hi guys my name is Nello..i own #26 s281E 02.since i got it nothing but problems.i'm in the middle of a law siut with saleen right now.if u having the same problems with this car please call me at 914 8198787 i b happy 2 give u details.is not fear we spent about $80.000 and just got problems in return.my car has only 8,000 ml.with that money i could have one of those car they claim 2 eat for b,feast lunch or dinner..we got s...
Sorry to hear about your unrelenting problems with #26. I'm keeping my fingers crossed for no problems with mine(so far so good).
You don't have to answer this if you don't want to (as I know it's probably not wise to share the details of formal cases in public forums before they are ruled on).....but have you owned the car since it was new?
Extreme Saleen would you recommend changing all the forged internals from Saleen to Mahle? I purchased a new 06 extreme and have read quite a few post where people have changed out their forged internals to mahle.
The 06-07 E cars have good internals! The rods are Manley H beams, Factory Cobra crank and the pistons are forged CPs. You should have no problem with your enigine! The earlier E cars did have some cold piston slap, which was do to the piston to wall clearances the piston manufacturer required.
Hello everyone- I am new to this page, but I have been reading this thread for a few months now. I bought my 2002 Saleen S281-E#13 last May, and guess what... my radiator is leaking. Same exact story as (EXTREMESALEEN) ??? posted earlier in this thread. I had it pressure tested, and nothing but a drop on the lower right side. So so on Feb. 16 (Last Friday) I called Saleen and told them how I was another person having problems with my E car, and they said they have had no reports of anything going wrong with them. My car has 20XXX miles on it, and as far as I am concerned runs great. I don't have the piston problems as others, but why should I have to replace my radiator at such a low mileage. Andrew at Saleen said that if there is infact a problem, we all need to have our cars taken into a certified Saleen dealer and have the problems documented. He said they would be willing to help since at least 10% of the E cars made in 2002 have had the same exact problem. Please call me at 314-239-0135 or email me at danieljgreco@aol.com, so we can discuss this more. I have talked to Nello about his lawsuit, but his case seems more intense than mine. I think we can get Saleen to work with us on these Extremes!
The radiator is made by fluidyne, so not really a saleen part. And they are notorious for leaking. The e-car uses a lot of third party pieces and Saleen is sort of at the mercy of the other company's quality.
Your car is 5 years old now though, and way out of warranty. The Saleen pieces on the E only have a 1 year/12,000 mile warranty. So I don't think it fair to expect Saleen to take car of the radiator on a five year old car with 20k on it. Just buy a new one and move on.
My car has been a project since I bought it, but it is also a daily driver with 38k on it now and let's just say I like to drive it like I stole, so I expect to pay to play... so to speak. I do know that some of the early E's seem to have way too many problems for having so little miles. There was a car #21 that bounced around a lot and I always suspected that car was a real peach.
Sorry to hear that other people are having so many issues with their E cars though.
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2002 Saleen S281E #12 - SOLD
Chicane Intercooler and Pulley, JBA Headers, Magnaflow X, 3.73 gears, a bunch of other stuff
I was thinking about one too....but they're tough to find.
Why exactly do they have so many more problems with the E than the others? I haven't seen too many threads about the stock N/A or S/C versions having a lot of problems. I've never had problems with my S/C....
Have they gotten better with the 05+ body style?
< Message edited by eviligloo -- 2/20/2007 8:16:26 AM >
Don't get me wrong. This is one of the most amazing cars I've ever driven. The only real problems Ive heard of is the radiator leaks. As Extreme Saleen says, it is not even a Saleen part. I think I may just buy a Griffen or BeCool direct fit and be done with it. My car went 12.8 bone stock and on bald PZeros. These cars can flat run their A$$&S off. I know Nello has a Lemon, and someone else had to rebuild, but I know of a guy who has my twin car and has had no problems at all. I think there is an electrical problem with the new E cars. There is another thread on here about that.
I have had no problems with my E except for an exciter wire that shorted out. Can't blame Saleen for that. Plus they shipped me a replacement 24 hours later. All I did was email them the problem. The old ones were sick. The new ones are on a whole new level.
I happily stumbled across this post there are so few of these cars ...anyway I have that same smell ,however besides the car cranking a little too much for my liking on a cold start it ran perfectly from the start , I'm the 3 rd owner 02 #33 convert . I called Saleen in Irvine re front rotors and there rec perf. updates , the Alcon rotors are impossible to find except thru Alcon(any ideas?) however I was able too throw pads in and it still stops well. In regards to the diesel sound when cold Saleen enclose a hand signed letter re this very unique sound a sure fire way to tell if your car is original. I remember my friend that had a used superbird with the 2-4's that never ran right and the dealer did not even take it on a trade , and another friends father that had his boss 429 shortblock changed twice because it was not right I don't need to talk to you guys about the present value of those auto's and they did not have air or p/w ,I guess you get a good one or a bad one. So the first thing i did is go to at track event at Pocono raceway short course ,boiled the brake fluid aside from that the car was great on the trck with no prep and bad brakes . I really beat the hell out if it!!! I'm lucky eneogh to live within driving distance to JPM engineering in Freehold NJ they are basically Saleens factory drag team when I pulled up they just took deliver of an 07 Extreen Byrillium SHELL that they will be making into Saleens factory drag car I knew these were my guys!!! Anyway a cold air kit ,an experimental lower crank pulley and there custom dyno tune netted out 430hp at the wheels and 440ft lbs . A couple of observations huge differance in street driving I have hiway driven it the power band is so big i found myself bouncing off the rev limiter it just wants to keep on going. Then for the real test back to Pocono on the front straight I turned into turn 1 at about 120mph slowed to 90 thru the bowl and barelled down the back straight at clicked 135 before turning into infield I'm still getting some detonation after upshifting under full throttle I'm waiting for my modified tune on my email to hopefully correct that .At some point I'll upgrade to a newer Extreem or shelby with a Super Snake kit but my last step is a upper pulley chicane intercooler and MAF that should get me about 470-490 rwheel thats it without toching the exhaust however i do not want to deviate from the stock look I feel the the E's will rise sharply in value and all fall into collectors hands in the next 5 years try and find a saleen/cobra or look at at $$ for a GNX and they made much fewer E's ,anyway if anyone knows anywhere I can get rotors it would be appreciated!!
Posts: 895
Joined: 8/5/2006 From: Alameda, CA Status: offline
quote:
ORIGINAL: ExtreemDaddy
I happily stumbled across this post there are so few of these cars ...anyway I have that same smell ,however besides the car cranking a little too much for my liking on a cold start it ran perfectly from the start , I'm the 3 rd owner 02 #33 convert . I called Saleen in Irvine re front rotors and there rec perf. updates , the Alcon rotors are impossible to find except thru Alcon(any ideas?) however I was able too throw pads in and it still stops well. In regards to the diesel sound when cold Saleen enclose a hand signed letter re this very unique sound a sure fire way to tell if your car is original. I remember my friend that had a used superbird with the 2-4's that never ran right and the dealer did not even take it on a trade , and another friends father that had his boss 429 shortblock changed twice because it was not right I don't need to talk to you guys about the present value of those auto's and they did not have air or p/w ,I guess you get a good one or a bad one. So the first thing i did is go to at track event at Pocono raceway short course ,boiled the brake fluid aside from that the car was great on the trck with no prep and bad brakes . I really beat the hell out if it!!! I'm lucky eneogh to live within driving distance to JPM engineering in Freehold NJ they are basically Saleens factory drag team when I pulled up they just took deliver of an 07 Extreen Byrillium SHELL that they will be making into Saleens factory drag car I knew these were my guys!!! Anyway a cold air kit ,an experimental lower crank pulley and there custom dyno tune netted out 430hp at the wheels and 440ft lbs . A couple of observations huge differance in street driving I have hiway driven it the power band is so big i found myself bouncing off the rev limiter it just wants to keep on going. Then for the real test back to Pocono on the front straight I turned into turn 1 at about 120mph slowed to 90 thru the bowl and barelled down the back straight at clicked 135 before turning into infield I'm still getting some detonation after upshifting under full throttle I'm waiting for my modified tune on my email to hopefully correct that .At some point I'll upgrade to a newer Extreem or shelby with a Super Snake kit but my last step is a upper pulley chicane intercooler and MAF that should get me about 470-490 rwheel thats it without toching the exhaust however i do not want to deviate from the stock look I feel the the E's will rise sharply in value and all fall into collectors hands in the next 5 years try and find a saleen/cobra or look at at $$ for a GNX and they made much fewer E's ,anyway if anyone knows anywhere I can get rotors it would be appreciated!!
My goodness that was a twisty road you took us on!
I have nothing to contribute, just wanted to welcome you to the forum and wish you luck with your car.
Posts: 2745
Joined: 6/8/2006 From: SF Bay Area Status: offline
quote:
ORIGINAL: ExtremeSaleen
The radiator is made by fluidyne, so not really a saleen part. And they are notorious for leaking. The e-car uses a lot of third party pieces and Saleen is sort of at the mercy of the other company's quality...
Just to add my $.02, I disagree with this particular statement.
If Saleen is going to install ANY parts, their own or some other manufacturers, it WILL reflect on them. If Saleen installed this radiator, and they have regular probs (don't know if this is actually the case) it makes them look bad, pure and simple. If Saleen installed it, it is Saleens part.
I went for advice, the following is what I got. I hope this helps....... The coolant leve dropping in the expansion tank and there are no visible leaks means that the intercooler inside the manifold is leaking. which is also causing the misfire because coolant is being sucked into the intake. That will give a strong smell of coolant from the exhaust and of course fowl the sparkplugs. Oil consumption is normal to a certain extent. Forced induction causes blowby which is oil that gets sucked in the intake from the increased vacuum pulling small amounts of oil from the crankcase breather or PCV valve. Tell him to do a pressure test on the intercooler system. That will tell him if the intercooler is cracked or one of the fittings inside are leaking.
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Spring Cook Saleen, Inc. Irvine, Ca. 02-0003 Silver S281 SC Coupe
Posts: 895
Joined: 8/5/2006 From: Alameda, CA Status: offline
quote:
ORIGINAL: saleenlvr
I went for advice, the following is what I got. I hope this helps....... The coolant leve dropping in the expansion tank and there are no visible leaks means that the intercooler inside the manifold is leaking. which is also causing the misfire because coolant is being sucked into the intake. That will give a strong smell of coolant from the exhaust and of course fowl the sparkplugs. Oil consumption is normal to a certain extent. Forced induction causes blowby which is oil that gets sucked in the intake from the increased vacuum pulling small amounts of oil from the crankcase breather or PCV valve. Tell him to do a pressure test on the intercooler system. That will tell him if the intercooler is cracked or one of the fittings inside are leaking.
WOW, Spring! Awesome info. I'm sure he will be grateful for your time and attention to this. You rock!
I happily stumbled across this post there are so few of these cars ...anyway I have that same smell ,however besides the car cranking a little too much for my liking on a cold start it ran perfectly from the start , I'm the 3 rd owner 02 #33 convert . I called Saleen in Irvine re front rotors and there rec perf. updates , the Alcon rotors are impossible to find except thru Alcon(any ideas?) however I was able too throw pads in and it still stops well. In regards to the diesel sound when cold Saleen enclose a hand signed letter re this very unique sound a sure fire way to tell if your car is original. I remember my friend that had a used superbird with the 2-4's that never ran right and the dealer did not even take it on a trade , and another friends father that had his boss 429 shortblock changed twice because it was not right I don't need to talk to you guys about the present value of those auto's and they did not have air or p/w ,I guess you get a good one or a bad one. So the first thing i did is go to at track event at Pocono raceway short course ,boiled the brake fluid aside from that the car was great on the trck with no prep and bad brakes . I really beat the hell out if it!!! I'm lucky eneogh to live within driving distance to JPM engineering in Freehold NJ they are basically Saleens factory drag team when I pulled up they just took deliver of an 07 Extreen Byrillium SHELL that they will be making into Saleens factory drag car I knew these were my guys!!! Anyway a cold air kit ,an experimental lower crank pulley and there custom dyno tune netted out 430hp at the wheels and 440ft lbs . A couple of observations huge differance in street driving I have hiway driven it the power band is so big i found myself bouncing off the rev limiter it just wants to keep on going. Then for the real test back to Pocono on the front straight I turned into turn 1 at about 120mph slowed to 90 thru the bowl and barelled down the back straight at clicked 135 before turning into infield I'm still getting some detonation after upshifting under full throttle I'm waiting for my modified tune on my email to hopefully correct that .At some point I'll upgrade to a newer Extreem or shelby with a Super Snake kit but my last step is a upper pulley chicane intercooler and MAF that should get me about 470-490 rwheel thats it without toching the exhaust however i do not want to deviate from the stock look I feel the the E's will rise sharply in value and all fall into collectors hands in the next 5 years try and find a saleen/cobra or look at at $$ for a GNX and they made much fewer E's ,anyway if anyone knows anywhere I can get rotors it would be appreciated!!
I am pretty sure you can still buy rotors from StreetWise, located here in Southern California.
_____________________________
Spring Cook Saleen, Inc. Irvine, Ca. 02-0003 Silver S281 SC Coupe
I went for advice, the following is what I got. I hope this helps....... The coolant leve dropping in the expansion tank and there are no visible leaks means that the intercooler inside the manifold is leaking. which is also causing the misfire because coolant is being sucked into the intake. That will give a strong smell of coolant from the exhaust and of course fowl the sparkplugs. Oil consumption is normal to a certain extent. Forced induction causes blowby which is oil that gets sucked in the intake from the increased vacuum pulling small amounts of oil from the crankcase breather or PCV valve. Tell him to do a pressure test on the intercooler system. That will tell him if the intercooler is cracked or one of the fittings inside are leaking.
WOW, Spring! Awesome info. I'm sure he will be grateful for your time and attention to this. You rock!
Thanks Amy!
_____________________________
Spring Cook Saleen, Inc. Irvine, Ca. 02-0003 Silver S281 SC Coupe
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RE: 02 S281E problems - 
