05 SRT hesitation

[CPPRHD265]

I took a road trip yesterday from Melbourne to a bit north of Tampa to attend a trapshoot at the Silver Dollar club. It's about 160 miles each way, and I left at about 6 in the morning.

The car ran great on the highway, cursing in 6th between 80 and 90 mph for most of the way. I did notice when running around the city, that there seems to be some hesitation at around 4500 rpms, almost like the way a governor would kick in. It seems like at around 4500 it was loading up with fuel and not getting air or something... It's really hard to explain.

I checked my final MPG during the trip, and it was a dismal 16 MPG average. Not that I bought it for it's stellar fuel ecconomy, but I was figuring on getting around 22 with the long hwy drive. It has the stock 3.07 rearend.

The car has just over 9000 miles on it now. I'm going to go ahead and get some upgraded plug wires, swap the spark plugs, and get new air filters.

What would you guys suggest I check out about this issue?

 

[Coloviper]

When you figure this out, let me know. I drove my 06 after sitting all winter yersterday and it has the same problem. Almost like it has timing missing right around those RPMs too. I can hear that it doesn't sound right. Like it is missing. It is perfect underneath those RPMs andto most people it is probably fine. My a$$ test though tells me something feels wrong.

Come to think of this, it has been kind of doing that ever since I took it in to have the stiffer mounts put in and then taken out. I did upgrade the flywheel and 3.55s in the rear.

My car has a ton of warranty left, so I will take it in, later this Spring. I will let you know if I find anything out.

 

[Racer Robbie]

Bad fuel guys from sitting all winter. Check my other post about what is called phase separation in the new fuel we are forced to use these days. I drive in 5Th and never use 6Th. I get 23 mpg at 80-85 mph on the highway. Try using CRC Octane Boost part number 06067.

 

[CPPRHD265]

Bad fuel guys from sitting all winter. Check my other post about what is called phase separation in the new fuel we are forced to use these days. I drive in 5Th and never use 6Th. I get 23 mpg at 80-85 mph on the highway. Try using CRC Octane Boost part number 06067.

I'm in Florida, I bought the car last Oct with 5K miles on it. I drive it every week. I got new plugs, it will be good to pull the old ones to inspect, and they're cheap anyway.

I will try a different location for gas next time if the new plugs don't sort things out. Still going to get new wires and filters, just gotta get off my butt and order em

 

[adamlotus]

damn u guys get great fuel econmy,im averaging 6-8 miles per gallon but loving every gallon goes by

 

[Racer Robbie]

I'm in Florida, I bought the car last Oct with 5K miles on it. I drive it every week. I got new plugs, it will be good to pull the old ones to inspect, and they're cheap anyway.

I will try a different location for gas next time if the new plugs don't sort things out. Still going to get new wires and filters, just gotta get off my butt and order em

Try Autolite XP985 Xtream Performance Plugs. Do not re-gap them and make sure you torque them to 20 ft/lbs (27 Nm) properly.

 

[DodgeViper01]

Bad fuel guys from sitting all winter. Check my other post about what is called phase separation in the new fuel we are forced to use these days. I drive in 5Th and never use 6Th. I get 23 mpg at 80-85 mph on the highway. Try using CRC Octane Boost part number 06067.

I have tried everything and can not get more than 13 or 14 MPG on the highway in 6th!

 

[Coloviper]

Thanks Robbie;

Bad gas is what I thought too, but it was doing this a little late last year, right around the time I had the motor and tranny mounts installed. It was real bad hesitation and kind of a missing feeling (loss of power and muffled exhaust sounds) with the mounts in, I had them in for about 4 hours and had them taken out. The car ran like a piece of crap between those RPMs (3000 up to 5000 rpm) and shook violently. As soon as the mounts came out, everything went back to normal and seemed just fine. Lucky I sold the mounts for what I paid, so I was not out much on $$. I thought of doing them because Dodge put a new tranny in under warranty. It was kapuit from the beginning as the original tranny knocked in 3rd right from the 17 miles it had on it in the showroom floor when I drove it off.

That was until this Spring. I ran it for about 100 miles a few weeks ago. At first, it ran like crap, (missing feeling), then I took it on the highway for about 75 miles and turned around to drive home. It had tons of power and no missing feeling at all, just awesome. I thought, maybe the computer was learning because the battery went dead over winter. Wow, just a feeling of calm came right over me.

Then last weekend, I take it out and the damn thing is missing again. I did the same drive, but this time, it did not power up like last time. I already had put in 1/2 tank of fresh gas when I took it out this Spring.

The top Viper tech in CO, did all the mod work and had does these mods a bunch of times before for others. Now, when I back out of the driveway, I sometimes feel and hear a clunk when I am turning the steering wheel side to side to manuever it out of the driveway. Like a front wheel sliding on a gravelly surface then catching kind of sound. Could it be my diff in the back, I did a 3.55 gear change? Or is it possible that my driveline is out of alignment causing osillationsand harmonics at certain frequencies.

The whole thing just upsets me because these were bolt on items. The problem is not horrible, can't drive it or something is seriously wrong. Still would burn rubber if I pushed it hard enough. It's just I am very fussy and on a new vehicle, it is just frustrating.

Just curious if someone else has experienced something similar. As soon as it stops snowing now in CO, then into Dodge she will go. I am sure it is something very simple.

 

[xjrguy]

Have you data logged the car while driving it?

Most times a drivability problem will show up as a messed up A/F ratio, etc.

Can the tech use a wideband and datalogger and see what's up in real time?

Anything else (if the car is not throwing a code) is just guessing.

How is your battery? Wiring harnesses all tight? These cars have MAF sensors yes? Is that checking out ok? Plug wires tight?

My Jaguar XJR used to do VERY strange things when the battery wasn't tip top. Car would start but throw ABS ECU codes and all sorts of crap. Changed out battery and problems went away.

Tim

 

[Coloviper]

The car is not throwing any codes at all. Battery is showing fine now as far as charge on the gauge, but was dead over winter until I put the "tender" on it.

I know about false codes from bad electrical. My 98' Range Rover would through all kinds of bad codes from faulty 4X4 system to whatever. Turned out to be a weak battery. This is different, just like it is not firing on all 10 cylinders in the higher RPMs and a muffled drown sound to the exhuast in that higher RPM range. It drives fine and still has a lot of power under that RPM range, just kind of dies out up top. If I have the windows down and the heater on, it does not seem as bad for the sound. Weird!

I am on the second battery under warranty on my Viper and it is an 06'.

I will take it into Glen, the local CO Viper tech (best in the state) and he can figure it out. I am not sure what all tools and gizmos he has in his bag of tricks. Maybe he missed something when he put the original mounts back in. The new tranny with Woodhouse shifter is a slick as butter. Love that thing.

I also bought some octane boost which I will dump in there and run it almost dry, then fill it up with some good fuel. Seems to me the last time I filled it up, was close to very late fall, could have been a batch of oxygenated winter fuel. Our fuel ***** here in CO. 91 is the best we can get at the pump.

 

[xjrguy]

FUEL PUMP???


Sounds like you are fuel starved if its upper RPM's.

Does it behave the same when idled and revved or only when there is a load on the engine?

I'm in Cali and our gas isn't any better than yours.

For some reason my Viper LOVES Shell Vpower. I put Mobil premium in it and fuhgettabout it, felt like I was down 50 horsepower and it didn't sound the same. Didn't have the extent of your problems though.

 

[InjectTheVenom]

For some reason my Viper LOVES Shell Vpower.

Ditto on the V-Power love! When I first put it in my car and of course stomped the pedal leaving the gas station wanting to find out if there would be any difference I definately noticed it was night and day compared to the previous situation. Where acceleration was regular/ok before I now actually had wheelspin and a *****-ape type of acceleration right into second gear (oh, and I guess it also helped that it was the German 100 octane variant which is only 97 here in Holland )!

 

[Andrew/USPWR]

I have tried everything and can not get more than 13 or 14 MPG on the highway in 6th!

I get just under 24 mpg in my 05. 6th gear as well.

 

[Coloviper]

UPDATE!

Turns out it was some less than perfect gas. I added some octane boost to the car, burnt off that old tank and then filled up with my usual Shell gas station. Now I remember that last minute stop "to top it off" at Diamond S#$trock on our last cruise.

They should mandate a quality gauge on the lines of all gas pumps around. What a pain! problem cured! next year i WILL put in Stabil, which may help that problem. I just don't drive it enough.

Car is back to supreme running condition.

 

[viperbilliam]

I thought it was bad gas; think about it - how would you perform if you ate some bad burritos?! You guys just can't park your cars for a month or so and expect it to resume top performance when you take it out - gotta prepare these things for sitting around.

DodgeViper01: You tried everything? Did that include restraint (very smooth, careful driving - no horsing around)?

 

[CPPRHD265]

I've put over 4000 miles on it since I got it in Oct... Being in Florida, my car is never in storage.

There is something definately not right with it. I've detailed all my observations to the Wizard via PM to get his opinion.

I went ahead and ordered some new wires from silver, and picked up some Autolite XP985 plugs. I'll install em when the wires get here ( Hello SilverGTS1998, anyone home? ). I doubt this will fix the problem however, there seems to be something really wacked going on.

 

[CPPRHD265]

Just got my plug wires in from Silver, man... I don't want to install em because they look so damn good

Going to swap out the parts this weeked, and check my drivers side exhaust while I'm at it, I think I may have a leak by the collector. I'll update the thread if I get my issue resolved, and what I find out.

 

[mike & juli]

I get just under 24 mpg in my 05. 6th gear as well.

We do pretty well also, Andrew. And, yes, we use 6th gear too...of course, we're NOT driving these cars for their MPG~~ ~juli

 

[Qualitywires.com]

If your viper is cutting out at certain RPMs, you may want to check out your crank or cam sensors, they do go bad at times and would cause what you are describing. Glad you like the wires!

 

[CPPRHD265]

Have you ever had a conversation with a mechanic, that felt like there was someone standing there punching you in the ****?!?


Took my Viper (9,200 miles) in to get a diagnosis of my problem after talking with the Wizard last week. I wandered around the waiting room like an expectant father, and after 3 hours the mechanic came in to let me know what he found. He did a compression check on it, and the odd bank was rather low. The even bank was 155 across the board, the odd was between 80 at the lowest, and 120 at the highest.

So... He's gotta call it in to see what the company wants him to do. I'm so bummed right now. Will update when I know more.

 

[CPPRHD265]

Just got off the phone with the dealer where I dropped my Viper off to get looked at. Because the mechanic is a Viper Tech, Chrysler told him to tear it down to find out what was wrong... Had they not had a Viper Tech on staff, they would have just shipped out a new motor.

This really blows man, the weather was just getting nice too! Arrrgh...

 

[Viper Wizard]

Just got off the phone with the dealer where I dropped my Viper off to get looked at. Because the mechanic is a Viper Tech, Chrysler told him to tear it down to find out what was wrong... Had they not had a Viper Tech on staff, they would have just shipped out a new motor.

This really blows man, the weather was just getting nice too! Arrrgh...

DO NOT let them tear your motor down!!!! That is NOT the problem with your Viper!!!! I am going with a cam or crank sensor or maybe a PCM!

 

[CPPRHD265]

I'll call em in the morning and ask that they check both cam/crank sensors before doing anything else. Why hasn't the check engine light come on!?! This is driving me mad.

How would a crank or cam sensor, or PCM problem explain the **** compression in the odd bank? I really have no experience on this.

 

[Viper Wizard]

DO NOT let them tear your motor down!!!! That is NOT the problem with your Viper!!!! I am going with a cam or crank sensor or maybe a PCM!

With more info now, it seems she's blowing oil out of the dip stick? A "leak down" test may give you more answers and maybe it does need to come apart?

 

[CPPRHD265]

Yeah, understandable. Doing long distance diagnosis with an untrained wookie ( me ) as your eyes and ears is probably rather difficult

After the compression check ( three times ) they setup to do a leak down. The mechanic was gone when I called Friday so I don't know the results.

 

[CPPRHD265]

Quick update, motor is going to Arrow for a rebuild.

The dealer is awaiting delivery of a crate to pack the motor up and send it.

 

[pteam]

I just want to show you guys having trouble my first post here 4 years ago on my previous SRT viper that was a valve and lifters problem / recall -> http://forums.viperclub.org/srt10-s...2207-srt-10-lifters-problems.html#post2160005