to all 96-98 viper owners.....................READ PLEASE

[venomblue550]

was talking to someone earlier, and he told me there are some problems with our 96-98 vipers, it's not recall and wouldn't cover under the warranty, i mean rightnow i don't got any of those problems, but how about later on.....??? so anyone of you had those problems fixed or seen those problem already??

problems:
"having a '96-98, you need a new oil pan/Gasket/Windage Tray, the NGR Transmission Lube Upgrade, and a new Fan Shroud for your radiator- (a new radiator is a virtual must too...as you'll soon find out)"

 

[BADVENOM]

Dude what are you talking about, other than the recalls on the frame front and rear welding which we all know about. WHOS giving you this info?

 

[venomblue550]

the guy told me all those, he is on here all the time too, but i'm just feeling bad to say he is making sh*t up or something, i mean at least we wanted to help all of us if there are really all those problems with our 96-98 vipers, he told me he can get me the radiator and fan upgrade for around $1k, so i will not get the overheating problem at summer time, is that true??

 

[BADVENOM]

Ron, I have had my car serviced and taken care of by one of the finest viper techs in the country, Chuck Tator and hes has never said anything about these things you mentioned. I think whoever your talking to is taking you for a long ride.BS!

Any doubts call tators dodge and speak to chuck tator himself..

 

[C O D Y]

I think the radiators are fine, but the fan should be upgraded to the '99 and newer. Shouldn't be over $200 for the fan and it only takes about 1 hour to install.

As long as the 2 frame recals are done right, there is nothing wrong with those year cars, except they don't have ABS.

 

[BADVENOM]

CODY, not having abs has nothing to do with what hes asking as it is not applicable to those years. Fan upgrade is also unnecessary...Someone is giving him bad advice

 

[ABADASP]

There was a TSB on the NGR neutral gear rattle The dealer installed a synthetic lube oil I think. There was also a TSB on the cooling fan both were repaired at no charge. I have never heard any thing on the oil pan unless you upgrade for racing.

 

[venomblue550]

so will 99' fan fits 96 factory radiator?? and adam, if you want, i will send you the full conversation about this member telling me my car WILL have all those problems

 

[ViperRay]

The oil pan upgrade is only important if you track your car. Tell your friend to calm down.

 

[venomblue550]

so how the dealer just change the new synthetic lube for the tranny for FREE?? and what did they do with your(ABADASP) fan repair?? did they fix it or replaced?? thanks

 

[ABADASP]

They replaced the fan assembly seems like it had 2 fans or heavy duty fans sorry it has been several years since it was done. do a search on tsb`s on your year model

 

[venomblue550]

what's TSB stand for?

 

[ABADASP]

technical service bulletin

 

[ABADASP]

TSB`s located in the header bar at the top of page under how to. I did not see any thing about the fan assembly. But mine was repaired when I complained about over heating.

 

[Achilles99]

Ron, I have had my car serviced and taken care of by one of the finest viper techs in the country, Chuck Tator and hes has never said anything about these things you mentioned. I think whoever your talking to is taking you for a long ride.BS!

Any doubts call tators dodge and speak to chuck tator himself..

Adam,

Your 96 RT10 is a GenI, not a GenII like Ron's 96 GTS, right? Just wanted to clarify to make sure we are comparing apples to apples. As for the fan and oil pan issue, my friend had to change both on his 97 blue/white GTS. Then again, he runs his car on the road as hard as most run on the track...

 

[Achilles99]

CODY, not having abs has nothing to do with what hes asking as it is not applicable to those years. Fan upgrade is also unnecessary...Someone is giving him bad advice

Adam,
I think Cody is saying that our non-ABS Vipers are inferior to his ABS Viper. I would take offense, but then again... I wish I had ABS

 

[BADVENOM]

Achilles it is a gen 1.5. Has features of both gen 1 and gen 2, suspension is gen 2, and some other gen 2 qualitys such as new windage tray, stronger differenial, uprated drive shafts and a revised chassis than the 92-95 gen 1s. All I am saying is that hes thread says ALL 96-98 vipers...

 

[Chuck 98 RT/10]

problems:
"having a '96-98, you need a new oil pan/Gasket/Windage Tray, the NGR Transmission Lube Upgrade, and a new Fan Shroud for your radiator- (a new radiator is a virtual must too...as you'll soon find out)"

"need?" Whoever told you that has his head up his ***.

 

[Viper Specialty]

ADAM96- Regaurdless, you are comparing apples to oranges, your car does NOT have a Gen-2 engine, which directly relates to the oil pan/windage tray issues.

Plain and simple:

-the 96-99 oil pans/windage trays are very much inferior. They WILL cause oil starvation problems if you track the car, or drive it hard enough on the street. Ask anyone who knows what they are talking about, they will tell you the
same thing.

"Adam,

Your 96 RT10 is a GenI, not a GenII like Ron's 96 GTS, right? Just wanted to clarify to make sure we are comparing apples to apples. As for the fan and oil pan issue, my friend had to change both on his 97 blue/white GTS. Then again, he runs his car on the road as hard as most run on the track"




-There is a TSB on NGR, that is an established fact, dont bother arguing with it.

"There was a TSB on the NGR neutral gear rattle The dealer installed a synthetic lube oil I think. There was also a TSB on the cooling fan both were repaired at no charge. I have never heard any thing on the oil pan unless you upgrade for racing."




-The 96-97 fans are very much inferior to 98+ fan setups, and are likely to cause cooling problems. Here over the summer, there is not one viper I can think of who doesnt have at least SOME cooling issues at some point, and they are even running the BETTER fans! I am the only one who doesnt suffer. Why? because I have a High Performance cooling system. (Ron davis Rad, Archer pump, Roe Hoses and 180 T-stat...Rad netted by FAR the biggest improvement of the 4 mods)

"I think the radiators are fine, but the fan should be upgraded to the '99 and newer. Shouldn't be over $200 for the fan and it only takes about 1 hour to install."



VENOMBLUE550- As you'll come to discover after getting to know me, I do indeed know what I am talking about. This is what I do after all...lol

 

[BADVENOM]

Chuck I couldn't have said it better..Someone is taking him for long ride!

 

[Viper Specialty]

Here is a cut and Paste exactly as it appeared from JonB, at Partsrack---one of the MOST KNOWLEDGEABLE people on this board:

Welcome and congrats....

Early on in 1996 GTS, a couple warrantees on tranny synchros were initially DENIED due to synthetic fluid in trannies that specified (then) "Dextron III ONLY." This is how this rumor started. (Ivan ** was an initial victim!)

The VCA fought for its members, and the claims were paid. And NOW, Synthetic fluid is used OEM and a TSB was issued back in 1998 to retro any tranny 92-98 needing fluid or complaining of Neutral gear rattle 96-97. Use OEM Synthetic fluid (MoPar Rebadged CASTROL in fact.)

Water Wetter is effective, but ALONE mixed with water does not provide enuf resistance to corrosion. So yet another half truth! Mix with 40% antifreexze. and 60% water, with the 2 bottle Wetter in the collat 40%. USe it if you need it, but seek out other problems (BURP!) if you have heating issues.

1997s and 96s and some 98s had an OEm small fan, offset left. Id like to strongly suggest (and provide) a new, larger, more efficient Viper fan for you, direct bolt in.

If uyou paln track / autoX or strip events you MUST ADDRESS oil starvation and capacity issues. Needs more capacity, and better drainage. SEARCH for more, or call for details. JonB
25% off list price.

 

[BADVENOM]

Yes but the original thread states that these are original problems with all vipers between those years and states NOTHING about him tracking his car...Just normal driving..
Sounds to me that someone is selling him a bag of good for things he doesn't necessarily need unless hes tracking the car.. the fluid change is a different story.. and just because some cars had problems doesnt mean all had problems.. there is a difference!

 

[dblankenbaker]

Here over the summer, there is not one viper I can think of who doesnt have at least SOME cooling issues at some point, and they are even running the BETTER fans!

Why are the Vipers in NY having these problems? Are they all getting serviced at a place that doesn't know what it's doing??

 

[Viper Specialty]

ADAM96- a 22 Year old Viper Driver??? Use your imagination... there is no such thing as "Normal Driving".

Regaurdless if it absolutely needs it, it SHOULD be done. It is a question of the longevity of the car- if there is an opportunity to ward off oil starvation, and hotter than normal temps, it is in the best interest of the people involved to do it. I mean, all it takes is the right conditons, slam on the brakes hard enough for long enough with that 8 Qt. pan, and you have yourself a starved situation. It is too small of a pan for the engine. why do you think ALL years besides the affected 96-99 had 10 Qt pans? would DC go back to something that DIDNT help and cost more money for no reason? NO. For the fan shroud...is the peice of mind really not worth a hundred bucks...? To me it sure is. a larger fan will give increase engine cooling, and increased A/C performance- physics demands it. And with NGR, thats a TSB... there should be no question on just doing that and getting it over with.

 

[Viper Specialty]

dblankenbaker- what do you mean? It is humid as hell here over the summer due to being so close to Nigara Falls, that compounds the problems.

 

[BADVENOM]

ADAM96- a 22 Year old Viper Driver??? Use your imagination... there is no such thing as "Normal Driving


Dan, Were talking apple and oranges here. Yes these were changes that make performance better, but he states that these were told to him as MUST DO. I think that is misleading in that vipers of those year have performed fine with orginal OEM equipment. His statement is different from yours in that he states and I quote..

problems:
"having a '96-98, you need a new oil pan/Gasket/Windage Tray, the NGR Transmission Lube Upgrade, and a new Fan Shroud for your radiator- (a new radiator is a virtual must too...as you'll soon find out)"


Dan, I hope someone like Chuck Tator reads this thread. It would be intersting to see what his take would be in reference to your stance..Just curious..

 

[Viper Specialty]

ADAM96- Considering I am the person who WROTE that quote, I can assure you, I didnt tell him his car was going to blow up at the stroke of midnight if he didnt do them. I also told him they werent TSB's or Warranty related problems. I specifically told him that they were problems that were found throughout the Vipers existance that should be taken care of, and why.

EDIT- the NGR was a TSB...

 

[BADVENOM]

And one last thing Dan, Doug at DLM is building my supercharged car right now as we speak. I trust him more than I would you and hes said NOTHING to me as of yet about these mods. Considering hes building me a custom car I will ask him about the NECESSITY of these mods and get back to you on it in this thread!

 

[Viper Specialty]

ADAM- I dont know what to tell you..? perhaps he is using some other systems in place...? an Accusump system could take the place of the oil pan/windage. As far as cooling... maybe he just upgraded the fan and didnt tell you? dont know. I mean, a fan shroud isnt a whole big deal when your tossing that kind of $$ around.

 

[BADVENOM]

Dan, stop taking it personal, this is about what Venomblue 550 stated in his orginal post and question..I agree that there are mods to be made to make a viper perform better and more efficient in many areas. It just when someone states that they were told top do this as MUST I take exception to that scare tactic! Peace...