MattG

As I am sure some of you know I have not had much luck with clutches in the past year. I had a Cartek clutch installed back in June and quickly began noticing it slipping heavily in first gear during a launch. This slipping then got worse and worse until eventually it would not disengage at all to allow me to put the car into gear while sitting still.

My father and I tore the clutch out of the car a few weeks ago and sent it off to Cartek for warranty inspection. They received the clutch on Tuesday and today Dave phoned me to give me an update on what they found out from the inspection of the clutch. It appears that there was an issue with clutch disk from day one. Dave mentioned that it had something to do with the rivets on the disk allowing it to spread apart which caused the slippage and eventual inability to disengage. Apparently Dave has only seen this problem once before with their clutch package so it isnt a common problem.

Dave told me they would have a replacement clutch and pressure plate on its way to me by Monday at the latest. Dave also mentioned that they had made a few revisions to the clutch disk since I purchased mine and the disk with my replacement package would be the new improved one.

It is a very good feeling to do business with a vendor/tuner that stands behind their product especially when they are the designer/builder of it. I just wanted to give everyone an update and say that Cartek is evidentally one of these tuners that stands up for their product.

Now the countdown till the clutch arrives at my place and I can get it put back in the car!! I hope to get a few more days of driving before we start seeing snow! :cheers: :cheers:

UPDATE 11/23/01 CLUTCH STILL NOT RECEIVED FROM CARTEK, PLEASE SEE MY RESPONSE FURTHER DOWN IN THIS THREAD

[Modified by MattG, 7:16 PM 11/8/2001]


[Modified by MattG, 3:14 PM 11/23/2001]

akw408

Matt,

Good to hear about Carteks service. That may be my next choice when my clutch burns out again. Hope it works for you.

99 C5 M6

97C5ENVY

That's great to know as a Cartek clutch is in my near future. :cheers:


[Modified by 97C5ENVY, 6:16 PM 11/8/2001]

BatMobile

:confused: :confused: :confused:

;)

Neill

mackeyred96

You can buy parts from anyone, but what counts is what happens after they have your money.
Great job Cartek.

Ben01C5

Good luck w/ the install, don't forget to let us know how it goes.

C5Noir

Great news, MattG. I knew that they'd stand behind their product. Way to go Cartek. Let us know how the clutch holds up and be sure to take LOTS of pics!

Bluvette1

Just replaced a Cartek clutch on a customers car seems to possibly be the same problem. Cartek is taking care of it no problem. GREAT SERVICE!!!!! :cheers:

C5 YA

MattG,

When it comes to driveline components (CLUTCHES), I feel your pain bro.

:mad

NineBall

Dave and Julio are excellent with customer service. Matt, the new disk is pretty nice, it doesn't chatter at all! My old disk would chatter sometimes if I tried to make it do it, but this one wont. Seems to allow my tranny to shift smoother too, and that was unexpected.

Tony :seeya

whip383

Finally getting it back!!!!! Have fun putting it in.

Chan :cheers:

MattG

Well all I can say is that I REALLY regret making this post now and I will try to do my best to NOT bash this vendor. I have made myself hold off from making this reply for over a week, but I can't do it any longer.

Cartek has had my clutch for over 3 weeks now and my car is still waiting on jackstands all tore apart for the replacement clutch. I have been strung along for 3 weeks with different stories of shipping problems, improper paperwork because I live in Canada, and improper addresses on shipping paperwork. I have had probably $20,000 worth or products shipped to me in the past from both FedEx and UPS and have never had any issues. I am VERY VERY fed up with how I am getting the runaround from this suposedly very respectable tuner. :mad :mad

I have probably made over 20+ phone calls to Cartek and I always get some sort of shipping problem excuse along with a "I will call you back in a few hours with a tracking number". I have YET to EVER receive a phone call back from them with an update so I keep having to make the phone calls.

I figured that because this whole situation was caused by THEIR faulty product that they might do their best to get me a replacement as soon as they could. I never even asked for a penny in return for the labor involved in removing this FAULTY product from my car, nor for the future re-install. I didnt even ask for it to be overnighted to me.

I am very disapointed in the turns things have took and up until today I was pretty silent about all of this. Today I have had enough. I had a conversation an hour ago with Dave from Cartek and I got the same runaround about how he has to go visit Fedex again to fix the paperwork. I actually believed this story the first few times it happened, but for the third time, give me a break.

I do not know what to think right now. I am almost ready to buy a 2002 Z06 clutch and install it so I can at least enjoy this very warm fall we have been having and do some more driving!

I am not usually one to let this kinda of stuff get to me, but all I can say is I am EXTREMELY frustrated and cannot wait until this situation is resolved.

Please when you read this reply, look at it as coming from MattG the CORVETTE ENTHUSIAST and not MattG the Supporting Vendor. This has nothing to do with business, this is just about how upset I am about this clutch that was bought from my pocket.



[Modified by MattG, 3:13 PM 11/23/2001]

70L46

Matt - that really sucks. It's not like you live in Bosnia or something. There's no way it should take that long to get something shipped between the US and Canada.

Hope you get some satisfaction as well as a working clutch out of all this hassle.

Yellow Fellow

Sounds to me like honesty ISN'T their best policy. :boxing

0Sales@MVPAutoParts.com

I hope that Cartek better get their act together and ship you a new clutch as promised :mad :mad :mad Otherwise they will end up like HMS.

We really need to get Shawn @ LAPD to give these guys a lession in "Customer Service for Dummy".

-Tuan

C5 Hardtop

If you really do decide to get the 02 Z06 clutch, contact team chevrolet. I just got one from chris down there and it was at my door the next day. I didn't pay for shipping either!!! What a great company to deal with!!
But, don't waste your time with that clutch for your application. Find another clutch that will take the power you entend to deliver. I too had shipping problems with Z-Rated performance/cartech. 2 months of BS. I finally filed a visa dispute and got my money back. That is what I suggest to you. Hopefully you used the visa card. If you did not, ALWAYS BUY PARTS USING A VISA, NOT A DEBIT CARD OR CHECK!
There are other options. You could get a star clutch, mcleod adj master or mcleod clutch/mcleod adj master. However, mcleod isn't exactly world renown.

Joel

MelloYellow

Matt... Supposedly the best components in the Cartek setup are the Cartek PP and Cartek Adj M/C. If you still have these, order a SPEC III Carbon disk. Supposedly that is the BEST setup. Supposed to be strong as Shi7 !!

Should be around $150 from SPEC for just the disc.
Maybe Cartek has a shortage on the disc. Have them overnight the PP and M/C back to you if they have it. Resurface or replace the Flywheel. SPEC has new flywheels for $100.

I never liked Cartek's customer service.


[Modified by MelloYellow, 1:00 AM 11/24/2001]

Plastic Pig

I've dealt with Cartek for 2 years and have had no such problems.
I've always got what I paid for and more.

tuan
That dog don't hunt
1 or 2 people having a clutch problem does not compare to any thing Hennesey did. So Think you should drop those kind of statements!
Cartek has many completely satisfied customers on this forum!

I have dealt with aftermarket suppliers for years and nobody warranties a clutch that is used in racing.
Would you? I know Chevrolet and Centerforce will not.
If it was me, once I mailed it, the warranty is over unless there is an obvious defect noticed before installation. How the helll would I know what happened after it left my hands? It could have been installed by Gomer Pyle and driven by someone learning to drive a manual for the first time.I'm CERTAINLY NOT saying this is the case, but only to look at it from their side.Racing at these levels breaks parts!(Once again not saying you did)

I agree that it is wrong if they are lying to you,but on the other hand I also think it is pretty good of them to warranty the damn thing at all.(As long as you actually get it).

Matt keep your chin up!
Dave will make it right.
Sorry for your problems.Hope you get your clutch soon.

Bob



[Modified by Duntov-097, 1:17 AM 11/24/2001]

AVETTE

Matt G, sorry to hear about your problems... ALL I WILL SAY ABOUT THIS ISSUE IS THIS, BE CAREFUL!!! I remember being FLAMED VICIOUSLY on this board for the reporting of my 'ported' ls6 intake from Cartek giving my ZERO gain on the dyno. The new ls6 intake was tested on my 99 and gave me a nice gain from heads/cam and THEN was sent to cartek for their 'porting' which was 300 bucks or so, plus I had to remove the damn thing and reinstall it, which wasn't to bad. When I posted my ACTUAL dyno runs after 'corrected sae numbers' of NO GAIN, oh boy was I flamed! People love to hear about your gains but god forbid if you give em the truth. NO TUNER BASHING was the mantra I was told over and over. Good luck with your clutch situation, I am really sorry to hear this as I thought cartek was the answer for clutches for the C5 as all the other aftermarket units seemed to have ALOT of horror stories, good luck

0Sales@MVPAutoParts.com

So does HMS.

Having many satisfied customers does not mean they can screw a few and get away with it.

Matt: Please keep us posted!!