Engine Fire Alert - Thankfully Little Damage

[ACR Joe]

I took a friend's son out for a spirited birthday ride on Sunday. After ~ 5 minutes, I thought I smelled the clutch burning. Cut the ride short and returned to my friend's house. Re-joined the party when someone alerted me to smoke coming out from under the hood. Popped the hood and found flames coming up from the left exhaust header collector. A fire extinguisher was readily available thank God.

I found the power steering reservoir cap had fallen off and landed right on the header, melted and eventually ignited. Only damage is residual plastic on the header - worst case I'll need to remove the header and have it re-coated.

I perform all of the maintenance on the car and am sure I secured the cap tightly. So it either loosened over time or simply popped off. I can't say for sure but I suggest that everyone pay a bit more attention to this area given its catastrophic possibilities.

 

[John ACR]

Holy Moly BATMAN!
Glad to hear a fire ext was nearby.
More reason for the Roe Racing ext setup to be in the car.

 

[onerareviper]

Here's my experience:

I have a 98 GTS, where the cap would come loose after driving a few hundred miles. I would tighten, I mean TIGHTEN, and it would come loose after another couple hundred miles. It never fell of, but I'm sure it was a possibility. To make a long story short, I had Dodge replace the cap under warrantee. The new cap NEVER comes loose. It stays so tight, I have a hard time removing it to check the fluid level. Therefore, check your cap and possibly replace.

Glad that beast didn't burn down Joe. Still have a lot of Ferrari's to step on.....

Later

 

[RockyTop]

Mine fell off at thr track. 97 GTS. It's a common problem.

 

[2002graphiteviper]

Do you think this is just on specific years? I read a thread a while back on this - checked mine (2,500 miles) - and it was really tight... Just curious if something has changed in the different models - or if I need to be constantly checking it...

 

[SoCal Rebell]

I use Chuck's method of tightening, a pipe wrench!

 

[Stiffler]

Mine did the same thing a few weeks ago. Luckily I saw the smoke in time to pop the hood and remove the cap before the flames started. I had a huge melted plastic mess on my header like you do now. I got off all of the big chunks that I could, the rest COMPLETELY melted away. You can barely see it was ever there. I am still shocked, I figured I'd be removing the header this winter for some re-coating.

 

[ACR Joe]

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Stiffler:
Mine did the same thing a few weeks ago. Luckily I saw the smoke in time to pop the hood and remove the cap before the flames started. I had a huge melted plastic mess on my header like you do now. I got off all of the big chunks that I could, the rest COMPLETELY melted away. You can barely see it was ever there. I am still shocked, I figured I'd be removing the header this winter for some re-coating.

<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Thanks Stiffler:

Hope I have the same result. Hate to R&R the header just for cosmetic reasons.

 

[Eddie N]

marc d's car burned to the ground before he even got it home from the dealership.. such a shame..good thing no one was hurt..

i wouldnt be surprised if this is an isolated problem on older vipers.. dodge probably fixed it during the later model years after enough people had issues..

i doubt it will be a recall until somebody gets hurt.. im absolutely sure that dodge is aware of this problem..

- eddie -

 

[Eddie N]

this is a VERY widespread epidemic among vipers.. as soon as i read the topic i guessed that the power steering cap fell off and power steering fluid leaked onto the headers causing a fire.. i was half right..

there needs to be a fix for this, whether its a recall from dodge, or some kind of locking mechanism for the cap..

- eddie -

 

[Craig 201 MPH]

So has anyone found what flaw causes them to fall off? are they too big or what? It's a scary thing to have happen I'm sure.

 

[Bonkers]

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Eddie N:
marc d's car burned to the ground before he even got it home from the dealership.. such a shame..good thing no one was hurt..

i wouldnt be surprised if this is an isolated problem on older vipers.. dodge probably fixed it during the later model years after enough people had issues.. <HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Actually, if its the same Marc (CajunFriedViper) I'm thinking about his was a brand new 2002. I think the issue must span all years:

You must be registered for see images

 

[SneakyPete]

I don't drive my viper all the time, usually once or twice on the weekend with the Local N. Florida VCA guys, but we do drive them hard.

Before taking the car out, once a week, I do a quick detail and wipe down, check tire air presure, check oil and make sure power sterring and radiator cap is tight.

I have never had to add air, oil or tighten the power sterring cap. But there might be a first time.

 

[MtHam ACR]

All the temperature cycling coming from the heat-up/cool-down of the exhaust manifold/headers is what loosens the cap - the cap and bottle are made two different materials so they don't expand at the same rate.

Anyway, as stated above, the cap is an 'every time' the hood is up item.

 

[1TONY1]

I must have Viperitus bad....the above burn pic made me sick at my stomach.....I'm going to check my cap NOW!!

 

[MightyP]

I rented a Viper, 2001 GTS with ~1500 miles, and after about a hour of driving it I noticed an odd smell.... Pulled into my destination and opened the hood to find the cap gone and fluid smoldering on the header. Long story short, got a generic GM replacement cap that fit perfectly, called the rental place, and continued to have fun