Electrical problems.......I NEED HELP!!!!

[Don Hiltz]

Tonight, I noticed that I had left the iginition on in my Viper. I exited the car to raise the hood and noticed that the doors had both locked. Not to worry I thought, I'll just use the key to manually unlock the driver's door. Guess what, the key didn't work either and I sure wasn't about to force it to turn. Parethetically, the key will open the trunk......go figure.

I tried to jumpstart it using my Ram 1500 and jumper cables. Nothing.....

The doors won't open and the panic button doesn't work either.

I know there must be some sort of sequence, but my owners manual is locked in the car.

Can anybody help??????

Don

 

[twinturbo3150]

put key in and push the door in and turn the key at the same time, push at the edge of the door under the handle.

 

[Don Hiltz]

An interesting series of events............. The key still would not open the driver's door mechanically and the key fob was dead. I went to Crown Motors and told them that something had to be done; I couldn't even have the car brought in since it wouldn't open to release the brake.

The Viper tech, James Klingbeil, offered to come to my house to see what he could do. While there, he called Chris Charleston, who teaches the Viper techs at Atlanta. Chris explained that the key had to be turned hard to open the door; I had been afraid of breaking the key off in the lock. James managed to open the door and as soon as he turned on the iginition, everything returned to normal.

He explained that the system went "to sleep" when the battery failed. As soon as the ignition was turned back on, the systems reprogramed themsleves.

The leson learned was that the mechanical door opener requires considerable torque on the key, much more than the trunk.

Don

 

[Sellshomesdrivesviper]

An interesting series of events............. The key still would not open the driver's door mechanically and the key fob was dead. I went to Crown Motors and told them that something had to be done; I couldn't even have the car brought in since it wouldn't open to release the brake.

The Viper tech, James Klingbeil, offered to come to my house to see what he could do. While there, he called Chris Charleston, who teaches the Viper techs at Atlanta. Chris explained that the key had to be turned hard to open the door; I had been afraid of breaking the key off in the lock. James managed to open the door and as soon as he turned on the iginition, everything returned to normal.

He explained that the system went "to sleep" when the battery failed. As soon as the ignition was turned back on, the systems reprogramed themsleves.

The leson learned was that the mechanical door opener requires considerable torque on the key, much more than the trunk.

Don

Don, glad your back in business, for the record, which way does the key turn in the door.

 

[Steve-Indy]

Glad you are back in Business.

For the record, this is a common Gen III story...it ALWAYS feels as though one will break the key while also struggling to nudge the door firmly with one's hip.

As I have previously posted...LUBE that lock every 6 months !!!! ...and NOT with WD-40 !!!!!

 

[Don Hiltz]

I'm not sure which way James turned the key. Once I hard the lock mechanism move, I was too busy jumpng up and down to notice.

I would urge all Gen III owners to try their mechanical opening device before finding themselves in a situation like mine. If I had known how much torque to place on the key, the whole situation could have been avoided.

Thanks to all who responded....

Don

 

[vegas guy]

A search of prior threads shows that if you push the door in at the handle and turn the key it work much smoother.

 

[Racer Robbie]

Guys, here is the proper way to disarm the anti theft system after a battery has been disconnected or has gone dead.

Here is the proper way to start up a viper after disconnecting/reconnecting the battery.

Have your key in your hand and disconnect the battery. Wait a minute and then reconnectthe battery. The car will go into theft mode and lock down. USE YOUR KEY TO UNLOCK THE DOOR USING THE KEY HOLE UNDER THE DRIVERS DOOR. When the door pops open get into the car and do not touch anything, not even the clutch. Put the key into the ignition and turn it to the on position, DO NOT START THE CAR. After the car cycles thru all the lights will stay lite and the cd player will stop making noises, this ay take a couple of minutes. Turn off the key. Start the car as normal and you should be ok.