toddt
Enthusiast
Re: need help for my \'94 Viper.
Dr...
Wow, I'm not sure where to begin...First of all, I want you to be aware that, as you feared, your terminology did turn out to be confusing, and you used many terms that I frankly wasn't able to interpret.
Let me restate your woes as I understood them:
You own a 94 Viper that has had more and more difficulty starting, seeming to behave precisely as if flooded.
By this I take it to mean that you turn the key, the starter goes, the engine spins, but you get no ignition.
(may I ask, at this point, did it ever try to start? Did it "sputter" as if it were beginning to fire? Or was it absolutely dead, no sign of life?)
So you took it to an idiot mechanic who decided it wouldn't start because it needed a good steam cleaning.
Now you're spouting flames out of the side-pipes.
Here is my first Rx, Dr.: Get yourself a new mechanic today.
Here is my second Rx, Dr.: If you're going to drive an older car, it is important to know how to troubleshoot them to some extent yourself. So here's the first thing you always learn in mechanic school:
Golden Rule of Engine Troubleshooting:
There are 4 things necessary for an engine to run:
1) Spark or ignition
2) Fuel supply
3) Air supply
4) Compression
If you remove any one of these, your engine will not operate at all.
When your engine won't start, it is time for YOU to start through the list above, and find out what is missing.
The technique you use to troubleshoot each item can be simple, or it can be advanced. Here are some basics.
1) Spark
Pull a plug boot off one of your plugs (they pull right off, but you should grab the BOOT, not the wire, firmly).
Have a friend turn the engine over while you hold the boot about 1 cm away from something metal. (watch your fingers!)
If you do not see a spark, something is wrong.
2) Fuel
Crank your engine over for a minute.
Using a special tool, unscrew one of your spark plugs.
If the plug is not WET from fuel, you have a fuel delivery problem.
3) Air
Remove your air filter. Inspect the passage into your motor--ALL the way in. Make sure pressing the accelerator opens and closes the valve gating the air into the engine. (This is called a throttle body). It is important to inspect this visually. Look at the WIRES going to all the components attatched to the air passage. Be sure they are not filled with steam-cleaning water.
4) Compression
Compression only becomes a problem with SUPER old, SUPER worn engines. Testing is a bit of a pain, so you should probably skip if you have less than 200,000km or 100,000mi. on your car.
Finally, Dr., your engine has a fine computer. It can give you a ton of information on your car. I would suggest you invest in an inexpensive tool that reads out the codes from your computer. That may give you the hint you need...
Ciao
Dr...
Wow, I'm not sure where to begin...First of all, I want you to be aware that, as you feared, your terminology did turn out to be confusing, and you used many terms that I frankly wasn't able to interpret.
Let me restate your woes as I understood them:
You own a 94 Viper that has had more and more difficulty starting, seeming to behave precisely as if flooded.
By this I take it to mean that you turn the key, the starter goes, the engine spins, but you get no ignition.
(may I ask, at this point, did it ever try to start? Did it "sputter" as if it were beginning to fire? Or was it absolutely dead, no sign of life?)
So you took it to an idiot mechanic who decided it wouldn't start because it needed a good steam cleaning.
Now you're spouting flames out of the side-pipes.
Here is my first Rx, Dr.: Get yourself a new mechanic today.
Here is my second Rx, Dr.: If you're going to drive an older car, it is important to know how to troubleshoot them to some extent yourself. So here's the first thing you always learn in mechanic school:
Golden Rule of Engine Troubleshooting:
There are 4 things necessary for an engine to run:
1) Spark or ignition
2) Fuel supply
3) Air supply
4) Compression
If you remove any one of these, your engine will not operate at all.
When your engine won't start, it is time for YOU to start through the list above, and find out what is missing.
The technique you use to troubleshoot each item can be simple, or it can be advanced. Here are some basics.
1) Spark
Pull a plug boot off one of your plugs (they pull right off, but you should grab the BOOT, not the wire, firmly).
Have a friend turn the engine over while you hold the boot about 1 cm away from something metal. (watch your fingers!)
If you do not see a spark, something is wrong.
2) Fuel
Crank your engine over for a minute.
Using a special tool, unscrew one of your spark plugs.
If the plug is not WET from fuel, you have a fuel delivery problem.
3) Air
Remove your air filter. Inspect the passage into your motor--ALL the way in. Make sure pressing the accelerator opens and closes the valve gating the air into the engine. (This is called a throttle body). It is important to inspect this visually. Look at the WIRES going to all the components attatched to the air passage. Be sure they are not filled with steam-cleaning water.
4) Compression
Compression only becomes a problem with SUPER old, SUPER worn engines. Testing is a bit of a pain, so you should probably skip if you have less than 200,000km or 100,000mi. on your car.
Finally, Dr., your engine has a fine computer. It can give you a ton of information on your car. I would suggest you invest in an inexpensive tool that reads out the codes from your computer. That may give you the hint you need...
Ciao
