JERSEYJOE
Member
My 2 Cents . Short Story
I also have a Viper, it's a 2003. I also have an APEX GT and an SRX. Just this past weekend I got a chance to go to camp and ride. With me was a buddy and my gf's son. Since it was our first ride of the season we needed to check them before we rode them. I have had the Viper and SRX since new and have never fogged them or used fuel storage additives. For some reason this year when we started both the Viper and SRX they both refused to idle without the choke on. The problem was that all six idle jets were completely clogged and the mains were 20 to 40% clogged. Good thing we checked and cleaned them because they both would have burned down for sure in a short time.
By the way the Viper has 8500 miles and the SRX has 7500. Both never apart and both have used only Yammalube.
If it was your first ride of the year I would bet that you had the same thing going on.
Also I love the APEX but being a good host I let my buddy ride the APEX, my gf's son rode the SRX and I rode the Viper all day. I did a lot of slow spped through the woods and a lot of on the road runs at indicated 110, most likely around 90 actual. Point is that I have a lot of faith in the Yamaha. and I have never lost a motor yet.
just my 2 cents. My advice is to take the 1800 and run. It's a good price for a Viper with a blown motor. I agree that one could find a runnign Viper for 2200-2500 all day. Upgrade to an APEX. You will like it.
I also have a Viper, it's a 2003. I also have an APEX GT and an SRX. Just this past weekend I got a chance to go to camp and ride. With me was a buddy and my gf's son. Since it was our first ride of the season we needed to check them before we rode them. I have had the Viper and SRX since new and have never fogged them or used fuel storage additives. For some reason this year when we started both the Viper and SRX they both refused to idle without the choke on. The problem was that all six idle jets were completely clogged and the mains were 20 to 40% clogged. Good thing we checked and cleaned them because they both would have burned down for sure in a short time.
By the way the Viper has 8500 miles and the SRX has 7500. Both never apart and both have used only Yammalube.
If it was your first ride of the year I would bet that you had the same thing going on.
Also I love the APEX but being a good host I let my buddy ride the APEX, my gf's son rode the SRX and I rode the Viper all day. I did a lot of slow spped through the woods and a lot of on the road runs at indicated 110, most likely around 90 actual. Point is that I have a lot of faith in the Yamaha. and I have never lost a motor yet.
just my 2 cents. My advice is to take the 1800 and run. It's a good price for a Viper with a blown motor. I agree that one could find a runnign Viper for 2200-2500 all day. Upgrade to an APEX. You will like it.
srxman06
New member
where can you get the aftermarket head gasket from?
dirtjumper895
New member
powerssrx700 said:
Whats his first name, or hell even his initials?
03viperguy
Moderator
RIVERRUNNER
Active member
dirtjumper895 said:
I was wondering the same think.....I'm going to laugh really hard if I see a clean blue viper around that someone bought really cheap and fixed it......ROTFLMAO
His name is Tim.. And he has my Viper.. Which I miss already.. Damnit....
i posted this questions elsewhere but figured i'd post here as well since this has been a hot topic. Regarding the viper burn downs...is it recommended to chang the stock needle setting from 3 to 4 to help prevent the burn down conditions? Would this be too rich of a setup for a stock viper? Trying to keep my 02 w/3k miles reliable as possible.
ajviper said:
From what Ive known I thought it had nothing to do with needles.. It is in the heads where the problem lies
WNYViper
New member
comatoast said:
Problem is in the Timing Curve of the CDI on a Viper, the head is not the main issue.
WNYViper said:
So what Is it , or is the CDI NOT doing correctly? I heard about that before , but always thought the main issue came from the Head, and the middle cylinder.. And to my mis fortune, crank seal and bearing
WNYviper please look at a Viper head. Two cylinders try to push water out a port. One cylinder pushes against these two cylinders water flow to go out the same port. Try holding two garden hoses facing each other......
Now note SRX head. Log on back of cylinders feeds water in ONE direction to the radiator.
Now look at Opticool head gasket and note the change in flow to get all three cylinders on the Viper to cool correctly.
And yes, I had all three carbs apart and cleaned and rasied jetting to run a little rich before rode. I rode it several weekends before the girlfriend rode it. Had I continued to ride it I suspect it would still be ok because I keep throttle varied and use the power.
I have ordered a cylinder and piston and will be ordering Opticool gasket tomorrow. Viper will run again but you can bet it will be modified now that I know the issue.
Now note SRX head. Log on back of cylinders feeds water in ONE direction to the radiator.
Now look at Opticool head gasket and note the change in flow to get all three cylinders on the Viper to cool correctly.
And yes, I had all three carbs apart and cleaned and rasied jetting to run a little rich before rode. I rode it several weekends before the girlfriend rode it. Had I continued to ride it I suspect it would still be ok because I keep throttle varied and use the power.
I have ordered a cylinder and piston and will be ordering Opticool gasket tomorrow. Viper will run again but you can bet it will be modified now that I know the issue.
stingray719 said:
Gotcha... So how in the hell did an engineering company like Yamaha make such a NON recalled horrible flaw in the cooling? I mean even to me it seems Like a no- brainer and a extremely obvious flaw .. And I dont know *(%& about that kind of stuff
Stingray719 - so just replacing the oem gasket with the bender one will improve things on a stock sled? Is it best to adjust the needles as well from the stock #3 setting?
As you can tell, I am now paranoid about this and want to keep my fairly low mile viper reliable as possible.
As you can tell, I am now paranoid about this and want to keep my fairly low mile viper reliable as possible.
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ajviper, I am going to change the needle setting in mine after I reassemble it with the Opticool gasket. For the long term I am going to either buy the aftermarket head or adapt SRX top end.
comatoast, I too was SHOCKED that this was not recalled. Yamaha has always been good at recalls, see my post about the 1981? SRX recall of entire engines. I saw the water outlet in a bad location for fluid dynamics but was sure Yamaha had done something to make it work.....not so.
And once again, if you don't putt around with it you will probably never see this failure. But as this is now the girlfriends sled I have to resolve this issue or dump the sled. Sad a sled with less than 900 miles is dead.............
comatoast, I too was SHOCKED that this was not recalled. Yamaha has always been good at recalls, see my post about the 1981? SRX recall of entire engines. I saw the water outlet in a bad location for fluid dynamics but was sure Yamaha had done something to make it work.....not so.
And once again, if you don't putt around with it you will probably never see this failure. But as this is now the girlfriends sled I have to resolve this issue or dump the sled. Sad a sled with less than 900 miles is dead.............
RIVERRUNNER
Active member
The other thing that will help IMO would be adding an srx rear cooler. I know there is a head problem and the timing is hot. But this will help for when your girlfriend/wife and or bone head friend is running down a long road and not watching the temp light.......LOL it is really safe insurance at a very minimal cost!
Thanks. I am at 3k miles and i have never had my temp light show....and i don't even have a rear cooler. I awlays clean the carbs before the start of the season and try to always run premium fuel.
Part of me would rather not touch it, but it sounds like at least running the bender gasket and adjusting the needles is a good idea
Part of me would rather not touch it, but it sounds like at least running the bender gasket and adjusting the needles is a good idea
dirtjumper895
New member
comatoast said:
Well if its the Tim i know, he's not a bad guy. I was just hoping it wasn't their "ex" mechanic.
dirtjumper895 said:
No he was a nice guy and all, but he did say he worked for RJ for a while..
Either way, He got a hell of a sled.. And seeing as how he was a mechanic, hes gonna be pretty happy when he gets it going again
powerssrx700
New member
Yeah he's not a bad guy. He defiantly knows his rockets. Sucks now he's got a nicer sled then me. That sled is in immaculate condition too. Thought he paid too much for it, but after seeing those pics, not such a bad deal.
99669viper
New member
comatoast said:Racing my cousin down the trail and all the sudden I hear a loud rattle and clanking. Lostall power and then the sled died. I have a few vids if how it sounds and really need you guys on this one. And to top it off my Internet is down so im on my phone now. I'll update this post as soon as I can get the vids up. Not a good start to the weekend.
Thinking it's crank bearing. But not sure.
Went through the same issue last season. Mine was a center piston. Got it fixed for just under 2 grand and I did the work myself. Had to have the crank rebuilt, new center piston, rings in all 3 holes, bearings, gaskets etc. You can see my issue here
http://www.totallyamaha.net/forums/showthread.php?t=66434
And now I have a new ride and my Viper is a back up machine that I let my friends ride!
