Just hit 504 miles on my 2017 GTC after taking an impromptu, late night 6 hours drive up the coast of California from Los Angeles to San Luis Obispo and back. I'm driving up to Monterey for Car Week tomorrow and I wanted the car to be broken in for the drive up, instead of breaking it in on the way up and then having to wait to change the fluids after I returned home, which would have put me passed the 500 mile mark by about 200 miles. Followed the manuals break in instructions to the T and brought her in to change all fluids.

FIRST - I got a check engine light at 298 miles, 330 seconds after start up, at about 65.27 MPH, oil temperature at 183 degrees. The self diagnostics did showed that it was an "unrecognized code". Didn't notice anything wrong with the car so I continued to drive it home. No irregularities happened on the drive home or to the dealer this morning. My friend who is the SRT Tech brought me to his station to show me some things. Here is a picture of the code and the possible symptoms. My buddy doesn't think it's anything too serious but he checked up on each possible cause just to make sure I would have some sanity on my way to Monterey.



SECOND -Fluids. My buddy showed me the engine oil first. Very minimal contaminants in the engine oil and he stated it is one of the cleaner looking Gen V engines he's seen at 500 miles. However, he suggests another oil change at 1,000 miles and to send it off to Blackstone for analysis at that point just to be sure.

Then he showed me the transmission. The transmission had a surprising amount of contaminants. He was surprised at this. Suggested another flush at 1,000 miles as well.




He then showed me the rear diff fluid, and boy was that scary. You could see the contaminants in this fluid without even shining a light onto it. He suspects that the ring and pinion are set too tight from factory on these diffs which results in excessive wear and the whine / failures we've seen all too common on the Gen V. He definitely suggests flushing this again at 1,000 miles.




All in all, he applauded me for having all the fluids done and not just the engine oil. I will be back at about 1,000 miles after my trip to Monterey and will keep an eye out for that code again. I hope you guys find this information useful and remember to change those fluids!

The drive up the coast was the best idea I've had in a long time. It felt so good to be back in a Viper. Being the first owner and it being my own dream spec just made it that much more satisfying. I also noticed a few things:

1. The suspension feels more comfortable in street mode than on my old 2013. Maybe this is just in my head, or a result of the heavy abuse my old car had gone through from the previous owner.
2. The drone is almost gone at cruising speed! I noticed almost a 1,000 RPM difference cruising at 65 MPH in this car vs. my 2017. That revised gearing makes so much sense.
3. I averaged 22 MPGs, nearly 4 more than my best average in my 2013 GTS.


EXCITED TO FINALLY PROPERLY DRIVE THIS CAR! MONTEREY CAR WEEK IS GOING TO BE A BLAST!