I own a 2006 Saleen Extreme 550, which has a little different suspension than the N/A and S/C saleen and what not, plus a 12 lb. tune and maxgrip differential...but does anyone else have problems like i am on any of their S/C 05+ cars??
I bought the car brand new off a lot here in detroit. When i inspected the car, i noticed some small imperfections which i told the dealer to fix, some of which i know are common problems with saleens, (like the steering wheel badge peeling off). When i drove the car, everytime i shifted the boot would come off, so they ordered me a new shifter handle which is shorter (installed on the 07's) all fixed and no problems.
I showed the car to some saleen owner friends which have not seen a supercharged 05+ yet and they said the roots blower sounds like its not getting oil cause it makes a lound and obnoxious noise like the twin screws are just touching eachother (only when the hood is up and youre listening). Then the car started getting hard to go into gear, until i couldnt get it into gear anymore and had to tow it to the dealership on a flatbed. They told me saleen spec'd them to pull the trans, re-torq the clutch plate bolts, and bleed the clutch. They told me the supercharger sounded normal but the belt was shreded and ready to snap. They said the belt was slipping and the tensioner pulley was bad, so they replaced it. (mind you this was at about 350 miles and the car currently has under 800).
That was all fixed and good. One thing i didnt tell the dealer was the humming i hear in the rearend, which when i test drove the car before i bought it, the guy i know from Saleen told me its the rearend and its normal.
Not that i have a few more miles on the car, i had a friend of mine that owns a well-respected mustang tuning shop around town look at it becuase he hasnt seen an extreme in person yet. He drove the car and said the humming noise is not good and sounds like theres a ring and pinion problem. He also pointed out that when you give it throttle (not necessarily matting it) the right rear end squats considerably and the car pulls left, quite hard sometimes. It feels like the axel is twisting like there is no lower control arm bushing on the righthand side, causing the back of the car to go right and the front of the car to go left, like it torques hard. He told me it seems like there is a broken or bent control arm. I got on it ONCE out of the whole w/ the 4:10's in first gear and now the humming noise is getting louder and torques worse, like obnoxious loud, and the supercharger still sounds nasty. The guy from saleen told me the rearend is normal because all the extremes do it due to the MAX GRIP posi. I talked to my buddy francis with a 2000 WS6 fully built with a 9" race rear end and runs high 8's, and he said his rear end makes some noise, but it shouldnt be like that.
Now that the problems are getting worse, my radiator temp guage sometimes reads upwards of 125 on a cold day and the supercharger is making very unstable boost. It has a stock tune of 12 lbs and now only will make 10.5-11 and spikes all over the place. The guage looks like a bass light....?
The guy from saleen told me that he doesnt want a dealer looking at it, he wants SSV looking at it, so hes going to meet me up there and have it tested, but im concerned their going to say everything is OK, and the car will just keep having problems.
My next question to him will be what am i going to do in 8 months when my 1 year powertrain warrenty is up?
Can any of you verify ANY of my listed problems? it seems like the car is a lemon or something, just problem after problem and i dont even have 1000 miles on the car yet. Would any of you say that since the car is built by hand, minor querkes have to be worked out in the first year?
advice/thoughts?
I bought the car brand new off a lot here in detroit. When i inspected the car, i noticed some small imperfections which i told the dealer to fix, some of which i know are common problems with saleens, (like the steering wheel badge peeling off). When i drove the car, everytime i shifted the boot would come off, so they ordered me a new shifter handle which is shorter (installed on the 07's) all fixed and no problems.
I showed the car to some saleen owner friends which have not seen a supercharged 05+ yet and they said the roots blower sounds like its not getting oil cause it makes a lound and obnoxious noise like the twin screws are just touching eachother (only when the hood is up and youre listening). Then the car started getting hard to go into gear, until i couldnt get it into gear anymore and had to tow it to the dealership on a flatbed. They told me saleen spec'd them to pull the trans, re-torq the clutch plate bolts, and bleed the clutch. They told me the supercharger sounded normal but the belt was shreded and ready to snap. They said the belt was slipping and the tensioner pulley was bad, so they replaced it. (mind you this was at about 350 miles and the car currently has under 800).
That was all fixed and good. One thing i didnt tell the dealer was the humming i hear in the rearend, which when i test drove the car before i bought it, the guy i know from Saleen told me its the rearend and its normal.
Not that i have a few more miles on the car, i had a friend of mine that owns a well-respected mustang tuning shop around town look at it becuase he hasnt seen an extreme in person yet. He drove the car and said the humming noise is not good and sounds like theres a ring and pinion problem. He also pointed out that when you give it throttle (not necessarily matting it) the right rear end squats considerably and the car pulls left, quite hard sometimes. It feels like the axel is twisting like there is no lower control arm bushing on the righthand side, causing the back of the car to go right and the front of the car to go left, like it torques hard. He told me it seems like there is a broken or bent control arm. I got on it ONCE out of the whole w/ the 4:10's in first gear and now the humming noise is getting louder and torques worse, like obnoxious loud, and the supercharger still sounds nasty. The guy from saleen told me the rearend is normal because all the extremes do it due to the MAX GRIP posi. I talked to my buddy francis with a 2000 WS6 fully built with a 9" race rear end and runs high 8's, and he said his rear end makes some noise, but it shouldnt be like that.
Now that the problems are getting worse, my radiator temp guage sometimes reads upwards of 125 on a cold day and the supercharger is making very unstable boost. It has a stock tune of 12 lbs and now only will make 10.5-11 and spikes all over the place. The guage looks like a bass light....?
The guy from saleen told me that he doesnt want a dealer looking at it, he wants SSV looking at it, so hes going to meet me up there and have it tested, but im concerned their going to say everything is OK, and the car will just keep having problems.
My next question to him will be what am i going to do in 8 months when my 1 year powertrain warrenty is up?
Can any of you verify ANY of my listed problems? it seems like the car is a lemon or something, just problem after problem and i dont even have 1000 miles on the car yet. Would any of you say that since the car is built by hand, minor querkes have to be worked out in the first year?
advice/thoughts?