Clutch Shocker!

[Purple Guy]

One of the riders in our club was doing his end of theseason oil change on his 2014 RT-S a couple weeks ago.
When he went to drain out his catch pan he noticed quite abit of fragments in the old oil.
He took a pill bottle of the contaminated oil to our local dealer and showed it to the head tech there.
Within minutes and without even seeing the machine he had diagnosed that the foreign material was from the clutch plates.
Long story short, he brings in his machine, they pull the engine and sure enough some of the plates had completely exploded.
Here’s the shocker (to me & him anyway) NOT covered by warranty!
This is a Spyder with only 20,000 kms (12,000 mi) on it.
I might add driven by a person in his 60’s, not a leadfooted teenager…
BRP’s position on the matter is that a clutch like brakes wear out and therefore are not covered for any length of time under warranty. I might add that in addition to his 2 year factory & 2 year extended warranty he also purchased an additional 5 year warranty all of which would not cover this failure.
The dealer did their best to get BRP to step up to the plate,sending in photos after the first request for a warranty claim proving that the disks were not worn out but failed and broke apart to which BRP still refused the claim.
Just wondering if anyone else out there has had or has heard of a similar problem concerning the clutches in the 1330 engines?

[rcturner]

This is a normal response to clutch failures. However, if the plates were broken, that should at least make it under consideration for warranty. By the way, even people over 60 can do things that are less than responsible. Ask me how I know.

[JimVonBaden]

As said, this is a common reaction from a manufacturer. Typically under 6K miles you may have a chance at getting some coverage, but a person can destroy a clutch in under 1000 miles from abuse or misuse. Unless the warranty book says otherwise, your friend is on the hook for the fix.

[robtdonna]

Presuming this is on an SE6, not the SM6?

[Purple Guy]

Presuming this is on an SE6, not the SM6?

Yes it is an SE6, should have included that in the original post...

[Highwayman2013]

As said, this is a common reaction from a manufacturer. Typically under 6K miles you may have a chance at getting some coverage, but a person can destroy a clutch in under 1000 miles from abuse or misuse. Unless the warranty book says otherwise, your friend is on the hook for the fix.

Not sure how you abuse a clutch on an SE6.

[JimVonBaden]

Not sure how you abuse a clutch on an SE6.

I wouldn't know, but I am sure they can claim it.

I only know that some here talk about how you should not dog the motor, especially with the SE, but that may not apply. I'm just saying that most clutches are considered wear items, like brakes, and as such, are not under warranty.

I suggest the OP have his friend check his warranty book. That will tell him more than we can on what is and isn't covered.

[Chupaca]

Have seen some clutch questions as to failure elswhere, also not covered. Don't suspect it a common issue but having one fail can be for many reasons and can be done by anyone. If no help comes I would suggest you go Barnett clutch package...jmo sometimes in some cases help has come in parts but not often and I don't know if BRP has done this....

[PapaHotel]

On Eco mode, isn't dogging the motor the way it works for economy?

[Purple Guy]

He had said he commenly switches gears at 3000 RPM which I would consider a reasonable point on a SE6.

[Peter Aawen]

The elctro/hydraulic clutches (oil pressure operated hydraulics with electric/solenoid switching) on the SE6's post 2014 really shouldn't care too much about 'low revs' for their full engagement, altho like most clutches they don't like the operator lugging the engine & forcing them to try to drive the vehicle with insufficient power and still being forced to try and keep it all moving without slipping or stalling out, but that rarely causes clutches to disintegrate!! Slip, yeah; disintegrate, not so much! So if I were you Purple Guy, I'd be advising your mate to push this back onto BRP - I'd say there was pretty obviously a physical/mechanical failure in the clutch assy itself that shouldn't have occurred; abusing it probably wouldn't have made a great deal of difference to it either way & it cleary didn't 'wear out' even if it is a 'wear item'; put baldly, the sub-par assy disintegrated - and because of that physical failure rather than wearing out, it sounds like it wasn't 'fit for its intended function' & as such, should be fully covered by his Spyder warranty!!

Is he sure the Dealer has actually approached BRP about this & isn't just trying to fob him off?? Maybe he should email BRPcare, there's an address here on the Forum somewhere....

Good Luck!

[Purple Guy]

The dealer did contact BRP twice, the second time with photos to no avail. He also contacted BRP by email and they still refused to consider a claim.
The dealer did the repair at a goodwill rate "one time only" which was $1900!

[Bob Denman]

Clutches wear out...
But where is the difference between normal wear and tear; and a failure??

[Purple Guy]

Clutches wear out...
But where is the difference between normal wear and tear; and a failure??

That question was asked directly to BRP but they would not clarify.

[cognaccruiser]

Purple Guy, I'm curious if your friend had noticed any change in performance? The dealer said some of the plates had disintegrated /exploded. I thought he might have felt something unusual with it when shifting or accelerating.

Gary

[Purple Guy]

Purple Guy, I'm curious if your friend had noticed any change in performance? The dealer said some of the plates had disintegrated /exploded. I thought he might have felt something unusual with it when shifting or accelerating.

Gary

The only thing that he noticed was after the oil change engagin into gear the "clunk" seemedead to be louder. HE never took it for a ride because he was concerned of the damage it might cause and had it towed to the dealer.

[Bob Denman]

That question was asked directly to BRP but they would not clarify.

And THAT's exactly what they should be explaining... to everyone!

[Purple Guy]

And THAT's exactly what they should be explaining... to everyone!

[BLUEKNIGHT911]

#1. was your friend using a QUALIFIED OIL in the engine ( BRP or an equivalent ) ????............and #2. Tires are also a WEAR item and not normally Warrantied ....... However they have been replaced under warranty if they have been shown to be DEFECTIVE ..... And I agree with those who said it appears the clutch WAS DEFECTIVE .......... Mike

[Purple Guy]

#1. was your friend using a QUALIFIED OIL in the engine ( BRP or an equivalent ) ????............and #2. Ties are also a WEAR item and not normally Warrantied ....... However they have been replaced under warranty if they have been shown to be DEFECTIVE ..... And I agree with those who said it appears the clutch WAS DEFECTIVE .......... Mike

He has always use the blended oil kits from BRP

[Firefly]

Wow... $1,900 ? Must have been a lot of cleanup work inside the case..hope the rest of the engine is okay!
Clutches are rarely covered under warranty for any vehicle.. as they are considered a warranty item.
I had mine go out on my 2012 RT while at Spyderfest a few years ago. It was slipping, so not as involved of a repair.

Hope they get you back on the road. Nothing to lose by keeping on BRP to see if they will help you out on this one. Considering it's an SE, it's not like you were revving and dumping the clutch.....

[ARtraveler]

This one is beyond my mechanical expertise. My suggestion is to start a personal case with Steve at

brp.care@brp.com Give them a chance to solve this behind the scenes.

[StanProff]

I have to agree on this thread that the clutch plates were defective and the problem would not be from ware.
Now that the 1330's have been on the market for over a couple of years, Do we have an average life for the SE clutches? I am curious to see if a lot of us need to start getting prepared for a big bill for replacement. I have had many motorcycles over the course of 50 years and never a clutch failure and yes, many of the bikes have had well over 50K on them.

[Purple Guy]

This one is beyond my mechanical expertise. My suggestion is to start a personal case with Steve at

brp.care@brp.com Give them a chance to solve this behind the scenes.

They did exchange several emails with BRP, with Steve or not I don't know but in the end they refused to budge.

[Sam Mac]

This is BS, time to get a lawyer. They took you're $$ for the extended warranty and now they don't want to stand behind the product. If you had 100,000 miles on it well maybe but for the miles you have on it give me a break.