Can you believe it....

CarDude · 01-15-2004, 12:46 PM

My car overheated on Saturday...and yes I was driving it in Denver. It was 60 degrees outside and we were driving around in my wife's new Lincoln LS. We kept seeing everyone's toys out (motorcycles, ferraris, etc...). As such, we went home, uncovered the Viper (2001 with 2,550 miles), and took it for a spin. It was so nice and mild outside that I wasn't even looking at the temp gauge. Then my wife looks over at me and says, "Hey what's that light on for?"

Man ...did I ever feel like an a$$. The temp gauge was past the red mark. I debated weather to turn it off immediately or pull back out to get some air thru the radiator. I decided to pull out. Luckily, it did cool down but by then it had lost coolant, so it would get hot, then cool off very quickly.

Well try and speed up the story. Last summer I had the car in the shop...had about 1,000 miles on it then...I told them I thought the car ran too hot. They checked everything (so they said) and determined everything was OK. Even though the temperature gauge was going right up to the red mark of the gauge. I told them that was unacceptable but that's what Dodge told them to do...nothing. All this, even though I told them there were some problems with other Viper's water pumps..they just ignored me. (Side note * last year at almost the exact same time, I had a 2003 Ford Cobra that started overheating at 500 miles on the odometer...hence the new Lincoln LS...Ford was unable to repair the car, as well as a few others locally). Now I'll bet you can't guess what they are doing to it today...that's right, they are installing a new waterpump and thermostat. Now I am very worried...did the overheating damage the engine. It was not my intention to do any damage, but I feel I more than gave them an opportunity to repair the car last time. Last time they just brought out the service manual and showed me pictures of a Viper gauge that was running right at the red line, just like mine. Only problem, as I told them, I am not driving the poop out of the car when the car gets so hot. I do know I need to give the car and the service department a chance, but have any of you had similiar experiences with this car after it overheated. Do you think it did any long-term damage...even some that might show up later.

Thanks..sorry the storys so long

SapphireGTS · 01-15-2004, 12:58 PM

I had the EXACT same thing happen to my car. I was out of town and it started overheating. I popped the hood to see if I was losing coolant. I was not but the engine was so hot that I could hear the coolant boiling. I let it cool down then would drive another 10 mins. I was so pissed off at the car that after about 3 hours of start, stop, cool, start, stop, cool that I just drove it until I got to my destination. Temp gauge was pegged for a good 30 mins. No engine damage.

I had it towed to a local viper shop and they did a thermostat and waterpump. All has been great since. Since they are doing a waterpump, Id have them throw a 180 degree in it. Im pretty confident that yours will be fine too with the new WP and thermostat. Our year has a habit of bad water pumps.

Mine is a 2001. Its also Sapphire.

Good luck. Keep us update.

Keith

Toby · 01-15-2004, 01:06 PM

I just purchased a 2001 ACR with 500 miles on it and I wonder...do most 2001 WP's go out? I wonder if the selling dealer would just change it out knowing it will go bad anyway.

SapphireGTS · 01-15-2004, 01:11 PM

Quote:

I just purchased a 2001 ACR with 500 miles on it and I wonder...do most 2001 WP's go out? I wonder if the selling dealer would just change it out knowing it will go bad anyway.

Hahaha. If dealers were moral, maybe.

Not all go bad. Mine didnt go bad until I did a 360 degree burnout and drove up over a curb. I think it really jarred something loose.

At least you know what to lookout for. You may want to put some miles on it then tell them it keeps overheating. The dealer switched mine out, no questions asked.

CarDude · 01-15-2004, 01:22 PM

Quote:

Not all go bad. Mine didnt go bad until I did a 360 degree burnout and drove up over a curb. I think it really jarred something loose.

I can't tell you how much respect you just won from me

. A Viper owner with a since of humor...at himself. It's amazing what (absolute) power can do to you. I am sometimes not very happy with the ownership experience, due to some of the other Viper owners I have come into contact with. But people like you make it worth while. Thanks for the humor, even if it was very painful at the time.

SapphireGTS · 01-15-2004, 01:29 PM

Quote:

Not all go bad. Mine didnt go bad until I did a 360 degree burnout and drove up over a curb. I think it really jarred something loose.

I can't tell you how much respect you just won from me

. A Viper owner with a since of humor...at himself. It's amazing what (absolute) power can do to you. I am sometimes not very happy with the ownership experience, due to some of the other Viper owners I have come into contact with. But people like you make it worth while. Thanks for the humor, even if it was very painful at the time.

Oh yeah

. What I withheld was that I did it after taking my car to jiffy lube, they over inflated my tires and im sure I had some oil on my tires from the shop. They said "light em up!". With max tire pressure and oil on my tires with 450 HP and a 3 grand clutch drop - that probably wasnt my best move in front of all these people. They were all cheering. Luckily my car wasnt ruined. That would have really sucked.