Pressure Plate fails at 2500 miles

[BLKSNAKE]

My Viper has been tough to shift since new- I just thought it was part of the package. Two weeks ago reverse gear became almost impossible to shift into- I had to kill the engine and then shift. I took the snake into my local dealer and they put a new clutch/pressure plate in under warranty- turns out I had broken springs in the pressure plate.

The wierd thing is that the Viper now shifts as easy as my vette, it NEVER did that from the factory. I probably missed out on upgrading the clutch but I am very pleased in the shifting- almost like an upgrade for free.

 

[scottcot]

Thanks for this post! You may be helping me get to the bottom of my own shifting problem. Was it just reverse that gave you trouble, or did you have problems with other shifts?

I've been having problems shifting since around 200 miles. I took it in at 400 and they attributed my symptoms to normal viper sounds. Now at 800 miles, I'm taking it in again because it's getting worse and I think I've been burning transmission fluid.

What I experience is a metallic clunk sound and a "feeling" through the shifter of something being lose when I shift gears. Sometimes it happens merely by engaging or disengaging the clutch, sometimes it happens once I finish a shift and have released the clutch pedal. I sometimes have trouble getting into reverse while completely stopped. All shifts feel a little rough - I have to work to get it into gear.

It looks like my viper tech will be getting intimate with my transmission later this week.

 

[BLKSNAKE]

It started with reverse but first and second then third became hard. Reverse was the most severe.

 

[Viper X]

Read my previous post entitled pressure plate failures. I've had two so far. The first was a defective pressure plate. When the dealer replaced it, they failed to properly torque the bolts, and it failed again only 1500 miles later.

It is likely that you have the same problem.

Good luck,

Dan