SEDONA, WITH ARIZONA CLUB - Oct. 21-23, 2011

[HyperViper]

We had a blast on this run. By far the most fun since VOI. Great group of people from SoCal and AZ, fantastic hotel / casino, excellent weather and beautiful scenery. Thanks to the AZ club and SoCal for putting this together.

[Jay M]

Jennifer and I really enjoyed the trip, thanks to everyone who put so much work into making it great.  In fact my car liked Phoenix so much that it decided to stay  

Despite the car breaking down and missing the drive to Slide Rock Park and Sedona, we still had a great time.  The main reason for going was to meet people, and the car breaking down forced me to not only meet new people, but depend on new people.  Even though we're new and still getting to know the Socal people, it was great to also hang out the AZ people.  I can honestly say that everyone I met made me proud to be a Viper owner.  I can't say that about some other car people.  I genuinely enjoyed everyone's company this weekend.

Thanks to Marv for helping me return the rental, and Demoe and Laura for taking us home.  Thanks also to all the people who pulled over to help and try to fix my car on the spot.

I'm glad that my car will be in the capable hands of Eddie Martin at Bill Luke Dodge this week to get it fixed.

Next week if the car is fixed, we'll return to AZ and hopefully see Sedona and some AZ club members again.

~Jay

[Speedtactics]

Jay ,
Have they found out what is wrong  with your car yet?

[Mr. Fangs]

Jan and Jennifer (not jen : >)

It was good to meet both of you. Sorry about your car. We were ahead of you when you lost power. Everyone was concerned, but when Lance showed up, he brought everyone up to speed.

That is a great thing about cruising with the Club. Lots of good people willing to help out.

Kind of sounded like a speed sensor, or some other electrical gremlin.

Hope to see you both at future events.

Paul & Teresa

[Jay M]

I don't have any info yet, Eddie may or may not be back in town yet.  I don't plan on picking up the car until next weekend, so I haven't been harassing them yet.  They went ahead and ordered a new cat assuming that is the problem.

Hopefully the cats will covered by the 8/80,000 emissions warranty.  I also hope they can figure out what caused the cat to go bad. 

~Jay

[Speedtactics]

Jay,
I'm not an expert but If the cats were clogged you should have a error code with a check engine light. I would be sure they show you proof of the clogged cats. If the cats were clogged debris would be coming out of the cats in the form of small pellets from the clog. I was standing right in front of the exhaust and had my leg there, nothing was coming out other than exhaust. Also if they are clogged then what caused it? Because it will happen again if it's not fixed. The cats would be the result of a problem some place else. I really would stress they check the mass air flow sensor on the front of the intake. That would cause the car to run rich like it was.
Just my two cents. Maybe someone else that knows more about this could chime in.
Scott

[Jay M]

Thanks Scott, I'll make sure I tell Eddie all that when he gets back.  The guys there on Saturday seemed a little intimidated by the Viper.  From what I have heard about Eddie, he will be able to sort it out.  But I will definitely tell him what you are suggesting.

~Jay

[CAP]

Jay,
I'm not an expert but If the cats were clogged you should have a error code with a check engine light. I would be sure they show you proof of the clogged cats.

Hey Scott,

I'm certainly not an expert either, but I had my passenger side cat plug about two years ago and my driver side about one year ago.  No codes.  When I heard Jay's symptoms, I told Lance that it sounded like plugged cat.  It sounded exactly like what I had experienced.

The second time it happened, we were down in Coronado (on our own, no event) and limped home with a hole in the headers, melted plug wires and other miscellaneous melted goodies.

Craig

[Speedtactics]

Craig,
The question is what was the cause? They don't just clog for no reason. Not like you have 100k on the car. =5

[CAP]

Craig,
The question is what was the cause? They don't just clog for no reason. Not like you have 100k on the car. =5

Nobody has been able (willing?) to answer that question.

The second time it happened, they replaced the header and melted stuff believing that was the cause for the bad running.  Ultimately they had to go back in a replace the plugged cat.

[Speedtactics]

Here is some info I found "A catalytic converter relies on receiving the proper mix of exhaust gases at the proper temperature. Any additives or malfunctions that cause the mixture or the temperature of the exhaust gases to change reduce the effectiveness and life of the catalytic converter. Leaded gasoline and the over-use of certain fuel additives can shorten the life of a catalytic converter.
A catalytic converter can also fail because of:
Bad exhaust valves on the engine
Fouled plugs causing unburned fuel to overheat the converter
Sometimes you can tell that a converter is clogged because you don't go any faster when you push the gas pedal. Also, there usually is a noticeable drop in gas mileage associated with a clogged catalytic converter. A partially clogged converter often acts like an engine governor, limiting the actual RPMs to a fast idle. A totally clogged converter causes the engine to quit after a few minutes because of all the increased exhaust back pressure."

[CAP]

Sometimes you can tell that a converter is clogged because you don't go any faster when you push the gas pedal. Also, there usually is a noticeable drop in gas mileage associated with a clogged catalytic converter. A partially clogged converter often acts like an engine governor, limiting the actual RPMs to a fast idle.

The above were my symptoms.  The rest did not apply.

My thought has to do with: When downshift breaking, the exhaust pops and crackles - a lot.  Maybe that's a mixture problem affecting the cats under those conditions?  I downshift often - but I've driven my two other Vipers the same way with no problems - the '96 and '01 for five years each.

[Speedtactics]

My exhaust crackles and pops all the time when your getting off the gas or downshifting.  <2
Think that is pretty normal, most high performance exhaust do that. >v

[CAP]

I've not been able to explain it nor have it explained.

Maybe Jay's guy will sort it out.

[Speedtactics]

Guess you'll find out when it melts down again =16