Defective parts .
 

Any of you getting inferior parts in your manufacturing/repair/service businesses ?
I just finished up what was really a simple job, but made super difficult by some unknown amazon parts .
2011 Tiguan, customer reads his own code, p0087, low fuel pressure. Fires up his google machine, and orders a new direct injection fuel pump on amazon . First one he gets is damaged. he never tries it. The second pump shows up the next day, and he installs it , but still same code, hard starts, and low power .
They took it to the local Euro expert. He bills 5 hours diag time, but comes up with no answer for them . They declined further diag time .
They called me and asked me to take a look at it . I know who had it before me, and I would say his shop is about the best in the area, but I reluctantly agreed anyhow. Its been slow, I like a challenge sometimes . I spent, about the same 5 hours and then went long on this one . I checked every possible scenario for no fuel pressure, and had no solution for them either . It was not making any fuel pressure over and above the electric pumps output.
First time customer, I could tell she was getting frustrated with me, and the whole situation . I had the car for over a week.
She asked me , " what would you do it it was your car ?". I told her, I would purchase a good quality german made pump from a known vendor. If that did not work, I had no other solutions .
She at first declined ,they were already $700 in at this point, and still with a broken car .
A day later, she calls, and says her husband and her decided to punt and give it one more try.
I installed a Bosch pump this am, and it fired right up, full pressure, and runs perfect . So, long story short, they got 2 bad fuel pumps from an amazon seller . Probably chineese knockoffs .
I have been pretty lucky , but have had a few similar situations over the last 2-3 years.
I got 2 bad bosch alternators for my 930 a few years back. Spent an entire evening checking every possible scenario for low voltage, and alt light on , Everything spot on where it should be . I was replacing the alternator due to bad bearings, I put the old one back in, and it still worked . Returned the 2nd Bosch alt, bought a Valeo, and it is still in there working today .
Any of you run into sub par materials or products lately ? Is it getting worse ? I buy lots of el cheapo stuff on e bay for myself ,and have had pretty good luck thus far .

I've had the same problem - there's a lot of 3rd-world knockoff Scheiße out there

My mechanic installed a reman. power steering pump on Mrs. Noah's minivan. It died on the way home from the mechanic.

The old bad parts I have had was the reman alternator for my El Camino. The good news is I could likely change it in 15 minutes if I had to. It would not charge if the RPM stayed under 2,500 RPM. If I got it to 2,500 all was fine. I learned to just have the old one rebuilt at a local shop and all was fine.

3 bad blend door actuators for my Tacoma, 2 rock auto and one autozone, ended up modifying the autozone to avoid the $300.00 Toyota

Parking brake shoes from our host didn't fit w/o firing up the grinder. Actually, the last 2 old 911s I've bought have had worn out parking brakes. How do you even wear out parking brakes anyways? Are old 911s the go-to drifter car now?

Fred, not advising you on how to run your shop but if that cutomer / scenario came to me the first thing I would tell them is a quote for an OE or OEM pump and labor, then 1 hour of diagnostic after. If the customer wouldn't agree I say fine, that's my terms, call me if you change your mind.

Personally and professionally I refuse to bear the burden of someone buying their own parts and then creating more problems and of course blaming the next guy because they had to pay twice. You fix it and they're still pissed.

The first shop made the wrong call.

I've learned the hard way. If they want to buy their own parts they are already not your customer as they're circumventing the process and the business model to satisfied customers and a fair profit.

Crap aftermarket parts are nothing new, just more of them. If there was a roulette wheel in Vegas with black being aftermarket parts and red / OEM. I'd bet the red every time as the odds are waay better.

That's why I don't buy any auto parts off of Amazon, eBay, independent internet vendors, or local parts houses.

I buy from authorized dealers. I can usually get at least 25% off list and I never have these issues. I could save money by buying from other sources but the China junk is getting worse, not better.

I hate China.

Rebuilt Napa alternators..... tried 2 of them on the town's 1 ton Ford. The first one lasted a week the second one was dead out of the box. Bought one from my local rebuilder and it's been fine since.

Put in a new distributor in my old van. Got one block away before the dam shaft broke. Chinese.
Put in a new water pump in the same van. Casting was thinner and made the bolts too long. Impeller also rubbed against number one cylinder wall. Chinese. Returned for rebuilt motor craft parts.

A few years ago you could buy real bosch parts direct from amazon at great prices. Now they only seem to have knockoffs and exorbitantly priced genuine parts.
I wind up buying more and more from a dealer.

I only buy factory new parts, even for the 40 yo Chevy Blazer, the C3500, and my Kubota and Ford tractors. Goes without saying the Porsches get only factory Porsche new parts.

no Mahle or Mann oil filters??

Pelican has sold crap Mahle filters for the '84 in the past, so no.

One exception is brake pads. Trying Cool Carbon. Jury's still out on them.

Interesting thing happened to me. Had a Jeep 4.7 needing timing guides and tensioners. I ordered them from my local supplier. Cloyes brand. Parts arrive and I get to work. I open the boxes and one tensioner was in a bag, one was wrapped in brown paper. Guides were a different color than what was on the screen when I ordered. Also in one box was a receipt for the parts being returned. in Texas. I'm in Alaska. Went to the parts store and he pulled another set off the shelf and we looked them over. This second set he pulled looked way different and much higher quality. So... some unscrupulous individual orders a cheep chinese timing set off Amazon, buys a quality set from parts store, swaps parts into parts store boxes and returns them. Bingo. They get name brand for Chinese prices. It sucks now questioning every single part that comes into my shop.

ok - I recall you posted that the Porsche oil filters were worse than Mahle a while back on Rennlist...

reminds me of the Big Short... CDO A has crap from CDO B, which in turn has crap from CDO A

I pick and choose the vendor and MFG, for parts. For fuel, I'm not going to install an air tech pump, ever. It's all over the map on suppliers though. Today was a TYC (Genera) Honda blower motor day, and I wouldn't have installed anything else on my car.

There have been bad batches, for example the famous Bosch voltage regulator fiasco for the 356s. Mahle had a short problem with their oil filters making a whistling sound. At the time, Porsche filters had fewer holes, but that may not be a bad thing below say 3,000 rpm. Today, there is no difference between the two, but the takeaway is that you're relying on a German brand to not slap their name on Chinese products.

There is zero difference now between the Porsche 9N cartridge oil filters or air filters, and Mahle ones from Pelican. So for the Cayman, I'll add these onto an order whether it be from Pelican or Suncoast Porsche, which has become a major force offering great "kits" of genuine factory parts packaged up for the enthusiast. Otherwise, I always go for the factory Porsche parts, not "OEM Supplier". One of the telephone order guys at Pelican sold me crap tire pressure sensors that he swore were "just as good as" the Porsche ones, which he criticized for being overpriced. I ordered them, they didn't work, and I tossed them in the garbage. Went to the dealer, paid for the correct genuine Porsche units which I had overnighted. Lesson had to be re-learned.

I have even got defective OE parts from the dealer. One Mitsubishi fuel pump, and one delco fuel pump .
GM took car of me no questions asked. I had to really argue and prove my point with Mitsu to get another pump. I was ready to launch it through their window .
It did not work. not at all, the motor was locked up right out of the package .

I just rebuilt my VW starter with Chinese parts.

The electrical connection on the Chinese solenoid was wrong, but I cobbled it up and got the car running, bu it never was quite right, low crank speed, noisy clicking. I chased my tail assuming it wasn't the starter.

Turns out the Chinese solenoid was crap. I bought a VW starter and put the problem behind me.

I thought I saved $100, but I didn't. And I removed the starter three times.

Lesson learned.

My first professional experience with crap aftermarket parts was in the early 80's. I was a young technician at a local Exxon station that was high-volume, fast paced and we did everything there short of body and paint work. We had a good reputation and worked on everything that rolled in the door.

I distinctly remember a Ford Fairmont or similar model being towed in for a no-start. The car was fairly new and low mileage but the customer wanted us to look at it instead of the local ford dealer. So I go out, it cranks but no fire. I do some basic diag and determine that the ignition module had failed. This was a Ford EEC III ignition system that still utilized a distributor but had a separate module mounted on the inner fender for control.

So we priced one from Ford and one from NAPA in their 'gold line'. Of course NAPA's was significantly cheaper. My boss called and gave the customer the option and of course they choose the NAPA unit.

I install it, it runs. Then we follow through with the upsell of cap /rotor/ plugs, oil change, filters to bring the maintenance up to par. I test drive it, runs like it's supposed to. They pick it up and everyone is happy ……………….for a while.

About 2 weeks later, customer calls and says the car is hard to start when hot or hot soak when parked then re-started. So they bring it back, I do the hot soak and sure enough upon cranking the ignition is over-advancing and 'fighting' itself on the crank portion. So I check the base timing and was in spec, I test drive again and no evidence of over advanced timing under acceleration. So the situation was only during cranking and with those you could not rotate the distributor, it had a lock tab on the housing that coincided with the hold down clamp.

I ask the customer if they had changed type of gas or went to low grade, they said 'no'.

I then talk to our NAPA parts guy asked if he would give me another, that something was clearly wrong with the timing 'map' and the customer was complaining. He reluctantly agrees, as I'm sure he was going to eat it but we did a LOT of business with them.

I install it, repeat test and sure enough same thing. Now I'm frustrated, unhappy, the customer as well ..............I do not know how to move forward. I'm convinced the module is the problem but can't really explain why. Somehow I get my hands on EEC III tech troubleshooting / wire diagram for that ignition. And this is what I discovered.

There is a yellow or orange wire that goes into the module that only has current during cranking. The purpose? To retard the ignition 10 degrees during cranking...………………………………………………………….

So I connect an ohm meter between that (disconnected from the harness) to ground and have "0" continuity. Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm………………………………:mad:

Short version: I convince my boss to get a ford unit, install it and of course fixes the hot soak / crank issue. I eat the labor, my boss eats the part. We give the customer their car back and all is right with the world...……..except I want to know why the aftermarket module has an open on that circuit.

We kept the NAPA unit and I started the CSI by scraping the black gel stuff from the back of the module to expose the circuit board. I found the yellow or orange wire went through the module was with the others but was 'looped' inside the unit and not connected to anything...…………………………………………………………...:o

There was no retard circuit inside...……………………….

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1583425555.jpg

I have gotten bad reman Bosch starters more than once. Would have saved me a LOT of time if I just had someone competent rebuild the OE one from The Fatherland when VW screwed it together in the first place.

Oh yeah, never buy a starter for a Honda from anyone but the dealer. It is not that much of a PITA to swap them out, but doing it 3-4 times is a bit frustrating.

I would have backed my truck in and loaded my tools up johnny on the spot . fk that .

Or alternators. I had a similar fiasco with an advance auto parts alternator for a crv

Yeah, after the starter fiasco on my best friend's son's car, when the alternator went, he told his son he would kick him square in the nuts if he got one at Vatozone instead of the dealership.

"Dad, it is $100 more."

"How much does a 10 speed bike cost?"

We're having a serious issue with Re-Man parts on industrial engines. We are now taking our parts to rebuilders with excellent reputations and doing them direct. And surprising, the price is lower.

On heads, we can order them with any level of valves we'd like. We prefer the more stout valves which last longer, allowing longer intervals between top end overhauls.

The OEM heads failed valves at 10K hours. Primary cause seems to be not correctly grinding the valve seats, not checking for concentricity and not checking the heads for sealing/leak down. Oh and general cleanliness! The heads were not properly hot tanked and cleaned before re-building. By the OEM!

There're a lot of Chinese knockoffs on Amazon, Marketplace in particular. Not surprising given 50% of the sellers there are popup storefronts based in China.

I only buy the cheap 10-20$ non precision automotive stuff there. For the higher valued parts such as your client's purchase, I would go with a reputable retailer, plenty of those around online or local.

Amazon Marketplace has gotten bad press on this but unfortunately most folks are not aware of these gotchas. Most probably think they are buying from Amazon itself.

I always buy the best parts I can find for my cars...
I do my own maintenance and my labor is free and I'd rather do it once and never have to revisit the same issue again.

Plus I loathe the idea of supporting a manufacturer who's one goal is to crush their Western competitors by reducing quality & cost.
I would rather pay a lot more for a genuine part than a buy a knock off that was made somewhere in Asia. (I love Asians but they like making cheap junk)

A "local B&M" genuine part = $350
On line made in CHINA knock off = $270 (plus shipping?)

For the sake of $80 is it really worth the hassle of not knowing how good the part is?

This. Reman stuff is even worse. Reman Bosch alternator for my s600-its a ***** to get to, under the car, unbolt sway arm etc. Lasted all of a week and died while my s/o was miles from home.

It was purchased through a national chain but reman in Mexico. A third the price of new from Bosch but I didn't screw around twice.

ok, so far we have China, and Mexico...

anybody want to try for the trifecta here?

the winner will receive a POS made in _________

You guys do know that you can get OEM parts from places other than the dealer, right? We sell OE Denso parts.

Now, if I had to change a compressor on a 2000+ GM truck/suv, I would not use an OE compressor. Denso did not pin the valve plates and that's why one day they work and the next they don't, but leave you with a clean system. Hodyon made a damned good 10S17, so does Global Parts Dist.

If I'm replacing a a Denso radiator, I'm buying a Koyo.

Some aftermarket parts are better than OE.

that is why I like pick&pull yards
original parts

Yeah Matt, when I replaced my plastic end tank rad in the Miata, used an aluminum one that is superior in every way. Better design, better construction and increased my coolant capacity by like 40 or 50%

Yep...

At this point you have to analyze every part you buy
I buy more from the dealer then ever and thats no guarantee either
Original Porsche parts are coming from China and India

All true but you'd think they'd be of a better quality if they're sold as legit Porsche parts.

WOW, just W-O-W. ::::smh::::

Since the Porsche dealer charges over $800/ hr shop rate, they do not want those cars coming back due to Chinese or Indian knock-offs. That is the logic behind buying out of the factory supply network. And don't confuse 'OEM Supplier' parts with genuine Porsche parts. As I said, I bought 'OEM Supplier' tire pressure sensors from Pelican, and they were TOTALLY different from the factory sensors. Only the factory sensors worked as they should. I ate the parts cost and labor to re-do the tires (mount and balance) a second time. Lesson re-learned.

On our way to Florida to bring back a boat my friend purchased, the fuel pump stopped working around Beckley W. Virginia
The pick up was towed to the towing co./scrap yard. They replaced fuel pump with an aftermarket replacement
We left but the fuel gauge was showing empty. We filled tank but no change. We turned around and had to wait another 3 hours to have defective fuel pump replaced.
GM fuel pumps on a 3500 aren't easy to change.
A year later the fuel pump went again. It was replaced with a factory pump.

Modern in-tank fuel pumps are generally rubbish... The only time I ever got stranded in my VW Golf VR6 is when the fuel pump failed. Bashed it a few times to get it started so I could get home. Spent $600 on a new genuine VDO. (VW OEM) Well worth it IMO.