Bad gas......excuse me.........

[SteveBCloud9]

Picked up the viper this morning, car checked out o.k., no problems. I drive away and a little bogging. I Figure it just hasn't warmed up yet....a few minutes go by and get into the 190+ range and have intermittent hesitation. It was really wierd. Holding third gear around 40 or so the car would act like it was running on 8 cyliders. It only lasted a second and only happened if I held constant speed. If I took it to 2000rpm at a stop light it would go from 2000 to 1800, back and forth. So go drive to the nearest parts store and buy 104 octane boost. Put it in an no difference. So I drive it 30+ miles to see if it would "work it self out" with the booster. Still no luck. So I go home and disconnect the battery and reconnect it. Problem solved. So here's the 64k question. Does my year car (96)have a timing retard system to retard the timing when less octane fuel is added? I'm guessing that the stytem "********" itself couldn't "read" that the octane boost was put in. Comments. O, and the car LOVES the extrra octane..

 

[phiebert]

Disconnecting the battery probably just reset the computer. I have had work done on my car which required disconnecting the battery and noticed all sorts of odd behaivor until the computer figures out driving conditions again.

 

[kowalski vanishing point]

steveb you are a genius. My cantankerous '97 GTS has spent the last month displaying odder and odder behavior. Initially it started idling sporadically at app. 1200 rpm. Then the idle became more erratic. The engine would gain app. 25 degrees of temp at the same time. Then the idle would drop to normal and the temp would drop back down. Then over the last week it started to develop a sporadic stumble upon accelerating. Also the engine rpm would fluctuate while cruising. All of this was very sporadic. I did all the usual things: air filter, fuel filter, retorqued all the intake manifold bolts and the throttle body bolts, checked all the hoses, sprayed about 1/2 can of carb cleaner anywhere that might yield an intake vacuum leak....... Nothing. Noting that I hadn't been able to get 92 octane fuel for the last few weeks I'd added Octane boost along with fuel injector cleaner with only minimal improvement.

The Viper tech guy at the local dealer was his usual unhelpful self. ("UH, did you use a torque wrench? Well it sounds complicated, better bring it in.")

Anyways I did what you suggested, unhooked the battery, and after a single initial stumble it's back to where it once was. I just hope that all that extra heat it generated didn't ruin anything.

This car is still the black cloud of Vipers: to bad I've bonded with it.

 

[SteveBCloud9]

Glad I could help. I usually post a fix to a problem so others can benefit in some way..... or just have a laugh.....