JeffTheViperMan
Enthusiast
Hi All,
I primarily put this thread here in the hopes of attracting the illustrious Viper Wizard. I called over to Tator's and left a detailed message, but thought I'd share this here for anyone else to chime in.
Part 1 of the Story: I bought my Black 2000 Viper GTS Coupe on November 1st of last year. I drove it over 400 miles from Chicago to Zanesville, OH with no issues. A week later I jumped in for some end-of-season fun, and lo and behold, the check engine light came on. I checked the codes (they're listed below) and cleared them. She ran okay for a while. Then the light came on again. I drove it to my home in Harrisburg and took it to my local dealer where I used to work. They ran a series of tests dealing with the codes, couldn't find any issues, cleared the codes again and it stayed off for a few months.
Part 2 of the Story: I took it for an oil change at a local shop here in Ohio. While firing it back up with the new oil added, a tech noticed spark coming out of the heat-boot around the 7th cylinder. So I pulled the plug and sure enough, it was melted at the top of the boot where it met the wire. It was touching the SVS Headers with the heat boot pinched between. I replaced the wires with MSD wires and after the install, got one good day of glorious Viper driving. The misfire-pop at idle went away, the strange burning smell from the cats went away, and she ran like a dream.
Part 3 of the Story: I got in the Viper two weeks after replacing the wires, and the check engine light came on almost instantly. I drove it around town just a little bit, and within about 15 minutes of driving, developed a severe engine misfire. I immediately got it back to the garage. Today I finally got a chance to borrow an OBD scanner. It had NINE codes. Two of them are the same codes I've been dealing with since day one...
P0135 02 Sensor Heater Circuit Malfunction - Bank 1 Sensor 1
P0300 Random/Multiple Cylinder misfire
P0155 02 Sensor Heater Circuit Malfunction - Bank 2 Sensor 1
P0308 Cylinder 8 Misfire
P1195 Manufacturer Control Fuel Air Metering
P1196 Manufacturer Control Fuel Air Metering
(the following codes were "pending")
P0300 Random/Multiple Cylinder misfire
P0302 Cylinder 2 Misfire
P0304 Cylinder 4 Misfire
Let's see, the car has SVS headers installed, CERAMIC coated exhaust, lightweight flywheel, and the Snake Oyl Cruise Control, which I recently installed and have barely even used yet.
One piece of info - the previous owner (who I think knew about this but didn't tell me) said that his technician suggested that with the ceramic coated exhaust, exhaust temps are getting hotter than normal, and might be throwing off the calibration of the PCM as it tries to activate the O2 sensor heater circuits. I find that difficult to believe, but if so, will have to either install the factory exhaust, or get some electronic O2 simulators just for the heater circuits.
Also, I've already spoken to AB about wires - he's going to be getting back to me soon and I'll order them this week and return the MSD's.
Sorry for the long post, but I want this problem fixed in TWO WEEKS so that I can attend the PA Region Covered Bridge Cruise on April 25th. Also, I want to FINALLY enjoy the car of my dreams that has caused nothing but problems since day 2...
I primarily put this thread here in the hopes of attracting the illustrious Viper Wizard. I called over to Tator's and left a detailed message, but thought I'd share this here for anyone else to chime in.
Part 1 of the Story: I bought my Black 2000 Viper GTS Coupe on November 1st of last year. I drove it over 400 miles from Chicago to Zanesville, OH with no issues. A week later I jumped in for some end-of-season fun, and lo and behold, the check engine light came on. I checked the codes (they're listed below) and cleared them. She ran okay for a while. Then the light came on again. I drove it to my home in Harrisburg and took it to my local dealer where I used to work. They ran a series of tests dealing with the codes, couldn't find any issues, cleared the codes again and it stayed off for a few months.
Part 2 of the Story: I took it for an oil change at a local shop here in Ohio. While firing it back up with the new oil added, a tech noticed spark coming out of the heat-boot around the 7th cylinder. So I pulled the plug and sure enough, it was melted at the top of the boot where it met the wire. It was touching the SVS Headers with the heat boot pinched between. I replaced the wires with MSD wires and after the install, got one good day of glorious Viper driving. The misfire-pop at idle went away, the strange burning smell from the cats went away, and she ran like a dream.
Part 3 of the Story: I got in the Viper two weeks after replacing the wires, and the check engine light came on almost instantly. I drove it around town just a little bit, and within about 15 minutes of driving, developed a severe engine misfire. I immediately got it back to the garage. Today I finally got a chance to borrow an OBD scanner. It had NINE codes. Two of them are the same codes I've been dealing with since day one...
P0135 02 Sensor Heater Circuit Malfunction - Bank 1 Sensor 1
P0300 Random/Multiple Cylinder misfire
P0155 02 Sensor Heater Circuit Malfunction - Bank 2 Sensor 1
P0308 Cylinder 8 Misfire
P1195 Manufacturer Control Fuel Air Metering
P1196 Manufacturer Control Fuel Air Metering
(the following codes were "pending")
P0300 Random/Multiple Cylinder misfire
P0302 Cylinder 2 Misfire
P0304 Cylinder 4 Misfire
Let's see, the car has SVS headers installed, CERAMIC coated exhaust, lightweight flywheel, and the Snake Oyl Cruise Control, which I recently installed and have barely even used yet.
One piece of info - the previous owner (who I think knew about this but didn't tell me) said that his technician suggested that with the ceramic coated exhaust, exhaust temps are getting hotter than normal, and might be throwing off the calibration of the PCM as it tries to activate the O2 sensor heater circuits. I find that difficult to believe, but if so, will have to either install the factory exhaust, or get some electronic O2 simulators just for the heater circuits.
Also, I've already spoken to AB about wires - he's going to be getting back to me soon and I'll order them this week and return the MSD's.
Sorry for the long post, but I want this problem fixed in TWO WEEKS so that I can attend the PA Region Covered Bridge Cruise on April 25th. Also, I want to FINALLY enjoy the car of my dreams that has caused nothing but problems since day 2...