Off-brand maintenance parts

[Sirius1995]

Alright, let's have some discussion about this once again.

So we all know stories about eBay parts and anyone can read reviews. Yet I haven't heard or seen anyone actually having any issues, or are they too afraid to tell about it because they're afraid people to say "I told you so"

But to quote pirates of the Caribbean, "then where the stories come from?"

So I really wanna hear some actual stories that what you bought and what failed, because as long you have stock engine they should serve their purpose.

I have used rock auto, eBay, Amazon and part stores as AutoZone, advanced auto parts, napa etc.

I personally haven't had any issues with any car.

But of course I would never save on internal parts, which I always would get OEM or better.

So this question is only for maintenance parts, not 16g turbos and "performance" parts

 

[CrackedDSM]

I’ve used gates timing components for years. Belts, tensioners, everything and have not had a single failure or a single issue at all. So this whole “gates is literally Hitler reborn and you should feel terrible” stuff seems a little ridiculous to me. But I’m just one guy so idk.

Also, Dorman HELP! Brand door handles. I’ve had amazing luck with them.

 

[Sirius1995]

I’ve used gates timing components for years. Belts, tensioners, everything and have not had a single failure or a single issue at all. So this whole “gates is literally Hitler reborn and you should feel terrible” stuff seems a little ridiculous to me. But I’m just one guy so idk.

Also, Dorman HELP! Brand door handles. I’ve had amazing luck with them.

I also had dorman and eBay door handles, works great even on this day

 

[chrysler kid]

Back in the day I had 2 or 3 non turbo and turbo dsms and they all consistently had problems with mechanics, not parts.

The problem being mechanics get paid to do the job quickly, not correctly. So the mechanic would never do the correct procedure for timing belt replacement.

If your a dsm mechanic ace and use ebay belt tensioners, youre probably skilled enough to hear the belt at proper tension, so no big deal. But the job is also tedious so youre smart enough to do it right and do it once with oem parts.

 

[BLACK'98DSM]

If your a dsm mechanic ace and use ebay belt tensioners, youre probably skilled enough to hear the belt at proper tension, so no big deal. But the job is also tedious so youre smart enough to do it right and do it once with oem parts.

The problem with our tensioners, is that they're pressurized (hydraulic). They can fail from leakage. So sure, an Ebay tensioner might hold proper tension on the belt, but it could lose tension much faster than an OEM or equivalent. And obviously failure of this part will destroy at least some valves. So now using an Ebay part turned out to be more expensive than using an OEM part. I have a bad tensioner on my 420a with only 7k miles on it. My slow ass hasn't got around to doing my 3rd timing job on this car yet

 

[Sirius1995]

The problem with our tensioners, is that they're pressurized (hydraulic). They can fail from leakage. So sure, an Ebay tensioner might hold proper tension on the belt, but it could lose tension much faster than an OEM or equivalent. And obviously failure of this part will destroy at least some valves. So now using an Ebay part turned out to be more expensive than using an OEM part. I have a bad tensioner on my 420a with only 7k miles on it. My slow ass hasn't got around to doing my 3rd timing job on this car yet

Thank you for sharing your experience, I've used mizumo auto parts from eBay on 420a engine, haven't drive much yet after rebuild cuz car needs a wiring harness, it does have mechanical tensioner though, I was wondering if there's a mechanical tensioner for 4g63t as well, more reliable than hydraulic

 

[luv2rallye]

... mechanics get paid to do the job quickly, not correctly.

A truism that most people discover the hard way they pay for over and over.

 

[Sirius1995]

A truism that most people discover the hard way they pay for over and over.

I never got paid by a job as a mechanic so I can't relate, and current workshop I'm working at is not even customers cars, I fix up cars for my boss who sells used cars he buys from auctions and such, so I'm not in a time crunch and keeps my job interesting at least, engine swapping Camaro ATM but I've heard stories about people who got their car fixed by people who got paid by a job, and those cars normally ended on my yard to fix em during the weekend, at least this far I've got really good reviews