Dark days begin for desert Vipers (pay-back from you winter hibernators).

[PhoenixGTS]

Two Black GTS going up for sale in Phoenix on the same day reminded me that after a cold winter and pretty darn nice spring we have finally entered the 3-4 month anti-Viper period here in Phoenix. For those of you who live up north - you know the guys us Sun-Belt folks make fun of while we are driving our Vipers in January - your pay-back is here. Let me tell you, giant radiators, side sill insulation and AC servicing do not make a Viper a fun car in 110F ambients. It is going to be as few a miles as possible for the next few months. Ugh. You know it is hot when you go to drive the snake to work at 8:00 am and the temperature guage is half way to 190F before you get down the driveway.

 

[plumcrazy]

Re: Dark days begin for desert Vipers (pay-back from you winter hibernators

and you laughed at us northerners...lol

 

[01sapphireGTS]

Re: Dark days begin for desert Vipers (pay-back from you winter hibernators

I thought snakes liked to sun themselves on sun warmed blacktop...

 

[V10TT]

Re: Dark days begin for desert Vipers (pay-back from you winter hibernators

If you were to drive it, how hot does the water temp get?

 

[hemibeep]

Re: Dark days begin for desert Vipers (pay-back from you winter hibernators

Wow....I thought that it was at least slightly cooler at night? ?

In FL, we are pretty lucky with the weather. Of course, if your car is allergic to rain, the summer is pretty wet.

Oh, and did I mention the occasional evacuations for us in the low lying areas during hurricanes?

 

[PhoenixGTS]

Re: Dark days begin for desert Vipers (pay-back from you winter hibernators

If you were to drive it, how hot does the water temp get?

I do drive it - every day - it is my daily driver, but definitely no "extra" trips anywhere or fun runs. When it is 110 outside in the afternoon and I am driving in traffic I can still manage to get the coolant temp to 225 even with the WCV triple-pass radiator and overdrive water pump, but when I am moving or the temps are closer to 100 it stays around 205-210. Scary part of the big heat is that it is STILL 100 at 10:00 pm.

 

[Jim Wilson]

Re: Dark days begin for desert Vipers (pay-back from you winter hibernators

Mike, now that you have had a chance to put your cooling mods to the test, how do your coolant temps compare to before the mods?

 

[PhoenixGTS]

Re: Dark days begin for desert Vipers (pay-back from you winter hibernators

Mike, now that you have had a chance to put your cooling mods to the test, how do your coolant temps compare to before the mods?

It is a good 15-20 degrees cooler now. I am very happy with the mods. Last year I stared at the temp guage during the big heat worrying it was going to go nuts. Now I just keep an eye on it for interests sake. For under $2k including the silicone hoses and pump it is great piece of mind - and I think it makes the car faster via the theory that the PCM sees less coolant temps so it gives the car more timing than if it was 20 degrees hotter. Now I just need to get the turn-on temp of the fan lower so I can use the radiator more effectivey when the AC is off (don't have to worry about that for quite awhile though!).

 

[GT40DOC]

Re: Dark days begin for desert Vipers (pay-back from you winter hibernators

I know what you mean, in that I am just south of you about 120 miles. This is my first summer with my GTS and being an old hotrodder, my right eye is always on the temp. gauge during the "BLAST FURNACE" days. I am glad to know that there are some changes that can be made to help it out a bit. It seems to me that if one could turn the high speed portion of the fan on earlier, it might help some. Anybody know how to do that? June, July, Aug. and Sept. are our "KILLER" months, then it is paradise!!!!

 

[PhoenixGTS]

Re: Dark days begin for desert Vipers (pay-back from you winter hibernators

Follow-up: had a full-on hot weather/bad conditions test of the new cooling system today. Had to go downtown today for a class, so I had to drive home at 5:00 pm in ambients just shy of 110F, "track" or asphalt temperatures that are pure isanity, and rush-hour stop and go traffic on surface streets for 20 miles. Great news is the footwells stayed MUCH cooler than before due to the recent install of Cer-Wool insulation fabric around the exhaust in the side-sills, and the coolant temp never passed 225F. Mission accomplished. Viper is still not a desert-summer-friendly car, but it can now take it without danger to engine and passengers.

For archival search purposes: West Coast Viper, WCV, radiator, PWR Australia, triple-pass, Sean Roe, silicone radiator hoses, overdrive water pump

Did notice one thing, at idle the voltmeter would only show 12V and the little battery warning light would come on. Went back to 14V with the light off as soon as I started moving. Hope that is just heat resistance and not a sign the battery is on its way out.

 

[SilverSnake]

Re: Dark days begin for desert Vipers (pay-back from you winter hibernators

Mike,

I sure know what you mean, Since i seen you i did add the thermostat,headers and the dreaded louie cat back .
The temp gauge is a little better than before but i can not find the underdrive wp that you have, wcv quoted something like 950 plus just for the pump.They are saying to try there hi-volume pump with the same size pulley is a better choice. What do you think? My thinking is the pump that you have won't rob as much hp compared to the hi- volume pump.

Robert

 

[PhoenixGTS]

Re: Dark days begin for desert Vipers (pay-back from you winter hibernators

i can not find the underdrive wp that you have, wcv quoted something like 950 plus just for the pump.They are saying to try there hi-volume pump with the same size pulley is a better choice. What do you think? My thinking is the pump that you have won't rob as much hp compared to the hi- volume pump.

Man WCV is an odd bunch. Web-site is as stale as they come and does not even have the overdrive water pump shown, now they are telling you it is not even available and go with something else? Sounds like they lost their supplier for the small pulley pump. Perhaps Archer is your next call - but jeebus that stuff is expensive (surpassed only by our friend Fat Albert I think). I'll tell you the Viper aftermarket (expecially if you do not live in Florida) sux. I tried to rebell by posting that the fabric insulation for the side-sills is called Cer-Wool and made by a company called Vesuvious as a protest, but man us Viper owners need to step up and start sharing secret supplier information to get this Viper tax reduced. There has to be a re-manufacture that will install a steel impeller and underdrive pulley on a Viper water pump. Who is it folks?

 

[aztrek]

Re: Dark days begin for desert Vipers (pay-back from you winter hibernators

Just to follow up on my previous post on this topic. ...This scucks!! Although I have yet to hit "red" As Phoenix GTS points out it don't take much to move the gauge off of 190. I have no cooling mods and really I'm reasonably happy with the cooling system performance. Mine would NEVER make it to down town Phoenix at peak temps though, does ok as long as you watch it. I limit my runs to 8-10 miles and it is all good. And we should point out the obious to our northern friends...at least we are driving it and not hoping it will quit snowing and or raining long enough to let it see some fresh air