Project Viper GTS: Part 2 – General Maintenance

There are many brands of sparkplug wires out there; however “Quality Wires” (previously known as AB Wires) are widely considered the best for the Viper.  Adam, the owner of Quality Wires is active in the Viper community and is known as a stand-up guy with the best products.  These wires have a full 1,200*F heat shielding, an optional hi-temp sock boots, and are available in multiple colors.

Quality Wires (top) have a woven heat shielding around the entire length of the wire as well as an optional hi-temp sock boot which we also went with.  We chose black on black wires for a subtle factory look since we were not sure if AB’s red wires would discolor to a pink hue like most red wires do.  One major benefit of Quality Wires is they emit very little Electro Magnetic Interference & Radio Frequency Interference unlike many high performance wires which can cause static in the car’s stereo due to their close proximity to the radio’s head unit.

The Viper’s factory gauge moves around a lot and stays above the center 190*F mark due to the car’s factory 195*F thermostat.  Since the needle stays right of center the entire time, this can be concerning without knowing how hot the engine is actually running.

Due to the Viper’s small grill, they are known to run hot when in stop and go traffic, on hot days, and under heavy loading.  Unlike most cars, the Viper has a very active temperature gauge which can be very concerning when the needle operates in an area without any defined values near the red.  In order to learn more about how hot our car is running, we decided to hook up an OBD reader to monitor the engine’s temperature more accurately.  We quickly found out that our gauge was not displaying what the OBD was reading.

Using the OBD Reader, we were seeing:

178-190*F – Highway (185*F average).  Dash Gauge reads: in the middle (or a needle-width to the right) of the 3^rd hash mark to the right of the center 190*F hash mark (as shown above).

190-205*F – City.  Dash Gauge reads: 3^rd mark to the right of 190*F to the ¾ mark.

205-217*F – Stop and Go.  Dash Gauge reads: Half way from the 3^rd hash mark (to the right of the 190*F center mark) to the ¾ mark.

Quick Reference:

Page 1 – Oil Change
Page 2 – Oil Change, Power Steering Tube, and Spark Plug Wires
Page 3 – Spark Plug Wires and Spark Plugs
Page 4 – Quality Wires & Stock Temperature Gauge Values!
Page 5 – Stock Water Temp Sending Unit & Roe Silicone Hose & Bleeder Kit
Page 6 – Coolant Concentration, Cap & Water Wetter
Page 7 – AC check valve & Water Temp Gauge install
Page 8 & 9 – Water temp gauge install