New member with maintenance question

[goat19642004]

Just purchased my 04 With 4,700 miles on her. Question is, what maintenance should I do comes spring outside of the engine oil change. The previous owner did oil changes yearly, but unsure of other fluids.

 

[Steve-Indy]

Get a service manual, review schedules...if no documentation...change all fluids and check torque on the notorious 2004 crank damper bolt.

 

[cubican]

What ever you do don't used a 30w oil at least used a 40w oil will help with the ticking noice on your motor

 

[MoparMap]

Yeah, it doesn't hurt to start fresh so you can establish your own schedule. I bought my 04 with 43,000 miles and started with a pretty clean slate at 50,000. Swapped out plugs, fluids, etc so I had a base mileage to start with that was easy to remember.

 

[VPRPWRD]

Check the date code on the tires, if they are original, absolutely replace them!!!

 

[TexasTorred]

Great advice above. I have an '03 purchased in '11 w/3900 miles on it. Now 22K, love driving it. It had no service documentation, so 'no taking chances.' Replaced all fluids and new spark plugs as well. Who knows how little my car was driven/or sat in a garage. Also, yes, check those tires and if OEMs --replace them. Not sure on '04's, but the '03's had Michelin Run-flats and HARD as a rock and downright scary in very cold weather before warming up or if you're caught in the rain. Replaced with Nittos for 'safety' and it was a HUGE difference in ride quality and my kidneys thanked me for it

Lastly, before you ask/next question on Gen IIIs. Here we go....budget/plan for some door regulator(s) as it is (a matter of time) --although mine are still good. They are around $350 each and the good news is they used to be twice that price. Do a search here on the forum for details. Also, on your Gen III plan on at some point replacing 'weeping' oil cooler or power steering lines. Keep an eye on them, especially the oil cooler lines as well as on an '04 , the crank dampener bolt as mentioned above. That said........ WELCOME!!!!

My '03 has been VERY GOOD reliability wise, but the weeping oil cooler lines caught up to me. Power steering lines I'm sure down the road as well will have to be dealt with. Small price to pay as I LOVE MY GEN III. I'd recommend you budget/replace fluids every 5 years or so--I just did mine again recently....Peace of mind and my car rides/drives....as new.

Welcome to ownership of 'the' best hand-built American Muscle Car in the world. OH--sorry, it is the 'only' hand built American Production muscle car

 

[MoparMap]

I can agree that the upkeep on these is not bad at all, at least if you keep them moving. I can't attest for how well they last when not moving, but in 3 years of owning mine and 50,000 miles (almost to 100k!) I have only replaced the shocks (weeping, springy ride, plus I just wanted to upgrade), oil cooler lines (small spots under the car, $300-400), and just recently the power steering fitting from the pump to the fan module (other lines just fine, $250 fix). So in three years and tons of miles I've only really had to spend around $500 to replace "failing" parts. Not bad for a limited production high-powered sports car. I'm not sure you could even change the oil in some European exotics for that.

I have done some other maintenance style upgrades/replacements, but I would consider them non-essential to a degree. Got new spark plug wires as I cracked the insulation on one when installing headers and also got some new valve cover gaskets at the time as I removed them to install the headers and they were pretty hard and leaked a bit. Bushings and ball joints are all in good shape and checked out fine with just some fresh grease. These cars are built to take a beating, so they will last a long time if you don't neglect them. They are not the high strung precision machines that many other exotics are.

 

[goat19642004]

Yes tires are original, but fortunately Santa left a new set tires and Matte black sidewinder wheels under the Christmas tree for me. So based on this feedback I'll plan on replacing all the fluids this spring. Should I also be proactive and replace oil cooler and power steering lines at the same time? Do you recommend the aftermarket ones from Venom performance?

 

[cubican]

If you don't have a leak just wait till you do, and then replace them with the after market ones.

 

[MoparMap]

Agreed, wait and make sure they are a problem first. You might have 50,000 miles of fun before having to worry about it. Neither one is a catastrophic type failure, just a slow drip, so you should notice it well in advance of it hurting anything. I just got the Venom Performance power steering lines, but it was a mixed bag for me. Nice quality lines and good one piece fitting, but I think the main problem line has the wrong fitting on the end. It has a 45 degree that seems to route it right into the upper radiator hose. I think a 90 would fix the problem, but I'm guessing they were made for an SRT-10 pickup that has a different radiator hose routing. I've been burned on that twice now. They are NOT the same vehicles, despite sharing a similar engine. I wish more vendors would understand that...

As for the oil cooler lines, I went with the Viper Specialty lines. They are all pretty similar though, so whatever you get should work fine if you go that route in the future.

 

[LACOUNTRYHICK]

What ever you do don't used a 30w oil at least used a 40w oil will help with the ticking noice on your motor

You think he needs that heavy weight oil in the northeast? He's not down here in the HOT south like us.

 

[AZTVR]

You think he needs that heavy weight oil in the northeast? He's not down here in the HOT south like us.

Mobil 1 0W-40 was the recommended oil by Dodge, and many here.

 

[Bill Pemberton Woodhouse]

Definitely view fluids, but quite likely that the brake fluid and clutch fluid should be changed. Also, with that massive 8.3 ltr. aluminum block, pretty good idea to flush the radiator. Number one reason that folks think their clutch I having issues is just that the fluid needs changing, not that new clutch I in order. Enjoy, my 2004 was one of my favorite Snakes .

 

[goat19642004]

Been reading posts about changing the plugs and wires on cars that are older but with lower miles also. Do these cars need more frequent maintenance on the ignition systems?

 

[MoparMap]

Probably more just an age issue than a inferior quality part. I only replaced my wires because I cracked the insulation on a wire while putting on headers. Otherwise I'd have left them in there. My mom's 94 still has factory wires and works fine. I replaced plugs just so I would know when they were new. A bit of peace of mind and I wanted the car to be "fresh" to me.