Viper Down on Power

fireball · May 14, 2008

A friend of mine has a problem with her Viper. It felt way down on power so she brought to the dealer and they said all was OK. She's since had it dyno'd and it puts out 230hp at the wheels. She was certainly correct - it is down on power.

She went back to the dealer and they said they checked everything and all was OK but they suspect something mechanical since all the electronics checked out OK.

There are no other symptoms, no noises, no smoke and it starts and runs fine - it's just down on power.

Any ideas? I'm thinking valve spring.

I wonder how many trips to the dealer she needs to make before they pop the valve cover off?

Thanks,
Greg

Alexarz · May 14, 2008

Did you open the hood to check if somebody swapped in a corvette motor?

Westxsrt10 · May 14, 2008

fireball said:
A friend of mine has a problem with her Viper. It felt way down on power so she brought to the dealer and they said all was OK. She's since had it dyno'd and it puts out 230hp at the wheels. She was certainly correct - it is down on power.

She went back to the dealer and they said they checked everything and all was OK but they suspect something mechanical since all the electronics checked out OK.

There are no other symptoms, no noises, no smoke and it starts and runs fine - it's just down on power.

Any ideas? I'm thinking valve spring.

I wonder how many trips to the dealer she needs to make before they pop the valve cover off?

Thanks,
Greg

First thing that comes to my mind is plugged catalytic converters....

NukedGTS · May 14, 2008

Alexarz said:
Did you open the hood to check if somebody swapped in a corvette motor?

SSSSHHHHH, I have a cousin in Haines City, FL with an 1100rwhp c6. :shhh2:

He's usually pretty mellow but . . . . better to let sleeping giants lie. :lmao:

DrDJ · May 14, 2008

Alexarz said:
Did you open the hood to check if somebody swapped in a corvette motor?

LOL

DrDJ

xjrguy · May 14, 2008

Is the clutch slipping?

ulllose · May 14, 2008

They must have dynoed only one rear wheel........ :rolaugh:

I'm assuming the dealer took a good look at the car. Did they drive it?

What year is the car how many miles?

If you come back and tell me its a 92 with 300K on it well........

2001-V10 Power Nut · May 14, 2008

Haines City, Florida, heck he might have a 1100 hp Corvette "Swamp Buggy" LOL, and you still claim him a relative even though he has a Corvette? :rolaugh:

black mamba1 · May 14, 2008

She should do a leak down test. Also, did she buy the car second hand? There might have been mods that reduce the power. If the motor was built for boost, the c/r might have been lowered, cam changed, tuning changed, etc for boost. The seller might have removed all the boost hardware, leaving a car that might run really anemic w/out the correct set up. That is something the normal techs at regular Dodge dealerships will probably miss.

just my .02

fireball · May 15, 2008

Thanks guys. Sorry about the lack of info.... I just forgot. It's an SRT-10, 2004 with about 15,000 miles.

The cats eh? Good idea. Could be
A leak down test wouldn't hurt, I'll suggest it
It's not a Vette motor (thank God!)
The clutch isn't slipping
They dyno'd both wheels
She bought it new and made no mods

I'll forward this information. I really think that any Viper that only makes 230hp.... it should be obvious what the problem is. The dealer says they've checked it but jeez - this one should be easy.
Thanks again.

Viper X · May 15, 2008

Could be cats, just not likely. Shouldn't loose that much rwhp with slightly clogged cats and factory cats should be good for more than 15,000 miles.

A leak down test would be a good idea. Likely valve related / compression related (lack thereof).

Good luck,

Dan

AZTVR · May 15, 2008

fireball said:
The dealer says they've checked it but jeez - this one should be easy.

Perhaps she should ask them if they could have one of their professional mechanics check it out rather than the car wash guy !!

VIPER GTSR 91 · May 15, 2008

NukedGTS said:
SSSSHHHHH, I have a cousin in Haines City, FL with an 1100rwhp c6. He's usually pretty mellow but . . . . better to let sleeping giants lie.

Well said and NO check engine light on the Vette motor either I bet...... :eater:

fireball · May 16, 2008

Thanks guys.

A leak down test should give some good information.

I'll be away from my computer for a couple of weeks but I'll let you know what happens.

Viper Down on Power

fireball

Enthusiast

Alexarz

Enthusiast

Westxsrt10

Viper Owner

NukedGTS

Enthusiast

DrDJ

Enthusiast

xjrguy

Viper Owner

ulllose

Viper Owner

2001-V10 Power Nut

VCA Venom Member

black mamba1

Enthusiast

fireball

Enthusiast

Viper X

Former VCA National President

AZTVR

Enthusiast

VIPER GTSR 91

Enthusiast

fireball

Enthusiast

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