Gen II Viper GTS stalling when idle

[Jags839]

Dear fellow Viper enusiasts,

I have been having an issue with my 97 GTS starting and idling ever since I had to drive it home in the rain a couple months ago. The issue was on/off for the summer but now has gotten worse having to give it gas for the engine to start every time. It will sometimes idle at around 500-700 rpm after giving it gas but when I give it gas again it will drop down to 0 and stall if I do not repeatedly give it gas. Sometimes it will drop close to 0 rpm then idle but usually not. I have already taken it to a Dodge Dealer who said to start with the O2 Sensors on the driver side which I replaced with Bosch ones but the problem did not go away. The check engine light will come on evernutally throwing P0132 code for the O2 sensors on the driver side. The dealer also said the driver side air intake manifold also gets hot and recommended not driving it. I already replaced the spark plugs and wires, cleaned the IAC Valve and checked the battery. The Battery seems to be ok reading 12.14V at the terminal under the hood. I did all of this after reading the Viper stalls/near stalls while idle thrread on the vipers owners association site.

Any advice on this would be greatly appreciated.

[dave6666]

1) use OEM O2 sensors for best results. Bosch is not OEM. NTK is.

2) always replace them in pairs, not just one side

3) your IAC will take some time to relearn but that may not be your entire issue.

4) what are you calling the "driver side air intake manifold?" The actual intake manifold plenum? The part of the intake with the 3 bare shiny strips?

5) Do you have an IR temp gun that you could shoot some temps with?

6) Have you done a PCM reset recently? Either on purpose or inadvertently like when changing a battery?

[BlackSnake99]

Vipers melt in the rain. That's your problem.

[srtoad4]

In b4 partout

[8.0L>1.8T]

Has anyone mentioned coolant flow?

[Jags839]

Dave,

See answers below.

Originally Posted by dave6666

1) use OEM O2 sensors for best results. Bosch is not OEM. NTK is. - I may try this if nothing else works.

2) always replace them in pairs, not just one side - Good to note, dealer said to replace the one side and not bother with the other.

3) your IAC will take some time to relearn but that may not be your entire issue. - I have read this and started numerous times although now I am trying not to drive it.

4) what are you calling the "driver side air intake manifold?" The actual intake manifold plenum? The part of the intake with the 3 bare shiny strips? - The part of the intake with the 3 bare shiny stripes.

5) Do you have an IR temp gun that you could shoot some temps with? - I do not have an IR temp gun.

6) Have you done a PCM reset recently? Either on purpose or inadvertently like when changing a battery?

- I unplugged the cable to the + terminal under the hood for 20 mins while cleaning the IAC.

Thanks,
Eric

[BlackSnake99]

How do you live without an IR thermometer?

[Invasivore]

Mine would do it until I replaced my IAC. I even tried cleaning it which had marginal results

[Jags839]

Invasivore,

That is direction I am heading. I unplugged the electrical connection to the IAC today to find out how the car would respond and it would not die at all during start or after revving it up, although the rpms would drop to almost 0, it wouldnt stall. I wont find out until Sunday when I can work on it again though.

[RobV]

Originally Posted by BlackSnake99

How do you live without an IR thermometer?

Prefers old school thermometer and measuring from the rectum

Try cycling the fuel pump twice or three times but pause a few seconds between cycling then start with no gas pedal.

1. turn on listen for pump to stop
2. turn off and wait a few seconds
3. turn on and listen for the fuel pump to stop (you need to hear it running this is important).
4. repeat step 2 and 3 if you like.
5. start car without using gas pedal.

[ubengineering]

Eric stopped by, we swapped IAC setups, his car went back to normal in 2 seconds. To celebrate a successful diagnosis we swapped doors and man juice.