Cam/ Viper adict
New member
Would like some suggestions... Riding my 02 Viper ER home yesterday, doing about 140kmh and just lost power. I have had this sled for a few years now and have never had a problem with it. It was running strong and gave no warning as to anything was about to go wrong. I shut the machine off immediatly... I pulled it over a couple of times manually and it didnt seem to be seized. Gave it a good pull today after having it trailered home yesterday and it seems tight. Anyone have any suggestions... Dont want to try and start it in case something is really wrong...
Pull the plugs and see what they look like. Sounds lik a burn down. Maxdlx
Cam/ Viper adict
New member
Pulled the plugs and they looked fine. Nothing out of the ordinary... I was riding the machine hard all weekend.
staggs65
Moderator
roll engine over so piston is all the way down and look in with a good flashlight and see if piston tops look good
Cam/ Viper adict
New member
The piston heads look good, checked them today... I turned the engine around with the clutch and it is tight. Doesnt turn to freely... I dont think there is any damage to the crank... Any suggestions? I am new to tearing down a 2 stroke....
viperking
Active member
i am pretty sure your crank bearing seized, your symptoms are exactly the same as what has happened to my viper twice now, once at 2500 miles and just a week ago it did it again at 4875 miles, that crank bearing seizing is a very common problem on the 02 vipers and it sure sounds like yours did it too
Cam/ Viper adict
New member
Will this bearing wreck the crank? Is a hard to change? Never done one before and would appreciate any help... I have about 6200 miles on my sled...
viperking
Active member
you have to send the crank out and get the bearing replaced as its in the middle of the crank and i think the third bearing in, i got mine done for $200 u.s but you will have to tear your motor apart to mind out exactly whats wrong with it but id be willing to bet thats your problem
Cam/ Viper adict
New member
Would this stop the sled from restarting? I tried to start it but no go... I have no problem tearing down the sled. Just never really done any major work on 2 strokes. I really appreciate the help...
viperking- if this common, what are the reasons for it? If it's a bearing defect from the factory, why a second time for you?
viperking
Active member
Cam/ Viper adict said:
ya if the bearing seizes it will stop it from starting. sometimes it will restart for a little bit if the bearing cools eneough but it will quickly lock up again
viperking
Active member
ajviper said:
i have heard people say the oil pumps are set to lean but i set mine richer when i rebuilt it and it still did it again. i think it happened again to me because i sent my crank out to be repaired and it was toward the end of the season and when i got the crank back and i went to put it back together i found the shop had put a wrong sized bearing on, they were sent a wrong batch of bearings and i had to resend my crank back and the whole process of sending it out and waiting for it to come back took about 2 weeks so i wasnt going to wait another 2 weeks for my crank to come back because season would have been over so i found a crank i could pick up within a couple hours of my home and i bought that and installed it and sold my rebuilt crank when it came back so essentially i was just running another crank with the original factory bearing and it went out again
good to know...Any idea if anything was changed with the 03+ models? I am sitting at 3,000 problem free miles and want to make sure I can make this last at least another easy 3,000. I may start adding additional oil to each tank of gas to be safe.
Cam/ Viper adict
New member
I will be taking the engine apart this weekend. Hopefully that is all that is wrong. I think I moght as well do the pistons and rings as well while I have it apart. I was wondering if there are any tricks or anything I need to know while taking it apart and reassembling it? Also if you(viperking) or anyone has a repair manual for the 02 Viper ER? I appreciate all the help you have given. I will keep you up to date on the problem and how things are going. This sucks, just had a decent snowfall here and I am ready to ride.... I have to say the machine has been very reliable and vertually problem free up to now... Anything else I should be aware of?
viperking
Active member
i know the 02 vipers were by far the worst with the crank problems, i dont know if anything was changed for the newer sleds but it seems the 02's have it much worse that the newer ones. good luck gettin her goin
Stevie Ray
New member
I had it happen to my 02 last year and yes it did the same thing as you are experiencing. It was the center bearing and I thought it happened because I never fogged the crankcase before storing each year. Someone also told me that the vipers use such a small amount of oil that they lack full lubrication to the bearings. I adjusted my oil pump cable a little on the rich side to see if it helps. Good Luck.
Cam/ Viper adict
New member
I have never fogged the crankcase and I have had the machine for almost four seasons. It has been an awsome sled. I have put over 4000miles on her with no troubles.You are right though,it doesnt use much oil. I wil maybe set mine to run a little rich.... Thanks for the support everyone, I will keep you posted on the surgery... I may have a few questions during the operation though... Hasnt even been a week and I am going through riding withdrawl.... Going to have to buy a back up sled...
Cam/ Viper adict
New member
Quick question, who makes a good gasket set I can get?
i guess it's a good thing I've been fogging mine every year... regardless, I think it's time to increase my oil intake. I do remember hearing a lot of vipers going down last year too with bearing issues.
I was out riding in Upper Michigan this last week and talked to a dealer on my Viper. I have an 02 with 7,500 miles. He said the reason the crank bearings are going down is head gasket leakage of anti freeze into the crank. Most the time it happens over the summer during storage. He said to change the head gasket every 4-5 thousand miles. Also re-torque the bolts every 2,000 miles. I haven't had any problems with mine, knock on wood. He said he has seen several vipers this year with 21,000 and 23,000 miles on them.