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DIY Maintenance

Since the Viper is very DIY friendly, other than most of the modern cars, the regular maintenance tasks can be achieved by every normally talented (in a technical sense) owner. In general, you should refer to the official Service Manual for your Viper for what should be done when.

One of the first things that you have to deal with when you decide to maintain your Viper by yourself is the frequent change of fluids. For a '98 Viper, the following fluids require regular exchange:

1. Engine Oil w/ Filter
2. Differential Fluid
3. Brake Fluid
4. Clutch Fluid
5. Engine Coolant
6. Power Steering Fluid
7. Transmission Fluid

The question will come up which product to use, stock/factory fluids or aftermarket. There is no one clear answer to this, it pretty much depends on how you use your car, e.g. will you track it frequently or just cruise around. In my case, I decided to go for the stock/factory products, which are Mopar fluids for everything except Engine oil, which comes from Mobil 1.

1. Engine Oil w/ Filter

My '98 Dodge Viper was factory filled with Mobil 1 SAE 10W-30 full synthetic oil. This oil is no longer available. After quite some research I have decided to use Mobil 1 New Life SAE 0W-40.

2. Differential Fluid

The differential requires 45 oz (1,33 l) of Mopar High Performance Synthetic Axle Lube SAE 75 W-140 (MS-8985, Mopar #4874469) , incl. 4 oz (0,12 l) of Mopar Limited Slip Additive (MS-10111, Mopar #4318060AB).

The stock differential does not have a drain plug, so you will have to suck the old fluid out through the fill plug hole, using e.g. a suction pump. To remove the fill plug you will have to use 3/8" Allen key (hex key).

To fill in the fresh fluid you can eihter use a transfer pump or, as I did, use the container the fluid comes in (1 quart) and a piece of platic hose, approx. 6" long. This hose you need to slide on the container nozzle as kind of an extension. This is required as there is not enough space for maneuvering the container nozzle directly into the fill plug. As you can depict from the picture, the exhaust is in the way. Using the extension hose, you can guide the open end of the hose into the fill hole while holding the container level (you will still have to maneuver the containter above the exhaust) and squizing the fresh fluid into the differential.

The fill plug can be sealed at re-installation with some teflon tape or liquid thread sealant (e.g. Loctite 577).