Been a rough week with my TA

[Cybermig]

*** Final Update - car is fixed for now ****

I picked up the car from the dealer last week and haven't yet had a chance to shake it out other than the easy drive home. The tech that worked on the car had this to say about the issues I experienced... the starter... they replaced the whole assembly. Chalked it up to a not so fancy starter with not so fancy internals but it's the first starter he's seen go bad on a GenV. He suggested it was a fluke and shouldn't happen again.
As for the clutch.... he put the blame squarely on CAP QC.... said the hydraulic line from from the slave cylinder was routed incorrectly and was obviously rubbing on the tranny which caused the hose to rub itself a small hole. The hose was replaced and fluid refilled. The ground strap was replaced and rerouted to not allow for it to be able to touch the header. The airbag recall was also done. I"m hoping the car is issue free for the forseeable future.

*** End of update ****

Update from tech today*!*

Starter issue - bad starter.... due most likely to overheating the internals via tracking the car... shouldn't have happened... likely due to QC from parts supplier according to the tech
Clutch issue - clutch line rubbed against the transmission and caused a hole... not sure if it's QC related but it also shouldn't have happened.... I'm worried it could happen again...
Ground strap - not a problem but they're replacing it because it shouldn't be in the condition it's in. Tech believe the strap is too long for the connection it makes and agrees it could happen again if the conditions are right.... aka tracking the car and coming to a rest afterwards while it rests on the header. Am 1" shorter strap would fix this....
Airbag connector recall - parts are 2 weeks out

More details down in the thread.

**

This week's been rough for my 2016 TA2. She's been well kept and treated in her time w/ me but she's gotten some gremlins this week and now she's got to go to dealer for repair/recall work.

It all started last weekend when she started to struggle to start in the morning. It's like she struggled to turn over the motor in the morning. I didn't think too much of it so went for a drive... at the gas station when I went to fire her up, she almost didn't start for failure to barely turn the motor over. It felt like the battery was low on V's so I decided to not press my luck and took her home to charge up the battery. After hooking up the battery to my nice charger, the charger reads a pre-charge state of 12.5v. I think to myself, that's odd, battery seems fine but I let the charger run through it's cycles and the battery seems fine for it. Next day I try to start the car on a topped off battery and the motor doesn't turn over at all, just some click...click....clicks coming from the starter/solenoid part of the engine bay. Try a couple more times... same thing. I'm thinking crap... it's gotta go to the dealer. I do some research on the forum and find a couple things to look for and find that the driver side ground strap is fused to the drivers side header cover and that the ground strap is a little roasted. I remove it from the header and about 25% of it stays behind so I think to myself, there's a part the dealer needs to replace now under warranty.... yipppeeee.... now the car can sit at the dealer for a month while they source this part. I still suspect the starter/solenoid isn't free from defect this young in it's life. I mean the car hasn't been started more than 50 times in it's lifespan yet....

Anyhow I disconnect the battery, re-secure the ground strap (why they use a 5" long strap for a 2" long run is beyond me unless they think the motor moves 3"s laterally under hard acceleration) then re-connect the battery. I try to start the car... first time it clicks, second time it clicks but then the motor turns abruptly, 3rd time she fires right up like nothing happened and I think to myself yessssss.... no trip to the dealer for repairs! I tell myself it must have been a bad ground because of the strap. But I notice when she fires up that the clutch pedal doesn't push back nearly as strong as normal, in fact it feel like 50% of the clutch throw is simply the pedal spring itself. So I tell myself.... let's try again tomorrow and I proceed to make an appointment at my local Dodge dealer.

We'll my appt is set for tomorrow, fast forward the story and the starter/solenoid seems back to it's shenanigans and the motor wont turn, the clutch pedal is practically dead and I find a puddle of clutch fluid under the car to my surprise. And now she's throwing a P2610 CEL.... WTF.... the problems are now piling up. Now for sure she needs a tow to the dealer.

She's got 2700 miles and is about 5 months old and up to speed on maintenance. These problems have really caught me off guard as I thought Vipers didn't have these kinds of problems so early in their life... My 2014 GTS before this TA didn't have any problems and I treated it the same as this one and that one went 3500 miles before I sold it to get this one. I'm feel really disenchanted about this whole experience this week... it's not been fun.

I'm hoping the repairs aren't major and that the car won't be gone for long....

[99RT10]

Feel for ya. Hard to have to deal with things on a new car, but hopefully the dealer with deal with it quickly and get you back on the road.

[donk_316]

What number is your TA and your last 3 digits in your VIN please

[Cybermig]

Why do you ask? #25 - 657

[swexlin]

Talk about a weird combo of issues - sounds like your slave in the clutch went? Perhaps bad from the start, plus your other issues. As I have mentioned before, the QC on these cars is hit or miss. Some folks practically daily drive their cars, with no issues. Others, like you, seem to have cars with gremlins, some worse than others.

Hope you get it sorted soon and back on the road. AAA flatbed to the dealer, I guess?

[ACRSNK]

Sorry to hear about your issues. Hopefully you can get them resolved quickly.

[Steve-Indy]

You may have caused P2610 by disconnecting the battery.

[wum]

I've have the same problem. I have under 900 miles on my 2016. I'm taking it to the dealership on Monday. Good luck with getting this fixed and keep us posted.

[sadil]

Hey man, lets get some photos. Have to document this stuff as much as possible and you can't beat good photos!

[Cybermig]

Car is at the dealer now, had to be towed via a dolly for the front and pickup from the rear.... too low for the flatbed. My dealer said this is the first Viper to come in with these issues so they have to debug further. They also said I was the only Viper in the whole Southeast Region of the US that needed the Airbag recall that went out in Nov.... LOL I found it hard to believe but he showed me a web page from Mopar that supported his claim.

Here's a picture of the damaged ground strap... it's a little baked and missing a section as you can see. As for the other stuff... there's no pictures since a puddle of clutch fluid after depressing the clutch a few times is pretty self explanatory. I couldn't get under the car anyways to see where the leak was coming from. Same with the starter, unless it's on a lift, you can barely see the top of it.

I'm in agreement on the QC thing... this one may have been a miss... Also the CEL is likely because of the battery disconnect so I'm in agreement there.

IMG_8339.jpg

[Cybermig]

You're having the starter and clutch problems? What's up with these '16's?

[Jack B]

A little input, the fluid is either a bad slave or the connector was never fully inserted. That ground wire, in a true sense is not a full capacity ground, I believe it extends the ground plane to shield the electronics, my radio cannot be used due to static without it. If that braid melted due to current, that indicates a true ground wire(s) is loose or broken.

[Cybermig]

I dont think the braid melted due to current, it melted because it was touching and essentially fused to the header one day after a drive and it was hot. when i found it, it was stuck pretty good to the header

I think you're right about the clutch slave but I'm hopeful something just got loose.

[stradman]

Wish you luck. Please keep us posted!

[PkB2014]

You are not the only Viper with airbag issue. But maybe only one in the recall. FYI

[Dr.Ron]

I just had my car at the dealer. The hydraulic line came loose & I had no clutch. The tech secured it properly & topped off the fluid. All good now.
It was a quick fix he said.

Had the car flat bedded to the dealer. They used long race ramps to get it onto the flat bed. It didn't hit the deck and even had an inch to spare. The driver was extremely careful and was great.

Ron

[swexlin]

I just had my car at the dealer. The hydraulic line came loose & I had no clutch. The tech secured it properly & topped off the fluid. All good now.
It was a quick fix he said.

Had the car flat bedded to the dealer. They used long race ramps to get it onto the flat bed. It didn't hit the deck and even had an inch to spare. The driver was extremely careful and was great.

Ron

Ron, what year is your car and what mileage? Did you have any symptoms, or was it sudden.

[Dr.Ron]

2014 GTS w/ 5100 miles.
I was slowing to turn into a parking lot & downshifted to 2nd and WHAMO...No clutch.. it went to the floor & was floppy.
Had to coast to the nearest parking spot.

Ron

[swexlin]

2014 GTS w/ 5100 miles.
I was slowing to turn into a parking lot & downshifted to 2nd and WHAMO...No clutch.. it went to the floor & was floppy.
Had to coast to the nearest parking spot.

Ron

Thanks. It does make me a little nervous with these cars if you lose clutch fluid, you lose brakes as well, since it's shared. Glad you are OK

[Dr.Ron]

thanks. The brakes seemed unaffected at the time.
The tech said I had only lost a small amount of fluid & the line didn't come off completely.

Ron

[Jack B]

You have an interesting problem, the headers should not get much beyond 700-800 degrees and that is a stretch, copper melts at 2000 degrees. Most braid is tin plated copper. I will have to look at that braid a little closer, maybe its aluminum braid, that is closer to 1200 degrees. Let us know what they find, good luck with it.

I helped a friend change a viper clutch last year and would have sworn that we had the slave connector in tight. He went one mile and the clutch pedal went soft. The Gen1's have a terrible connector though, the G5 is easier to get right.

,

I dont think the braid melted due to current, it melted because it was touching and essentially fused to the header one day after a drive and it was hot. when i found it, it was stuck pretty good to the header

I think you're right about the clutch slave but I'm hopeful something just got loose.

[TrackAire]

Although this has nothing to do with your clutch problem, your battery reading 12.5 volts after driving it back from the gas station means it only has 80% capacity....and that is with the alternator pumping in a lot of amps, even if it was a short drive. When you first tried to start the car, the voltage was probably much lower. The Viper is a power hungry car when it is turned off. Once a battery gets too low a voltage for too long, it generally never comes fully back and has diminished reserve capacity. If you put your battery on a quality automatic charger/maintainer for 3 or 4 days, it should read at least 12.8 to 12.9 volts when disconnected from the charger. Now leave it unhooked from the charger and check the voltage again with a voltage meter 12 or more hours later. If your voltage is 12.6 volts or lower, save yourself a lot of grief and buy a new quality battery to replace this unit.....its performance will only get worse with time.

Good luck with the rest of your issues, hopefully the dealer gets your car in and out quickly.

[labtec]

Gremlins in my Dodge Nitro was caused by the TIPM module. Basically it is full of relays that control every function of the vehicle. It receives signals from the vehicle Canbus control system and the appropriate relay energizes. With the Nitro it was not a relay issue but instead a cracked TIPM PCB (printed circuit board) that caused the weird starting, stalling and lighting problems. If your car is acting strange the TIPM and possible ground problems would be the first place to look. Because the TIPM costs more Murphy's Law says look there first....

I dont think the braid melted due to current, it melted because it was touching and essentially fused to the header one day after a drive and it was hot. when i found it, it was stuck pretty good to the header

I think you're right about the clutch slave but I'm hopeful something just got loose.

[Policy Limits]

My GTS wouldn't start and just clicked and clicked without turning over due to a failed WIN module. Have them check that too. Once repaired it never occurred again

[texasram]

Be glad you actually have your car, ive been without mine for 3 months