Maintenance Requirements

[prospectivesnake]

Hi all. Like many, I've dreamed of owning a Viper since I was a kid and now the time has come to seriously consider buying one. Looking at a Gen V, base or GTS. I've found answers to most of my questions on here already (you guys are awesome), but still wondering about the maintenance. I've known how to drive a stick for my entire life, but never owned one. What's required for annual maintenance from a fluids perspective on a Viper (other than oil changes)? How regularly do you change all of the fluids? Is it easy to do yourself? Are OEM fluids easy to find still despite the car not being in production anymore? (don't plan on taking it out on the track more than once or twice a year, if that much).

[ForTehNguyen]

oil change is just like any other car, easily accessable oil filter, just have to wait for 11 quarts of oil to drain out and the car has to be level to drain completely. Use the SRT filter as its specifically designed for the viper. Transmission fluid is just the Chrysler ATF 4+ stuff, i found it at autozone. The diff fluid is the more difficult one to find, castrol syntrax but thats not changed out very often. I bought mine used with 3100 miles and by 5000 miles I had already changed out the oil, transmission, diff fluids to get some of that break in stuff out. Maintenance is very easy on this car. There is very little you have to do to this car. Spark plugs and coolant are 100k miles I believe. All you really have to do is change the oil, the car is just a big engine.

Manual says to change it every 6k miles/6 months. I think the 6 months part is pretty BS, synthetic oil lasts MUCH longer than 6 months. I change it out every 12 months regardless of mileage. When in doubt you can send in your oil for an analysis to see how long the oil can really last.

[Neoex]

Ive driven my Viper approx 2000-3000 miles per year. Dealer told me to bring it in every 12 months for oil, so far thats all I have done in the 2 years ive had it. Car never misses a beat the oil change was less expensive than my Range Rover. I did call my local dealership to see if they had a viper certified tech. I didn't want to have the closest tech 250 miles away.

[ViperGeorge]

I change oil every 3,000 miles with the SRT filter. Diff fluid every 10,000 (use the right stuff though). Grease ball joints periodically (maybe when you change diff fluid). Change your brake and clutch fluid periodically to a good Dot 4 such as Motul 600 (as I track my car I change it very often). Check ebrake pads, they tend to wear even without use, much bigger problem on a Gen 3/4 but I have still noticed wear on the inner pad on my Gen 5s. Check air filter every 10,000 miles or so depending on your area and how much dirt you see. Brake pads and rotors last a long time unless you track the car. Check bolts on belly pans, I've had a few fall out. Now I blue locktite them in.

[Bryan Savage]

It's a Dodge. They ain't fragile. 2014 TA, 49,983 miles as of this post.

I change my oil every 3,000-5,000 miles. Been using Pennzoil Ultra Platinum 0W-40 the car's entire life.

First spark plug change at 33,000ish miles. They didn't even need changed, but someone got me scared, so I changed them.

Differential and transmission fluid once a year or so. I use Red Line MTL in the gearbox and Red Line Lightweight Shockproof gear oil in the rear diff. I'm not going to scour the earth for that super-specific Castrol SAF-XJ rear diff fluid that the factory recommends.

Flush the brake fluid usually prior to every track day, so 5-6 times a year. I upgraded the brakes on my car around 34,000ish miles and the factory pads still had 9mm left on them all. These are lifetime brakes on these cars unless you're a track rat or hamfist.

I do all my own maintenance work. Get yourself a Quickjack (or equivalent) and you'll be fine.

Never enough thought about my clutch fluid until I read George's post above. Maybe I should bleed that. He also ain't lying about the belly pan shedding bolts that aren't threadlockered in. Luckily, Lowe's carries some decent replacements.

Never have touched the coolant or power steering fluid either. Guess maybe I should change those one of these days.

[Steve-Indy]

Bryan, Gen V's have the 10 year coolant formula...you should be good for a bit longer.

[Bryan Savage]

Bryan, Gen V's have the 10 year coolant formula...you should be good for a bit longer.

Ah! Sweet. I didn't think of that. I have a small crusty weep by the temp gauge housing that I need to fix, so the coolant might get replaced anyway.

[Jack B]

Not sure this was clear, the G5 clutch uses the brake reservoir and the clutch system is self bleeding.

[Steve-Indy]

Bryan, FYI the 2015 Service Manual CD says to use the 5 year HOAT formula.

BUT, the 2014 printed Owners Manual states 10 year OAT formula.

Since our 14 is sitting next to our 08 and 10...it is easy to see that the Gen V is a different color.

As usual, one needs more than one source of info than just one isolated service manual due to an over abundance of cut and paste info passed down through the years...without (in my opinion) much in the way of technical oversight.

[serpent]

The oil change is tricky, from my experience I had to lift the car more on passenger side for the oil to completely empty. It depends on the ground you're doing an oil change on. I was able to extract an extra qt just by doing this.
When level the oil was dripping, it was like this for 2 hours, super slow drip. I raise the passenger side and it poured out even more, no dripping.

[quickster2]

If there is a sticker by the radiator or overfill bottle I would defer to that for OAT vs. HOAT. The two are not compatible. We found errors or lack of updates between the manuals even in 2016 for the Gen V. It pays to double check.

[swexlin]

Bryan, Gen V's have the 10 year coolant formula...you should be good for a bit longer.

Was about to say the same thing - it's the purple OAT stuff that all the modern Mopars use - 10 yrs/100K.

My oil gets changed every fall at PA State inspection time, for me that's about every 1500 miles. Maybe less this year though - I've put 300 mile on the car since it was changed in Septemer. Had the clutch/brake fluid (it's all the same reservoir) done in 2017....don't think it needed it, didn't notice any difference. Diff was replaced 3 years ago, still on the fluid (which had to topped off when new by my Viper tech). Was low coming in the box from Dana. Not touching the transmission for a while. Have 13,600 on the car now...it shifts fine. Knock wood

[dewilmoth]

Periodic maintenance on the Viper is nowhere near the price level where it’s a factor in ownership. The oil filter is literally $10 at the dodge dealer. I self-change my fluids way more than necessary, and it’s not even close to a price level that matters. We’re talking maybe average $200/year in fluids for a 3k m/yr car. Oil change every year and trans, diff, and brake fluid every other year.

[Vegaskid]

OP, before you buy the car, get it checked over by a certified viper shop or if none are around, many on the forum will be more than happy to go with you to look at it.

I'd go ahead and change the oil, tran, diff right off the bat. Everything else is as you see fit.

As others have said, the Viper is a car to be driven; not like some fancy Italian supercar which requires a tender touch every few thousand miles.

Check your oil religiously and drive it often.

Good luck.

[dewilmoth]

Check your oil religiously.

This! Totally forgot to mention the biggest rule with Viper ownership.

[ViperGeorge]

Not sure this was clear, the G5 clutch uses the brake reservoir and the clutch system is self bleeding.

I should have been clearer, they use the same reservoir as Jack says.