Viper running hotter after Head work?

[Alley]

1995 Viper. So I just got my car back with some Greg Good heads on her now. Tuned it and everythign today. Everything went smooth. Car feels great. Only thing is, twice today when driving around and in some stop and go traffic the temp gauge got a little higher then normal and hit the dash thats 3/4 the way over on the guage. Between 190 and 250. It has almost gotten there before but the fans always bring it back down before it gets that high. But twice today it was on the dash and the engine light came on. Not the check engine, but just the engine light with the little engine picture. Its only on for like 10-15 seconds then goes off as the car finally cools down. And it was only about 80 degrees today. I do have a 170 T-stat, but I know that only deals with how early the tstat opens. So I thought I'd see if theres any cause for concern, if this somehow is a result of the ported heads? Any thoughts would be great.

 

[SquadX]

First i didnt know there was two engine lights. Your car is making more power know so that may be the reason its running hotter. does your fan kick on when it gets hot? Who did the tune?

 

[EllowViper]

Burb.........ahhhh

 

[plumcrazy]

power = heat ?

 

[BOTTLEFED]

My GTS has done this since I bought it. I have tried a lot of things, but I think it might just be a clogged radiator. It will happen in traffic mostly, but sometimes just normal driving and the weirdest part is it can happen in almost freezing weather.
Let us know what you find.

 

[Alley]

Ya, the fans kick on when it gets hot. A local shop here did the tune. Woodhouse did the head install. Car is making more power, but driving downtown at 10mph that wouldn't make a difference I would think?

 

[BAD BOYZZ GARAGE]

Make sure that your mechanic bled the coolant system correctly to insure no air in system. Also check if fan & radiator are functioning correctly. I would not let idle to long & go break it in slowly. Double check & don't take chances especially after your capitol investment on your fresh build.

Best of Luck!

 

[vpower01]

Burb.........ahhhh

Hes suggesting that the car needs to be burped that might be the case?

If you have air in your coolant it will cause this to some extent.

 

[RT/ED]

Thanks to Chuck Tator, I learned that filling the heater hose going to the thermostat adds a lot more coolant in my 95 when I previously thought the system was full. This solved my overheating problems once and for all. You may be surprised to find that yours is low on fluid as well. Worth a try.

 

[mjorgensen Woodhouse]

"Make sure that your mechanic bled the coolant system correctly to insure no air in system. Also check if fan & radiator are functioning correctly. I would not let idle to long & go break it in slowly. Double check & don't take chances especially after your capitol investment on your fresh build. "


We bled the air out of it, not the first Viper we have worked on...

Advancing the timing and increasing the compression will create more heat and the cooling system in the Gen1 is pretty limited in stock form. We may need to revisit the coolant system to check for corrosion etc...

 

[BAD BOYZZ GARAGE]

My appoligies Mark,

Alley & I were posting at same time & didn't realize it was Woodhouse until I pressed submit reply button ( oops ).

That being said Mark, you must admit for all other Viper owners to be aware of those potential issues if not properly bled.

I remember my first bleed job, wow what a learning experience, to those who know what I mean.

Anyways best of luck on your build Alley!

 

[Roy]

I would also suggest the cooling system has a bubble, this was the same with my car. filling her up through the radiatorhose solved my problem, and burbing on you car is important, JonB can help you with this.

good luck

 

[plumcrazy]

im pretty sure woodhouse knows how to burp a viper.

power = heat.

like mark said, look into a better radiator or ways to cool it down

 

[Sneaky Pete]

The tune can have a lot to do with it was well. Lets face it, the overall cooling system in these cars is fairly marginal to begin with. Start playing with timing and adding performance parts and these things can start running hot quickly.

 

[Alley]

Thanks for the input guys. I'm confident Woodhouse burped my system just fine. Sounds like I may need to check my cooling system, and if it checks out my Viper may just run a little hotter from now on.

 

[ViperGeorge]

I'm curious about your statement that the second engine light came on "Not the check engine, but just the engine light with the little engine picture". Unless there is something really different with 95s vs. any other Viper I've owned the light you describe is the Check Engine Light, or more properly referred to as the MIL - Malfunction Indicator Light.

 

[Viper Specialty]

Gen-1's have a CEL, as well as a "engine overtemp" warning light.

 

[whitebluevipe]

a little off the subject but how much hp and torque did you pick up from the project?

 

[Alley]

a little off the subject but how much hp and torque did you pick up from the project?

Checkthe dyno results forum. I put up a whole thread about it.

 

[Russ M]

It could be and probably is the tune, if the air/fuel/timing is too aggressive the car will run hotter than normal.

There are many other possible reasons but this would be the first thing I look at since you just had it tuned.

 

[Alley]

I think I may throw in one of those fan control modules from Roe. I can at least have the fans come on earlier then and see if that helps with the problem.

 

[Jack B]

I think I may throw in one of those fan control modules from Roe. I can at least have the fans come on earlier then and see if that helps with the problem.

Unless you changed displacement , your mods are not going to represent any huge increases in heat at low loading, look elsewhere for your issues. As everyone has said, you have air in the system or you are low on coolant. When doing a full coolant change the best place to fill is from the hose at the passenger side heater box. Roe's silicone hoses also came with a small bleeder on the upper hose.

As a side note, I have my fan set up (high speed on at lower temps) with the SCT to maintain 175 degrees. That is only for use at the drag strip. At first i did not think it would hold the temp at that level, however, I have been in the staging lines on 85 degree days and the temp has never has gone over the 180 degree mark. Previously it would always go over 200.

Max cooling efficiency suffers with a 50/50 coolant mix, I am using 30/70 (antifreeze/watert) mix and also run cooling enhancer.

 

[eliems]

I put in a bottle of "Water Wetter" and saw a couple of degrees improvement.

 

[Vital Velocity]

Whats the proper way to burb the system?

 

[plumcrazy]

vital, i dont know what year car you have but I searched for burp and found these. plenty of good info.

http://forums.viperclub.org/search.php?searchid=993597

 

[bluesrt]

if you have a good heater(heat)at idle-forget about air in the system