In case your car won't start - electric problem

madman

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In case your car won\'t start - electric problem

Here is what happened:

I let my son (14) learn to drive and this time we had viper on the local airfield. I told him 'this engine has so much torque that you can get this car moving without the gas, just be gentle on the clutch'. He tried but he was to fast on the clutch and the engine stalled.

After that we couldn't start the car. When pressing the start button the electricity shut down briefly and then went up again and the starter did not turn. Other then that all controls functioned normally.

This was some mystery to me because other then the engine stall nothing happened. I went to check the fuse box and was afraid that some relay was gone. The starter fuse was ok which made me more scared not knowing what was going on and thinking about all complications of getting the car off the airfield back home. Then I began examine fuses one by one and discovered that ASD 20Amp fuse was gone. After replacing it the car fired up right away.

The manual says that ASD fuse is for 'Batt-Relay Contact and Auto-Shutdown. I am guessing that starter did not have enough voltage (alternator did not produce enough since my son was not stepping on the gas) and therefore requested too much of a current which fried this fuse. Why this fuse in particular remains a mystery to me.

Anyway - it seems to me that something similar can easily happen to anyone so in case it does check your fuses first and have always some spare. If there would be a library of know how this could be put in. And if there is a viper tech reading this and knowing what happened it would be great to have this explained.

cheers from across the pond.
 

Racer Robbie

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Re: In case your car won\'t start - electric problem

The system is working correctly and you are right as to why it haoppened. I have stalled my viper afew times when it is cold as it has a very small triple disc racing clutch in it that is hard to get moving when cold. The fuse has never blown when on the gas, only when letting out the clutch at idle. A fix for this is to put a shim between the throttle and it's stop which raises the idle a bit. Thimakes the alternator put out just a little more voltage/amps as needed.
Robbie
 

malcoll

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Interestingly... this afternoon my 16y old and I went out for him to practice driving the Viper.... he stalled it a couple times and then it would not start....we walked a short distance home and I found this thread.... it was the ASD fuse blown..... swapped out the Cigarette Lighter fuse and drove it home.... Thank you Viper Club forum!
 

TheOldViperMan

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Wait, you guys are letting your kids drive your Vipers???!!!?!?!?!?!:omg:

DJV,
There a coupla scenarios that will blow the AutoShutDown fuse.
The above shut down envolving the kids is caused by the PCM, aka, Parental Control, Monitor.
This little gadget monitors the clutch, throttle, seat (weight), and steering wheel (light grip).
If it even thinks a teenager is in the drivers seat, it will blow the fuse.
It's sort of "time to rethink this" moment for the owner.
While changing the fuse, it allows time to ponder -
Do I really have enough insurance?
What will I tell the authorities?
Oh, LOL
 

DaJerseyViper

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DJV,
There a coupla scenarios that will blow the AutoShutDown fuse.
The above shut down envolving the kids is caused by the PCM, aka, Parental Control, Monitor.
This little gadget monitors the clutch, throttle, seat (weight), and steering wheel (light grip).
If it even thinks a teenager is in the drivers seat, it will blow the fuse.
It's sort of "time to rethink this" moment for the owner.
While changing the fuse, it allows time to ponder -
Do I really have enough insurance?
What will I tell the authorities?
Oh, LOL


I love my wife and kids to death,they mean the world to me, but....The only way either one of them is driving my Viper is long after Im gone from this world..LOL
 

Free2go

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I love my wife and kids to death,they mean the world to me, but....The only way either one of them is driving my Viper is long after Im gone from this world..LOL

Hahaaaa.....after I purchased mine, my wife asked if she could try it out. She got in, scooted the seat up, and her legs still weren't long enough to push the clutch in all the way. I thought about using the knob and adjusting the pedals forward a bit to accommodate her, but instead I said " ahhhh baby I'm so sorry. I'm gonna have a custom seat made just for you that scoots up further". She said "nah don't worry about it". And that was that.
 

DaJerseyViper

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Hahaaaa.....after I purchased mine, my wife asked if she could try it out. She got in, scooted the seat up, and her legs still weren't long enough to push the clutch in all the way. I thought about using the knob and adjusting the pedals forward a bit to accommodate her, but instead I said " ahhhh baby I'm so sorry. I'm gonna have a custom seat made just for you that scoots up further". She said "nah don't worry about it". And that was that.

Wait, is that what that knob under the dash does? Holy crap...lol
 

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