[njsteve]

I've been driving the Viper the past few weeks to use up the 22 gallons of fuel in the tank in time for refueling and winter storage. We took the car to a couple cars and coffee events and had a lot of fun with it. This old relic is gonna be 30 years old in four months!

During the recent drive my son noticed that we had no back up lights, no brake lghts, no flashers, and only one turn signal working. Great!

So I pulled the tail light lenses and replaced several of the 29 year old, 3157 bulbs. That got us the turn signals working and the flashers but still no brake lights or backup lights.

So I crawled underneath the dash and looked at the brake light switch. It was very hot to the touch! So I pulled it out. I took it apart and noticed all the contacts were tarnished and causing so much resistance that heat was building up but no contact was being made in the switch. So I used an fingernail emery board and cleaned them up and reinstalled the thing. (I also ordered a spare unit since any parts for this thing are either unavailable or in the process - it turned out the unit is from a Dodge truck and is made by Standard Motor Products under part S-151 so I ordered one for $25). I reinstalled the switch and YAY now the brake lights work again.

I figured the reverse lights were due to the switch in the transmission no longer working from being parked in reverse for so long during storage, so I ordered one of those which is still available from Mopar for $29. Since that required putting the car up on jackstands and pulling the big transmision skid plate I figured I'd change the 29 year old transmission fluid at the same time.

I tested my bad switch hypothesis by jumping the two terminals on the wire connector and the lights lit up. Bad switch, it is. I swapped out the old switch for the new one and YAY we have reverse lights now too!

Now here's the bug in the ointment. These cars came with a T56 6-speed which used Dexron II(E) as the lubricating fluid. In 1994 Dexron II was replaced with Dexron III which was OK'd by Dodge for use in these transmissions. In 1998, Dodge put out a very specific TSB stating that the fluid in all Viper transmissions should be upgraded to Mopar ATF+4 to avoid neutral gear rattle...all EXCEPT the 1992 and 1993 cars. It had something to do with the blocker rings and synchros in the early transmissions being made of a material that was not compatable with a synthetic fluid. So...I had to find actual non-synthetic Dexron II or III. And of course the current Dexron VI synthetic is out as well.

I searched and eventually located a currently available, cheapo non-synthetic AC/Delco version that is called ATF Type III(H). It turns out that no one can call it Dexron III any more because GM no longer licenses it to be made under that trademark.

I also decided to drain and refill the rear diff as well. Luckily this is a very early car that actually has the drain plug in the rear diff. Shortly after this car was built, they did away with the drain plug and those owners have to suction out their diff for maintenance (not fun).

I did take a sample of both fluids and sent it off the Blackstone labs for analysis. I'll update when the results come in.

And if you're wondering what all the little yellow specks are in the photos: I ran over an Osage Orange (Maclura Pomifera) while coming home from the cars and coffee on Sunday. The frikken things are as big as a grapefruit and are all over the local roads around here. I thought it would clear the underside but it struck the front crossmember and then got neatly sliced in half by the transmission skid plate as evidenced by the section sitting on the plate when I removed it this morning. So now the underside smells citrus fresh! So I got that going for me.