Street Serpent TT

[Simms]

That SRT is AWESOME!

 

[ViperGeorge]

Really beautiful. No question.

 

[treesnake]

Hope I omg:..) can get it started again. Been workin' on it almost every night since the cars return. Trying something different every night.
For two weeks...

I have only driven it for 20 minutes...Total...
(But it was the best 20 minutes I have spent in a Viper...)

Started and ran for only 20 minutes since the day I picked it up in Texas...

After being gone for 4.5 months....

 

[Simms]

AEM take a dump?

What's ART say?

 

[v10enomous]

 

[Malu59RT]

Details? ART is usually really good at taking care of the car/customer.

 

[plumcrazy]

id call ART and see what they say first. im sure DW will make it right.

 

[treesnake]

First, I would like to make known that this is not meant to be, and will not end up, a vendor/installer "bashing thread". We have seen them
before..
That simply is not the case here. I am just pointing out some of the issues that can be expected when going the highly modded route.

It is very frustrating, aggravating and expensive. Multiply by two cars, and that's where I am. I am not looking for sympathy, I just want to let people know what can be involved with big HP engine "builds".....

That being said,

Yes, I am having AEM/electrical "Issues"...

ART has basically "rebuilt" the electrical system in the car. DW has replaced every sensor on the car. Changed wire harnesses, AEM ECUs'... . Like I mentioned above, he checked everything.

Funny thing is, car ran great when I took it for test drive at ART. Ran great on dyno. Ran even better on my first 20 minute drive after getting home. Then....

After some testing here in STL, I found that the AEM MAP sensor was shaky at best. We could get erratic volt readings on MAP signal wire just by touching it. Then we could walk away from the car, come back and a get a consistant, solid reading???..

I replaced the MAP sensor and plug last night. CAR STARTED but ran bad
Here is the video from last night;
www.youtube.com/watch?v=vBXkAKzT9MA

This is the first time the car has started since I got it home.
Obviously, there are still some problems. But...it started.

DW sent me a brand new wiring harness to install next. This will be the third wiring harness so far. The existing harness that ART installed had some unknown splices in it from another system. Hopefully the brand new one will fix that.

ART's integrity and dedication are second to none. David Weaver is probably one of the most knowledgeable and intelligent people I have met in the Viper world. ART had countless hours trying to diagnose the problems. And judging by the way the car ran when I picked it up, I would have bet money everything was fixed. After meeting and talking to DW for the last 4.5 months, I know he wouldn't have given the car back to me.

American Race Technolgy is first rate...

I am going to read the AEM tonight and change the harness in the next couple days. We'll see from there.
For motivation, all I need to do is remember the feeling I had in the first twenty minutes of driving this monster....

 

[Austin]

I have to say, when it DOES start, it sounds great! ***** that you're having problems. Hopefully you'll have it fixed soon and back to driving that beaut'.

 

[plumcrazy]

Its never easy modding a car and being a long distance from your tuner of choice. When things are good its fine but soon as there is an issue and they happen, it gets scary.

As suspected ART is coming thru for you it sounds like and I'm sure all will be well soon enough.

Isn't PBJ near you ? Maybe he can work with DW to get you going ?

Keep us posted

 

[ROCKET62]

<p>Mike - sounds like you're almost at a frustration boiling point. Being a brother from another mother and the nice guy that I am, I'll trade you straight up so that you can have a trouble free Serpent. Since mine is RED, it will be faster than that Blue sled any way <img src="images/smilies/drive.gif" border="0" alt="" title="drive" smilieid="141" class="inlineimg" />.</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p>Good luck getting it done!</p>

 

[Simms]

Good luck, I hope you figure it out soon so you can enjoy that animal. DW is great, I'm sure he will get you squared away eventually.

 

[VipeRay]

MAN...I have never heard a Viper sound that menacing! Awesome my man. I sure hope you get things worked out ok. Good luck buddy. Ray

 

[Malu59RT]

Treesnake, you will find that the issues with the AEM box are fairly common. kllymartin is a local here that has had several issues with his AEM unit on his TT Viper, and it's been frustrating for him as well. Especially when he's sent the box back to AEM and they've checked it, sent it back, and still has issues. He grabbed a friends AEM, car ran fine, and found out himself that it was the unit itself that was having trouble, and finally got it replaced. Definitely not a tuner issue, just the AEM. There was a debate about this on the Alley, but I can't seem to find the thread now. He's looking to go Motec very soon as a result.

 

[neo_rambo]

Do you have any other shots larger resolution preferably 1920x1200...Your car is Desktop Worthy.

 

[treesnake]

Treesnake, you will find that the issues with the AEM box are fairly common. kllymartin is a local here that has had several issues with his AEM unit on his TT Viper, and it's been frustrating for him as well. Especially when he's sent the box back to AEM and they've checked it, sent it back, and still has issues. He grabbed a friends AEM, car ran fine, and found out himself that it was the unit itself that was having trouble, and finally got it replaced. Definitely not a tuner issue, just the AEM. There was a debate about this on the Alley, but I can't seem to find the thread now. He's looking to go Motec very soon as a result.

Thanks Malu59RT. That story sounds similar to mine. Yes, I have been hearing about AEM issues. They are finicky at best.

I asked my tuner about changing to MOTEC. he said it wasn't worth the money unless I was racing.

It is VERY frustrating!

To make it worse... Forecasting snow in the next couple days.

That means salt...which means a long "nap" on the lift...

AFTER, it's fixed...

 

[treesnake]

MAN...I have never heard a Viper sound that menacing! Awesome my man. I sure hope you get things worked out ok. Good luck buddy. Ray

Thanks..

You think it sounds good, you should ride in it...... WOW..

 

[treesnake]

Do you have any other shots larger resolution preferably 1920x1200...Your car is Desktop Worthy.

I have a bunch in my VCA gallery. You are welcome to use any of them.


Thanks for the compliments....

 

[Red Snake]

Mike, that looks and sounds horrible. If need someone to come by and haul it away for you let me know.



Hope you get it figured out. Awesome car. What a beast.

 

[plumcrazy]

That means salt...which means a long "nap" on the lift...

AFTER, it's fixed...

EXACTLY how id assume you'd deal with it !!! keep us posted

 

[Malu59RT]

Thanks Malu59RT. That story sounds similar to mine. Yes, I have been hearing about AEM issues. They are finicky at best.

I asked my tuner about changing to MOTEC. he said it wasn't worth the money unless I was racing.

It is VERY frustrating!

John Reed is very confident in the Motec system, and I've never heard one thing bad about them, except the price. I believe John even makes harnesses for the Viper. He also talks highly about the Pectel(?) units as well.

Regarding AEM vs. Motec, I believe everyone agreed you wouldn't pick up power by switching to Motec. To me, I think the bigger question is if it's worth it to have a car that runs all the time, without ECU related issues. My friend in his TT Ford GT is converting to a Motec this winter and believes it will be worth the money. Either way, good luck in getting the car running the way you want it to. Hate to see you not be able to enjoy your car

 

[treesnake]

John Reed is very confident in the Motec system, and I've never heard one thing bad about them, except the price. I believe John even makes harnesses for the Viper. He also talks highly about the Pectel(?) units as well.

Regarding AEM vs. Motec, I believe everyone agreed you wouldn't pick up power by switching to Motec. To me, I think the bigger question is if it's worth it to have a car that runs all the time, without ECU related issues. My friend in his TT Ford GT is converting to a Motec this winter and believes it will be worth the money. Either way, good luck in getting the car running the way you want it to. Hate to see you not be able to enjoy your car

Thanks
Yes I have a John Reed Harness. I found out about them AFTER the first AEM was 'spliced" in...

The Motec upgrade is about $10K plus tuning... It might be worth it??
I'm trying to figure that out now. I mean the AEM ECU plus the JR harness (add. $1950.00). After that the motec is half paid for...

I was actually thinking about putting a Motec system on this car (SS) and putting this AEM in my SC GTS(also at ART). But after all of this, I will stick with AEM where it's at.

 

[treesnake]

One benefit of the AEM ECU is the AEM serial gauge. It plugs right into the AEM. This gauge monitors 17 functions in the engine. (AFR, water temp, fuel pressure etc.) You program Hi/Lo parameters for each function. When/if your car gets into those prameters an alrm goes off and the "troubled" function comes up on the screen. You can also program "engine kill" signals for things like oil pressure etc. You can leave any of the functions on display. I am using the AFR as "home screen". I also installed an additional LOUD beeper and flashing LED alarm warning signal. We replaced OEM gauges with more important Autometer gauges (boost,...)
Also removed "passenger seat belt light" and replaced with a blue Raptor shift light.
Then painted the entire console, what else but, SAPPHIRE...

 

[treesnake]

Got a new hood that I am waiting to install also....

 

[Red Snake]

Dang that's gonna look good.

 

[plumcrazy]

tree, this is a great thread for info. keep it going.

you mentioned the harness was "spliced"....whats that about ?

and what is LOUD beeper and flashing LED alarm warning signal for? this is something i have been thinking of doing this winter. maybe an LED for fuel pressue (or lack of) and beeper for AF ?

.

 

[repiv]

tree, this is a great thread for info. keep it going.

you mentioned the harness was "spliced"....whats that about ?

and what is LOUD beeper and flashing LED alarm warning signal for? this is something i have been thinking of doing this winter. maybe an LED for fuel pressue (or lack of) and beeper for AF ?

.

the Reed racing harness, on the gen III cars the aem or motec ecu is used to control air/fuel and a few other things. The harness is wired in allowing the aem/motec ecu to control the desired functions while leaving the factory ecu to control everything else. It's kinda like "spliced in anyway", since the aftermarket ecu via a control harness controls the cars functions in tandem with the factory ecu, each doing their assigned jobs

as far as 10K for the motec, unless you go crazy with sensors and enabling ecu functions, its probably closer to $6,500, including a harness. Yawpower dynamically/statically test the injectors and give you a spreadsheet that uploads and tells the motec unit exactly what the injectors are doing at different voltage levels, pretty cool stuff

On my car the Motec has the shift light flash red and emits an audible alarm via the digital dash if oil pressure is lost. It can be programmed to do that for lean conditions, etc

Also (treesnake) , while you are at it, get some yawpower injectors and get rid of the crappy lo impedance aem injector driver box (if your car has them installed)

 

[treesnake]

tree, this is a great thread for info. keep it going.

you mentioned the harness was "spliced"....whats that about ?

and what is LOUD beeper and flashing LED alarm warning signal for? this is something i have been thinking of doing this winter. maybe an LED for fuel pressue (or lack of) and beeper for AF ?

.

Until somewhat recently the AEM system was spliced into the existing engine harness. utilizing some existing sensors. Like VEGAS said, some but not all functions of the OEM ECU are used. To avoid the potential problem of a splice in the main engine harness, John Reed developed an intermediary wire harness/"loom". This new harness plugs in between the oem ECU and the AEM. This system reroutes the necessary signals needed for AEM WITHOUT any splices.

The warning lights and buzzers are a part of the AEM serial gauge. The gauge has "pinouts" for extra warning signals. Here is a better description of the gauge...

AEM - Serial Datastream Gauge

 

[Guy]

Mike, congrats buddy! Officially baddest Street Serpent

 

[treesnake]

the Reed racing harness, on the gen III cars the aem or motec ecu is used to control air/fuel and a few other things. The harness is wired in allowing the aem/motec ecu to control the desired functions while leaving the factory ecu to control everything else. It's kinda like "spliced in anyway", since the aftermarket ecu via a control harness controls the cars functions in tandem with the factory ecu, each doing their assigned jobs

as far as 10K for the motec, unless you go crazy with sensors and enabling ecu functions, its probably closer to $6,500, including a harness. Yawpower dynamically/statically test the injectors and give you a spreadsheet that uploads and tells the motec unit exactly what the injectors are doing at different voltage levels, pretty cool stuff

On my car the Motec has the shift light flash red and emits an audible alarm via the digital dash if oil pressure is lost. It can be programmed to do that for lean conditions, etc

Also (treesnake) , while you are at it, get some yawpower injectors and get rid of the crappy lo impedance aem injector driver box (if your car has them installed)

True, the M-800 is about $6500. That's for bare essentials though. I'm sure to add a few things...
I was also factoring install and tuning...$10K...(I double-checked)

Thanks for the suggestion on the injectors. I'll bring that up to DW.
My 72# inj. are working at 103%. DW suggested that if I move to 90# inj I could expect to get 1400 RWHP....

(I'm not sure. I'm still trying to figure out how to use the 1200+hp I have with the 72#s....)

How do you like the sequential tranny? That looks like the way to go for sure....