Picked up a nice 02 Viper

drew24

drew24

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Joined
Mar 16, 2013
Messages
955
Age
44
Location
NW Indiana
I just picked up a 02 Viper in excellent shape with 1800 miles on it for $1400. I couldn't pass it up. The only thing it needs is a right side trailing arm. The motor was rebuilt last year. The guy said it had a clogged pilot jet. He put a new cylinder on it and new pistons with new rings. The pistons are MCB. Has anyone had any experience with them? I have the old cylinder and pistons. The pistons look fine to me with the exception of one. Should I leave it or get one new piston and put it back to oem?
IMG_20150721_185725704[1].jpg
 
Last edited:

Thanks, I checked compression and something is definitely going on. I will pull it apart and see what it looks like on the inside.
pto cen mag
115 128 120 cold
98 118 108 warm
I put oil in the pto cylinder and it went to 125. My srx reads close to the same on all 3 at about 125 on this gauge.
 
drew24 said:
Thanks, I checked compression and something is definitely going on. I will pull it apart and see what it looks like on the inside.
pto cen mag
115 128 120 cold
98 118 108 warm
I put oil in the pto cylinder and it went to 125. My srx reads close to the same on all 3 at about 125 on this gauge.
Click to expand...

Viper engines have staggered compression.
 
Learn something new everyday. Thanks for the info guys. I will probably just leave it alone for now.
 
Best to pull the top end and measure your pistons and cylinders to make they are in spec. It may just need a ring job. I don't like your numbers there. Something like 110 120 120 would be acceptable I think. Mine is actually 112 118 118...

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drew24 said:
Thanks, I checked compression and something is definitely going on. I will pull it apart and see what it looks like on the inside.
pto cen mag
115 128 120 cold
98 118 108 warm
I put oil in the pto cylinder and it went to 125. My srx reads close to the same on all 3 at about 125 on this gauge.
Click to expand...

The numbers themselves on their own mean little. From experience i do know a stock viper should run around 110, 120, 120 with a good guage cold and dry. So that being said i would check the numbers again, that mag side should be the same as the center. I would even try a different guage and make sure you hold the throttle wide open and pull x10 fast and hard for each cylinder. If you didnt do it as described i would start there with a different guage. If you did you may want to get a look at the heads and check through exhaust ports for blow by. May just need some rings but shouldnt with only 1800, but it is used and you never know what you have untill you check for yourself. Comp check is just a basic test. Dosent matter if you do it cold, warm, wet, dry, winter, summer. Just do it the same for all three and you should be close to above numbers. For real cylinder condition a leak down test is in order if you dont want to tear into engine.
 
Do a few google searches. A leak down tester is surprisingly easy to make if you have some extra "stuff" kicking around like I do. Agreed though a leak down is the way to go. But for the half hour or so it takes to drain the coolant and pull the top end... I would be taking some measurements. That's awfully low miles for the sled. I would be double checking the speedo works. Pulling the top end will also give you the chance to check the heads and check for any slop in the connecting rods. I have had pistons completely toasted that still gave me decent numbers because the rings were still free. Anyway...leak down all the way.

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I will check again. I have a leak down tester but I need to get a new gauge for it so I will check that also. It is going to drive me nuts so I will pull the head and see what it looks like in there but it has new pistons and rings. He also gave me a new head so I wonder why he would have bought it if something wasn't wrong with the other one. The speedo does work, at least now, but this thing looks like it only has 1800 miles on it. Thanks for all the input. Definitely appreciate it.
 
IMG_20150730_064637163.jpgIMG_20150730_064648144.jpgIMG_20150730_064842871.jpgI dug into her last night and found the bracket on the oil pump that holds the cable was broke. I am not sure how that happened unless they had the motor out and broke it putting it back in. 2 cylinders have pretty decent score marks. The coating on the pistons is wore off pretty good. Not sure if that is normal but according to the previous owner they only have 1-200 miles on them. It had 1 powervalve upside down and 1 not even connected at the servo. Not exactly sure what I am going to do yet but looking into it. Seems like it is not much more to get a plated cylinder than a used one. Might go that route on all 3 and new oem pistons and rings. Any opinions greatly appreciated.
 
I am getting cylinders from jd and so far I think I am going to go with new oem pistons. I may send the old oem pistons that I got with it to have them coated so I have some for just in case. They are about .003 out of spec. This sled will be driven primarily by my wife so I need to make sure it is good. She would never know it if there was a sign of a problem and keep running until it stops moving. That being said I have read people saying to move the needles up. Should I put them at 3.25 or should I go to 3.5 considering she will always be in the mid range? Thanks, Drew
 
That coating wears off pretty much instantly in my experience. I've checked them at around 200 miles before and the coating was really worn even before broke in. Measure the pistons. If they are in spec you may get away with just some new rings. As for the cyls...its usually cheapest to find a good used cylinder. Where I live an exchange for a replated cyl is about 300$. Good used cyl about 150$ so there's that. Score marks are one thing but if the cyls are out of round or wear spec then your buggard. From the sounds of it...I would be checking over all the bearings in your drive line and clutch bushings also. Check for slop in the connecting rods. If you have a dial indicator then check crank run out also.

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drew24 said:
I am getting cylinders from jd and so far I think I am going to go with new oem pistons. I may send the old oem pistons that I got with it to have them coated so I have some for just in case. They are about .003 out of spec. This sled will be driven primarily by my wife so I need to make sure it is good. She would never know it if there was a sign of a problem and keep running until it stops moving. That being said I have read people saying to move the needles up. Should I put them at 3.25 or should I go to 3.5 considering she will always be in the mid range? Thanks, Drew
Click to expand...

I took my wifes viper to 3.5 when she first started riding cause she was a midrange rider also. Throttle half cracked and never moving it will heat the vipers up for sure. Now that she is a much more aggressive rider and on and off the throttle i moved it back to 3.25. Pistons looked real good at 3.5 and plugs were alway nice and brown. I would run them at 3.5 and just check the plugs and piston wash and see where your at after her first ride.
 
Im not familar with the MCB pistons but if they make rings for them i would try to stick with like products for my 2cents. If not im sure the OEM rings will work just fine. I just googled them http://mcbperformance.com/ Maybe give them a call and see if you can get the rings for your pistons. Key is make sure you warm the sled up well before riding. Make sure your coolers are warm to touch and you should be good to go.
 
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