Venom 500 has it,s first ever major problem!!!!Help!!!!
Discussion
Just got the event to Le-Mans and parked up in the campsite, with ignition off, after a few mins I noticed fine plumes of smoke rising up from behind the dash!! It smelt electrical/plastic. I pulled all the fuses to be safe but the whisps of smoke continued for a few mins then stopped.
After a few hours I replaced the fuses and drove the Venom around the camp site and all seemed well (but still left it parked up for the rest of the weekend).
On the trip home (with 2 office size extingushers in footwell) the smell came and went throughout the journey but no smoke was noticed.When I smelt around the car once it was hot (and the sills/body seem to get very hot) the smell seemed to come from the sill area(but I could be wrong) One other thing, the exhaust note is just a little more raspy than before.
After 20,000 miles and 8 years does it seem possible that the sill insulation is breaking down? And is this replacable?
Just one other note, the Venom was driven very hard on the way down to Le-Mans with many full blooded /full throttle overtaking moves ,so it it possible that I have a split exhaust?cat?box? or that the insulation just gave up after 300 miles of glowing hot exhaust pipes?
Look forward to hearing what you think, I know the true way is to remove the sill and have a look but a few thoughts on this would be helpful.
Cheers,Tom
P.S. This sadly wrecked my Le-Mans as it left me car-less and I spent the whole weekend wondering if Venom would catch on fire going home! Hope 2007 is less eventful!
After a few hours I replaced the fuses and drove the Venom around the camp site and all seemed well (but still left it parked up for the rest of the weekend).
On the trip home (with 2 office size extingushers in footwell) the smell came and went throughout the journey but no smoke was noticed.When I smelt around the car once it was hot (and the sills/body seem to get very hot) the smell seemed to come from the sill area(but I could be wrong) One other thing, the exhaust note is just a little more raspy than before.
After 20,000 miles and 8 years does it seem possible that the sill insulation is breaking down? And is this replacable?
Just one other note, the Venom was driven very hard on the way down to Le-Mans with many full blooded /full throttle overtaking moves ,so it it possible that I have a split exhaust?cat?box? or that the insulation just gave up after 300 miles of glowing hot exhaust pipes?
Look forward to hearing what you think, I know the true way is to remove the sill and have a look but a few thoughts on this would be helpful.
Cheers,Tom
P.S. This sadly wrecked my Le-Mans as it left me car-less and I spent the whole weekend wondering if Venom would catch on fire going home! Hope 2007 is less eventful!
the outer shields arent available new from dodge without buying the sills ! though you can buy the inner shield that go close to the chassis. The guy that brought the Silverstone cars and spares did have some inner OE heat shields
my outer shields have been un-attached from there sill fixings for a while and are probably touching the exhaust, maybe that could be your problem ? though I've never had smoke in the car, guess you need to get your hands dirty and take a peek inside the sill
my outer shields have been un-attached from there sill fixings for a while and are probably touching the exhaust, maybe that could be your problem ? though I've never had smoke in the car, guess you need to get your hands dirty and take a peek inside the sill
A lot of hard driving / fast shifting WOT, with the fuel over run, it could have been possible to dump enough unburnt fuel out, puddling / collecting in the cat, and burning off, this would cause temps high enough to break down cat internals, look for paint smoldering to sill, plastic hood-door fill panel, base of door and black inner door sill surround, plastic carpet sill trim, you would find paint discolouration, blistering etc if this has happened. All the best with it.
Tom
The heat shield in one of my cills developed a hole, this was before I had the cats changed to freeflow cats, the fire proof lining came into contact with my old cats, which created an acrid smell accompanied by a bit of smoke
inside the car perhaps this has happened in your case?
Nigel
The heat shield in one of my cills developed a hole, this was before I had the cats changed to freeflow cats, the fire proof lining came into contact with my old cats, which created an acrid smell accompanied by a bit of smoke
inside the car perhaps this has happened in your case?
Nigel
Thanks for asking Baz, no major problems found just turned out to be my wiring loom for the nitro bottle heaters getting to hot.Insulated it and refitted everything. Now all OK!
The loom is currently disconnected and would never hav given any problems, so it seemed Venom was grounded at Le-Mans for no reason!!!!
The loom is currently disconnected and would never hav given any problems, so it seemed Venom was grounded at Le-Mans for no reason!!!!
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