2004 WANTS TO BUCK UNDER LIGHT LOAD

[fendervender]

Recently purchased 2004 convertible. Car wants to buck or shuck especially in low gears. I have been advised by 2 Viper owners that I need to swap out the 3:07 rear gears for a set of 3:55 ratio gears. Anyone out there done this or heard about it. The car is annoying to drive in town or at low speeds. Any mechanics in the vicinity of Lansing Michigan ?

 

[Steve-Indy]

It has been my experience that Vipers in general tend to buck under light load in 1st gear...especially, on warmup...more so with Gen I's with incorrect throttle body sync-ing. Yes, our other Gens do the same thing. My "cure" is to accelerate through this low RPM "zone"...the gas pedal being a magnificent invention in my opinion. Obviously, the 3.55 will give a higher RPM for a similar speed.

The real advantage of the gear change is on the track...both road courses as well as drag strip...noting them some even ** tl a 3.73. The seat of the pants measurement in acceleration is also rewarding as well to most. This latter being a favorite "early-days-tuner" mod that usually convinced the owner their bolt on modifications generated fantastic increases in horse power.

The down side to this single solution is more potential wear kn the engine, decreased fuel mileage (and thus rangee) at cruise coupled with increased noise.

Others will hopefully chime in with different opinions and/or solutions.

 

[MoparMap]

My 04 isn't too bad. If I'm doing anything over 20 it's fairly smooth, but you have to be pretty precise with the throttle inputs. First gear is typically just kinda tough in general. Second helps to smooth it out some. I have an aftermarket tune (bought the car that way) though, but if anything I would tend to expect that to make things worse. Could check some simple maintenance stuff too like plugs and wires.

 

[hlieber50]

I have a 2005 and don't have that issue. I did install a shift skip eliminate and at low speeds I can use 1st & 2nd under 20 mph. I chose not to go to a 3.55 or 3.73. When I'm running hard I know the stock 3.07 won't get me in trouble.

 

[Edward]

My 2005 bucks in 1st and 2nd when cold. Nature of the beast.

 

[dodger4x4]

Another thing to check is the spark plug wires and coil packs. I bought a 2004 convertible with low miles and figured I would replace the spark plugs due to the age. I didn't realize when I pulled the spark plug wires off, the boots messed up and caused the motor to buck like your describing. Mostly did it when it was cold and lower gears, mainly when the motor was under a load. I replaced the coil packs and wires since I had to remove the intake anyways to get the wires, and the car ran better than ever and never bucked again. Just another option to check on.

 

[TexasViper35]

Apply smoother throttle input or more input and stop playing. But to really end the drama just shift up to 2nd much sooner than you are doing now.

This is a common newbie issue, I went through the same learning curve and have seen this posted many times.

 

[rich marino]

There is a great UTube video that shows you how to readjust your throttle linkage:

xc_hide_links_from_guests_guests_error_hide_media

. It is supper simple, just pinch the two black collars on the cable and follow the video. I've done it twice in the past few years. It helps quite a bit, another solution is start in 1st when you want hard acceleration or fun and if not starting in 2nd is another solution, given the hug torque the car has you can hardly notice a difference in normal stop and go. Hope that helps