Is anyone running the ACR oil filter adapter on a Gen 2.

[Ryan_DSA]

when a fork lift is available i ll check for more, i dont think it will be until monday though, i m buried writing orders for awhile

 

[KDR83]

how much do these things run?

 

[Ron]

Thank you Ryan for opening up a non-ACR version. I wouldn't have figured that one out. Much appreciated!!!

 

[Viper Parts of America]

We went ahead and ran a 1999 Viper ACR VIN through the system to verify the correct adapter part number. It is indeed 4886503AD and shows a list price of $488.00 with Mopar. If/when Ryan runs out, we will have them available. For those that already ordered through us, no price change of course.

It may also interest folks to know that many of the components for the stock (non-ACR) adapter are available individually from Mopar: connector, cap, spring, and valve/plunger.

Now to see about getting that Illustrated Upgrade updated...

 

[Viper Parts of America]

And the plot thickens. There are two main part numbers for the Gen 2 oil filter adapters: 4886503AC for the "regular" Viper and 4886503AD for the Viper ACR. The regular adapter was what was shown as the ACR adapter in the 2007 Illustrated Upgrade on this site and has been discontinued by Mopar - we bought the remaining stock.

When it arrived, we shot a picture of the actual unit and others confirmed it was a different part number - 04763736AC. So we went back to Mopar where they showed that the ACR-specific unit (4886503AD) was in plentiful supply, albeit $142 more for the MSRP. We ordered three, with the first one showing up today. Alas, inside the box was another 04763736AC, the same one we received before - only with red caps on the fittings instead of clear.

Well, the 4763736AC is priced yet another $114 higher - MSRP of $602. It is indeed a Viper oil filter adapter, apparently a continuation of the 4886503AC. Of course our friends at Mopar are working with the supplier to find out how these came to be, as well as whether there are any of the actual 4886503AD units still available.

In the meantime let's hope Ryan found that forklift!

 

[CEJ]

Okay, I'm confused now.

My 2001 RT/10's OEM adapter has the number 04763735C in the casting.
The adapter that VPA pictured in post # 46 was 04763735C as well.
The adapter pictured in the How-to section also looked like it was 04763735C. So 04763735C appears to be the standard oil filter adapter.

The ACR adapter that Ryan pictured was numbered 04763736AD.

The one Mopar just sent to VPA was 04763736AC...which makes me think that is an ACR adapter (guessing here that AD is just a later version of the AC part)? Maybe I'm not seeing this correctly.

 

[troublemaker]

This keeps getting worse, I wish I hadn't passed that one up with you Ryan.

 

[CEJ]

It will get sorted out. Pretty amazing how much confusion there is over this part.

 

[troublemaker]

This seems to be screwed up on Mopars end. VPA has been great to work with, I have no complaints. I think at this point I need to just get the car back together and try to narrow down where the oil leak is. If it shows up it shows up, nobody can say we didn't try.

 

[Viper Parts of America]

Crazy stuff indeed, as there is no such part number (04763736AD) listed with Mopar. Not to worry, we are all over this with Mopar and WILL have an answer one way or another!

 

[CEJ]

Crazy stuff indeed, as there is no such part number (04763736AD) listed with Mopar. Not to worry, we are all over this with Mopar and WILL have an answer one way or another!

I was using the number on the casting itself...and looking at those, it looks like you have an ACR adapter with the ...36AC.

 

[troublemaker]

Any update on this? I am hoping to get the car back together with or withoit thos piece.

 

[Viper Parts of America]

We are checking with Mopar, and you should give Paul Scharf/Ryan a call to see if they located any as well.

 

[Ryan_DSA]

We are currently out, and I also do all the general sales calls here too, we are too short staffed to have anyone go look right now, i got in a bit of trouble for being away from my desk for 20 minutes to find that last one. so most likely we will not get any where on this until the summer help gets hired in May to sort the bins.....we have to go through about 100+ or so of the normal ones with thermostat to find 1 that doesnt have it, and there are about 500-600 objects in each bin....(gen1 oil adapters, gen2 oil adapters, gen 1 & gen2 thermostat housings, alternator brackets etc) and the bins are currently stack 5 high so i had to climb a bit to get at that one, that i think is pretty picked over, its where i got 2 of the 4 we sold. ........Sorry Guys, but we are out until further notice.

 

[WDW MKR]

Thanks, Ryan. I'm on no deadline, but will still take one if you find it down the road.

 

[troublemaker]

No problem Ryan, it was my fault for passing up the ones you had, hindsight is 20/20. Thanks for putting a handful of these back into circulation.

 

[CEJ]

VPA, any update on these adapters? Thanks.

 

[Viper Parts of America]

Just pinged Mopar again who is pinging the original supplier. We now have a couple different part numbers with packaging dates going back to 2007, but all are the same part inside. It would appear that if anybody ordered one through their dealer they probably got this same part.

We have one other part number we are trying and have asked for it to be shipped via overnight mail to us. It will be at our warehouse on Monday and we will report back on the results.

We now have pretty much every single Viper oil adapter that Mopar had in stock - just what we wanted. Not! Hopefully this last one we ordered (and there was only one in stock) will be the magic bullet. Will report back just as soon as we know. Pictures too of course.

 

[troublemaker]

Well, I guess that will be my last try before we allocate those funds toward something else.

 

[CEJ]

Appreciate the update. Hopefully the new arrival will be a winner!

 

[troublemaker]

Any update? Is this something Mopar doesn't want to figure out or is this something they can't figure out? VPA has done there part on this, the ball has been dropped above them. It just seems like the older models have been tossed to the side, maybe the issues with actually getting the Gen5 to the delivery stage has taken up all there resources. I simple part like this shouldn't become a major issue, either they make or they don't.

My whole stable from Daily Drivers to toys is entirely Mopar, but lately my confidence in them is getting a little iffy.

 

[Ron]

It's an 11~17 year old low production specialty car assembled from a mix of repurposed and unique parts built by vendors that in many cases didn't see enough volume to justify producing the part in the first place, let alone again. The fact that Dodge has stock of anything at this point is a great thing and while some select parts seem to require a little detective work on the part of VPA to properly identify (Thank you VPA!), it's still better than the alternative response - "The part you request is NLA".

Now, why would anyone pay $602 list for a part that arguably "might" be a little better than the stock part, I don't know. I will say that there is a way to make your existing oil filter adapter behave exactly like the ACR adapter for a lot less money than $602. That might be your out.

 

[troublemaker]

Ron. I agree with you. If the part doesn't exist, so be it. It's the fact that there seems to be so much confusion on the part numbers that nobody can even tell me if this part does in fact exist anywhere. I will say again, VPA has gone above and beyond, non of my gripes are towards them.

If you have got a way of doing this, please PM me. It would save me and VPA a lot of time, grief and money. I would greatly appreciate it. It would let me get the car back together, Spring is coming and it's just one of a long list of projects. I just don't want to put it back together as is and have to take it all apart again.

Actually Ron this car came from your neck of the woods. I will send you a PM, just curious if you knew the car at all.

 

[Viper Parts of America]

Any update? Is this something Mopar doesn't want to figure out or is this something they can't figure out? VPA has done there part on this, the ball has been dropped above them. It just seems like the older models have been tossed to the side, maybe the issues with actually getting the Gen5 to the delivery stage has taken up all there resources. I simple part like this shouldn't become a major issue, either they make or they don't.

My whole stable from Daily Drivers to toys is entirely Mopar, but lately my confidence in them is getting a little iffy.

Is it Monday already? As noted above, we have one other shot at the correct adapter (of which we ordered the very last one) and it will be here on Monday. Heck, we just tracked it and it is already in the local depot, so we may even see if we can make our way across town in the snow and ice to pick it up if UPS will allow it. Gotta get some VPA business cards made up to verify who we are, since we don't carry 'em. (lol) We will report back as soon as we have it in hand, whether it is correct or not. While it was the last one in stock, it is an active part number which means more can be ordered if it is the right one.

Now as far as Mopar goes, we certainly wouldn't fault them. They have more than a few challenges they have to deal with, including logistics and demand. For those old enough or those who saw it on reruns, remember the ending of the first Indiana Jones movie, Raiders of the Lost Ark? They talked of the fate of the Ark of the Covenant and surmised it was probably under intense study, when in reality it was being wheeled into a massive warehouse the size of several football fields stacked to the roof with similar crates. Well, the majority of older Viper parts are stored in a warehouse even bigger than that: well over 1,000,000 square feet sitting on almost 2,000,000 square feet of land. That land would fit approximately 33 US football fields - including the end zones. And yes, it is stacked very high as well, however a lot more organized than in the movie noted above.

Despite all that space it still has a capacity that, when reached, must then be evaluated for supply and demand. So let's look at one particular Viper part, the 1992 to 1996 door stanchion clip - Mopar part # 06035120. That clip is ONLY for the Viper - it won't fit on a Charger or a K-car or even a Prowler. Nor will it fit on a Viper built after 1996. As of this writing the supply consists of over 20,000 of them in this same warehouse. The demand? Over the past five years or so they have sold roughly eleven (11) of them. So with the newest model it will service now 17 years old and long past any possible factory warranty, why would they continue to stock them? Especially when you have, say, Chrysler selling almost 10,000 new Dodge Avengers in a single month. That is more cars in one month than Vipers built from 1992 - 1996 combined - throw in 1997 and you still fall short. So does Mopar continue stocking that Viper clip for which there is almost no demand or scrap it and bring in much higher selling parts for current models? The answer is pretty obvious.

Now before you say it (then why did they make 20,000 of those clips?), the reason is usually due to the original supplier agreements and bulk discounts. The tooling and labor for that clip may have cost $50,000 overall and the supplier didn't want to make 10,000 clips and be done. So maybe they offered to do 10,000 clips for one price or 30,000 clips for only slightly more. They already had the tool fired up and producing those clips, so why not add a shift and churn out a few thousand more? Most of your cost was sunk into the design and tool to build that clip - the actual production may not be that much. As another example, have you ever tried to go to your office supply store and only buy a single paper clip or rubber band? There are minimum sales quantities even if you only need just one. The suppliers often treat the manufacturers the same way, assigning minimums to cover their costs.

It should be noted that Viper Parts of America was created not only to offer some "left over" Viper parts to club members and other Viper owners, but to help preserve older Viper parts for future generations. If Mopar decides to scrap those stanchion clips we will work to acquire and store them, even though we know they aren't a big seller. When the club got together with Dan Knott and the folks from Mopar on the original concept, a big part of that was preservation. That is why VPA has worked so hard to help the club acquire the original tooling - not because it wants to start firing up those tools and churning out parts, but to preserve them in the event they are needed in the future. VPA doesn't sell aftermarket parts or compete in that market. We are a bricks-and-mortar business owned by the club and created to promote and preserve OEM Viper parts.

Okay, so we digressed a little but do have a directly related and final point: the hero in all of this isn't the club but is Mopar itself. It would be far easier to scrap those older tools and parts, but Mopar saw the value in helping the Viper community and the club that represents it. Other manufacturers would have long since gotten rid of those older parts and let the aftermarket sort it out. Want an OEM oil dipstick for a '69 big block Corvette with factory-equipped A/C? They have been reported to sell for over $500 each. Like the Viper, there isn't a high demand and so few aftermarket companies will want to create the tool to build them. Had GM thought to work with their owners to preserve them they could probably still be had for under $20. Restoring that car to OEM specs just got a LOT more expensive due to one small part with very little demand.

Sorry for the very long-winded reply, but we are passionate for Mopar products and what Mopar does to help the Viper community in particular. Despite very, very low demand and not even relevant past 2002, you have Mopar people investigating this ACR oil adapter for you. We would challenge any other manufacturer with that kind of dedication to their customer base. Mopar or no car, and that's the bottom line for us.

PS. It took us about two hours to research and type up this reply, sorry we missed the ones in between!

 

[troublemaker]

Thanks, I must have missed the "Monday" part. I appreciate everything, and I guess more goes on behind the scenes than we a privy to. Good luck getting the part, I hope it is finally the correct one.

 

[Ron]

Great reply Chris, thank you.

Troublemaker, I just received a standard oil adapter from Ryan and as you know also bought the ACR one from him also. The only difference of course is that the standard adapter has the low pressure valve that opens a cooler bypass path. At some point I'm going to test the flow and pressure sensitivity but won't have time for a while. Even without that though, the way to make the non-ACR behave like an ACR is to just prevent the bypass valve from opening. How? By removing the spring and valve from beneath the allen cap and replacing them with a properly dimensioned solid rod. The rod blocks the passage and eliminates the bypass, forcing all the oil to route through the cooler, just like the ACR adapter.

When I get around to making a few I'll let you know, or you can just make one for yourself if you have access to the right size stock or a friendly machinist.

Despite all that, I'm still not convinced the ACR adapter is "better" or even significantly different in function than the standard one, which is the real reason why I'm playing around with these. Once I decide, I'll share my findings for comments.

 

[troublemaker]

Thanks, sounds good.

 

[CEJ]

VPA, thank you for the background info, parts availability is one of the reasons I bought a Viper.

Hopefully you're dug out from this latest storm.

 

[Viper Parts of America]

VPA, thank you for the background info, parts availability is one of the reasons I bought a Viper.

Hopefully you're dug out from this latest storm.

The city shut down on Wednesday and they expect a repeat this coming Tuesday. We were one of the only ones on the road on Thursday - not even USPS showed up. No worries, we delivered everything to USPS and FedEx ourselves so that everybody got their orders as quickly as possible. Well, except for oil adapters anyway...

 

[Ryan_DSA]

https://sphotos-a.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ash4/421428_516636771708484_1730147339_n.jpg

i think we have gotten 14" the last couple days total, sunday was our first snow less day in 4-5 days