Y2K5SRT
Enthusiast
For those of you with weak stomachs, LOOK AWAY!!
No, there isn't the slightest scratch on the car, I just removed those lights. Okay, okay: For Kenny's information, I was reading the manual while listening to tunes in the SRT as it sat in the garage last night. Reminded me of my first Viper when I would wander out to the garage for another peek at my black beauty. I find myself doing it all over again, only this time the stereo sounds a LOT better. Sitting in your new Viper, listening to your favorite tunes, and reading up on the care and feeding of your new baby - what could be better than that? Besides, with the wife already rolling her eyes at me, I figured reading a ******* in the SRT would be pushing my luck...
ANYWAY, I was looking through the manual and saw the section about replacing lightbulbs. For those that may have missed it, my ONLY problem with the SRT was water in the driver's reverse light housing. My wife noticed it as it rolled off the trailer and so has everybody else. Knowing that a REAL man would do more than just read the manual, I grabbed my power saw and went to work. KIDDING! A couple wrenches, torx drivers, and bloodied fingers later, I had the offending housing out for inspection. That baby was FULL of water. It literally came up over the bottom of the light bulbs and sloshed around in there. I am pretty sure I saw a goldfish in there too.
So I dumped out the water and left it to dry overnight. Sent a worried e-mail to my dealer (TO: Woodhouse Dodge; SUBJECT: SRT in trouble! Drowning...) and woke up bright and early to address the problem. Of course I already had a reply from the dealer and they were on top of it. Ordered a replacement housing right away. In the meantime, I borrowed the wife's blow dryer and carefully dried it out. Full of water spots, so tried to clean those up as well with what I could reach (that housing is a LOT bigger than it looks from the outside). Applied a little automotive silicon to the edges that looked like they were missing sealant, hopefully to keep the water out until the replacement is in. So far, that is the ONLY problem I have had with the SRT and I am actually pretty darn pleased that is all there is!
Okay, so I get everything back in perfect order and install the trunk mat kit (see previous pictures in "#277 ARRIVES" thread for more detail). No problem. I then head up to Chuck Anderson Ford to meet the best friend a Viper could have, Mike Anderson. Mike's dealership does more aftermarket work on Vipers than any other dealer in the area. He is a huge Viper fan and has owned several himself. I promised I would bring up the SRT when I got a chance and also thought it would be fun to go the 50 miles (each way) to do a little break in action.
One comment: I drove through what I still think are some of the worst roads in the United States: Kansas City (Missouri) interstate highways. Might as well drive on the surface of the moon. The SRT handled VERY well and even seemed less "darty" than my GTS, especially when the GTS had some miles on the Pilot Sports. Like Gary, I noticed my oil pressure was 75-80 pounds as I drove. Didn't bother me at all. Had a slight rattle by the dash that I couldn't pinpoint and it went away. Very little windnoise as far as I was concerned, yet when I answered the cell phone (dang electronic leashes!) it did seem to be a lot harder to hear anybody on it. Good, turned it off.
So anyway, got to Mike's dealership and immediately every sales guy was outside checking it out. I threw Mike the keys and finally had to muscle my way through the crowd to get in the passenger seat. Away we went! Mike is a Viper connoisseur, so I was very interested in his thoughts. He was very, very impressed. Indeed, as he looked it over for the next hour or so under the lights inside his dealership, he said "I honestly cannot find a single thing I would change on this car." He was especially amused by the "START" button. His current car (a 2001 GTS) is a real beauty, so we took a picture of the two cars side by side, with mine having 50 miles of dust and dirt...
<center>
Several people came by the dealership to check it out and all were very impressed. So I start making my way home and I found something else the SRT has: A low fuel light! I watched the gas gauge drop fairly quickly and was shocked to see it approaching "E". This with the odometer reading 170 miles. I couldn't find an Amoco (best gas in town), so had to settle for 91 octane at Texaco (and yes Kenny, the manual said 91 is okay). I put 3.2 gallons in to last me to the Amoco at home. Interestingly enough, those 3.2 gallons pushed the fuel needle halfway between the ¼ and ½ marks. Twenty miles later I added 13.1 gallons to top it off (Amoco 92). Oh, and when I came out of the Texaco I was once again struck with how good looking this body style really is, so I snapped a shot:
As I got closer to home, I decided to make one last stop: My local Dodge dealer. While Woodhouse is undoubtedly my favorite Dodge dealer in the world, the folks at Bud Brown Dodge have treated me pretty darn well here when it comes to service. I know most of the guys there pretty well and Mike the Viper tech is great. So I honked at the service door and up she goes. It was like there had been a train wreck right there, as everybody completely stopped what they were doing and just stared. It was pretty funny, as I guessed that they had not seen an SRT yet. I pull in (giving a couple playful taps on the gas to bellow the side exhaust) and am immediately swarmed. From the porters to the GM, EVERYBODY came out to see it. Several went and got cameras and started snapping photos. It was a hoot!
<center>
The photo is a little blurry, but I'll bet you can guess which one is the Viper tech! They were all VERY impressed with the car and were commenting on many of the changes. Once again I demo'ed the way the top works (I have probably done this 15 times by now) and they thought it was very well executed. I promised to be back for my service work and Mike said, "I doubt you will ever need any on this car besides oil changes - you can tell this one is really put together well!"
I went home once again delighted with this great American machine. Oh, and Jerry, our VP (1998 GTS) and Joe (2001 Lotus Twin Turbo) stopped by tonight to check it out. Jerry was firmly in the "looks like an S2000" camp before, but seemed genuinely impressed with what he saw. Joe was more enthusiastic about the car and couldn't stop complimenting it. Fun stuff!
I will get some of the requested photos tomorrow in the daylight, until then...
Chris
You must be registered for see images
No, there isn't the slightest scratch on the car, I just removed those lights. Okay, okay: For Kenny's information, I was reading the manual while listening to tunes in the SRT as it sat in the garage last night. Reminded me of my first Viper when I would wander out to the garage for another peek at my black beauty. I find myself doing it all over again, only this time the stereo sounds a LOT better. Sitting in your new Viper, listening to your favorite tunes, and reading up on the care and feeding of your new baby - what could be better than that? Besides, with the wife already rolling her eyes at me, I figured reading a ******* in the SRT would be pushing my luck...
ANYWAY, I was looking through the manual and saw the section about replacing lightbulbs. For those that may have missed it, my ONLY problem with the SRT was water in the driver's reverse light housing. My wife noticed it as it rolled off the trailer and so has everybody else. Knowing that a REAL man would do more than just read the manual, I grabbed my power saw and went to work. KIDDING! A couple wrenches, torx drivers, and bloodied fingers later, I had the offending housing out for inspection. That baby was FULL of water. It literally came up over the bottom of the light bulbs and sloshed around in there. I am pretty sure I saw a goldfish in there too.
So I dumped out the water and left it to dry overnight. Sent a worried e-mail to my dealer (TO: Woodhouse Dodge; SUBJECT: SRT in trouble! Drowning...) and woke up bright and early to address the problem. Of course I already had a reply from the dealer and they were on top of it. Ordered a replacement housing right away. In the meantime, I borrowed the wife's blow dryer and carefully dried it out. Full of water spots, so tried to clean those up as well with what I could reach (that housing is a LOT bigger than it looks from the outside). Applied a little automotive silicon to the edges that looked like they were missing sealant, hopefully to keep the water out until the replacement is in. So far, that is the ONLY problem I have had with the SRT and I am actually pretty darn pleased that is all there is!
Okay, so I get everything back in perfect order and install the trunk mat kit (see previous pictures in "#277 ARRIVES" thread for more detail). No problem. I then head up to Chuck Anderson Ford to meet the best friend a Viper could have, Mike Anderson. Mike's dealership does more aftermarket work on Vipers than any other dealer in the area. He is a huge Viper fan and has owned several himself. I promised I would bring up the SRT when I got a chance and also thought it would be fun to go the 50 miles (each way) to do a little break in action.
One comment: I drove through what I still think are some of the worst roads in the United States: Kansas City (Missouri) interstate highways. Might as well drive on the surface of the moon. The SRT handled VERY well and even seemed less "darty" than my GTS, especially when the GTS had some miles on the Pilot Sports. Like Gary, I noticed my oil pressure was 75-80 pounds as I drove. Didn't bother me at all. Had a slight rattle by the dash that I couldn't pinpoint and it went away. Very little windnoise as far as I was concerned, yet when I answered the cell phone (dang electronic leashes!) it did seem to be a lot harder to hear anybody on it. Good, turned it off.
So anyway, got to Mike's dealership and immediately every sales guy was outside checking it out. I threw Mike the keys and finally had to muscle my way through the crowd to get in the passenger seat. Away we went! Mike is a Viper connoisseur, so I was very interested in his thoughts. He was very, very impressed. Indeed, as he looked it over for the next hour or so under the lights inside his dealership, he said "I honestly cannot find a single thing I would change on this car." He was especially amused by the "START" button. His current car (a 2001 GTS) is a real beauty, so we took a picture of the two cars side by side, with mine having 50 miles of dust and dirt...
<center>
You must be registered for see images
</center>Several people came by the dealership to check it out and all were very impressed. So I start making my way home and I found something else the SRT has: A low fuel light! I watched the gas gauge drop fairly quickly and was shocked to see it approaching "E". This with the odometer reading 170 miles. I couldn't find an Amoco (best gas in town), so had to settle for 91 octane at Texaco (and yes Kenny, the manual said 91 is okay). I put 3.2 gallons in to last me to the Amoco at home. Interestingly enough, those 3.2 gallons pushed the fuel needle halfway between the ¼ and ½ marks. Twenty miles later I added 13.1 gallons to top it off (Amoco 92). Oh, and when I came out of the Texaco I was once again struck with how good looking this body style really is, so I snapped a shot:
You must be registered for see images
As I got closer to home, I decided to make one last stop: My local Dodge dealer. While Woodhouse is undoubtedly my favorite Dodge dealer in the world, the folks at Bud Brown Dodge have treated me pretty darn well here when it comes to service. I know most of the guys there pretty well and Mike the Viper tech is great. So I honked at the service door and up she goes. It was like there had been a train wreck right there, as everybody completely stopped what they were doing and just stared. It was pretty funny, as I guessed that they had not seen an SRT yet. I pull in (giving a couple playful taps on the gas to bellow the side exhaust) and am immediately swarmed. From the porters to the GM, EVERYBODY came out to see it. Several went and got cameras and started snapping photos. It was a hoot!
<center>
You must be registered for see images
</center>The photo is a little blurry, but I'll bet you can guess which one is the Viper tech! They were all VERY impressed with the car and were commenting on many of the changes. Once again I demo'ed the way the top works (I have probably done this 15 times by now) and they thought it was very well executed. I promised to be back for my service work and Mike said, "I doubt you will ever need any on this car besides oil changes - you can tell this one is really put together well!"
I went home once again delighted with this great American machine. Oh, and Jerry, our VP (1998 GTS) and Joe (2001 Lotus Twin Turbo) stopped by tonight to check it out. Jerry was firmly in the "looks like an S2000" camp before, but seemed genuinely impressed with what he saw. Joe was more enthusiastic about the car and couldn't stop complimenting it. Fun stuff!
I will get some of the requested photos tomorrow in the daylight, until then...
Chris
