Viper Service

Author
Discussion

viper_larry

Original Poster:

4,319 posts

257 months

Tuesday 28th September 2004
quotequote all
My Viper has its MoT and a yearly service coming up. Although the car has only done 25k miles, it is due the 60k service according to the book. I haven't looked at the book to see what's involved, but is this really required on a car that's done less than half that mileage? Anyone know what's involved?

woolfie

674 posts

273 months

Tuesday 28th September 2004
quotequote all
where are you getting yours serviced, interested to know as I'll probably aim for one at end of year. I was thinking of finding a specialist (or someone who can do tihs not from the chrysler dealership). But if ok will do the trad route of chrysler servicing.

viperdave

5,530 posts

254 months

Tuesday 28th September 2004
quotequote all
60,000

Change oil and filter
Lube the front and rear suspension ball joints and tie rod ends
Inspect and replace the Auto Tension drive belt as necessary
Replace the air cleaner element
Replace the ignition cables
Replace the spark plugs
Check and replace the PCV valve (if necessary)

Emailed you the scan of the service manual Neil did for me a while back

I was quoted up to £700 from main dealers to do the 60,000 including all fluids (there’s a post back there some where from when I though about doing it). At the time my car had about 5000Km on it, it was just 6 years old….in the end I just did oil and filter. This year I am going to do all the fluids to get a base line and that is setting me back about £200 from Chrysler for the bits, spent ages looking around at the redline and royal purple etc and for every post saying one was great there was another saying it ruined something. So in the end I phoned Chrysler and they had most of it in stock and not too bad a price, as someone on the VCA posted “no one ever complained the factory recommended fluid wrecked their car”. Do you know the status of the fluids as some of them are time sensitive rather than mileage such as coolant and brake fluid?

I recall a lot of the guys on the VCA say to do plugs after 20,000 and for < $20 I can see why.


>> Edited coz VHR’s a cheeky sod

>> Edited by viperdave on Tuesday 28th September 13:44

venom500

2,984 posts

284 months

Tuesday 28th September 2004
quotequote all
FoR service try POWER ENGINEERING in London,they did much work to our car before it left for N.Z and they are by far the best engineers i have ever delt with,they do what they say,no ball and at a very fair price.They are a very small but total involved company(been running about 20 years) with all personnel just loving the work they do.(Ask for Chris,very nice guy who loves his work)They did a full service and lub changes...note that on my car i found out that the main dealer has never bothered pumping out the old fluids from the diff as they didn,t have the right equipment(no drain plug!)cost about £250 ish .Unlike some dealers who love the Viper but don,t know what the hell to do with them.(Chris and the team also develop many turbo systems,re-engineer softwear for cars and work on the likes of historic F1 cars so they are used to exotics but don,t take the pi** with the charges)

vetteheadracer

8,271 posts

254 months

Tuesday 28th September 2004
quotequote all
:Viper Dave said:
Insect and replace the Auto Tension drive belt as necessary


Insect? What insect?

viperdave

5,530 posts

254 months

Tuesday 28th September 2004
quotequote all
vetteheadracer said:

:Viper Dave said:
Insect and replace the Auto Tension drive belt as necessary



Insect? What insect?


Snake food, that’s what makes it go…

viper_larry

Original Poster:

4,319 posts

257 months

Tuesday 28th September 2004
quotequote all
[redacted]

Viper

10,005 posts

274 months

Tuesday 28th September 2004
quotequote all
that sounds rather pricey

for materials:

greasing the ball joints £5
mobil 1 and filter £85
mopar leads $85 and champion spark plugs $30 (Chuck Tator)
air filter you have K&N's ?(£80 off Spud) wont need changing just cleaning
belt £20 if needed (Spud has them in his shop ?)

Check and replace the PCV valve (if necessary) still dont know what that is without looking in the book

Diff oil additive $8 (got some in stock if you need some) not sure how much the fluid is, why not pop it round to Baz's or Nad's and slip them a few quid? save yourself a fortune or do you need the stamp in the book.



>> Edited by Viper on Tuesday 28th September 15:16

viper_larry

Original Poster:

4,319 posts

257 months

Tuesday 28th September 2004
quotequote all
Not sure at the moment - teh car does have a complete service history and the majority is with Motorway Sports so I am keen to keep it up to date.

However, it does specify replacing spark plugs, ignition leads, etc., so I wonder if they will just use standard Mopar parts?

Viper

10,005 posts

274 months

Tuesday 28th September 2004
quotequote all
Mopar leads and Champion plugs are recognised as the best on the market for a fairly standard viper, so dont change for another make. They should fit Mopar parts.


>> Edited by Viper on Tuesday 28th September 21:43

viperdave

5,530 posts

254 months

Tuesday 28th September 2004
quotequote all
Current Chrysler fluid prices (what I paid last week)

Coolant x2 (50/50 mix) £9.86 gal
Power steering x1 £3.34 L
Friction modifier x1 £4.49
Diff fluid x1-2 (1200ml) £18.31L
Trans fluid x4 £15.50L
Oil x2 £10.24 gal

£146.61 + vat (+ brake fluid)

All but the trans and oil were on the shelf in stock but Chrysler has run out of 10w30 synthetic Oil at the moment although some is “being mixed” in the USA, 5 days delivery when in stock.

Don’t know UK prices for hardware as I brought all that back from the US but asked them about the oil filer out of interest as I have been buying Mobil 1 filters at $11, Mopar one in the UK was £4 something and they had 64 on the shelf. Don’t know if something viper specific would be more expensive but I will probably just do the Mopar filter in future.