Vipera Russelli
Enthusiast
- Joined
- Mar 9, 2004
- Posts
- 679
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Last night my Viper tech called to tell me he had finished installing my new clutch (second one) and had finished repairing the A/C as well, warranty claims numbers six and seven in the initial 1700 miles (1760, actually) for those counting. I drove my Camry to the dealership, parked it, hopped in my 04 Viper, started her up, RUMMMMMBLE!, and drove her seven miles home grinning broadly. Shortly thereafter a friend and I hopped in the Viper at my house with the intent of returning to the dealership to retrieve my Camry (71,000 miles, six years, no problems). I started the Mistress up. RUMMMMMBLE! Another big grin, and pulled out of my garage downhill onto the driveway. Oops, forgot something in the house. I turned the car off and ran inside. Then I hopped back in, turned the key, pushed in the clutch, and pushed the red start button and, and…, and… nothing… Okay, again… nothing… the grin faded. “Warranty claim #8” I kept repeating. AGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGG!!! 
After much frustration, the car had to spend the night in the driveway--in the rain no less--since we couldn’t push her back uphill into the garage. It was fitful sleep. “Warranty claim #8…”
Bright and early this morning, my friend and I started troubleshooting, cursing, and troubleshooting some more. Neither of us is an auto mechanic (me even less so), but we can read the shop manual and tinker enough to get by sometimes. Out of ideas, I called Heffner’s shop knowing that he sometimes--okay, lots of times--works on weekend. Ring, ring… “Heffner’s Performance.” Bingo! After explaining the issues to Jason, he was ready to help if he could and even suggested that he might be able to drive the 100+ miles round-trip to my place to check things out personally. Wow! That’s pretty willing to be helpful, especially given that neither of us suspected that any of his work on my car had anything to do with this new problem (or any of the other problems I've had for that matter). Anyway, I told him I’d rather not ruin his weekend and was just looking for troubleshooting suggestions. To make a long story short, over the next couple hours (due to my bumbling about no doubt) and half a dozen phone calls back and forth, we were able to isolate and then identify the culprit as a measly 20 amp blown fuse for Auto Shutdown (which kills starter, fuel injection and sparks), which I swapped out with another fuse and RUMMMMMMBLE!!! The grin came back. Of course I may now have electrical issues, but hey, I’m at least for the moment out of the rain, hehe. Thanks for your help Jason!
After much frustration, the car had to spend the night in the driveway--in the rain no less--since we couldn’t push her back uphill into the garage. It was fitful sleep. “Warranty claim #8…”
Bright and early this morning, my friend and I started troubleshooting, cursing, and troubleshooting some more. Neither of us is an auto mechanic (me even less so), but we can read the shop manual and tinker enough to get by sometimes. Out of ideas, I called Heffner’s shop knowing that he sometimes--okay, lots of times--works on weekend. Ring, ring… “Heffner’s Performance.” Bingo! After explaining the issues to Jason, he was ready to help if he could and even suggested that he might be able to drive the 100+ miles round-trip to my place to check things out personally. Wow! That’s pretty willing to be helpful, especially given that neither of us suspected that any of his work on my car had anything to do with this new problem (or any of the other problems I've had for that matter). Anyway, I told him I’d rather not ruin his weekend and was just looking for troubleshooting suggestions. To make a long story short, over the next couple hours (due to my bumbling about no doubt) and half a dozen phone calls back and forth, we were able to isolate and then identify the culprit as a measly 20 amp blown fuse for Auto Shutdown (which kills starter, fuel injection and sparks), which I swapped out with another fuse and RUMMMMMMBLE!!! The grin came back. Of course I may now have electrical issues, but hey, I’m at least for the moment out of the rain, hehe. Thanks for your help Jason!
