what are the most commonly broken parts on a viper?

[whitebluevipe]

I am looking to keep my vipers for the long term and are wondering what parts or pieces most commonly break or need repairing? cosmetic or mechanical. i am hoping to stock up for the future. thanks in advance.

 

[Chuck 98 RT/10]

Power window motor. Driver's side. It is the only thing I've needed two of, one each car.

 

[Tom F&L GoR]

Wallets.

 

[RikRok]

Touche' Tom. I was going to say the owner.

 

[Warfang]

The little window weather strip that is connected to the whole d@mn stanchion cover... what should have been a $5 part is now $300.

 

[Heysie]

I've needed a new powersteering pump and a starter engine in 4 years/20K miles of ownership.

 

[Leslie]

yeh

necks LOOKING at the Viper on the highway

 

[BADVENOM]

the driver...More totalled vipers in the first few hours of ownership than ony other car!

 

[Sam 01 RT10]

Rear tires.

My '01 had the waterpump issue, otherwise nothing major.

 

[96GTS]

Replaced the clutch slave at 23,500 miles. After thinking about it, I do sit at stop lights with the clutch pedal push in insted of putting it in neutral. I don't drive it REAL hard, but by no means baby it. It's a true testament to the quality of the people that built and designed the car. I doubt I could drive any other exotic as hard and have it be as maintenance free.

 

[Tom F&L GoR]

Beside the problems I caused myself, I vote for the clutch slave. I replaced one, second started to leak and I've cured that by temporary use of an unapproved hydraulic fluid that softened and swelled the seals. I wouldn't dare recommend it, but it seems to be working.

The other thing that comes to mind is the fuel pump check valve that allows the gasoline to drain back into the tank. Most seem to go for a complete fuel pump module replacement, although I have a simple three-wire box that will reprime the line for us cheapos.

Otherwise I have 86K in all four season driving and I'll start looking for a windshield soon. Too many road dust hits and at night it looks full of sparkles.

 

[DodgeViper01]

Wallets.

Very true, but at least they are not italian cars.

 

[00prowler]

Power steering pulley...Cheap plastic...When it gives, and it will you aren't going anywhere without a flatbed...Do the Billet P/S bracket at the same time...They fail too. Dave's Big Brakes sell nice relacements for them. Might as well do the P/S cap lock...Some people have lost there Vipers to fires from them coming off...AL

 

[Randy]

Door to chassis wiring harness on Gen II's.

 

[C O D Y]

Very easy to do lots of front end damage to these cars..... Front parts (ie plastic airboxes) will be hard to find once they dry up.

 

[C O D Y]

Seats are another item that seems to weat fast. Also the door panels wear quick too.

 

[Steve 00RT/10]

The little window weather strip that is connected to the whole d@mn stanchion cover... what should have been a $5 part is now $300.

I'll second that.


Steve

 

[V10SpeedLuvr]

Power steering pulley...Cheap plastic...When it gives, and it will you aren't going anywhere without a flatbed...Do the Billet P/S bracket at the same time...They fail too. Dave's Big Brakes sell nice relacements for them. Might as well do the P/S cap lock...Some people have lost there Vipers to fires from them coming off...AL

I agree with all that. Since April 05, I've put about 18k on my car....I haven't had any problems at all with my car except idle hang and I think all Vipers experience that at some point.

 

[Vic]

Driver's seat wears from sliding into the bucket
Center console cracks from elbow weight
Door to Chassis harness wires break
Door hinges sag over time

I'm just over 40,000 miles, and its been a great car so far. I like it so much, I just might keep her a while longer!

 

[flyboy618]

Ditto here, I had to replace the passenger power window mechanism. The OEM part is $350+ and it is a bad design to begin with. I noticed that the metal glide that the plastic part is connected to has a razor sharp edge. This edge cuts the plastic runner. When I replaced the new part, I rounded the edge with a file and made sure to re-lube the part. I also reinforced the hollow parts of plastic runner with a two-part epoxy resin to make it stronger. This is a good idea to do as a prevenative measure to existing window mechanisms. You will find that the plastic is already worn down. (After getting stuck in a down pour with the window down, my wife is convinced that her '96 pop in windows aren't so bad.)

 

[whitebluevipe]

thanks for all the input. i think i am going to try and stock up on a few parts.

 

[ViperJoe]

Airbox clips, which are not really Viper exclusive, but for the life of me I can't remember who else you can get them from.......(Chevy maybe?)

 

[V10SpeedLuvr]

Airbox clips, which are not really Viper exclusive, but for the life of me I can't remember who else you can get them from.......(Chevy maybe?)

Chevy part # 25043286. They're like $2 each

 

[AviP]

1. Airbox clips
2. Door weatherstripping (because of dorr sag)

Nothing else comes to mind in my 10 years/24K miles.

 

[Tom F&L GoR]

Buy a service manual if you haven't already. I seem smart (sometimes smart asz) because I can look things up when someone floats "does anyone know about this...."

 

[George Murray]

That little rubber doughnut thingy in the front passenger wheel well you take out to check your puke tank.

Also, the hood-to-fender wheel well seals (black strips) can fly off when driving fast. Lost 'em on two GTS'.

 

[flyboy618]

Thanks for the part #, I was looking for them and the dodge parts dealer guy just started LOL and told me I had to buy the hole air box.
Thanks......

 

[95Viper]

That little rubber doughnut thingy in the front passenger wheel well you take out to check your puke tank.

Also, the hood-to-fender wheel well seals (black strips) can fly off when driving fast. Lost 'em on two GTS'.

Regarding those wheel well seals...where do you get replacements?

 

[Scott5ppg]

Just changed out my battery. It died on a cruise 50 miles away from home, go figure. No problem got a jump and was on my way. Replaced with a jell. The window seal drivers side on the pillar is dislodged below and keeps moving back. Looks like I’ll have to remove the door panel to fix. Any idea on how to do that without making work for myself, i.e. breaking anything else fixing that.

Outside of those two things she's awesome with no other problems, put 1600 miles on her in just a few weeks. I did have ALL fluids replace by the Dodge dealer in Foley, AL. Great job and they did and checked extra stuff.

Scott
2001 GTS ACR

 

[Early93Viper]

After ten or so track days, 17,000 miles and close to 2 1/2 year these are the parts that have broken:

Differential
Broke a few teeth off at a track day.

Power steering pump

Head Gaskets

Rubber Gas seal

Battery (my own fault left the Radar detector on)

Inside door cup

Overall I am still happy with reliability. I am pretty ******* her.