[WA 2 FST]

1266 miles on the odometer. Owned it about 2 months. 500 miles occurred just this past weekend on a trip out of town. TH ran great, no issues. I've thoroughly enjoyed the truck, and while I would not classify my style as overly-aggressive, I have done some 0-60s (top speed on the recorder is 102, I checked that today), and lay into it every now and then. But I do not beat this thing.

Drove it around this morning for about 5 miles, put gas in it, hadn't really gotten into boost that I can recall, but everything seemed fine.

Made a stop back home for about 2 hours (I work from home some days), and then left again...I was about a mile from my house today when A/C stopped working, just blowing air. I figured the clutch wasn't engaging or something... I'll take it in later. Nope. Didn't make it another 1/2 mile and bells start going off... battery light flashes, temp light flashes... I look at temp gauge and it is pegged. Pull over immediately and shut it down. Pop the hood to find both belts were gone.

So I called Roadside Assistance and had it towed to the dealer. Not a lot of fun in 100^F heat here in Texas, but at least the house I parked in front of had a shade tree. LOL

I _really_ hope this is not going to be a problem with this thing, and unless the dealer discovers the idler/tensioner pulleys are out of alignment, I don't know what would have caused this. I don't pop the hood that often... but I did check pulley alignment about a month ago... seemed fine. Also, I remember hearing the blower whine during my 500 mile trip, and did have to get on the throttle a few times to pass slow traffic, etc. I'm wondering if an abrupt downshift in high-heat during a long drive might have started tearing the blower belt? But if I cannot trust this to NOT happen again...

Anyway, we'll see. My hood liner took a little damage, and the engine bay is covered in belt shrapnel. I did get it shut down before engine damage, I'm confident in that. It fired right up to get it on/off the flatbed.

Will keep everyone posted.

 

[Lil Hemi]

I found my supercharger belt was off a rib on the idler pulley from the factory, maybe you had the same issue but worse??

 

[adamkc]

Well that sucks. To be honest it sounds like your driving isn't bad at all. I feel most of us have much more spirited driving then what you've described above - this thing is 707 HP so it's meant to be driven like it has 707 HP. Please keep us informed as to what your dealer finds and what they plan on doing about it.

 

[WA 2 FST]

I found my supercharger belt was off a rib on the idler pulley from the factory, maybe you had the same issue but worse??

I read your post awhile back, especially since you purchased yours before me. I have checked the blower belt and accessory belt several times during the two months of ownership, albeit not recently. I do believe the blower belt shredded first because what was left of the accessory belt was still hanging on the harmonic balancer, while the supercharger belt was long gone. I can't pin point when it happened, though. Had to be very recently. I would think without the blower spinning, it would run like crap, even at part throttle cruise...but maybe not.

 

[WA 2 FST]

Well that sucks. To be honest it sounds like your driving isn't bad at all. I feel most of us have much more spirited driving then what you've described above - this thing is 707 HP so it's meant to be driven like it has 707 HP. Please keep us informed as to what your dealer finds and what they plan on doing about it.

My service advisor even made a point that it was meant to be driven hard. I told him honestly, I've done some 0-60s, but wasn't romping on it when the accessory belt failed completely (now it could have been damaged during a high-load/WOT pull and was just on its last legs), but I just returned from a highway trip where I got 17mpg... and I drove my ZR1 yesterday, so I'm kind of at a loss as to when this all must have started. I didn't feel any sudden loss of power, but again, I wasn't laying into it when it happened.

Yes, I'm disappointed, but moreso because it creates doubt in my mind about reliability. I don't/won't do a ton of long trips in this thing, but my gosh I ought to be able to without worry of a belt shredding.

One thing I do know... I won't be modding this thing. LOL And I'm really fine with that. I anticipate with cooler temps, its going to be 3.1-3.2 0-60, and that's plenty quick for a 5400lb brick and my type of driving.

 

[Lil Hemi]

Where in Texas are you? I’m in ATX and I’d avoid taking it to the dealership in south Austin if you’re here. Have had pretty poor service from them on multiple occasions.

 

[WA 2 FST]

I'm in a N Dallas suburb. The dealer here is decent, from what I understand.

 

[WA 2 FST]

I will certainly keep you guys posted on what they find. Now that I've had a few hours to relax from a really hot day (being stranded when it is 105^F is not fun), I'm wondering if maybe the AC compressor froze up. The AC quit working for several minutes _before_ the belt shredding catastrophe occurred. If the compressor froze up, then that definitely would have taken out the belt, which itself could have taken out the blower belt, in very short order.

We'll see. The service advisor has already been in touch, and said once they get it squared away, do the cruise control recall and change the oil (my request), they will clean up the engine bay really well and order (or install, if in stock) a new hood liner that was damaged.

 

[Lil Hemi]

Oh, yeah, that’s sounds logical. You’d think you’d hear the belt squealing but then again, it’s pretty noisy under the hood. Be sure to check the oil level when they’re done before you leave.

 

[OverKill]

Man, that sucks! My heart goes out to you. As you know, there must be a contributing factor to this otherwise I think we would hear about this more with all of the hellcat motors out there. So, I wouldn’t question the reliability once it is fixed. Just be glad this happened close to home instead of while you were out of town. I would also inform the service advisor that when you get it back it should look like it never happened. In your picture, it looks like one of the idler pullies got chewed up. I would also ask them to check the radiator fan blades and shroud for damage when it is on the lift.

Good luck and let us know what you find out. Unless they provided you with an incredible loaner car, I see more miles being put on the ZR1….

 

[WA 2 FST]

The Service Advisor seems great to this point. He said he wants it to look new again. We'll see if he can deliver.

Yes, I see what you're talking about with that one idler pulley, but that is just belt debris. It was obvious the belt got very hot before getting tossed. This was more than a thrown belt... more like exploded belts.

And yes, I am _very_ thankful this was a mile from home... especially after driving it 500 miles on a highway trip this past weekend. My wife said the same thing.

My concern is reliability of it going forward, but I agree with you... given the thousands of HC engines out there making way more power, being driven much harder than mine... this would be happening all the time if it was a design flaw.

For the next couple of days, I will drive a Vette. They tend to melt in the rain, LOL, but its gonna be hot and very dry for awhile.

 

[OverKill]

I know my ZR1 will certainly melt in the rain. The only time it ever gets wet is at the car wash.
You do have a tough choice of which Vette to drive. I love the Blue Devil with those wheels! It looks very clean!!!

 

[WA 2 FST]

UPDATE:

Service is going to detail my vehicle for me, but the recall has been done, and new belts installed... everything checks out. I talked directly to the SVC MGR (like I said, my son works in accounting) and he said they have a manufacturer Field Engineer who stops in 2x a week at this dealership to report issues and take reports of issues on new vehicles. He checked on my TH personally, and said that several testers in Detroit had the same experience on a few, and it was revealed that there was a bad batch of supercharger belts that were installed from the manufacturer...and that they were failing in extreme heat. Given the 100+F ambient temps we've had here, not to mention my previous 250 mile non-stop drive the day before in that heat... it is very likely this is what caused the problem.

They got a new hood liner in today, but it was damaged, so they reordered it and will schedule an install time.

First experience with service at this dealer, but it is a high-end one in a N Dallas suburb. I would _expect_ that they would treat their customers well, and have quality techs on site. I didn't buy my TH there because they are too proud of them on the showroom floor (still selling at/above sticker...and getting it, LOL), but overall the dealer has an excellent reputation.

Should be picking it up late today or tomorrow. Will report again if I have any issues.

 

[adamkc]

UPDATE:

Service is going to detail my vehicle for me, but the recall has been done, and new belts installed... everything checks out. I talked directly to the SVC MGR (like I said, my son works in accounting) and he said they have a manufacturer Field Engineer who stops in 2x a week at this dealership to report issues and take reports of issues on new vehicles. He checked on my TH personally, and said that several testers in Detroit had the same experience on a few, and it was revealed that there was a bad batch of supercharger belts that were installed from the manufacturer...and that they were failing in extreme heat. Given the 100+F ambient temps we've had here, not to mention my previous 250 mile non-stop drive the day before in that heat... it is very likely this is what caused the problem.

They got a new hood liner in today, but it was damaged, so they reordered it and will schedule an install time.

First experience with service at this dealer, but it is a high-end one in a N Dallas suburb. I would _expect_ that they would treat their customers well, and have quality techs on site. I didn't buy my TH there because they are too proud of them on the showroom floor (still selling at/above sticker...and getting it, LOL), but overall the dealer has an excellent reputation.

Should be picking it up late today or tomorrow. Will report again if I have any issues.

Glad to hear they're taking ownership of the faults and making things right for you. A small set back but at least you're being treated fairly.

 

[OverKill]

That is good to hear it was just a belt failure and not something else like your A/C compressor going out. It sounds likes a fluke thing and it should help put your mind at ease about the reliability of the motor. It sounds like you will be good-as-new shortly after your hood liner comes in.

Thank you for the update, the Vettes will have to go back into the garage now. :wink2:

 

[WA 2 FST]

Yes, very happy with the dealer who serviced it (not the dealer I purchased from...which is too far away for me to mess with, honestly). Underhood, I can't tell anything happened, and it runs like it did prior to the issue.

 

[gooweea]

I had the same thing happen to me with less than 200 miles on her. New belts, tensioners ,alternator and hood liner.

 

[Nabisco]

**** this scares me, keep us posted on what the dealer says caused the issue and good luck

 

[WA 2 FST]

**** this scares me, keep us posted on what the dealer says caused the issue and good luck

Check post #13. That was the dealer's explanation. Had it just been the service tech, i would be more concerned. But given it was a field engineer who inspected the vehicle himself, and then reported there were a few with other issues like this, I'm ok with the explanation for now.

 

[WA 2 FST]

Went "green" today (and will have a green air filter installed shortly, once it arrives)... sounds funny for a vehicle that gets 10-11mpg. LOL

Very easy install. Seriously, if I was more familiar with the belt routing of this engine, it would have literally taken me 5 minutes start to finish. No busted knuckles. and I did it by myself.

I did NOT remove the air intake.

1/2" breaker bar with 3/8" reducer to fit into the OEM S-belt tensioner. The reducer was nice because it actually helped clearance of the WP pulley, but didn't push the breaker bar too far out so as to interfere with the fan shroud. Then 1/2" breaker bar with 15mm socket for supercharger tensioner. It was so easy, I had to double, triple check my belt routing to make sure I didn't do it wrong (and snap a belt on start-up).

So now I've got these and a pair of factory belts with about 100 miles on them as back-ups (which I hope I don't ever need!!!).