loctite, as well as my belt tensor and my clutch/flywheel... no loctite.

 

[slither]

Re: WARNING! We\'re Starting To See A Trend Here Again

Yep, same here. I posted on this maybe a month or so ago, everybody should check this or have it checked. The bolt on my car was about 2-3 threads from being hand tight against the damper. Only reason I found it was I am installing a Paxton as well, but its very easy to check, you only have to remove the stock airbox. I installed an ATI damper, so it was easy to see if the stock one had "spun" on the crank. Fortunatley, it didn't, I wouldn't want to see the damage that could happen if the damper managed to dislodge itself from the crank with the engine turning 5-6K!

 

[Viper Specialty]

Re: WARNING! We\'re Starting To See A Trend Here Again

VOLLTAGE: Your issue sounds like it was the Cam Bolts, not Crankshaft Damper.

 

[SRTRICKY]

Re: WARNING! We\'re Starting To See A Trend Here Again

will the dealer do this for us at no charge? anyone have a recall sheet or info that I can show the dealer so they will check my car out properly?? Thanks
ricky

 

[Andrew/USPWR]

Re: WARNING! We\'re Starting To See A Trend Here Again

ViperDays in Sebring this year one viper dropped the bolt on the track and another was able to be taken out by hand! Is the problem that the bolt is a mm or two too Long and shold be slighty shortened?

 

[Andrew/USPWR]

Re: WARNING! We\'re Starting To See A Trend Here Again

At the ViperDays in Sebring this year, one SRT10 dropped the bolt on the track and another was taken out by hand!
Is the problem caused because of the bolt being too Long?

 

[Kai SRT10]

Re: WARNING! We\'re Starting To See A Trend Here Again

Is this bolt in a place where we can see it/check it ourselves without taking stuff apart?

 

[slither]

Re: WARNING! We\'re Starting To See A Trend Here Again

Andrew - No the bolt is not too long, just not installed properly during engine assembly in some cases. The threads of the bolt should be coated with Red Loctite and the bolt needs to be torqued to 130 Ft-Lbs. per the Service Manual.

Ricky/Kai - Don't know if the dealer will do it no charge since I don't think there have been any recalls on this, but honestly its very easy to check. All you need are a few hand tools to remove the top half of the stock air filter housing, the air filters, the filter body from the throttle body and the bottom half of the air filter housing and you have direct access to the front of the engine. The bolt holds the damper onto the crankshaft, the crank pulley is bolted onto the damper, the crank pulley is the lowest pulley on the front of the engine. If the dealer does charge you, it shouldn't be much, but of course there's always the viper tax.

 

[wormdoggy]

Re: WARNING! We\'re Starting To See A Trend Here Again

Andrew - No the bolt is not too long, just not installed properly during engine assembly in some cases. The threads of the bolt should be coated with Red Loctite and the bolt needs to be torqued to 130 Ft-Lbs. per the Service Manual.

Ricky/Kai - Don't know if the dealer will do it no charge since I don't think there have been any recalls on this, but honestly its very easy to check. All you need are a few hand tools to remove the top half of the stock air filter housing, the air filters, the filter body from the throttle body and the bottom half of the air filter housing and you have direct access to the front of the engine. The bolt holds the damper onto the crankshaft, the crank pulley is bolted onto the damper, the crank pulley is the lowest pulley on the front of the engine. If the dealer does charge you, it shouldn't be much, but of course there's always the viper tax.

Slither, I know this is alot to ask but is there anyway you can post step by step instructions or pictures for the novice mechanically challenged? Seems to me this is a very important issue. I'll pay you!

Cheers
Patrick

 

[SRTRICKY]

Re: WARNING! We\'re Starting To See A Trend Here Again

I'm going to get it checked out by the dealer tomorrow at 1 o'clock...and I don't plan on paying....

 

[SRTRICKY]

Re: WARNING! We\'re Starting To See A Trend Here Again

this is what I'm going to show them when they ask for $$ and tell them to f-off


Make : DODGE Model : VIPER Year : 2004
Manufacturer : DAIMLERCHRYSLER CORPORATION
Service Bulletin Num : 19 Date of Bulletin: APR 01, 2004
NHTSA Item Number: 10006902
Component: ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING:ENGINE
Summary:
THE CAMSHAFT SPROCKET RETAINING BOLTS MAY NOT HAVE BEEN PROPERLY TIGHTENED. A LOOSE CAM SPROCKET BOLT CAN BACK OUT AND CAUSE SIGNIFICANT ENGINE DAMAGE. CUSTOMER SATISFACTION NOTIFICATION NO. D19. *TT

 

[slither]

Re: WARNING! We\'re Starting To See A Trend Here Again

Patrick - I may have some pics from when I was disassembling to install the Paxton that I can post, I'll take a look. If you want I can also .pdf the pages describing removal/installation of the air intake housing/system from the service manual and e-mail them, you'll need adobe to open up the .pdf files though, PM me if you want.

Ricky - See FinalGTS post above, the bulletin you're referring to covers the camshaft sprocket retaining bolts, not the harmonic damper bolt, though I'm hoping those don't fall out either.......

 

[SRTRICKY]

Re: WARNING! We\'re Starting To See A Trend Here Again

Patrick - I may have some pics from when I was disassembling to install the Paxton that I can post, I'll take a look. If you want I can also .pdf the pages describing removal/installation of the air intake housing/system from the service manual and e-mail them, you'll need adobe to open up the .pdf files though, PM me if you want.

Ricky - See FinalGTS post above, the bulletin you're referring to covers the camshaft sprocket retaining bolts, not the harmonic damper bolt, though I'm hoping those don't fall out either.......

ahh maybe I should go beat the crap out of it and hope it falls out so it doesn't fall out when my warrenty is out in 2 years lol

 

[Larry Macedo]

Re: WARNING! We\'re Starting To See A Trend Here Again

I can't imagine why DCX wouldn't issue a campaign to have this rectified. They could spend a few dollars to have them checked Vs the purchase of a new crankshaft, damper and possibly worse. One thing I've noticed is that they carried over the torque specification from the Gen 1 and 2, whereas the Gen 3 uses an altogether different bolt.

We Loctite almost every internal engine bolt with the exception of cap bolts.

 

[Larry Macedo]

Re: WARNING! We\'re Starting To See A Trend Here Again

BTW, last time I issued a warning regarding Gen 3 engines and oiling issues I was told "the sky is falling" by someone within DCX and it came to fruition. This in turn is not something that should be overlooked.

 

[SRTRICKY]

Re: WARNING! We\'re Starting To See A Trend Here Again

So what I want them to check out for me tomorrow are called the "crankshaft damper bolts" correct?? I don't think they will really mind considering they are going to be looking at the camshaft sprocket bolts anyways...then again I have no idea how engines are made and they could be in 2 tottaly different areas...

 

[wormdoggy]

Re: WARNING! We\'re Starting To See A Trend Here Again

Patrick - I may have some pics from when I was disassembling to install the Paxton that I can post, I'll take a look. If you want I can also .pdf the pages describing removal/installation of the air intake housing/system from the service manual and e-mail them, you'll need adobe to open up the .pdf files though, PM me if you want.

Ricky - See FinalGTS post above, the bulletin you're referring to covers the camshaft sprocket retaining bolts, not the harmonic damper bolt, though I'm hoping those don't fall out either.......

Thanking you in advance................that would be great !
Cheers

 

[Andrew/USPWR]

Re: WARNING! We\'re Starting To See A Trend Here Again

Do we know if this is a problem with the 05, or if it was fixed for 06?