Need a quick response please

[AZTVR]

Guys I think you are all getting to wound up over the numbers thing.

Agreed. I think that's a Corvette thing and 40 year old and older collector cars.

[Voice of Reason]

3,700 miles is when the engine in my 13 failed. The crate engine that replaced it was perfect and it didn't affect my trade in value. In fact the car is now owned by a member here and he knew of the issue before buying so it obviously doesn't bother him either.

[outnumbered]

Thank you for that information.

[outnumbered]

There is a high probability that SRT will be sending out a crate motor early next week. If in fact that happens I can't ask for any more than that. Just ready to drive again.

[ACRucrazy]

Bummer to hear, yet another one!

[darbgnik]

There is a high probability that SRT will be sending out a crate motor early next week. If in fact that happens I can't ask for any more than that. Just ready to drive again.

I might be the odd one out here, but I like the idea of Dodge sending out a complete engine in situations like this. I'd trust the new one over letting some dealership guy, of questionable skill, tear apart your old engine, and and slapping it back together with the old fingers crossed.

[outnumbered]

I don't have one of the big well known dealerships here, but completely trust the Viper tech working on my car. Nonetheless, it does appear that a complete crate engine will be sent.

[viper04]

So did they say what the issue is? Rod bearing/crank bearing ect.. or we don't know what it is so we will replace the motor.

[Nine Ball]

Numbers matching isn't important on newer vehicles. I'd say that stopped being important in the 1970s. Besides, the Viper engine itself didn't vary between trim levels, they are all the exact same engine. If this Carbon model had a special engine, then maybe it would be more relevant to keep the original.

Even on classic cars, restored cars with modified engines do very well on resale. Simply based on the condition and quality of the restoration done. The pro-touring and resto-mod cars are also selling for much more than the numbers matching stock vehicles are. There are exceptions, such as Hemi or COPO/ZL1 type cars - but those were packages built around the engine itself. Our Viper packages are based around paint color, and wings/aero.

[G37Sam]

On a more positive note, you'll be getting 5 more ponies!!

[ViperJon]

So did they say what the issue is? Rod bearing/crank bearing ect.. or we don't know what it is so we will replace the motor.

That's the elephant in the room. Dodge has to know what is grenading these motors but not a peep from them or the dealers replacing them. 159 TA's made and there are at least 6 we know of from here had to be replaced. And that's just here.

[Nine Ball]

That's the elephant in the room. Dodge has to know what is grenading these motors but not a peep from them or the dealers replacing them. 159 TA's made and there are at least 6 we know of from here had to be replaced. And that's just here.

Hardly an elephant. I'm not certain of the exact production number of Gen 5 cars built so far, but lets say 2,000 of them.

6/2000 = 0.3%

The sky certainly isn't falling. You can't compare a 640hp NA V10 reliability with that of a Camry or Civic - and even those cars have engine failures you never hear about.

I bought a brand new BMW X5 in 2008. It lasted 2 days and the engine blew. They bought it back.

[46hemi]

I would have no issue with a replacement motor, my main concern would be the process of removing the old and installing the new and the care of the car while in their possession. I would take good pics/video and be super meticulous with documenting every step, especially how much time the car is in repair.

[outnumbered]

So did they say what the issue is? Rod bearing/crank bearing ect.. or we don't know what it is so we will replace the motor.

They do not. However, there are still areas that have not been checked; the oil pump, and underneath the intake. We know the pump is building pressure. So either something is preventing that oil from flowing at the pump itself, or somewhere between the pump and the top of the block. If the front cover of the motor is pulled off, the pump could be inspected. If the intake were removed, the entire valley would be exposed; maybe debris is lodged somewhere. Or, maybe SRT has reason to believe that a possible blockage exists deep within the block somewhere, and given that a tech at a dealership does not have the equipment needed to deal with that type of issue, they are saving us all the time and trouble. That is my "glass half full" theory.

My motor hasn't gone through a catastrophic failure. As it stands now, nothing has broken. It's not making any unusual sounds, it's not idling or running rough. I have an oil gauge that is pegged, and we don't know why.

If they knew of a problem with any one specific part that began to show a frequency of failure, then I would expect, and have to assume that a recall would be warranted. Replacing a part would certainly have a much greater financial impact to them over replacing an entire motor. However, if there is a slim possibility that a few motors could have experienced a quality defect during the manufacturing process, they are much better off to take a "wait and see" approach. With 25 years in manufacturing, that is the direction I myself would take. It's not a safety issue, so they don't have to worry about endangering anyone's life.

Furthermore, as much as I would like to know exactly what my issue is, if it is a deep internal blockage (just speculating) what exactly would I be able to do about it? It's not like I can perform some type of maintenance to correct the problem. So if SRT doesn't want to publish the results of a very small random sampling, over which I don't have the ability to prevent or correct, it really becomes useless information to me as the consumer. If they came out today and made the statement that they felt an extremely small percentage of Gen 5 motors may have experienced a quality flaw (debris somewhere in the block), what would the expectation be? Replace every motor? I think not.

At this point; absent a known component failure, all they can do is ensure that their quality process is corrected, and deal with what is likely an isolated issue in the most expedient fashion possible. At the end of the day, I would rather have my car running, rather than engineers sitting around going through a lengthy process of elimination, while my car sits at the dealership. Kudo's to SRT for removing me (the customer) from that aggravation. If in fact that is what happens.

[outnumbered]

Also, Kudo's to the dealership (Keffer Dodge in Charlotte) that is dealing with this issue. I did not purchase the car from them, yet I don't know if I could have gotten a team that is anymore diligent in trying to resolve this problem for me. Both the service director and the Viper Tech have been communicating with Chrysler and SRT......I've seen the emails. They both have a true sense of empathy on my situation, and want nothing more for my car to be fixed and fixed correctly. They have even offered for me to come and watch the motor replacement take place; if that is what happens. I have been reassured several times that this will be resolved, and that I have nothing to worry about, and I believe them.

[swexlin]

Also, Kudo's to the dealership (Keffer Dodge in Charlotte) that is dealing with this issue. I did not purchase the car from them, yet I don't know if I could have gotten a team that is anymore diligent in trying to resolve this problem for me. Both the service director and the Viper Tech have been communicating with Chrysler and SRT......I've seen the emails. They both have a true sense of empathy on my situation, and want nothing more for my car to be fixed and fixed correctly. They have even offered for me to come and watch the motor replacement take place; if that is what happens. I have been reassured several times that this will be resolved, and that I have nothing to worry about, and I believe them.

Ron, thanks for the update, and sounds the like Chrysler is doing the right thing. Please keep us posted.

[ViperSmith]

While the situation is so fun, it is nice to see that Dodge is stepping up to fix the issue completely

[Voice of Reason]

Hardly an elephant. I'm not certain of the exact production number of Gen 5 cars built so far, but lets say 2,000 of them.

6/2000 = 0.3%

There have been way more than 6 failures though. A friend just bought a 14 that was bought back due to an engine failure. He doesn't post here. Those of us online make up a small portion of owners so whatever we're hearing about take it times 10 at least. Heck I didn't "come out" about my engine failure for a year, I bet there are others on here just like me keeping quiet while their engine is replaced or keeping quiet for fear of backlash later during resale. Also consider the historical Viper owner who only drives 1000 miles a year. Some of those are going to fail in 3-4 years, right when warranty runs out. I suspect failure rates are 3-5% which is way too high.

If they do learn of an inherent issue I hope they do the right thing and perform a recall, even if that means 2000 crate engines need to be sent out for installation.

[swexlin]

There have been way more than 6 failures though. A friend just bought a 14 that was bought back due to an engine failure. He doesn't post here. Those of us online make up a small portion of owners so whatever we're hearing about take it times 10 at least. Heck I didn't "come out" about my engine failure for a year, I bet there are others on here just like me keeping quiet while their engine is replaced or keeping quiet for fear of backlash later during resale. Also consider the historical Viper owner who only drives 1000 miles a year. Some of those are going to fail in 3-4 years, right when warranty runs out. I suspect failure rates are 3-5% which is way too high.

If they do learn of an inherent issue I hope they do the right thing and perform a recall, even if that means 2000 crate engines need to be sent out for installation.

Good post, and one reason why I bought extended warranty as well. The sky isn't falling, but you need to aware.

[kdaviper]

Hardly an elephant. I'm not certain of the exact production number of Gen 5 cars built so far, but lets say 2,000 of them.

6/2000 = 0.3%

The sky certainly isn't falling. You can't compare a 640hp NA V10 reliability with that of a Camry or Civic - and even those cars have engine failures you never hear about.

I bought a brand new BMW X5 in 2008. It lasted 2 days and the engine blew. They bought it back.

Yeah compare this to what happened with the Porche GT3's... complete engine replacements for ALL.

[gpearl]

Also, Kudo's to the dealership (Keffer Dodge in Charlotte) that is dealing with this issue. I did not purchase the car from them, yet I don't know if I could have gotten a team that is anymore diligent in trying to resolve this problem for me. Both the service director and the Viper Tech have been communicating with Chrysler and SRT......I've seen the emails. They both have a true sense of empathy on my situation, and want nothing more for my car to be fixed and fixed correctly. They have even offered for me to come and watch the motor replacement take place; if that is what happens. I have been reassured several times that this will be resolved, and that I have nothing to worry about, and I believe them.

As it should be. Nice to see.

[ViperJon]

Hardly an elephant. I'm not certain of the exact production number of Gen 5 cars built so far, but lets say 2,000 of them.

6/2000 = 0.3%
.

There has been at least six or more on just the TA's and that's only ones willing to post HERE. That's out of 159 cars. That seems like an unusually high failure rate on one model doesn't it?

[jjrho]

hi guys, i have a '14 TA with 1300 miles… starting to drive again after getting the front strut replaced… what are the symptoms, if any, of a pending failure ? does it go up in temp? what are the noise you'd hear ? i read something about oil dip stick being not easy to read but assuming i read it on a flat surface with car been off for a few days…. if i'm reading the oil at the bottom of the "range", how much should I refill ?

tnx,
jR
'14 TA, corsa, mgw

[Jack B]

Keep in mind, several of the failures were related to low oil.

There have been way more than 6 failures though. A friend just bought a 14 that was bought back due to an engine failure. He doesn't post here. Those of us online make up a small portion of owners so whatever we're hearing about take it times 10 at least. Heck I didn't "come out" about my engine failure for a year, I bet there are others on here just like me keeping quiet while their engine is replaced or keeping quiet for fear of backlash later during resale. Also consider the historical Viper owner who only drives 1000 miles a year. Some of those are going to fail in 3-4 years, right when warranty runs out. I suspect failure rates are 3-5% which is way too high.

If they do learn of an inherent issue I hope they do the right thing and perform a recall, even if that means 2000 crate engines need to be sent out for installation.

[viper04]

Outnumbered
Thanks for the update, hope it all works out. You seem to be in good hands dealership wise.