Crappy 93,000 mile car

[MACH4444]

So after 93,000 plus miles I have an issue. One of the lights behind my speedo has gone out. Damn unreliable American supercar
Of course it is behind the 0- 60 area so at night I can't see what speed I am going. Question is how do I replace it? Does the dash need to come out to replace 1 light?

And before someone says it No I can't drive over 60
all the time.

[slowhatch]

this should be good

[VYPR BYT]

I believe the dash needs to come out since the lenz is seated behind.

[JonB ~ PartsRack]

TERRIBLE !!! Lemon Law ?? OK to exceed 60, but DAYLIGHT ONLY!

Did you say the YEAR and I missed it?

Hint: Aggressively Activate the guage-dimmer several times thru its dim-bright range. Sometimes you can provoke a balky bulb to illuminate simply by 'worrying' some dust inside the dimmer rheostat.

And if you have a 96.5-97 that is a known problem....flickering dash bulbs due to dimmer issues.

The G1-2 have 2 small bulbs in the Speedo head, behind the 55 mph and the 125 mph portions. DISCONNECT BATTERY. Instrument panel must come out to free the head, to access the wiring harness and the 2 clear bulbs with tiny amber caps on them. Must re-use these caps. I have scoured the service manual for the Bulb ID # and I cannot see it on the in-hand speedo.

Sounds to me like you need a Gen 5............

[LATAMUD]

Temporary fix. If you have a smart phone, download a GPS speedometer app.

[MACH4444]

Yes sorry it is a 2000 RT/10. Which has been an awesome car. I believe it has held up so well because I drive it so often. You can do that in S Fl.

[Fatboy 18]

OH great, so now you have to rub it in that you get good weather too

[Rizzo]

So after 93,000 plus miles I have an issue. One of the lights behind my speedo has gone out. Damn unreliable American supercar
Of course it is behind the 0- 60 area so at night I can't see what speed I am going. Question is how do I replace it? Does the dash need to come out to replace 1 light?

And before someone says it No I can't drive over 60
all the time.

I too had a crappy unreliable Gen 2. I had it for 4 years and sold it with 68000 miles. On the last summer it blew a ujoint. What a piece of crap. I wish these things had reliabilty like a Ferrari does. :

[Luisv]

Mach.... here in SoFla as well. What part of town you in?

[MACH4444]

I'm in sw fl. Naples to be specific. On the edge of the swamp.

[Luisv]

I'm in sw fl. Naples to be specific. On the edge of the swamp.

ahhhhh. i'm on the east coast in Miami. have some freinds out there and we head to Naples to do the West Coast Muscle Car Club Show each year.

[Fatboy 18]

Question for you guys with Red cars,

Do you suffer with any paint fade due to the sunshine? I see lots of old red cars in the UK (not vipers) where the red paint seems to fade and the lacquer seems to go a chalky white in really bad situations. I know our cars are pampered but wondered if you have to be extra careful in the hot climate?

[Viper Red]

Give it a nice tap on the cluster, if that doesn't work. Use your fist!

[Luisv]

Question for you guys with Red cars,

Do you suffer with any paint fade due to the sunshine? I see lots of old red cars in the UK (not vipers) where the red paint seems to fade and the lacquer seems to go a chalky white in really bad situations. I know our cars are pampered but wondered if you have to be extra careful in the hot climate?

The reason red paint fades is usually attributed to the fact that red paints absorb the blues in the light spectrum. While the issue is seen a great deal here in Florida I think it is more because of the fact they are simply more exposed. In other words, they dont get garaged for the winter.

Regardless.... I do take a great deal of care with the red. But I do no more than I do with the Black on the other car. What I do is do a deep detail on the paint once a year. This means, clean, clay, compound (remove paint imperfections), polish, sealer & wax. It takes an entire day, easily. Then every three months or so, I clay bar and re-wax. My car is stored outside but is under a premium car cover when not being driven. The only time the car sees more than a day's worth of sun at a time is once a year when I take a club road trip in October.

[Late Apex]

I figured it must be a Gen 2. Most reliable Gen built. Good post !!

[Fatboy 18]

The reason red paint fades is usually attributed to the fact that red paints absorb the blues in the light spectrum. While the issue is seen a great deal here in Florida I think it is more because of the fact they are simply more exposed. In other words, they dont get garaged for the winter.

Regardless.... I do take a great deal of care with the red. But I do no more than I do with the Black on the other car. What I do is do a deep detail on the paint once a year. This means, clean, clay, compound (remove paint imperfections), polish, sealer & wax. It takes an entire day, easily. Then every three months or so, I clay bar and re-wax. My car is stored outside but is under a premium car cover when not being driven. The only time the car sees more than a day's worth of sun at a time is once a year when I take a club road trip in October.

Thanks for the feedback, Keeping the car under cover is a must in your climate

[Vprbite]

Out here in Arizona, the UV can really take a toll. It punishes my black truck. Though so does the "desert pin striping" I put on it in fishing trips but that's different. Really, the UV punishes any vehicle out here but black shows it first. I think it actually causes people with lighter colored cars to ignore them because they can't see anything happening until it's too late.

I would worry about a cover out here because living in the desert, our issue here is DUST. it's like little pieces of glass being fired at your car. So if the car isn't super clean, the cover can cause damage.

Fatboy, I suspect the old red cars you see may be suffering from a few factors. One, they may be painted with the older style paint that needed "simonized" and such on a regular basis. Single stage paint that just kinda sublimates off. Also, the weather in the UK calls for constant waxing on newer painted cars because the rain is simply going to wash it off much quicker than out here (in fact, out there on a DD I would probably go for the hardest compound I could get) and garages being less common than a lot of places in the states makes for a rough life for some cars.

By the way, I am not bagging on the weather in the UK without cause. I have spent enough time there to legitimately bag on the weather with impunity. Plus I dated an English girl for a while so...

Next time I make it back to the UK I am looking you up by the way. How does picking me up at the airport in the Viper sound?

[Fatboy 18]

No problem at all Happy to drive you around the West End in the Viper

Gatwick Airport is nearest to me but Heathrow is not a problem, biggest pain at Heathrow is parking and speed ramps so would be much easier to meet you outside one of the main Hotels on the Airport perimeter road

Just drop me a PM and Flight Number

[Vprbite]

Cool. I will fly in, then get my ride to Scotland in style!! Actually I don't know if I will be over there for a bit but glad to know I have a great ride. And I used to have a GTS so I know my guitar and suitcase fit fine in the back.

I don't think I have flown in to gatwick. I think cause I would fly BA or USAIR. Just a heads up, if any of you are into vintage aircraft and the history of flight, just fly USAIR. It's a history lesson come to life.

Thank for offer Fatboy 18. Pick me up and we can chase classy girls at herrods or selfridges.