jrmboat
New member
I'm trying to help troubleshoot another guys 2002 Viper ER. I'm doing this long distance, it's 300 miles away from me and I won't be back there for a couple weeks. 2 weeks ago it was running fine. Parked it until this past Saturday and the battery was dead. Measured close to 0 volts. Pull started ok. While running at idle terminals on battery read 9.2 volts. I didn't check it above idle. Guages kept bouncing around and resetting, probably because of low voltage but the headlight was plenty bright so I would have thought there was enough voltage to run the guages. Rode the sled for about 30 minutes and the battery was still dead. It then started to run poorly, missing and stalling. I parked it and won't be back for 2 weeks. When it was put away 2 weeks ago if the key was left in the on position would that run the battery down or do I maybe have a short that drained the battery? The battery has been very strong up until now. Could I maybe just have a battery that is so trashed that it won't recharge? If that's the case though, when it's running wouldn't it generate enough power for the guages to function correctly and for it to run properly? My sled is a VMax with no electric start and no battery so this has got me kinda confused. Anybody have any ideas what's going on?
From what I've read on this site, an ER Viper will not run without a working battery. Go get a fully charged battery in good working condition and try it.
viperking
Active member
yes the sled won't work right without a good battery. the gauge will keep resetting just like you said. when my battery went dead my headlight was fine and the gauge kept resetting.
Viper_Jim
New member
I've had this same issue as well, but in my case the engine ran perfectly, it was only the guages that kept flashing on and off, no problems other than that.
jrmboat
New member
Could the battery have discharged by shutting the engine down with the kill switch and leaving it sit with the key in the run position? Is a charge voltage of 9.2 volts ok at idle? Would it probably have increased to 13 or 14 at a higher RPM or am I looking at a stator or wiring problem here?
sounds like a junk battery to me. No, 9.2 volts is no good.