Watertemp problems

[Lundis]

Hi there.

Need a little help with my Viper RT/10 (MY 2001, 18000miles)

When I was driving the car today the watertemp started to climb.
Never done before.

The gauge was up to 240 degrees and then after 10-15 seconds it went down to 180 and again after some seconds it went up to 230-240...

Now it's vary between 180 and 230-240 all the time when driving...

And there is no heat (just lukewarm) coming out of the floor vent.

My first thought was the thermostat...?

/ Patrik in Sweden.

 

[C O D Y]

I remember something about a water pump propeller problem with a certain year. Do a search..... It only was one year and I think it was '01.

Also, might be Themostat or it might need to be burped.

 

[Parisianviper]

It's sounds like a bad waterpump, famous on 2001s.
The plastic propellor loosens from its axis. A batch of faulty waterpumps were used on 2001 cars.
Do a research on the forum.

 

[SoCal Rebell]

It's sounds like a bad waterpump, famous on 2001s.
The plastic propellor loosens from its axis. A batch of faulty waterpumps were used on 2001 cars.
Do a research on the forum.

Yup 2001 was the year of the plastic impeller problem. Run cool at normal speed but hot going real slow or fast.

 

[SylvanSRT]

Dont let it get to hot or you will loose the motor, get it fixed right away, you definetly need a new water pump.

 

[Lundis]

Dont let it get to hot or you will loose the motor, get it fixed right away, you definetly need a new water pump.

Yes, It's seems that I need a new water pump.

I made a search and I can see that I wasn't the first one to have these problems.

Many threads about waterpumps....

Have to call a Dodge dealer here in Sweden tomorrow...

Thanks / Patrik.

 

[klamathpro]

Isn't it great how Dodge decided to dumb down the Viper during the creampuff era?

 

[Lundis]

Can anyone of you give me a good tip...Where in US I can order a new water pump?
any company with good service and fast shipping...

The Swedish dealer never have parts in stock.
I hate them!

And they always add 2-300% on there prices...

/Patrik.

 

[Parisianviper]

http://partsrack.blastmart.com/customer/home.php

 

[SylvanSRT]

actually they didnt change a thing all viper water pumps were the same they just got a bunch of defective ones.

PartsRack www.partsrack.com He is on the west coast of the USA (earlier time zone)

 

[Lundis]

Okay, Thanks for your help.

Have sent a e-mail to partsrack...

 

[agentf1]

actually they didnt change a thing all viper water pumps were the same they just got a bunch of defective ones.

PartsRack www.partsrack.com He is on the west coast of the USA (earlier time zone)

Is there a range of vins with the bad pumps. I have a late 01 and notice every once in a while it goes up past 200. I will have to keep a closer eye on it.

 

[Purdue_Boiler_Viper]

I have an 01, and seeing the gauge go a little above 200 is normal, especially when idling. Haven't seen it go up much past 200 though.

 

[SylvanSRT]

sorry but i dont think that a list like that exists

 

[aliga]

you can get it from Chuck at tatorsdodge.com

 

[Parisianviper]

I have an 01, and seeing the gauge go a little above 200 is normal, especially when idling. Haven't seen it go up much past 200 though.

Same for me , stays on the 200 mark on the highway...

 

[Martin]

Dont let it get to hot or you will loose the motor, get it fixed right away, you definetly need a new water pump.

What are the typical failure modes of a Viper engine that's overheated? Is it one of those engines that just won't tolerate overheating at all, or is there some margin of safety? I've worked on several different cars (GM and Mopar V8's, BMWs) that overheated real bad - but generally they'd blow a hose before anything terrible happened which gave the driver immediate notice to shut down. Is there anything specific that will likely happen to the Viper engine if something goes wrong and it gets up into the red zone (265 degrees)?

 

[SoCal Rebell]

Sometime I see the gauge go to 250 on the track on a hot day. I really don't worry until the dashboard overheat light comes on, that's when to shut it down.

 

[Martin]

One of the reasons I ask is that my car ('97 B/W GTS) has only overheated once in it's life - but it was a pretty good overheat. My power steering pump grenaded while I was driving uphill on a narrow road with no turnouts and the car got way into the red before I could safely pull over and shut down.

After fixing the PS pump and flushing out the cooling system, the car seemed to run fine on a test drive - but then all of a sudden started knocking like crazy when a couple of exhaust pushrods bent. I'm not sure if that was just a coincidence or if it's the first sign of a lot of other heat-related things that are going to start going south...

 

[SylvanSRT]

if it gets hot enough you will melt the gaskets, send coolant into the block, throw a rod through the block, burn up a bearing. ect.... when these monster engines get WAY TOO hot it's a BAD situation. Aluminum blocks DO NOT like to be way over heated. A lot can go wrong

 

[Martin]

I suppose the real question here is this - how hot can they get before something bad is very likely to happen? And, will the usual weak-links (hoses, pressure cap) go before something major breaks? I'm not talking about driving the car without coolant until the block melts - the question is more along the lines of how much the car can handle before you'll see problems. And, what are the 'common' failures related to 'typical' overheating. For example, if it gets into the red and the check engine light comes on - is it already too late?

I've had cars that I used to race (like my old '71 Firebird with a 455SD) that ran real hot and blew hoses on numerous occassions - but I never had a single engine related failure. I also have an old BMW 733i that overheated once and the whole engine had to come apart.

What I'm really interested in are the failures related to 'typical' overheat events where the driver is paying attention and shuts down as soon as they safely can. In my case, the car got up to around 265 degrees, the check engine light came on, and I shut down about 30 seconds later when I could pull over. Next time I took it out, two exhaust pushrods bent all to heck and I'm trying to figure out whether I should tear the engine apart to check for the 'usual' heat related failures that may have been a factor - or keep my fingers crossed that is was just a coincidence. As you can probably tell, I'm hoping to not have to tear that engine apart - that's a time-consuming and expensive mess that I would prefer to avoid if it's not likely necessary.

Again - thanks in advance for any help and insight!