First time buyer - Gen III - what to look for?

Mike Rodrigues

Enthusiast
Joined
Aug 28, 2020
Posts
3
Reaction score
0
Location
Ballston Lake, NY
Hey everyone,

Looking to join the viper world. Looking at Gen 3 & 4. Couldn’t find any threads on it. What should I be looking for in regards to potential issues or risks with these generations?

Appreciate the feedback and help!

-Mike
 

MoparMap

VCA National President
VCA Officer
Joined
Jan 7, 2013
Posts
2,439
Reaction score
273
Location
Kansas
The main issues you tend to see with the gen 3 at least are the power steering lines. The fitting at the pump has a tendency to start leaking over time. It's a pretty easy upgrade with just a new fitting and hose. Both the gen 3 and 4 also tend to have leak on the oil cooler lines were the crimp is on the hose over time. Again, pretty easily fixed with a different style hose and fitting.

My gen 3 has been pretty rock solid for the 80k+ miles I've owned it (127k on it now). I've replaced the shocks as well as I had a suspicion mine were leaking and I wanted an upgrade anyway. I've also done the power steering and oil cooler lines myself. Otherwise it has largely been a case of keep the fluids fresh and keep putting gas in the tank and tires on the rims. If you plan to track it you need to be careful with oil level as I did spin some rod bearings during a track weekend, but that was more my own dumb mistake than a fault of the car.
 
Last edited:
OP
OP
M

Mike Rodrigues

Enthusiast
Joined
Aug 28, 2020
Posts
3
Reaction score
0
Location
Ballston Lake, NY
The main issues you tend to see with the gen 3 at least are the power steering lines. The fitting and the pump has a tendency to start leaking over time. It's a pretty easy upgrade with just a new fitting and hose. Both the gen 3 and 4 also tend to have leak on the oil cooler lines were the crimp is on the hose over time. Again, pretty easily fixed with a different style hose and fitting.

My gen 3 has been pretty rock solid for the 80k+ miles I've owned it (127k on it now). I've replaced the shocks as well as I had a suspicion mine were leaking and I wanted an upgrade anyway. I've also done the power steering and oil cooler lines myself. Otherwise it has largely been a case of keep the fluids fresh and keep putting gas in the tank and tires on the rims. If you plan to track it you need to be careful with oil level as I did spin some rod bearings during a track weekend, but that was more my own dumb mistake than a fault of the car.

much appreciated! I did more digging and did find some threads on both the power steering and the oil cooler lines.

How long did it take you to do this? Was it something you can do without a lift or is recommended to rent/find a lift you could use?

i also did read recommendations of installing the oil pickup from a gen 4 to help with oil problems when tracking, etc.
 

MoparMap

VCA National President
VCA Officer
Joined
Jan 7, 2013
Posts
2,439
Reaction score
273
Location
Kansas
You can both both lines without a lift, though oil cooler lines might be a little easier with some better access from the side/bottom. I did mine in a garage with just a jack without too much fuss. The power steering line is super simple and pretty easy to get to from the top. At most you might need a crow's foot wrench to get the fitting off the fan easier, but it's not that hard to reach at least with the airbox removed.

And yeah, there are two different oil pans you can get to help address the oiling issue. There is a pan from the comp coupe race cars that will drop right one, but only swings in one direction. There is also a gen 4 retrofit kit out there. My understanding is that the gen 3 and 4 pickup tube diameters were different, so that's the only real modification needed. I believe the pan at least is a direct drop in.
 
Top