Need help asap

[Austin]

Took the Viper out for a drive. I drove for 5 minutes to eat. Was inside for 30 minutes. Came outside, started car and all was fine. Drove for about 10 minutes and looked over and gauge was PINNED at 250+. No movement whatsoever. I pulled over and shut the car down. The gauge only goes to 150 mark(?) And it sits there with the car off. It does NOT budge. Waited 10 minutes, then started car back. It jumps right to 250+ and stays PINNED still.

Turned if off and gauge goes back to the 150 mark and stays there.

No engine light or even acting of overheating. Any clues? I'm stuck in a parking lot.

- - - Updated - - -

Sorry for it being sideways. It won't allow me to change it.

[FlashFyre]

Engine temp sensor. Very common. Driver side cylinder head near power steering pump. Easy enough to DIY.

You are fine to drive it home. Avoid excessive idling if you can help it.

[FlashFyre]

1" deep socket is needed to swap it out. Not all 1" deep sockets will work ( husky brand doesn't fit)

[Austin]

Should I be good driving it home with this? I'm about 15 minutes away. And thank you for info. I popped the hood and the gauge is finally starting to drop a little lower.

Is this a part I can get at AutoZone, etc...? I looked under the hood and don't see the sensor. Mind posting a pic of where it is located?

[FlashFyre]

The temp needle may change if the sensor is intermittent failing. I had the same thing happen to me 2 months ago.

Check the obvious overheating items: rad hoses connected, serpentine belt still properly on. Make sure its the temp coolant sensor.

[FlashFyre]

Mopar part number: 4848110
Aftermarket WVE: 1T1106

- - - Updated - - -


Should I be good driving it home with this? I'm about 15 minutes away. And thank you for info. I popped the hood and the gauge is finally starting to drop a little lower.

Is this a part I can get at AutoZone, etc...? I looked under the hood and don't see the sensor. Mind posting a pic of where it is located?

Does the engine feel hot? Coolant leaking anywhere. In 97% sure its the temp sensor.

[Austin]

Thank you! Nothing at all seems wrong. Hoses connected, no leaking of coolants, belt is fine. So I'm going to head home and fix it Monday or tomorrow, depending on when I can get the part.

[FlashFyre]

48109

You will have to move some hoses out of the way. Wobble extension will help getting it out.

Safe ride Home.

[AZTVR]

An open circuit in that sensor line causes gauge to peg at maximum reading when ignition switch is in the ON position.
https://motoiq.com/project-viper-gts-part-2-general-maintenance/5/

[Austin]

Thank you! Nothing at all seems wrong. Hoses connected, no leaking of coolants, belt is fine. So I'm going to head home and fix it Monday or tomorrow, depending on when I can get the part.

[Austin]

So I drove home and no issues whatsoever, so I headed over to a car show and met up with another Viper. Car drove back just fine. Gauge is still f*cked, but car was fine. I'll check what was suggested tomorrow.

[dave6666]

Sounds like you have this under control but a few comments.

1) I have gotten a defective temperature sensor brand new out of the box. Likely a very isolated thing, but when you take a suspected bad one off and install a brand new bad one, it certainly complicates the troubleshooting process.

2) Check your fascia bottle coolant level a few times a year. That is not a sealed container and there will be evaporation from it (loss of fluid level) even if the car is never driven.

3) If adding coolant to the fascia bottle you do not need to add glycol. You can simply add water. Glycol does not evaporate whereas the water does. It does not hurt to add glycol tho if that is your desire.

4) Add a clamp right at the surge tank cap on the rubber hose that goes to the fascia bottle. If that leaks it will suck in air. I do not recommend a worm drive clamp for more reasons than you likely want to be bored with today. Use a Corbin type clamp or even a small zip tie will do the trick.

48110

[uvbnbit]

Our '98 did this in middle of nowhere in CO, 2006 on the way to VOI in Las Vegas. Panic time! pulled over, everything seemed fine. No sensors available anywhere. Just had to drive it the next 7 days with it like that.
get oem coolant temp sensor. spend the extra $20 ish.
I put aftermarket one in years ago, the oem was not available locally at time I needed it. It was sending wrong info to pcm. example, at start up it was showing 20 degrees warmer than actually was and at operating temp is was showing way hotter than expected, therefore, engine functions, management was not accurate...if all that makes sense.
Put the OEM one in. All running way should be.
Lesson learnt.

[dave6666]

Note that SMP makes, or did make, the OEM coolant sensor. As they did many Viper sensors from back in the day. A good example of the SMP/OEM relationship is cam sensors. They come (came) in the red/white SMP logo box with the Mopar number molded in the part.

However, there have been some changes in the manufacturers for things like senors. An SMP sensor can be had as an NOS old school back in the day part, or a brand new made last week part. I think SMP was bought by Airtex Wells and a lot of the old inventory is gone.

So yes, the advantage of OEM is that Dodge controls what specifications are met with the part. Versus a part that fits within a broader range of specifications. The latter possibly being a universal part that won't perform as well. And as the old school inventories dry up, you have to be more careful.

Here's a pic of the SMP cam sensor. NOS old school back in the day. Dodge p/n molded in.

48111

48112

[Austin]

Great info, and I will definitely get the OEM part if available from the dealer. I'll have to get the part on Monday but, I'm not worried about driving the car now.

Dave I'll for sure do the clamp and check coolant. I didn't pull the cap off of the coolant bottle yesterday because it looked pretty full but, I'll definitely check it more thoroughly today.

Thank you again to everyone for the quick responses and info/help yesterday. Greatly appreciated.

[Steve-Indy]

Great info and suggestions given here...temp sensor is certainly the most likely the problem.

Austin, down the road keep in mind that MANY 2001 water pumps had failures due to the impeller spinning on the shaft...some of which symptoms were intermittant.

[viper11511]

I second the notion to the OEM temp sensor. I just went through it when I changed out my head gaskets. I tried two aftermarket sensors before I purchased the OEM and they both read wrong temps. I think you have identifies your issue though and should be an easy fix.

[RT SERPENT]

Same thing here. Replaced my temp sensor about 4 years ago. I recall needing a special wrench or deep socket, but an easy fix.

[TTSnake]

My sensor just went out with my gauge pegged. This thread should help but I just have one question. Anything tricky with pulling the wiring connector? Do I have to unclip a retainer first before pulling it out?

[RT SERPENT]

It's been so long I may be forgetting something .....but as far as I recall there really isn't much to it.
No special retainer clip/piece ....just a tab to push in and then disconnect like many other wiring clips.

I'm sure someone can chime in with more recent experience than I.

[GTS Dean]

Nothing tricky - just lift the catch a bit and pull back straight while jiggling a little. The silicone seal fits in there snugly.

[usmcfieldmp]

On older connectors, I like to push down on the connector first and then lift the tab. Helps to not snap the tab if/when it breaks free suddenly.

EDIT: probably not a problem for most Vipers, as the plastic hasn't been heat cycled as much, but I'm used to working on 20+ year old VW/Audi's and it's basically a necessity on those.

[TTSnake]

Is there a big difference between the OE and aftermarket sensor?

[TTSnake]

Just changed the sensor. Probably one of the easiest repairs I've ever done. From the time the package was dropped off by USPS to the time I was washing my hands was about 20 mins.

The only slightly difficult thing was getting it threaded. It was a little tight through my fuel hoses to get it started. But other than that it was a piece of cake. My temp gauge is reading again.

[dave6666]

Is there a big difference between the OE and aftermarket sensor?

Not only is there not a big difference, there is no difference depending on the aftermarket brand.

SMP, if that's what you are calling aftermarket, made the sensors for Chrysler during that period. So an SMP sensor and Mopar sensor are the same thing. All of my SMP Gen 2 cam sensors have the Mopar number molded in to the sensor. Yet are in SMP packaging.

[TTSnake]

Dang so I could have saved my self a couple of bucks to buy the aftermarket one. Oh well. Hopefully the OEM one lasts a long time.