Lifters on backorder

[KDog456]

Guys, my truck will be going in to get all the lifters replaced (and potentially a new cam also). The dealership is telling me they are having a hard time finding lifters.

My question is, since I have a custom HF tune and the MDS is disabled, are there different OEM lifters that would work? Hellcat lifters? They said they will warranty the work for 2 years as long as it is all OEM parts, but won't if they are aftermarket lifters

Any help would be appreciated

 

[Burla]

If it were me, I'd take the warranty. Many guys are replacing lifters and cams only to still have the issue, sometimes it does resolve it. But, I would rather have the warranty on this item then risk it. You may have a bore out of tolerance, if it fails again or ticks badly after install they will likely have to replace block. If you put something you want and do away with warranty, that's on you = too risky?

 

[Burla]

Wait you have a 2012? Are you paying out of pocket? If so, what is the cost? What oil were you running? How many miles on truck?

 

[KDog456]

Yes paying out of pocket, dealer quoted $3,800 for lifters, head gaskets, intake gaskets and camshaft (parts and labor).

125,000 miles on my truck, up until recently was just using whatever bulk oil the shop had every 3,000 miles. Recently switched to Redline 5w30....wish I would have done so sooner!!

Iwas having a bad lifter tick for about 6 months and recently a "spark" knock. For the first time since I bought the truck with 2,000 miles on it I got a CEL yesterday and turned out to be a misfire on cylinder #2. Took into dealership and they said it sounds like lifters. They want to replace all the lifters and possibly the camshaft if its damaged.

Option 1: They will warranty AutoZone brand lifters for 1 year parts & labor
Option 2: I tell them to put in the order for Mopar lifters and wait an unknown period of time for them to catch up on the backorders
Option 3: upgrade to MMX non MDS lifters & cam (dealership is researching this option to see if they will offer a warranty with it)

The downside of option 3 is that i HAVE to do the cam swap. Maybe a new cam would be for the best as they will have the motor torn down that for anyways??

Sucks to be in this predicament

 

[grizzstang]

If you are replacing the lifters out of necessity (like if one of them is frozen) then a cam swap is NOT an option. It must be replaced.

Yes, Hellcat lifters are what some guys here have used. I can't remember who but maybe they will chime in.

 

[James OBrien]

Hellcat lifters are a direct replacement and are mopar/original parts, so they should take them. If you are at the point they have to pull the heads anyway, you might as well do the cam! It's only a couple hundred bucks more and is only a bit more labor to pull the timing cover at that point.

 

[Wild one]

Yes paying out of pocket, dealer quoted $3,800 for lifters, head gaskets, intake gaskets and camshaft (parts and labor).

125,000 miles on my truck, up until recently was just using whatever bulk oil the shop had every 3,000 miles. Recently switched to Redline 5w30....wish I would have done so sooner!!

Iwas having a bad lifter tick for about 6 months and recently a "spark" knock. For the first time since I bought the truck with 2,000 miles on it I got a CEL yesterday and turned out to be a misfire on cylinder #2. Took into dealership and they said it sounds like lifters. They want to replace all the lifters and possibly the camshaft if its damaged.

Option 1: They will warranty AutoZone brand lifters for 1 year parts & labor
Option 2: I tell them to put in the order for Mopar lifters and wait an unknown period of time for them to catch up on the backorders
Option 3: upgrade to MMX non MDS lifters & cam (dealership is researching this option to see if they will offer a warranty with it)

The downside of option 3 is that i HAVE to do the cam swap. Maybe a new cam would be for the best as they will have the motor torn down that for anyways??

Sucks to be in this predicament

Price out a reman through the dealer,it might be option #4 if you have that many miles on the original engine. I was under the impression it was the Hellcat non mds lifters that were on back order,and you could still get the mds lifters,but I could be wrong on which ones are on back order.The newer hellcat lifter supposedly supercedes the old lifters.

 

[KDog456]

The Ram 5.7 lifters are on backorder, i think specifically the MDS ones (must be alot of other Rams having the same issue as mine ). Non-MDS lifters are in stock. Alot of websites are showing them "in stock" as you search and add them to your cart, only to tell you they are not available when you call them directly....Shady!!

The dealer said they will not warranty switching over to the hellcat lifters & non mds cam because they have never done that type of thing and don't feel comfortable.

So I went with option #2 and will pray that I don't have to wait too long. The fact that the dealership will give me a full 2 year parts & labor warranty with this option was the deciding factor.

The dealer actually encouraged me to call Chrysler Customer Care and state my urgency since it has helped other customers get backordered parts faster...

 

[Tim Garceau]

Be a pain a consistent pain in the ass to the dealer but be respectful in regards to a KNOWN issue with these engines. Having a directly related component back-ordered for the same reason(design or component flaw) will not allow them to hide much longer before this becomes a class-action lawsuit.

I also suggest anyone who has or will have 5.7L cam work done be sure to save all receipts/time lost/meals/etc.

 

[chrisbh17]

This issue has been ongoing for a while, yet nothing has really come of it. Im not sure I would expect anything to come of it now, either. A lot of the threads we see here and other forums end in "I just sucked it up and paid *** to get it fixed".

They could just say the lifters are on backorder because they practice "just in time" inventory to cut down on costs. There are plenty of other parts probably on national backorder as well, doesnt mean they cant keep them in stock, just means they dont normally stock them.

 

[Tim Garceau]

Could be, but if enough people come online and make light of this situation it will directly impact current sales and FCA is already taking pride in passing GM last month. Now that more and more people are between that 70-150K mile mark where most of the failures are occurring, they may not actually have enough on the shelf.

Even though they had to take significant margin losses by using incentives as well as continue to build 4th Gen (Classics). :****sweak:

 

[chrisbh17]

Could be, but if enough people come online and make light of this situation it will directly impact current sales and FCA is already taking pride in passing GM last month. Now that more and more people are between that 70-150K mile mark where most of the failures are occurring, they may not actually have enough on the shelf.

Even though they had to take significant margin losses by using incentives as well as continue to build 4th Gen (Classics). :****sweak:

Hahaha they arent taking any losses, they knew exactly how much they would make by keeping the Classic. Infiniti did something similar with the G37 (Q40) and its replacement (Q50). They produced limited combinations of the G37 alongside the brand new Q50 realizing they would get people that still wanted the G37 for less money than the all new car.

And FWIW FCA/Dodge/Jeep/RAM, from my experience, have some of the highest "incentive" levels Ive ever seen. They leave the onus on the customer, though, to determine exactly what they qualify for.

 

[Tim Garceau]

Making sales is great and clearly their goal as the market is still in high demand for 1/2 tons, but we both know FCA doesn't have the greatest margins in terms of quality as a manufacturer. Operating expenses in Saltillo and now the premature launch in Warren has been anything but successful by Toyota standards.

 

[KDog456]

Well a full week has gone by since I opened a "case" with FCA Customer Care. They have told me they have "escalated" my issue, but yet the parts department of FCA will not give the customer care team any information on any anticipated ship date for the backordered lifters. How hard can it be to manufacture a lifter?????

 

[Fatboy57]

When my local dealer told me the crank bolt was backordered and didn't have a date I went online to a few diff mopar sites and low and behold I found a mopar dealer that had the crank bolt in texas! Worth a shot.

 

[CopperheadHemi]

Ahhhh the backordered lifters. 3 patrol cars at my work are sitting at the local dealer waiting on lifters to come in. One has been there about 4 weeks now. The parts guy joked about my truck telling me he wants to know when I want the cam and lifters ordered for mine.

 

[madtrucker2016]

nailed it too many problems my buddy just had his 2016 Laramie done cam and lifters he only had 20,000 miles on it mine is ticking with 13,700 miles my dealership repair dept. gave me its some canister for the evap system making the ticking but my buddy said he had same sound so I think my truck is going to pay a visit to his dealer. They say the lifters are locking up getting stuck and messing up the cam then its a problem again bad research on parts they use on our trucks

 

[crackerjack1957]

Price out a reman through the dealer,it might be option #4 if you have that many miles on the original engine. I was under the impression it was the Hellcat non mds lifters that were on back order,and you could still get the mds lifters,but I could be wrong on which ones are on back order.The newer hellcat lifter supposedly supercedes the old lifters.

Wild one have you heard of anyone with issues running the HellCat lifters.......just curious

 

[Wild one]

Wild one have you heard of anyone with issues running the HellCat lifters.......just curious

I haven't heard of anybody with issues with the Hellcat lifters Cj.Supposedly the Hellcat lifter is now the standardized non-mds lifter,that's according to my local partsman.If you order a non-mds lifter set it should be the hellcat lifter now.There's pics of the standard lifter sliced in half on the facebook pages,and John of Texas Speed says he'll be cutting a MDS lifter apart soon and posting pics of it to.He's cut a piston in half for us,so it gives you a good idea of how thick the crown is.The stock piston looks to be lots healthy enough to handle a fair bit of boost or nitrous,if you open up the ring gaps.

 

[KDog456]

I'm having the dealer price out an engine replacement. My worry otherwise is that if and when the lifters do come in, I will spend close to $4K and it might not even solve the issue of the tick and knock that the engine is making currently, also a misfire on cylinder #2.