Coils and Plugs?

[04BlackSRT10]

A couple weeks ago I got into my second Viper -- a 2004 SRT10. It has only 25,000 miles and I've already replaced all the fluids on the car, as well as the spark plugs. Should I go ahead and change out the plug wires and ignition coils too given the car's age?

 

[TexasViper35]

You may want to wait until a problem appears, because to change out the wires you’ll need to pull the intake manifold. They will deteriorate over time. One wire of mine failed, but it wasn’t until 55K miles. You’ll know it by the backfire and CEL.

But OTOH if you are comfortable pulling the manifold as a part of a preventative maintenance then by all means, replace the wires. A nice replacement set can be bought from RSI Racing. I‘ve been told that the coils are much more robust so leave them alone.

 

[04BlackSRT10]

Earlier this year I changed the spark plugs on my F Type R myself, and that was absolutely insane in terms of how difficult it was to access the plugs. Took me 5 hours to change 8 plugs and I swore I'd never do it again. From the look of it, pulling the intake manifold off is 100 times easier than what I did on the Jag, so I think I'll just go ahead and change out the coil packs also if I'm going to go through the trouble of taking off the manifold and changing wires. I guess I answered my own question!

 

[Bowieeeeeeeeee]

Hey, would you mind maybe snapping some pics and providing some tips when you get into it? I want to do this on my Ram and I’d assume the intake set up would be the same. I tried once before but had to stop because I couldn’t access a couple of bolts on the intake near the firewall. I also was worried I’d snap some of the plastic bits on the injectors. Hopefully with your input I can try again. Either way, thanks!

 

[MoparMap]

Yeah, there are a couple of bolts on the intake that are the hardest thing about it. With the right bits and extensions it's not too bad, and if you take off the wipers and cowling back there you have lots of room. I really wouldn't bother replacing the coils though. They are somewhat unique to the car (though I guess maybe they are just from a 6 cylinder and a 4 cylinder), but I've never heard of anyone having problems with them. I have 130,000 miles on mine and it's never been an issue. My mom did have one cylinder go out on her gen 1, but I think it used different coils and it's also got another 10 years of age on my car.

 

[04BlackSRT10]

Thanks for the replies! It definitely doesn't look too difficult, just very time consuming. I just figured that since I already have to take off the manifold to change the wires, I might as well also replace the coil packs since I don't want to have to do this again for a very long time, perhaps ever!

 

[Viper Specialty]

The viper uses inductive coils. In general, they work or they dont. Unless damaged directly or indirectly, they do not tend to fail. Plugs and wires sure, but dont waste money on coil replacements for no reason.

 

[04BlackSRT10]

So after taking a hard look at the manifold area, I decided I didn't need to take off the manifold to change the wires. I took Dan's advice from above, and didn't mess with the coil packs. Took me about two hours, plenty of cussing, and a lot of dexterity with a pair of really long pliers, but I got all 10 wires changed out. Good thing I did, because about half of the boots were cracked open down to the metal -- especially the cylinder 3 boot. I didn't even need to remove the cowl around the wiper blades. I just took out the screws holding it down and it gave me enough room to push it up a little bit and get in behind the engine.