Mysterious Black Smoke

[ACRBruce]

I see a lot of balck smoke underneath my car when I had some pictures taken w/ me launching the car fairly hard. Is this smoke coming from the clutch

About to launch the car, no black smoke yet:

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Launching at about 4500 RPM:

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Black smoke very evident coming from passenger side:

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After the car gets going, the black smoke goes away. And since the exhaust comes out from the sides, it couldn't be the exhaust gas.

 

[Fatboy 18]

Looks like it might be clutch related, but you would probally be able to smell it? Have you noticed any clutch smells? I would jack the car up and take a look underneath, it could also be an undetected oil leak burning off on the exhaust pipe?

 

[dave6666]

Anyone missing their cat?

Really though, Fatboy is right about the smell. You should be able to almost smell that on your clothes after an event like that. But I've never seen that happen producing black smoke before, just whitish-gray.

I would think you'd be able to get some better clues by putting the car on the rack and taking a looksie underneath.

 

[Shandon]

Assuming you havn't changed from side pipe exit to rear exhaust then I'm thinking clutch also. I see no exhaust spew from the sides of the car. A photo can be a bit decieving because in one snapshot from straight on like that it might be a trail and not one big cloud under the car. The Camera shows it as a dark cloud. Anyway I have seen a few threads on here about clutch issues in the 08. I would also think you would smell the clutch?

Maybe it's just the pavement melting under the extreme torque and acceleration of your car

 

[mjorgensen Woodhouse]

If your tires were not spinning in that 4500 rpm!!!!!!!! launch I say your clutch is done for by now. Do some roll ons on 4th and see if the thing is slipping. STOP doing that to your clutch !!!

 

[Malu59RT]

If your tires were not spinning in that 4500 rpm!!!!!!!! launch I say your clutch is done for by now. Do some roll ons on 4th and see if the thing is slipping. STOP doing that to your clutch !!!

If I were ACRBruce, I would:

1. Remove incriminating evidence from this thread.
2. Get quotes on a new Twin Disk clutch for my car.



BTW, Mark, how much does a clutch replacement for the 08 go for?

 

[Nader]

4500 rpm launches... ouch!

 

[ACRBruce]

If your tires were not spinning in that 4500 rpm!!!!!!!! launch I say your clutch is done for by now. Do some roll ons on 4th and see if the thing is slipping. STOP doing that to your clutch !!!

Hey Mark, if we can't even launch the car hard a few times for fun, why are we buying high power cars? Don't tell me no Viper owner ever launched their cars at 4500 RPM. If I can't launch the ACR at 4500 RPM again, I'll TODAY sell it and go get a Mustang. Is launching it at 4500RPM a few times that bad compared to someone who goes to a drag stripe for a few runs??? I have a Ferrari Challenge Stradale with the F1 trans which supposingly wouldn't last more than 10 Launch Control launches so I never launched the car but eventually sold it because I couldn't have enough with it without worrying about it breaking. This ACR cars are meant to be driven, not sit in a garage all day long. With that said, I don't go above 3K RPM when the water and oil temps are below 180, I don't power shift, dump and ride the clutch either.
I also own a Ford GT with an aftermarket Whipple SC (3.3L vs. 2.3L stock) running a 19 pound pulley (730RWHP/690 RWTQ) and after 5000 miles on the OEM clutch and quite a few hard launches (no dumping or riding the clutch), it is still holding up fine. Took it out to the last Fun Ford Weekend in Fontana two years ago and on the first run after a fresh pulley and tune, after launching at 4K RPM the car smoked the tires all the way in first and boy the clutch smell lasted at least 30 minutes. But once the clutch cooled down, it was fine and still fine after two more years. But this time, the smell was faint and was gone in seconds. Maybe our cars all give out black smoke from the clutch like this, just no one ever saw it from a headon shot??? I also had pictures taken from behind the car but didn't see any black smoke and maybe it was covered by the gray tire smoke and the dirt kicked up by the tires. BTW the exhaust is 100% OEM.

 

[ACRBruce]

If I were ACRBruce, I would:

1. Remove incriminating evidence from this thread.
2. Get quotes on a new Twin Disk clutch for my car.



BTW, Mark, how much does a clutch replacement for the 08 go for?

So what warranty can the factory void? Since I drove below red line when a properly warmed up engine, they can't void the waranty on the engine, same goes for the gear box. Since when is a clutch covered under warranty. So what incriminating evidence did I put up?
As to number two, if clutch goes with just a few 4500 launches, oh well, either the OEM clutch is too frail or we need better clutches.

 

[Malu59RT]

So what warranty can the factory void? Since I drove below red line when a properly warmed up engine, they can't void the waranty on the engine, same goes for the gear box. Since when is a clutch covered under warranty. So what incriminating evidence did I put up?
As to number two, if clutch goes with just a few 4500 launches, oh well, either the OEM clutch is too frail or we need better clutches.

I would guess abusing the car is the one thing that I could claim. I'm sure Dodge wouldn't like us all going around and doing 4500 RPM launches on our cars, and expect anything to be covered under warranty. You get enough power and enough traction, something will break in your driveline, but if you don't care about the warranty, can you get some photos of a few donuts, I need a new screen saver

 

[adamlotus]

i smoked mt tires from 1,2,and 3rd gear and my clucth smelled for over 2 weeks,still works great but looks like the clucth was burning.

 

[ACRBruce]

I would guess abusing the car is the one thing that I could claim. I'm sure Dodge wouldn't like us all going around and doing 4500 RPM launches on our cars, and expect anything to be covered under warranty. You get enough power and enough traction, something will break in your driveline, but if you don't care about the warranty, can you get some photos of a few donuts, I need a new screen saver

I don't launch at 4500 RPM often but my biggest worry was the wear and tear on the tires. As a pair of these PSC would cost $1200, they may go faster than the clutch. Donuts? Sure, I'll go to Krispy Kreme for some tomorrow morning.

 

[mjorgensen Woodhouse]

Bruce,

If the clutch is not slipping or chattering I would not worry to much then. It seems like a lot of smoke though and never did hear if you smelled it afterwords. The twin disk has more clamping force but cannot take as much heat as a larger one from my experience so it may just have been real hot.

How many miles are on the car now? I wonder if you might have oil leaking from a main seal onto the clutch?

 

[mjorgensen Woodhouse]

If I were ACRBruce, I would:

1. Remove incriminating evidence from this thread.
2. Get quotes on a new Twin Disk clutch for my car.



BTW, Mark, how much does a clutch replacement for the 08 go for?

Replacement clutch and pressure plate $371 list price.

 

[SnakeEye]

4500 rpm launches... ouch!

Agree... throw a set of gears in there and save your clutch.

 

[Coloviper]

Good for you Bruce!

Drive that sucker into the ground. I agree for 100 large, it should take a real lickin' and keep on tickin'. Funny you say a Mustang. I can remember that first 1987 Mustang GT I bought. I could NOT kill that car. It was just bulletproof and I really abused it. Sure it got a little tired in the end, but NOTHING broke on it.

Now for the smoke, my 1995 Saleen S351R Speedster has a 408 Stroker, 10 psi Vortech with straight gear cuts, and is dyno'ing about 579 hp at the rear wheels. At times when I really hop on it, I will get a cloud of black smoke behind the car from the exahust. A side effect of running real rich, to keep it cool.

From your pictures, I would think you have an oil leak on the passenger side and it is leaking onto the exhaust somewhere. Just my guess!

 

[ACRBruce]

Bruce,

If the clutch is not slipping or chattering I would not worry to much then. It seems like a lot of smoke though and never did hear if you smelled it afterwords. The twin disk has more clamping force but cannot take as much heat as a larger one from my experience so it may just have been real hot.

How many miles are on the car now? I wonder if you might have oil leaking from a main seal onto the clutch?

Car has 600 miles only and it wsa the first time I opened her up this past weekend. Before that I tried to not rev beyond 4K RPM as I always try to break-in my cars easy. I rarely launch my cars that hard but lets face it, we've all got to enjoy and experience the car's full potential once in a while, if not, why not just get a "Prissass"?
I'll most like do the gear swap soon so I'll have the seal checked at the same time. Thank you for the advise, btw.
I was wondering if anyone has ever seen the same thing from their cars and that's why I posted as you can only see the black when viewed haedon from the front and rarely someone would stand in front of a 600HP car being launched hard.

 

[ACRBruce]

Replacement clutch and pressure plate $371 list price.

$371, that's it . A Spec billet clutch w/ fly wheel for the Ford GT is $3500. OK, I'm going back for more launches tomorrow.... j/k.

 

[gb66gth]

Funny, I have had that same sort of experience. I took my '08 convrt. to the track (road course) and buy the end of my second session I noticed some wispy black smoke coming into the cockpit from , what seemed like, the passenger side floorboard. It didnt smell at all like clutch or oil. I got off track and popped the hood and crawled and sniffed around and under the car but never could figure out where it cam from. The day was vey hot, ambient temp. 100 F, and it is a new car, I chalked it up to burning carpet epoxy/resin or some undercoating?

 

[ACRBruce]

Funny, I have had that same sort of experience. I took my '08 convrt. to the track (road course) and buy the end of my second session I noticed some wispy black smoke coming into the cockpit from , what seemed like, the passenger side floorboard. It didnt smell at all like clutch or oil. I got off track and popped the hood and crawled and sniffed around and under the car but never could figure out where it cam from. The day was vey hot, ambient temp. 100 F, and it is a new car, I chalked it up to burning carpet epoxy/resin or some undercoating?

Now we are onto something. Would love to see more people chime in on similar experiences.

 

[mjorgensen Woodhouse]

Funny, I have had that same sort of experience. I took my '08 convrt. to the track (road course) and buy the end of my second session I noticed some wispy black smoke coming into the cockpit from , what seemed like, the passenger side floorboard. It didnt smell at all like clutch or oil. I got off track and popped the hood and crawled and sniffed around and under the car but never could figure out where it cam from. The day was vey hot, ambient temp. 100 F, and it is a new car, I chalked it up to burning carpet epoxy/resin or some undercoating?

Did the car seem down on power or smell like burning oil? I have seen the smoke before and it ended up being plugged cats and oil blowing back into the intake choking things off. Not a good thing. If so check the intake track for oil in the TB.

 

[adamlotus]

$371, that's it . A Spec billet clutch w/ fly wheel for the Ford GT is $3500. OK, I'm going back for more launches tomorrow.... j/k.

371 great price just had my diablo get a new clutch partsalone were closeto 5500

 

[Malu59RT]

$371, that's it . A Spec billet clutch w/ fly wheel for the Ford GT is $3500. OK, I'm going back for more launches tomorrow.... j/k.

371 great price just had my diablo get a new clutch partsalone were closeto 5500

WOW, that is a great price. I feared it would be closer to $1k-2k because other twin/triple discs are that expensive, but I guess that's because those are carbon clutches. Now I don't have to worry about sitting in rush hour traffic all day long.

 

[ACRBruce]

371 great price just had my diablo get a new clutch partsalone were closeto 5500

Hey Adam,
Do you have a Lotus too? Wanna buy or know someone looking for an '06 Elise w/ Forcedfed turbo kit. 272 RWHP on 100 octane. Runs greats and lots of extras for $40K.

 

[adamlotus]

Hey Adam,
Do you have a Lotus too? Wanna buy or know someone looking for an '06 Elise w/ Forcedfed turbo kit. 272 RWHP on 100 octane. Runs greats and lots of extras for $40K.

i usto have a 03 1/2 lotus esprit .got a 09 six speed srt8 chaleneger on order so no more cars for a while

 

[ILLSMOQ]

....clutch smoke is usually white in color

 

[67PLY]

Clutch dust is grey. Ever seen a Top Fuel dragster or Funny Car launch? They leave in a cloud of clutch dust that is grey to dark grey. The reason the "smoke" looks black, is because being under the car, no light shines through it, so it looks much darker than it is. I have actually smoked a clutch before, in a 1970 Challenger R/T. Yes if you slip it bad enough, you will see white smoke. I think if your clutch feels fine now, you probably just hazed the discs a little,because you've been taking it easy during breakin. If it does it again, I would be concerned.

Later,
Joe B

 

[fireball]

So less than $400 plus labour. Say, I dunno, 5 hours? So you can get out of the dealer for less than $1k! Fantastic!

IIRC my twin disc NSX clutch was $3500 for a factory replacement - and that was 10 years ago.

I say keep having fun with your car. When and IF it breaks get it fixed. Big deal.

 

[Newport Viper]

Note to self..... don't buy ACRBruce's car in the future.

 

[Paul Hawker]

Usually when you do a high rev start the tires break loose, and the clutch holds tight. The tires become the defacto clutch.