aoakwood
New member
Hello all-
I have an '02 Viper....Rebuilt with Opticool gasket and runs great. It does still heat up rather quickly in marginal snow, or icy conditions....Having invested heavily in a complete bottom and top-end, I am now extremely nervous whenever the "temp," light comes on. I'd like advice on where to get and what brand of extra heat exchanger to install, whether ice scratchers are very helpful, and has anyone ever installed a temp gauge? A temp gauge would at lest let me know if I should shut it down, or pray for another patch of snow to dig my boots into.....Thanks for any suggestions.
I have an '02 Viper....Rebuilt with Opticool gasket and runs great. It does still heat up rather quickly in marginal snow, or icy conditions....Having invested heavily in a complete bottom and top-end, I am now extremely nervous whenever the "temp," light comes on. I'd like advice on where to get and what brand of extra heat exchanger to install, whether ice scratchers are very helpful, and has anyone ever installed a temp gauge? A temp gauge would at lest let me know if I should shut it down, or pray for another patch of snow to dig my boots into.....Thanks for any suggestions.
03viperguy
Moderator
I have the rear heat exchanger, I think from maxximum performance. I thought you could use the SRX rear cooler as well. I know mine came home from the dealer with the rear cooler and I have only overheated once, riding in real cold weather with a layer of dry fluff on top. actually formed an ice bridge over the cooler so it was effectively closed off from getting any snow. other than that I never had an issue. I hear the scratchers work great as well, but no personal experience
^+1 Also make sure that you are jetted properly. Do a search on raising the needles on a Viper...MrViper700 wrote a detailed post about this somewhere. If you are running lean it will run hot, the colder it gets the worse this gets.
A couple of bucks
VIP Member
Here's a non-obtrusive scratcher.
http://betweenthelinesdesigns.com/?page_id=509
http://betweenthelinesdesigns.com/?page_id=509
Attachments
So you have a couple issues. if your piped, you definately need one.
If your not, you only need one for your sanity and the occasional day.
The viper warning light comes on earlier than the other sleds previous so it is common on a day of icy riding to see the light many times with out a rear cooler. It doesn't mean you are in any danger of overheating, just you are running warm.
Second problem, small expansion tank and people over filling, combined with purge dumping out on the tunnel. So you want to run your water level, not full, not half full, but just to the bottom of the the expansion tank. If you don't, on the day your sled does get a little hot, it will show you what the true level should be by puking some out. I ran mine with single head gasket stock exhaust for most of 200miles one day with the light on in icy condition with no issues other than my sanity. It was the end of the first year I had it and I gave it the test. After puking to the correct level of coolant, it was fine the rest of the day.
Later I put a cooler on for the icy days and to calm the nervous icy rides I might have in the future.
as for the scratchers and other devices, you are already running about the best ski there is for spraying ice chips on your track. Simmons.
So the answer, you do not need an extra cooler if you can live with riding with the light on. If you put a cooler on, you will almost never see the light again with a stock motor.
If your not, you only need one for your sanity and the occasional day.
The viper warning light comes on earlier than the other sleds previous so it is common on a day of icy riding to see the light many times with out a rear cooler. It doesn't mean you are in any danger of overheating, just you are running warm.
Second problem, small expansion tank and people over filling, combined with purge dumping out on the tunnel. So you want to run your water level, not full, not half full, but just to the bottom of the the expansion tank. If you don't, on the day your sled does get a little hot, it will show you what the true level should be by puking some out. I ran mine with single head gasket stock exhaust for most of 200miles one day with the light on in icy condition with no issues other than my sanity. It was the end of the first year I had it and I gave it the test. After puking to the correct level of coolant, it was fine the rest of the day.
Later I put a cooler on for the icy days and to calm the nervous icy rides I might have in the future.
as for the scratchers and other devices, you are already running about the best ski there is for spraying ice chips on your track. Simmons.
So the answer, you do not need an extra cooler if you can live with riding with the light on. If you put a cooler on, you will almost never see the light again with a stock motor.
aoakwood
New member
Thank you for the information....I will check with Maxximum....cheap insurance.