Darn Chinese Junk

Water pump finally dies on my F250, 7.3 at 330,000 miles four years ago. With all the tension on it the pulley bent because the water pump misaligned as the bearings went bad before it leaked.

Fast forward 18 months and the aftermarket pulley cracked spitting the belt off at 338,000 miles fortunately one mile from the house so just drove it home, so another new pulley.

Last night the pulley cracked again spitting the belt off and I had to trailer it home.

So the OEM pulley lasts 18 years and 330,000 miles. The Chinese pulleys can't handle the stress last about 7000/8000 miles.

Old fart (like me) behind the counter at NAPA says OEM Super Duty/ambulance pulley is $69 vs the Chinese pulley at $35.

So tell me again why you sold me two crap Chinese pulleys?

Mikey

 

Because everyone wants the least expensive one. Until like you they have to wrench on it multiple times.

 

Yup. Everyone says that they want quality, but when the bill comes, they purchase the cheap one.

 

You wan weturn?

 

And, it was sprayed with lead paint.

 

U canno havy weturn, u buy u keepy.

 

...price-only buying created knock-off industry. Unfortunately, more and more of it is showing up in legitimate business as a way to improve bottom line. IMO where there is a choice, retailer should inform buyers up front. Some of this crap is dangerous...

 

The old says we get what we pay for normally holds true, even though so etimes I feel I pay the extra price to get still junk

Wish ppl/companies would just make good parts period.......but I'm sure the genie is out of that lamp.

But with so many barely meeting ends if bucks saved here and there adds up for right now. Even if it cost more later, they just need over today's hurdle and will worry about tomorrow's then.

Bet they never even told about the other part option at first either

 

I spent thirty years in both retail clothing and wholesale auto parts, and the phrase I’ve heard more times than I can count is “Hain’t y’all got somethin’ cheaper?”. And thus you can’t find US made jeans, dress pants, shoes, brake rotors or pads any longer.
Patrick

 

I honestly never thought about buying the cheapest, just bought it and walked out the door. Never expected they would fail so soon.

So I get to NAPA and the $69 dollar pulley is the same one that I have, that broke, same numbers stamped it as mine. Guy pulls out the $35 dollar pulley and it is the same pulley as the $69 dollar pulley right down to the same numbers on it.
Different box same part, both say China, C'MON dude!

Head over to Ford and paid $84 dollars for true OEM. It is heavier gauge and about 1/2 pound heavier weight. No one to blame but myself, I should know better.

Mikey

 

When my pump went at 200K on the 01 7.3L I bought OEM at Ford. Paid the price for it too. Been on there 70,000 miles and still going strong. Went through the cheap crap on a few starters for the same truck and ended up getting the Motorcraft from Ford. Still working. Now I got a ring gear going in a few spots.

 

I’m a big fan of “buy once, cry once.” I’ll save as long as I have to and get the best product for the $$ rather than cheaping out. Yes, it gets expensive, but I’ve still got my products long after others have replaced theirs 3 or 4 times.

 

Different warranty on the $69 versus $35 pulley?

 

Door Man strikes again. I talked with the district manager of a large, nation wide parts chain about Dorman. It went something like this: (him) “We sell a LOT of Dorman products and they are very profitable”. Me: “Then you need to stand behind them with 100% labor claims for your jobbers”.

And we are (and I thought have been) very selective with Dorman products, to try to keep from getting burned, but the target is ever-moving. Most recent one was a fuel filter cap for a 6.0 Powerstroke diesel. Yep, it came off 10 minutes after releasing the vehicle after replacing 8 injectors. We drove it for at least 30 miles, then it sat overnight, and then we drove it again for 30 more miles. 10 minutes later, what a mess. The OE Ford one was not readily available. Should have known better. So now the fight begins to be made “whole” again.

 

When it comes to my 7.3,I will buy used OEM parts like that before the China crapola...There are several people selling 7.3 parts on marketplace etc...

 

I had to really shop around to find USA made yard equipment too, but it was worth it.

 

I think dorman parts are ok in some areas. In my shop I wont use them for thing like vct solenoids or anything that is a precision part, but have used hundreds of parts from them in other applications with little known failures.

We had to put one of their PDM on our 6.5l when it left us on the side of the road.............been on there 8 years now, almost as long as the OEM unit......I did purchase a good used OEM part to carry just in case.............we had no choice at that time it was the only option,

 

This is some of the reason I go to Rock Auto to check on the parts available. They at least show the bad to the real good expensive parts. Then you can make a decision on what part to buy if you go to Auto Zone or Napa.

 

Some years ago, Airtex water pumps got so bad that we would give the customer a choice: We would get a new, factory pump and fully guarantee it or we would install an Airtex (the only aftermarket water pump readily available in our area at the time) for about 60% of the money as factory, but the guarantee would be for the part only - not the labor. We finally found a supplier of a rebuilt water pump by a company named Blue Chip. We were skeptical, but they worked well; we had few if any comebacks on them.
My Dodge recently had a frozen caliper on the road. It locked up to the point that I was afraid it would fry a wheel bearing. I had the car ramp trucked to a local garage who installed aftermarket parts. There is so much dust coming off the pads that I am cleaning the wheels weekly. There are a set of factory pads in the car's future.