Finally got my new Viper

SYNFULL

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Yes, purchased a few months ago after wrecking my 99 GTS. Finally settled with the insurance company after months of haggling. On that note make sure that you have a declared value policy- not stated value as that can mean nothing.
Always loved the iconic blue & white viper GTS so when I started looking for a replacement that was my first choice. Then I actually started preferring the blue & silver when I saw it. I have had a few verts in the past so I was really looking for a coupe, but your car is beautiful.

If you are into mods, there is a company that makes rear ends for the vert that mimic the lines of the coupe. Really nice!
 
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HobokenViper

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Really enjoying my first day of being a part of VCA so far. Lots of great people on here! I'll probably start posting a lot less soon so I can focus more on work... Haha!

So I have an important question to ask and have some background info to give first... So the previous owner replaced the stock cats with high flow cats and it sounds amazing with a bit more power too, about 620 hp now. Also has K&N air filter in place of the stock one.

The other day I drove it to my buddy's house and we washed, waxed, and detailed our cars by the books and very carefully, and I drove her home about 20 miles and filled up on premium gas a mile from my home. Took her out again that evening with my wife to a wedding about 20 miles away, and about 4 miles in, the check engine light came on. Totally freaked me out, but the car was driving fine with no tangible issues. What do you think the problem could be, if any at all? My assumption is that it could be from filling up and the gas cap wasn't put back on perfectly, or maybe the high flow cats are causing something to trip? They do make a lot of popping noises, basically backfires, when I am driving and let off the gas. Should I bring her in to be serviced or do you think this is a non-issue that should be fine?

Thanks in advance for any advice or help!
 

ohlarikd

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Really enjoying my first day of being a part of VCA so far. Lots of great people on here! I'll probably start posting a lot less soon so I can focus more on work... Haha!

So I have an important question to ask and have some background info to give first... So the previous owner replaced the stock cats with high flow cats and it sounds amazing with a bit more power too, about 620 hp now. Also has K&N air filter in place of the stock one.

The other day I drove it to my buddy's house and we washed, waxed, and detailed our cars by the books and very carefully, and I drove her home about 20 miles and filled up on premium gas a mile from my home. Took her out again that evening with my wife to a wedding about 20 miles away, and about 4 miles in, the check engine light came on. Totally freaked me out, but the car was driving fine with no tangible issues. What do you think the problem could be, if any at all? My assumption is that it could be from filling up and the gas cap wasn't put back on perfectly, or maybe the high flow cats are causing something to trip? They do make a lot of popping noises, basically backfires, when I am driving and let off the gas. Should I bring her in to be serviced or do you think this is a non-issue that should be fine?

Thanks in advance for any advice or help!

I can tell you the backfires are normal. Something to do with the throttle plate being left a crack open, on purpose.

You will hear all kinds of odd disconcerting noises, like valve clatter, clunking in the rear end... but everyone will tell you its perfectly normal. I may buy a loud exhaust just so I don't hear all these things!
 

TexasTorred

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I'd recommend getting your car scanned and the code read/diagnosed. It does sound like the gas-cap-vapor syndrome turned on the CEL. Not sure, sometimes driving "X" number of cycles will reset and the CEL will go out.

On my car, an aftermarket cap gave me a CEL. Took to Autozone, cleared code....put stock cap back on and code-free since then........

Still think to protect your investment, get the car scanned and code read....Better safe than sorry. Autozone here locally in Texas will scan/diagnose the code for free. Nice ride by the way. Almost as fast as Viper Red....
 

TexasTorred

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QUOTE=Slithr;3120298]Great Texans must think alike :2tu: Thank you for clearing this up early for him :D[/QUOTE]

No problem. The good news is it is not 'amarillo' :pile:
 
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VENOMAHOLIC

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Congrats on your new Viper with a sweet color combo. I have had my 2000 RT/10 for 8 yrs and still get that grin. Getting the skip shift deactivated will make it much easier to drive. A code reader/clearer at Wal Mart is $60-80 dollars and well worth it for piece of mind and is easy to use. My guess is that because your Viper has exhaust mods and is driven so little that an O2 sensor is being triggered. Letting the Viper warm up before driving it may prevent further codes. Enjoy
 

LifeIsGood

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There's no way of telling what your issue is without knowing the code. Do yourself a favor and purchase an OBD II code reader. You can do a GOOGLE search of ODB II readers and get tons of brands/models. I use an Actron CP9125 since I only need to find out and then erase codes. They get a lot more sophisticated, but that costs more. Mine is on Amazon right now for $50 delivered.

These sites have a wealth of information on ODB (On-Board Diagnostic) codes...

ODB-Codes.com

ODB II

 

viper GTS-R

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So, I can still remember buying Motor Trend Magazine as a kid and seeing pics of the old Viper concept car in the late 80's, and then sometime in late 1992 when I was about 12 years old, I went to the local Dodge dealer with my parents to buy our first Dodge Caravan, and there it was, a brand new red Dodge Viper RT/10. I fell in love and couldn't believe how expensive it was at the time at over $50,000! It seemed like an absolute fortune to me at the time, and I thought it would be a dream that I would never realize. It was THE car that took my love for cars to the next level to the point of being obsessed with everything about cars, but especially Vipers. I swore to work very hard in school and at work and one day get myself one...

What the...

I feel like I'm reading my life story written by someone else...except my first Viper that I saw was the GTS pace car, also in a dealer showroom, while my parents where outside buying a Caravan.

I was 6 years old.

You must be registered for see images


--RS
 

Camfab

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Great car, and great advice by everyone. If your not confident in doing your own work, or even if you are, you need to familiarize yourself with Tator's Garage. I believe your relatively close to Chuck Tator. The last thing I would do is go to the dealer.
 

ohlarikd

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HobokenViper - yes, take it to Tators for a good looking over. I actually replaced every fluid in my car. Even though it was 860 miles, it was a 2005, so a bit older than yours. But that is the ONLY place I will take my car. It is very close to you, less than an hour away.
 

intense5.5

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Congrats on your new toy and welcome aboard. We will be bothering you to take it out and play with it. Check in on the jersey section for meet ups.
 

Smog Dog

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...... took it for a great test drive where I had this huge stupid smile plastered onto my face that I couldn't wipe off. That smile stayed with me for the next few weeks and I couldn't help but to start negotiating with the seller within a week of my test drive. Only problem was that I still had HUGE negotiations to be done with my wife who wanted no part of me getting a new car that was even remotely like the Viper. When I showed her pictures of it and played sounds of the exhaust, boy did she hate everything about it!!! This was going to be mission impossible, and I actually gave up on buying the car at least a couple times..... Well, all in all it took 4 months of negotiations with the seller of the car and 3 much more difficult months of negotiating with my wife, but somehow I finally made it happen and took delivery of my new Viper in the end of August, and my wife now likes the car, but still HATES how loud it is......

Congrats on the beautiful Viper! Sounds like you've got a great wife, too. If you really want to share the new car with her, you might want to go back to the stock cats. That would make a huge difference in the noise and you would look like a hero (a considerate one at that!!) No, I'm not a marriage counselor, but this is good advice. Think about it..... Good luck and enjoy your new Viper!

Bill
 

v10enomous

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Buy flowers and candy... Screw the stock cats:D

Congrats on the beautiful Viper! Sounds like you've got a great wife, too. If you really want to share the new car with her, you might want to go back to the stock cats. That would make a huge difference in the noise and you would look like a hero (a considerate one at that!!) No, I'm not a marriage counselor, but this is good advice. Think about it..... Good luck and enjoy your new Viper!

Bill
 

Next Phase

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Congratulations on your Viper! Your story made me think back to when I bought my first dream car...

Life is short...enjoy it!
 
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HobokenViper

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Congrats on your new toy and welcome aboard. We will be bothering you to take it out and play with it. Check in on the jersey section for meet ups.

Thanks! I definitely hope you guys will be "bothering" me to take it out to car shows and meet ups in the future.

Hope your cars are safe with this hurricane approaching. I'm hoping I don't have a problem since I live right on the Hudson River facing Manhattan and hope the wind or water doesn't do any serious damage.....At least I will have front row seats to whatever this crazy hurricane throws our way.
 
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HobokenViper

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There's no way of telling what your issue is without knowing the code. Do yourself a favor and purchase an OBD II code reader. You can do a GOOGLE search of ODB II readers and get tons of brands/models. I use an Actron CP9125 since I only need to find out and then erase codes. They get a lot more sophisticated, but that costs more. Mine is on Amazon right now for $50 delivered.

These sites have a wealth of information on ODB (On-Board Diagnostic) codes...

ODB-Codes.com

ODB II





Thanks for the advice. Definitely think I will be investing a few bucks in one of those soon. I have a dumb question..... How do you know what the codes are that show up on the reader? Is there a key that comes with it that decodes them?
 

Viper Grenade

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Welcome, now that the venom has been in your veins....how does it feel to let it out. :D

It will not be long...your going to want a few mods. That is after all....part of the fun.
 

PatentLaw

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Good luck with the potholes in Hoboken. Went to Stevens many years back.

Eat some pizza at Benny's and some sandwiches as M&P on Washington for me.

If those establishments were in Houston, the owners could retire in one year.
 
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HobokenViper

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Congrats on the beautiful Viper! Sounds like you've got a great wife, too. If you really want to share the new car with her, you might want to go back to the stock cats. That would make a huge difference in the noise and you would look like a hero (a considerate one at that!!) No, I'm not a marriage counselor, but this is good advice. Think about it..... Good luck and enjoy your new Viper!

Bill

I have a great wife of 3 years, but she just doesnt get cars and never will. She couldn't tell the difference between a Lamborghini and a Daewoo, and hates anything that screams "look at me!". I took her to the NY Auto Show once many years ago, and after we looked at one car she asked me if I was almost done! Haha! We ended up leaving 20 minutes later after I saw maybe 3 other cars and I came back the next day and spent 5 hours there. Needless to say she has been banned from ever going back there with me again. LOL!

She initially disagreed with me getting this or any other car like it, but finally realized that this equals happiness for me and gave in because she realized it would make me very happy and an even better husband because of it, and she was right! Haha!!! I definitely have a bad permanent case of being obsessed with cars and it only gets worse with age and more money. I'm glad she finally recognized that diagnoses and is more easygoing about me playing with my cars.
 
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HobokenViper

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Oh yeah, and I doubt I will ever remove the high flow cats as I LOVE the sound it makes with them even if it slowly makes me go deaf. Doubtful my wife will be in the car enough to matter as she only rode in my Audi TT a couple times a year before this, but she did ride in it with me to a wedding in Springfield last Saturday night and said that even though it was very loud, she actually really liked the Car. Not sure I will pass the NJ state inspection with the high flow cats though... Does anyone have any advice or insight about that?
 

robiferretti

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Oh yeah, and I doubt I will ever remove the high flow cats as I LOVE the sound it makes with them even if it slowly makes me go deaf. Doubtful my wife will be in the car enough to matter as she only rode in my Audi TT a couple times a year before this, but she did ride in it with me to a wedding in Springfield last Saturday night and said that even though it was very loud, she actually really liked the Car. Not sure I will pass the NJ state inspection with the high flow cats though... Does anyone have any advice or insight about that?

Register it in a state that doesn't have inspection or require a front plate. Those tickets are annoying.
 
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HobokenViper

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Good luck with the potholes in Hoboken. Went to Stevens many years back.

Eat some pizza at Benny's and some sandwiches as M&P on Washington for me.

If those establishments were in Houston, the owners could retire in one year.

Benny Tudino's, home of the biggest slice! So many great restaurants in town and some of the best pizzarias in the country all in one square mile! They even fixed many of the old terrible potholes the last year or two.....and now the hurricane will probably tear apart all the nice new roads and leave us with tons of holes again.
 
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HobokenViper

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Welcome, now that the venom has been in your veins....how does it feel to let it out. :D

It will not be long...your going to want a few mods. That is after all....part of the fun.

So far I've been loving life with my new Viper! I go down to the garage sometimes and stare at it in disbelief that it is actually mine! I get so excited and giddy every time I'm about to drive it somewhe and look for any reason to give her some exercise. Not sure I want to ever do any mods though beyond what was already done. I want to keep it as close to stock as possible but the only things I'm possibly considering doing in the future are installing a custom hidden radar detector and replacing the stock factory stereo with the factory navigation system since I really hate using a Garmin in the car that I can't hear anyway.
 

ZZ SRT

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I want to keep it as close to stock as possible but the only things I'm possibly considering doing in the future are installing a custom hidden radar detector and replacing the stock factory stereo with the factory navigation system since I really hate using a Garmin in the car that I can't hear anyway.

Don't put the factory nav in. I have it and it *****.
 

MtnBiker

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:lmao: - reminds me; Every night for 2 weeks after buying it I would always go out in the garage and flip the light switch to get a quick looksey before going to bed.
My wife would always laugh at me and say "yep, it's still there!"
Mike

Funny, I do the same thing! Lovin' it!
 
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