Hot transmission?

[Vombomb]

So while the pumpkin is at the dealer unf**king the damage the so called tuner up here did to it during a simple header install... I wanted to pick y'alls brains on something that is potentially bugging the hell out of me. So before the headers and catback install, I would notice that after long hard driving the shifter ring and shifter post it's self would be hot to the touch, nothing that would burn skin, but noticeably hot. I thought no big deal, normal and I've always seen that in every manual sports car I've owned. AFTER the header install, holy god, that ring and shifter was ridiculously hot!!! Just letting it idle or sitting in traffic would heat it up bad. I'm hoping I can chalk this up to that exhaust leak on the driver side, as I also noticed once after letting the car sit and idle for about 10 minutes after driving around, that my clutch just went to the floor and I had a hell of a time getting it in gear. After a few miles on the road it cooled down and has shifted fine since.

I guess my question is: has anyone with American Racing Headers *non coated* experienced any major heat increase? Enough that your tranny and clutch/brake fluid are affected? I'm worried that after all this headache that I'll end up having to pull the headers and get them coated or wrapped, running into another "gasket nightmare".

A side *associated* question: What transmission/rear dif coolers would you suggest? I'm just wondering for when I move to AZ and start tracking it and showing Jeff *Vprbite* what real speed is

[PaulP]

I have ARH headers not coated, before headers driving car in hot weather or driving hard shifter gets warm to hot not burn you hot, lots that have a hot issue have found there shifter boot cracked or torn, no change from factory header to ARH

[Vprbite]

I was told not to go with a non coated header like AR for the street. If it was a pure track car then fine, but we would still be insulating things under the hood from their radiant hear. We avoided that by going with a coated Belanger which I was told is better for a street car. I have not personally run AR headers. Though if there is indeed a leak, that would feat things up.

Fwiw, these cars are always known for making the shifter a little warm but nothing like you are describing.

Where did you get the headers from?

[98intrigue]

+1 for a ripped shifter boot

[Roddy]

+1 for a ripped shifter boot

This is also a source for exhaust fumes coming back into the car. As I discovered.

[Vombomb]

I almost wish I'd gone with belangers at this point... Hell I wish I'd just waited to have a reputable shop do the installation. I'll look into the shift boot whenever I finally get her back. I guess when I get to AZ I'll be getting them pulled and coated... *sigh* more downtime! Guess that's what I get for being impatient! Lol

[Vprbite]

I personally run all my Viper decisions (mod wise) by Eddie Martin, who is one of the most respected Viper techs in the country and we are lucky enough to have as a club member here in Arizona. I also run my questions by Jon B because he has sold enough of them and gotten enough feedback, he has a unique perspective. And both of those people have learned things from the man, Winkles himself, so they have a good idea of what is and isn't a good idea with our cars.

Sorry for the bad luck. Perhaps it's just something simple. Occasionally we get lucky on stuff like that.

[98intrigue]

I personally run all my Viper decisions (mod wise) by Eddie Martin, who is one of the most respected Viper techs in the country and we are lucky enough to have as a club member here in Arizona. I also run my questions by Jon B because he has sold enough of them and gotten enough feedback, he has a unique perspective. And both of those people have learned things from the man, Winkles himself, so they have a good idea of what is and isn't a good idea with our cars.

Sorry for the bad luck. Perhaps it's just something simple. Occasionally we get lucky on stuff like that.

Eddie was nice enough to check out my car for me before I sent payment to purchase it last year. He definitely gets a thumbs up from me!

[Vprbite]

Eddie was nice enough to check out my car for me before I sent payment to purchase it last year. He definitely gets a thumbs up from me!

The guy knows vipers to a preternatural level. And he goes out of his way to help viper owners. We are lucky to have him as part of our community. And he is a blast to hang out with/cruise with.

[Dan Cragin]

The ARH headers will increase the heat in the transmission tunnel, mostly in low speed driving in hot conditions. A torn rubber shifter boot will make it worse. The ARH header installs take a bit more work to make everything work right. We use dynamat on the transmission tunnel, use a flex coupler in the side panel to reduce NVH with the new softer mounts and install a heat vent forward of the exhaust turnout. This is just in response to feedback. The G4 cars seemed more forgiving.

The Belanger is plug and play, runs cooler, but does not make the peak power of the ARH, kind of a trade off, but after going both ways for a while, I would go with the Belanger's on the most street applications.

My 2 cents.

[Vprbite]

This is basically exactly what I was told ^^^^^^^

[SlateEd]

+1 for the rubber shift boot. I've had this twice in the last 30k miles, and even with stock manifolds and high-flow cats, the shifter ring and console surface got HOT to the touch

[Vombomb]

Thanks for the input Dan, I'll probably end up switching to Belangers in AZ, I'd rather have a happy car than peak HP!

[Vombomb]

+1 for the rubber shift boot. I've had this twice in the last 30k miles, and even with stock manifolds and high-flow cats, the shifter ring and console surface got HOT to the touch

Yeah sounds like I'll be checking this out as that ring/shifter is punishing with the heat!!!