Another Viper electrical problem

Homer

Homer

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Sep 10, 2006
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Minnesota
Another Viper electrical problem - Problem Solved!

I was riding in the UP this weekend. Sled ran like a champ (02 Viper). All weekend my hands were pretty cold. The hand & thumb warmers worked, but even on full, they just weren't very hot. When we would stop, I would leave the sled running and turned up the idle to about 2000 rpms. After 5 minutes, I came back and the handwarmers were ice cold. Saturday morning I got some expandable foam and put it in the handlebars. The handwarmers were noticably better. Saturday afternoon they stopped working altogether and my headlight was dim. When I shut the handwarmers all the way off, the headlight came back on to full brightness, but whenever I would hit the brakes or change from low beam to high beam, the light would go out completely and the dash would shut off completely and come back on.
Also, the sled always ran perfectly - never a hiccup during these symtoms.

Your guys insight would be greatly appreciated!
 
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I've been having electrical problems with my viper too. One of the most common things i've read is start by checking the wiring harness under the motor for the wres chaffing and shorting. Unplug the harness where it goes to the hood and bend back the tabs that hold the harness down under the motor area and pull it back a couple feet from under the motor. You have to pull the air box and carb rack to really get at the wires.
 
You don't think it is the elements in the handwarmers or the stator? Anyplace in particular in the wireing harness more likely than others to chafe through? Just looking for someplace to start.

Thanks!
 
I found it! It must have something to do with the taillight assembly. When I removed the seat and unplugged the connector that leads to the tail light, the problem went away. Thanks!
 
I had exact same problem,pulled wiring harness and everything is ok there.when i unhook my headlights my dash won't turn off but with everything hooked up high beam switch or brake shuts everything down.Only thing i have left to check is regulator stator or cdi.jeremy
 
It looks right now as if it was one of the bulbs in the taillight assembly. Ill know more tomm.
 
Wasnt the bulbs. There must be a short in the wiring from the connector back. I haven't been able to figure it out yet. Anyone know how to test for a short with a multi meter?
 
set your multimeter to the ohm setting. This will check for continuity through the wires. Touch one lead from m/m to one end of your wire...or spade on the plug. Then touch the other lead to the other end of same wire connector. If you have a zero reading...you have continuity. Tis means the wire is good. Any thing else means bad wire.
 
Had same problem 2 years ago.Had a burnt wire at the stator.There been a few Vipers around here that had the same problem.
I thought it was rear tail lights too.Worked better when I unhooked tail light.
But still had other power issues.
I'd check your stator.
 
I haven't had a chance to check it with the multi meter yet (thanks for the lesson). I feared it was the stator from the get go. The thing that is weird is the power situatuion is like night & day with the taillights plugged in. At idle, with the tailights unplugged, I can turn the hand and thumb warmers from off to full and the head light wont dim a bit. Plug the tail lights in and turn the hand warmers off and the head light goes orange. Hit the brakes and the head light goes off momentarily and the dash shuts off. I would think the hand warmers draw far more amps than the tail lights. Any thoughts?
 
anytime you reduce the load on the stator by unplugging the lights it will run better,because more of the voltage goes to the ign system. The handwarmers and thumb warmer are powered by the cdi box, this is why they really dont affect the lights like the bulbs unplugging do, a certain amount of power must reach the cdi box from the stator, so the box powers the ign coils and warmers. This is why I always tell people to unplug the headlights/tail light when trouble shooting electrical problems and see if the sled runs better, it allows all the available power to go to the ign system then.
 
Mr Viper, thanks for the reply. It seems as if you have alot of tech knowlege! Anyway, my question to you it this: the sled did not run better or worse since i started to have this problem. It has been purely a pita because of the dim lights and the handwarmers not working until I unplugged the tail lights. Do you still think this may be the wiring harness (as you posted earlier) or do you now think it may be the stator?
 
I had similar symptoms when the stator went bad on an 03 viper. The new stator had an updated part number and appeared to use a slightly heavier guage wire. Can anyone confirm that the 03's had bad stators?
I had the dimming lights, cold handwarmers (part of the time they worked fine), and the guage would freak out. Now my other 03 is having handwarmer problems and I'm afraid it's the stator. I'm not running a stock hood or any head/tail lights, so I don't have the dim light symptoms.

Running without head/tail lights won't cause damage to the stator will it? Current is what damages wires, so no lights would draw less current from the stator, Right?
 
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