Challenger RT/T1000 WOT Hesitation Tips

[mpaladino]

Thought I would post this for anyone else with a Challenger RT that is experiencing engine hesitation/stutter when your to the floor (WOT).

[Here's the story but skip down to the bottom is you just want the solution]

For the past 12 months I've been experiencing this. Thought it might be the 93 tune I had installed (running 95 octane gas), so I would switch back to the 91 tune, only to have the same issues. This drove me crazy for months. The car just seems to lag and I couldn't figure out why.

Then just a few weeks ago at my local Challenger Club meet up, I was talking to another member about the problem. He laughed and said "I know exactly why."

He grabbed a socket set and torque wrench from his trunk and we popped the hoop on my 2014 RT. After removing the engine cover, he started to try and unscrew the intake manifold bolts by hand, which he successfully did to 3 of them. Turns out, the bolts are supposed to be torqued down at 100 ft pnds, but when they come off the assembly line, they only apply 35 pounds and use loktite to keep them from coming out. This cause (in many cases) a bad manifold seal which allows additional air to enter the mixture, making the engine run too lean. We ended up torquing them down to the proper amount of foot pounds. All were about 60-70 ft lbs too light.

Next, we began pulling all the spark plugs. Gap for 2014 challenger according to shop manual is suppose to be .43. Turns out, 10 of the 16 plugs we gapped to .38. We re-gapped the plugs and reinstalled them.

With the repairs complete, I took the car for a drive. To my amazement, the hesitation was completely gone and the car was extremely snappy and responsive. It was like a different car.

[Solution]

If you're experiencing WOT stutter or hesitation like I was, just do the following:

1. Check your intake manifold bolts and make sure they're torqued down to 100 ft lbs. Also apply LokTite because they like to come loose.

2. If you've never replaced your spark plugs, check to make sure they are all gapped to .43. 10 out of 16 of mine were well under that amount


This worked for me and also made me realize the problem did not lie in the T1000 tune. Hope it works for you too.